Customer Reviews

Zoombox DVD Entertainment Projector

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I bought Zoombox for my little 4 and 11 year-old daughters. After dinner time, we usually get their DVDs played in their room, and the kids seem to be quite happy with it.

They already had watched those DVDs hundred times so they don't care about quality of projected image. They sometimes don't concentrate on the movies and do other things while the movie is going. BUT the point is that my kids are just happy with the big screen which they can watch whenever they want.

I have a 'real' projector in our living room, but I don't want to use it in kids' room because: (1)it's very delicate and HOT device; (2)DVD player and speaker set should be connected separately; (3)we simply can't afford $400 bulb replacement three times a year; (4)it's too bright to watch for a long time in a small bedroom, especially for kids' eyes.

It uses a typical halogen bulb which can be purchased from any local home improvement store for around $5~7. It consumes less than 50watts per hour. I use it without worrying about maintenance cost, and thanks to the economical fact, this little toy can be utilized in many creative ways which hasn't been reasonable with 'real' projectors. For example, when I have party with friends I sometimes use Zoombox in living room to play concert DVDs or music video clips purchased from Apple iTunes music store as BGM. My 'real' epson projector costs too much to be used in those kind of ways.


Regarding its resolution, Zoombox is definitely not for serious movie watchers. You have to make your room dark as possible to get decent picture from it. It doesn't have keystone distortion adjustment function, which means you have to place the unit at the right angle to get completely rectangular picture. So, if you expect home theater, just forget about this toy and spend at least $400 more to buy low-end DLP projectors and another $200 for decent 5.1channel speaker set.

But in the other hand, if you want some extra entertainment in bedrooms after dinner time, or need additional projector for more casual occasions, Zoombox can become affordable and satisfactory solution. I think it's unfair to compare toy to real thing.

I have been looking at purchasing a projector for some time, but because of the cost I have been hesistant; when I saw the zoombox for $250 I decided it was worth a try. Now I didn't expect much at that price, so I wasn't disappointed. At first, I didn't like the resolution, the picture seemed grainy, but the farther away I am the less noticeable it is. The zoombox is very easy to use, and has many uses. It easily hooks up to games, digital cameras and computer speakers. The built in DVD player makes it simple and easy to watch a movie, the image may not be as crystal clear as an TV but I don't mind, since it is so much bigger. Since the replacement bulb is so much cheaper than an expensive projector bulb, I don't mind using it all the time.The visiblity is the best the darker the room, however, I used the projector in the middle of the afternoon with the blinds closed and the picture was fine.

This is not the projector for you if you want to create the home theater effect, but if you just want to make some things bigger with ease, this projector is for you. I won't be entertaining with the zoombox, but it works fine in my bedroom.

i am 21 years old, turning 22 soon. I asked my parents for the zoombox thinking for 300$ it would be nice in my college apt to have a 60 screen to watch some movie, some boxing matches, etc...and it is. Granted it is true, you must use this in a pretty dark room. the projector puts out a low ansi lumen count, so using it in a dark room is a must. It sucks you have to use it in a dark room, but the lamp for this can be bought at a local hardware store for pretty cheap, the lamps for serious projectors cost hundreds and have to be ordered. The speakers are fairly decent, no you won't have pounding base but they r clear, and get quite loud. The dvd player is just a basic player inside it and it preforms well. It has rca aduio and video jacks so you can hook a vcr, dvd player, game system up to it, and even a computer if you have a scan converter, as the zoombox does not have a serial hookup installed. Now to the image, as stated in many reviews, the resolution is less than a standard tv of 640 by 480, its something like 527 by 2 hundred and something, i can't remember. Contrary to what people believe, the image is not going to be pixelated, thats due to poor video quality and encoding. In lamens terms the effect of the resolution is this. The higher the resolution the more dots that make up the screen and the smaller they are, so the image looks crisp and colorful, the poorer the resolution, means that there is less dots and they are bigger, so you have more of the image on less of the dot matrix, making it less clear and sharp. The image on the zoombox is not crystal clear like on a tv, it seems a little hard to focus the picture and even with tweaking the manual focus lens it tends to never as sharp as you want it. But watching things on it when sitting a distance back of like 8-10 (average usual for distance between couch and tv) is quite watchable, and especially for boxing matches, seeing figures at 50 inches on a 60 inch screen compared to like 20 inches in hight on a 27 inch screen is quite better. The key thing is knowing what you are going ot use this for. It its for causal viewing or video game playing, go for it, its cool. for serious moving viewing, its not the greatest buy, if you spend a couple hundred dollars more you can get a projector light years ahead of this one in every category. I would have much rather they pumped up the resolution to 640by480 with a brighter lamp, and ditched the dvd player and speaks. Overall, is it fun....yes, Is it amazing....no, is it worth it.....depends.

