Customer Reviews

Optoma PK102 PICO Pocket Projector

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

OK I can't believe I am the first to review this little guy. I got mine yesterday and have been very happy with it. If you read carefully, it does everything it says it will in the specs. It was packaged great, and included three adapters - one VGA, one USB, and one composite video and audio cable.

It was brighter than I expected and easily hooked up to my laptop running Vista with no problems. The included Video Encoder worked as advertised (though I am not sure why it can't just play standard MP4 video...) and photos loaded fine. The interface is very intuitive.

I did purchase a cheap tripod (~12 bucks) with it and I am glad I did - this thing is so small it would be hard to get it pointed exactly right without.

Let's face it - this isn't great for someone working on a projector all day every day - you need better resolution and more lumens. But for the average geek at home this thing is perfect. For occasional use with laptop, or videos, or just still photo slide shows.

The unit was even smaller than I expected when I got my hands on it. To say it's the size of a cell phone is no exaggeration.

For a $250 this is one gadget you might consider in your arsenal!

I ordered this and the 3M MPro 120 to compare them, and for me the MPro was the better choice. The menu select wheel on the Optoma seems to be very tempermental (hard to select what you want) and in a bad location relative to where the unit connects to the computer. I had this connected to my MacBook and I had to manually change the display resolution to get the projector to work. The final straw for me was that the internal storage and video player - a GREAT option if they can get it to work for Mac users - requires a proprietary video encoder that you download to your computer that didn't seem to want to install on a Mac with Snow Leopard OS.

The Optoma is smaller, cheaper, and brighter than the 3M projector, and I do like the styling of the unit better than the 3M projector, but if you're a Mac user you may want to consider other options.

Product shipped fast and was properly packaged - it's very small and handy and charged up nicely. That, however, is about the only decent thing I can say for this. The picture quality was terrible! I cannot stress this enough. I had to black out the room entirely which is not practical for using it to give a sales presentation obviously and even then the picture was blurry, washed out, and small.
Folks, this product needs a lot of work to get it up to snuff. If I could have given it zero stars I would have done so happily. Don't waste your money on this. I'll have to wait another few years before I attempt this again. Darn shame too because I need it bad. I returned the ones I purchased to Amazon.

come at this device with realistic expectations and you will not be disappointed. i got it to use in a dark room to play last-generation videogames (PS2), watch DVDs, and watch streaming videos off the net. i am mega happy with it. i put mine on a gorillapod, and you'll probably want to do similarly

I bought this projector with the intention of watching movies from my computer on my bedroom wall. In theory it should be a great product, but in actuality it is far from it. There are several reasons I gave this product only one star.
First, it is not Mac compatible even though the web site says that it is. The projector can project from the Mac (by mirroring the computer display), but data cannot be transferred to the projector so the on-board memory is completely worthless. The company says that data needs to be converted to Xvid format via their proprietary software that is only for use with PC. Videos already encoded as Xvid will not play.
Second, the battery life is very poor. I was not able to watch a single (approx 8o minute) movie on it freshly charged.
Third, it is very cumbersome only being able to use the projector connected to both the computer (would not work through the included USB and VGA cables, need to buy an additional DVI adapter to get it to work at all) and plugged in. Even with the tripod, it was very unsteady and difficult to get it a straight projection.
Fourth, the projection quality was very poor. Even though the room was dark, the darker shots in the movie were impossible to see. I was not able to enlarge the picture to my desired size- about 42". The largest size I was able to project to with a clear picture was about 25". Even at this small size, the picture was not as clear as I would have expected. I was not able to get it to focus clearly on text at any size.
Lastly, the "owners manual" is virtually non existent. None of the literature that comes with the product is very useful in operating the product.

The projector is well designed, solid, the package come with three sets of cables so you can
connect your computer or your video source(camera, DVD, etc)
One usb cable (included) give you the option to send videos and photos to a 4GB inside storage!!!
you need to convert the videos before, but the software came into the package and works very well.

The audio is loud and clear instead of the size.

You can make a presentation of videos and photos without anything else!!!!

Its is quiet, very handy hand easy to use, perfect for fun at night
Perfectly portable even with all the accessories.

I'm very happy with this projector, but you must know that it have some limitations:
Works very well in dark places and shows vibrant colors, but not as well on normal light conditions
Using it as PC projector is good for videos or photos (not very sharp) but not as secondary screen or presentations, the letters doesn't look well and it is not comfortable to watch or read.
My computer send a resolution of 800 x 600 maybe the equipment works better at 640x480
but for computer presentations I don't recommend it.

I watched a movie and it get hot but works without problem, of course for a movie you must plug it.

Very soon this product will become common in many device specially mobile phones
The option of share videos and photos to any surface from a device that fit in your pocket
is extraordinary, everyone who use it, like it!

The PK102 is as good a projector as you can get today for informal presentations to small groups. Quick and easy to set up especially using a Windows Mobile device such as the Samsung Omnia 11 to run the presentation. the on board memory is more than sufficient for running a full movie, using the included media converter. further enhancements could include a brighter bulb and bluetooth connectivity, but I am sure that these elements are already under development.

I really get into Electronics. I purchased this Optoma PK102 in 12/09 and have had some fun displaying images and videos on different surfaces and watching movies (via a Laptop) on an outside screen. The issues I have deal with the design. First off, the tripod adaptor reduces the standard thread on most tripods to about half size. This makes for a very weak connection which will break if not giving the upmost care. Mine did. Second, the VGA to Pico cable (model# BC-VGUNXX01) will break if used often due to its cheap design .Mine did. The cable will cost you $50 to replace. You have a 60 or 90 day warranty on the accessories and 1 year on the projector. I attempted to contact Optoma on two different occasions via their website, where they state that they will contact you within 48 hours. That didn't happen. After a week or so, I decided to Call Optoma. Typical wait time for tech support. I was switched around a few times before getting to someone who gave me the bad news. Thirdly, Built-in speaker is almost, if not completely, useless. Fourthly, the controls should be on top front where they can be comfortable used, not on the sides where you have to contort your hand. Fifthly, the focus is too sensitive. Sixthly, battery life dies off fairly quickly after a couple months use. Overall, I think they got a good thing going, however they need to do much more R&D to have a really good product.

Very good "fun" projector for hand held games and phones but brightness leaves it lacking for any sort of business presentation.

The projector works fine if the room you are in is completely dark, even though some of the text is hard to read, but that is to be expected with the resolution it provides. If you are looking for something for your kids to play with it ill do the job just fine, but not if you need to use the disply for presentation purposes. The projector just doesn't put out enough light to do a good job in a lighted room even if the room is dimmed. I had no problem with how to use it, just won't do the job I wanted.