Customer Reviews

Optoma EP-PK-101 Pico Pocket Projector

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

We purchased a few of these for work(to be used with both the iPhone and iTouch). I would probably give this projector 3 1/2 stars, but it was not an option. We have not been using this very long, but those that have used it have been very impressed (it is better than what we were expecting).

Are these for everyone? I would say no. The picture quality is decent, but it does not come close to larger projectors that don't cost a lot more than this does. My guess is that a lot of people will want this because it looks cool, but I'd bet that most people will not use it much once the newness wears off.

The image is decent when viewed in a very dark room. The lighter the room, the more the image gets washed out. It does not take much light either before the image is washed out and only usable if you are fairly close to the surface you are projecting the image on. Even in dark rooms, the image is on the dark side (whites will have a bluish tint). There is a built in speaker, but it's basically worthless so plan on connecting it to some sort of external speaker.

I realize that the review seems a little negative and I don't want you to think that we are not happy with these. Like I mentioned above, we have been very happy with what these can do. The media guys will not be using these to show HD video to clients, but they will get a lot of use. We have a number of people that travel a lot for training purposes. They usually have to pack around a laptop/dvd player, projector, external speakers, and all of the wires needed to connect everything together. They are usually in smaller rooms presenting to small groups. For this purpose, the projector is going to work very well.

Here is what we have put together. Instead of packing around the equipment mentioned above, our managers now have their iPhone or iTouch, the Optoma Pico Projector, and a set of mini speakers from a company called Grandmax (Grandmax.com). The speakers are powered from the iPhone and are not much bigger than the projector (the sound is excellent for the size). They are able to show videos, pictures, and PowerPoint presentations(you need a program to convert the PowerPoint presentation to a video to do this)and not have to pack a ton of equipment to do it.

It will be exciting to see where this technology goes in the future. However, as for now, this projector does a decent job as long as you can live with the shortcomings. It's not perfect and a lot of people will not be happy with the quality, but it has the potential to be a very worthwhile tool if you have a specific need that this projector can satisfy.

I've had this for about a week now. I've watched about three movies on it, played Gears of War 2, and watched the Cotto/Pavlik fights off pay per view on this.
We watched the boxing matches at my brother's apartment, we had the Pico on a tripod and connected to a 2.1 Logitech system. We were able to comfortably watch the fights on a 122 inch image on the wall! We actually could have gone bigger but didn't because of space restrictions. Mind you, the living room was about 90% dark, and the walls are light brown and not white. We were quite impressed!
What I've noticed though is that this thing is meant for VGA-type stuff. Yes, Gears of War 2 was playable, but it looked... like crap. This is the case when you try to play something that is meant to be played at 10801 or 1080p and view it through VGA. It's going to look bad.
I knew this before I bought the Pico. My main use for this is to watch DVD's and play Nintendo Wii off of it. So, if you are expecting high-definition off this thing, don't buy it. Only buy this if you're going to watch stuff on the go, and you understand its limitations. Yes, it is expensive, but it is the best of its kind, at least right now (until the Microvision Laser Pico come out, wow) and it doesn't feel like a 1st generation product.
Pros:
- 10 or 11 lumens... not that bad!
- you can get a suprisingly huge image size!
- I guess because of the DLP, the reds this produces are RED, like it glows red almost. You will notice this, trust me.
- ultra portible, smaller than my Ipod Touch 2G and LG Voyager.
- comes with 2nd battery, Ipod adapter... basically everything you need right out the box.

Cons:
- EXPENSIVE (however, I got mine for $349 through Microsoft Live cashback).
- You need a DARK, dark room to get the full effect
- "Rainbow" effect due to the DLP, but it's not that bad really.
- I have the feeling this is going to get outdated fast, since the technology is small enough to fit in cell phones.
- You need to know and expect its limitations, if you can't don't waste your money.

***UPDATE: (11/27/10***
It has been quite some time since I have used this. Since the price has gone down so much, it is not even worth selling. However, there still will be many uses for this product. It is still very much fun to show movies outside in the dark. The perfect complimentary products would be the Epson Duet projection screen (fold out to 80" widescreen) and the Behringer EPA40 portable PA system. The speaker is LOUD, almost to the point of annoyance. Still, the battery lasts for 5-6 hours on a single charge (depending on how loud you crank it, less). All this on a dark night outside would give you a legit movie-theater experience.