I purchased this from ToysRUs online through Amazon. Right out of the box it looks promising but once I hooked it up I knew this was not going to be worth it. I put it to the test and played "Nemo" because of the color of the movie. The projector quality was VERY poor. Even in a completely dark room the image was dimmer than a standard battery powered flashlight. The resolution is just slightly less than a standard TV but when blown up that large the image becomes very grainy and pixelated. The image was so grainy at 8 feet from the wall it became very difficult to focus the machine. I called ToysRUs to see if I could get a refund and they refused. I was told that I had to mail it back to Amazon and wait the 2 weeks. If your looking for a childs projector this is it. If your looking for something to make a family movie night at home you will get a better quality picture with a bedsheet and a light bulb making shadow puppets. This ZoomBox DVD is being mailed back the day after it was recieved!

This "toy" has met up to my standards beautiful. All the instructions that come with it are exactly correct. The darker the room the better. Keep the projector no more than 8 feet from the wall or ceiling you are aiming it at. The replacement bulbs are only $7. It is working perfectly for what I needed it for. We are using it to entertain ourselves and our friends; and it is working perfectly.

My son is 6 and he absolutely loves this toy. Remember it is a toy. This is something I wish I had as a kid back when having fun was more important than quality. For $250 this device does quite a lot. So far we played Gamecube games on it, and watched a movie/TV shows. From the moment we gave it to him he flipped out and has been glued to it. The bulb is supposed to have a 500 hour limit. The replacements are only a few bucks. Not bad. This item would also be good for DJs and anyone who wants to throw a party. We may show films in our yard for some kids when it warms up. It would also be cool for displaying scary images on Halloween. This thing is a very fun and enjoyable device. Seeing my son flip out at "how cool it is" made me realize that many of you are being too hard on this device and trying to compare it to some high end adult projector. just remember this is a TOY and a very versatile and fun one at that.

This is a toy and not a projector. Like I said in the title the DVD player is quite good no skiping or anything like that the first problem is that the door for the DVD is easily opened and sometimes while I am adjusting the image to the screen the DVD door pops open stopping the movie. The body is flimsy and weak made out of thin plastic. The resolution is one quater the amount of any projector just a few hundred dollars more. The room has to be pitch black and even then I have to strain my eyes to see the image in other words the lamp in the projector is very weak. Also as you project on a screen if you sit within five feet of the screen you can no longer see the image but rather the dots that make up the image. for seven hundred dollars or so you can get a cheap projector, dosen't have DVD player but the projector will be twice as good.

I dont like giving away my info, but im 15. Lets say its resolution is not like really good, but seriously, it good enough. I have an LCD for my HD needs, so i recommend you do the same. Most people complain because they want a cheap HD projector, that is NOT what your getting. What your getting is a cheap projector that is good enough for viewing TV and playing VGs. The brightness is adjustable, so if you have a problem, turn it up and make your light bulb burn faster, its like 7 bucks. I really enjoy it, especially as a 76 inch TV in my room.

Wow! For $248 this is a great item! Of course I would rather have it set in 480p or better resolution, but people! It's under $250!!!

In answer to some previous questions, you can hook up VCR, TV, Cameras, whatever you want that has AV cables (those are the 3 red/white/yellow ones).

I wouldn't have it as my only viewing option, but this is designed to be an extra tv/dvd player that is fun, safe, small, and great for bedrooms and gamerooms. For my living room I'm going to stick with my High Def 60 inch DLP TV, but this is a great doodad for my small exercise room.

the resolution is not as great as the big HD tv's but its good enough and for
$250 its the cheapest 60 inch image you will ever get.
it is not desinged for vewing tv but that can be solved by hooking it up to a
VCR, and if your VCR is compatible with s-video you can even hook it up to your computer! also if you find the speaker that the zoombox has, just use a cable that you can buy at radioshack, it has AV video on one end and a earphone jack thing on the other, you can use this to connect your zoombox to your amplifier/reciever. hope you enjoy the zoombox as much as do