After a 3 year wait the Microvision Show WX projector has finally gone on sale in the USA for a staggering $999 / £666 / €735. Whilst it might be going on sale at devilish prices (I’m sure those prices in sterling and dollars have some significance) it should come down in price to around £500 in the UK and will probably arrive in Q3 or Q4 this year.

Here’s our quick review of the show WX

Pros of Microvision Show WX pico projector

- its very thin and lightweight

- it has auto focus means its always in focus

- its widescreen (although this can be a problem actually fitting it onto some walls or screens)

- its the nicest design of any pico projector and in terms of style its up there with the iphone

- it has VGA connectivity as well as connection to ipods etc (but cant be used as a standalone device with no SD card or onboard memory)

Cons of Microvision Show WX pico projector

- the brightness is disappointing at only 10 lumens as when the lights are turned on or the blinds are not completely shut its very difficult to see. Pocket projectors like the Adapt 305 are significantly brighter in these conditions.

- its £300 / $450 / €330 more expensive than the Adapt 305 and 3M mpro 150 with far less features

- no micro SD slot or onboard memory

- takes a while to warm up and switch on compared to all other picos

- menu buttons are quite fiddly and its easy to turn it off by accident and annoying when you have to switch it back on again and wait an age

- there is quite a lot of speckling on the screen so you’d need to really show it on a proper screen rather than just any wall which you would do with a normal projector. This maybe why Microvision have decided to bundle a screen with it but clearly your paying for it at $999.

Overall, the Microvision Show WX is beautiful design but overall its disappointing considering the 3 year wait and that many other competitors have now produced far superior products. Couple the lack of brightness with the enourmous price tag its really hard to recommend this projector when projectors like the 3m Mpro 150 and the Adapt 305 are cheaper, brighter, have more connectivity, are easier to use and are quicker to boot up.

Realistically the Microvision Show WX is a mid range rather than a top of the range mini projector and there are many projectors at around £290 / $430/  €320 whcih would equal its performance but if you want the best projector for less money then the Adapt 305 is still the number one choice pocket  projector in the world today.

Ooops, well this was slightly embarrassing. On yesterdays Gadget Section of The Hour on STV, Scotland’s ITV,  the technology review didnt go quite according to plan when the guys tested the Adapt 305 on Live TV. The poor little projector got knocked off its pedestal by a popcorn machine and bounced off a hard floor in the studio.

The presenter cleverly recovered by saying it was a good drop test and it proves that this projector was very well made..amazingly the Adapt 305 still works perfectly. Check out the video here (3.15 secs into the video http://tinyurl.com/ybvje3u).

For more detailed video on the Adapt 305, its features and why its the number one pocket projector in the world click here

3m Mpro 120 video

3M Mpro 120

The 3M Mpro 120 is the new pocket projector offering from 3M which is a marked improvement on its predecessor, the Mpro 110. 3M have come up with a nice sleek design for this projector and have targeted the product squarely at the demanding business customer.

You can expect a number of new benefits with the Mpro 120 including enhanced brightness and picture quality, amazing battery life, integrated speakers and a rubberised exterior design.

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Aiptek T20 with Digital Picture Quality

The new Aiptek T20 Pocket Cinema Projector is now available prior to its Sept launch at Personal Projector. The Aitpek T20 is a revolutionary pico projector as its the first to connect a projector to a laptop via a USB. This means you can replace your heavy analogue VGA cables, battery and mains charger with just one lightweight cable. It’s also the lightest projector on the market today (125g) and offers incredible sharp picture quality for its tiny size.

The projector is the lightest we’ve ever seen as its doesn’t need a battery to power it as power is drawn from the USB itself. For this reason Aiptek have been able to make it ultra small too. (more…)

London Lite, Thursday 28th May 2009

The popular London newspaper, London Lite, reviewed a number of pocket projectors in its recent technology round-up of the latest hot gadgets.

The London Lite review covered a number of pico projectors including

- 3M Mpro 110
- Aiptek V10+
- Adapt Pico Projector
- Aiptek Docking Station

Aiptek V10 Plus

The new Aiptek V10 Plus is the first pico projector to offer a Record & Store feature…this bascially means that each time you pass through any video through the projector it will record it directly onto the units own internal memory (2GB).