It works exactly as describe. Actually, it will output much larger than 60" without much distortion. As long as you don't compare it to the very large tabletop projectors or much more expensive models you will not be disappointed. The brightness over-all is better than another model that I seen of equal price, but you still need a rather dark room for it to be effective, as I imagine is the case for most projectors. I'm pleased with it and would recommend it for what it's worth. It's a 4 oz device, not a 60" plasma HDTV.
Other devices are always "just around the corner", but if you aren't into waiting several months in hopes of prices to start lowering and with untested durability with new devices then this is a good choice. It's already been heavily tested and no malfunctions or defects or lifespan issues mentioned as of yet. However, the speaker is weak, and they probably should have left it off like many other projectors have done. Using a separate speaker system or headphones solves that issue.

As other posters have said, it does display a better image than others which are "suppose" to be better when comparing the listed specs.

Buy a cheap adapter so you can use your laptop with it...or just plug it into your phone like I do. It will work with any phone that has TV-Out. If you can see it on your phone, then you can see it with the projector. No conversions necessary. :)

As a sales person who frequently does presentations to groups of 5 or smaller, I purchased this device thinking that it would be ideal for those quick PDF demo/product sheets that I often reference in my presentations and have stored on my iPhone.

After receiving the device, I've since learned that all it projects is a solid blue screen unless you are in the iPod app. So it's only good for showing movies - that's it.

Maybe some 3rd party apps will be written that can include this PDF projection functionality; for now, it's just a movie projector.

If you bought this projector to work with your PC, you can still do it, with a S-video to TV out converter, connect the S-video to your computer and the TV out to the projector, you will have the image only, the audio will still go out from your speakers.
Also I should mention that this is a very good projector, very decent quality for a projector of this size.

The dongle that gets attached to the bottom of your Ipod for video output blocks the audio out on 4G nano due to form factor. What a shame! I am returning mine just because of that. The onboard .5W speaker is completely useless even in a perfectly quiet room. I tested it in my office at night with no ambient noise whatsoever, and I could not even make out one single word from just 10 feet away on my couch! Think blackberry speaker running at 30% strength.

The video quality is truly quite decent for a 4oz device. My original plan is to bring this for my next group backpacking trip, where I will surprise my friends with some cheesy 80s' vampire/hiking horror movie with the screen being my white tarp stretched out in place by my hiking poles.

Comes with 2 batteries, rated at 1100Amh each, so I purchased a super lightweight battery booster at 5000Amh rating thinking I will be about to play a full featured movie without having to switch battery - No Joy - I could NOT get the device to play while plugged in (charging) at the same time. This I believe is the biggest design flaw.

Great product, but I will wait for the next version instead.

The Optoma EP-PK-101 Picp Projector is my companion for all my trips. specially when the hotels have those old small tv's and you can't choose much what to watch. I carry all my movies on my Windows Mobile phone and my portable speakers and that's my whole portable entertainment system.

Leave all of your preconceptions behind, before you take a look at this device and you will come away impressed.

Know that you will be using it with just your portable electronics that have composite out or your iPhone/iPod Touch and you will be fine.

This is not a replacement for a full fledged projector with a multitude of inputs.

I tested it with YouTube on my iPhone (original 4GB) and videos from the iPod. Works really well, you just need to turn off sleep for the YouTube videos to play continuously.

I paired this with my iHome Capsule Speakers and have an amazingly small and great sounding projector set up that I can use almost anywhere.

This is simply, a fun device to show videos and pictures to a group of people when you don't have access or just don't want to hook up to a TV.

I like the adapter they included for the iPhone/iPod but wish they included an extra USB cable [...]to charge the iPhone/iPod while it's hooked up to the projector. This adapter is about a $50 value (for the Apple Composite Cable alone) so its great, you just need to supply your own 3.5mm to RCA cable and you can connect to any TV as well.

I hope my title helps some people before you buy this - as I did - only to find out that IT WON'T WORK WITH YOUR LAPTOP! Every review I've read fails to mention this basic fact - and the Pico website only mentions it in the fine print.

I did try it with a friend's iPod; given the small size I wasn't expecting much - but the video quality even in a pitch black room (you can't see anything otherwise) is terrible - everything has an ugly blue-green hue. I'm guessing the first techo-color TVs in the 1950s looked a lot better than this.

Save your money.

My projector has been in for repairs 6 times. The last time was October 15 and it failed again on November 12th. The warranty ran out on 11/08, and Optoma will not replace it or give me a discount on a replacement. They said take a hike you're out of luck. DON'T BUY and Optoma unless you want to risk years of headaches trying to get a lemon fixed.