Looking at Mini Projectors

[Biren78]

Here's my problem statement:
I am often in labs, in offices, or in the datacenter. Sometimes I just want to project. The company doesn't have projectors in many rooms I think as a cost saving measure. It is way easier to talk about news, read diagrams and everything in big if you have more than a half dozen people looking at the same screen.

We are looking for a mini projector that is lightweight and we can carry around.

Top option for about $360 is the Dell M110 - it is cheaper on ebay than on Dell.com so that's good. We are funding ourselves and don't want to pay over $400 so Dell's tax collection and base price makes ebay $100 cheaper.
Dell M110 Dell M110 Ultra Mobile Projector 5397063150687 | eBay

Here is the other option an AAXA P3 . $245 but never heard of the company. It has a built in battery.
Amazon.com : AAXA P3

That company also makes a P4-X. Similar but for about $50 more it is smaller and lighter but lower resolution. Amazon.com : AAXA P4 P4X Pico Projector, 95 Lumens, Pocket Size, Li-Ion Battery, HDMI, Media Player, 15, 000 Hour LED, DLP Projector : Electronics

Anyone try these? I want to get one this week. Really want feedback from a community I trust.

 

[dba]

I use projectors all the time. Everyone says that their organization has one, but of course it's in use when you get there, the bulb is shot, the shutter is wonky, it's an old 800x600, etc. I looked at micro projectors but found that the brightness was nowhere close to good enough. Most micro projectors are between 100 and 300 lumens whereas I consider 2,500 lumens to be the minimum useful brightness. The pico projectors (pico being smaller than micro) are incredibly cool looking, but at 10-80 lumens they are useless for presentations.

My solution was to find a projector that is full sized but very slim. I ended up going with a Casio. Because my laptop is very thin, I am able to stack the 1.5" projector on top of the laptop inside of a normal laptop bag.

You should be able to find an older used Casio non-LED non-Laser ultra-slim for your $400 price point - see the XJ-S* models. I'd recommend buying a good projector regardless of the price. When you're in a conference room projecting, that projector becomes a very important representation of your company. Seeing your logo projected as a fuzzy blob with odd colors just 100 lumens bright on a screen only 30" across does not help to convey the message that you know your tech and are worthy of getting that $250K deal.

 

[Patrick]

Thank you both for introducing me to an idea that is going to end up costing me quite a bit of money.

I see the Casio for $775 New Casio XJ A141 Portable Slim LED DLP Projector w HDMI 2500 ANSI Lumens XGA 079767466084 | eBay but am a bit worried about the 5lbs versus under 1lb for the Dell. I am trying to move to lightweight tech so the question is whether 300 lumens is good enough for a swiss army knife type of functionality to pull out.

The other question I would have is how do these things travel. Sounds less relevant for the OP but would be applicable here for me.

 

[alex1002]

I use projectors all the time. Everyone says that their organization has one, but of course it's in use when you get there, the bulb is shot, the shutter is wonky, it's an old 800x600, etc. I looked at micro projectors but found that the brightness was nowhere close to good enough. Most micro projectors are between 100 and 300 lumens whereas I consider 2,500 lumens to be the minimum useful brightness. The pico projectors (pico being smaller than micro) are incredibly cool looking, but at 10-80 lumens they are useless for presentations.

My solution was to find a projector that is full sized but very slim. I ended up going with a Casio. Because my laptop is very thin, I am able to stack the 1.5" projector on top of the laptop inside of a normal laptop bag.

You may be able to find a used Casio ultra-slim for your $400 price point. If not, I'd recommend buying one anyway, regardless of the price. When you're in a conference room projecting, that projector becomes a very important representation of your company. Seeing your logo projected as a fuzzy blob with odd colors just 100 lumens bright on a screen only 30" across does not help to convey the message that you know your tech and are worthy of getting that $250K deal.

Do you guys know if these are quiet?

 

[dba]

Do you guys know if these are quiet?

They are generally very quiet, though you should check the specs for a given projector before you buy.

 

[dba]

Thank you both for introducing me to an idea that is going to end up costing me quite a bit of money.

I see the Casio for $775 New Casio XJ A141 Portable Slim LED DLP Projector w HDMI 2500 ANSI Lumens XGA 079767466084 | eBay but am a bit worried about the 5lbs versus under 1lb for the Dell. I am trying to move to lightweight tech so the question is whether 300 lumens is good enough for a swiss army knife type of functionality to pull out.

The other question I would have is how do these things travel. Sounds less relevant for the OP but would be applicable here for me.

300 lumens is very very dim for a business projector. It might be considered acceptable in a completely dark room, but then your audience will fall asleep!

 

[mrkrad]

Yeah if you use laser /dlp technology you might be able to get that up. 300 lumens is like the ones they sell at toys r us for pitch black camping (in the house) tv projection.

If you have to throw that 15-20 feet because of a big desk you would be looking pretty sad.