Now you might be thinking why on earth would I need this feature.. well apart from the extra memory (1gb) you get with the V10 Plus model its well worth using the Record & Store feature to SHARE content with friends and colleagues.

Imagine you’re down the pub and you’re friends have just come back from the holiday of a lifetime..lets say they’ve been on safari they can now project 50 inches high onto the pub wall their own version of Big Cat Week. Lets say there was a comedy moment where the lions decide that your friend looks like a nice lunch and starts to give chase while your friend’s videoing the experience, then you might want to share the clip with others too…so you just press record on your projector and it stores it ready for you to play your own copy back later and share with others.

Whether its business or pleasure this really does open a great new way to share videos from iphones or mobile phones equiped with video-out, DVD’s etc.

For business users, if you already have a large number of videos on your website or on your laptop then its a great way to show them to your customers and targets and for you to share content both inside and outside your organisation.

Obviously copyright protection is in place so you cant start recording your favourite blockbuster movie straight onto the device but there is so much publically available content on You Tube now surely there are hours of fun to be had out of this great new projector and for business users its one extra way to differentiate yourself with wow factor video sharing.

When asking yourself which pocket, mini, pico or micro projector you should choose, there are a number of things to consider. The table below highlights the key differences between 3m micro projector and the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 projector.

The final choice of which mini projector will come down to what type of content you need to project and whether or not you will have your laptop with you. Its ultimately a trade off between the need for direct laptop connection at VGA quality (3m) versus the convenience of having your content on the projector but with the need to convert video files and (in some cases) enhance PowerPoint files (Aiptek).

Table of Comparison: Key differences between 3m and Aiptek pocket projectors

One of the main differences with the 2 projectors is the fact that the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 means you no longer have to carry either a laptop or heavy projector with lots of cables. The Aiptek combines both projector and laptop with a 1 to 2 hour battery life.

Conversely, the 3m micro projector has the advantage of working out of the box with a laptop by connecting through a supplied VGA cable (i.e. as you would normally connect a laptop to a standard projector). So although the 3m projector doesn’t have any onboard memory it will connect directly and easily to a laptop without the need to transfer or convert any (video or PowerPoint) files.

Its also worth mentioning when not to use/purchase a pico projector. Pocket projectors don’t lend themselves well to
-        PowerPoint presentations with lots of small text to groups of >10-12 people
-        Where sunlight shines directly onto the area
-        Onto dark surfaces / walls or heavily textured surfaces

The table above highlights the major differences between the pico projectors and its also worth noting the benefits of both Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 and 3m micro projector:-

-        Fast boot. Switch projector on or off in less than 5 secs without risking bulb damage

-        Silent operation: These LED projectors dont require a fan which means no noise

-        Can Pass through a TV out: act as a pass through system for any electronic device with a video out or TV out (RCA yellow cables) which means you can project from portable DVD players, games consoles, mobile phones (Nokia N95/96) etc

-        Are Environmentally friendly: are far greener than older projectors with no need to replace expensive mercury bulbs

-        Have Lower total cost of ownership than older projectors as bulbs last significantly  longer

-        Have a 1-2 hour battery life - great for when there is a powercut or no plug/powersource and means you don’t have wires everywhere (improving health and safety aspects)

-        Increase sharing of content (how many times have you listened to someone go through a presentation and just seen the back of the laptop, mobile)

Ultimately, both products are incredible advances in micro projection and will help deliver the wow factor to whoever uses/sees them. Overall, the final choice of which pocket projector is best for users has come down to

-        If you’re a business user often working heavily with PowerPoint and prefer to carry a laptop around then most users will need the 3m micro projector

-        If you’re either a consumer or business user wishing to “Project and Go” just about anywhere and do impromptu presentations, watch a video or playback photos then most users will prefer the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10.

-        Users working mainly with video or still images also tend to prefer the Aiptek device as the projection size can be far larger than the 3m device.