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.

Personal Projector will be at the Learning Technologies exhibition, Olympia this week to demonstrate to trainers and the L&D community how mini projectors are revolutionising learning technologies.

Be a Pack Horse No More

Trainers around the country are starting to buy into the concept of using pocket projectors instead of having to lug around more equipment than a donkey. Now instead of having to carry the projector, power supplies and different cables for each device trainers are beginning to switch to one device that simply fits in your pocket. They are ditching the laptop and projector and having informal training sessions with small groups of users and shooting from the hip…quite literally.

If you’re regularly on the road then these types of device can be invaluable, as not only are they easy to set up with only 4 seconds on and off time but it means as a trainer you’re 100% certain that you have the content you need at the ready immediately and are not having to rely on the venue for anything, including power or worrying about compatability of devices or even whether or not if the projector you’ve booked is actually going to turn up so you can start the session on time.

Shoot From the Hip

The real advantage for most trainers seems to be that they can use the device on any surface or wall and it’s also a great way to enhance people’s attention as the device really creates a wow factor and heightens attention spans. Although this will wear off for the longer training sessions it’s certainly useful to know you can present your company, brochures, videos, artwork etc just about anywhere to try and get your message across in a different way.

A noticable trend with mini projectors is that with the growth in web books or Netbooks it means trainers can carry around huge volumes of information on a very small laptop yet carry with them a very small projector like the 3M micro projector and project up to 50″ so they get the best of both worlds.

Representatives from Personal Projector will be at the Learning Technologies Exhibition, Olympia 28th and 29th January so if you’d like to shed that pack horse feeling contact them on 0845 121 8800 for a demo.

Personal Projector will be at the Event Show on Wed and Thurs this week. Should you wish to see a demo of how you can really grab your customers attention at any event, exhibition or marketing event then come and see us or call us on 07954 211 375 or 0845 121 8800.

Mini pocket projectors are ideal for any companies wanting to create something really different for their events or exhibitions. Each of your staff could benefit from having a projector with its own built in memory so you can really demonstrate your capabilities and project your company brochures, corporate video or marketing materials on a hand held projector.

Its ideal to be able to show multiple messages without having to heavily invest in expensive plasma screens or even expensive or hard to find power sources as all the devices are battery powered and really low cost. Not to mention, how impressed will your prospect be if you just answer there questions there and then with a video, powerpoint or even marketing exposé on the nearest wall or even onto the floor.

BETT Show, Olympia 2009

Personal Projector are at BETT, the education show, Olympia this week and will be hooking up with teachers and trainers from across the UK to discuss uses and applications of hand held projectors in the classroom. If anyone at the show this week, would like to chat about pocket projectors and their applications please dont hesitate to call us on either 07954 21 375 or 0845 121 8800 and we would be happy to talk about the various options on the market.

To date, there have been some interesting uses of the mini pocket projector in education as demonstrated by Clare Kelly an Acting Head Teacher and  Teacher of the Year 2005 (Northern Region ). Clare says, “we are beginning to harness this type of portable projection technology in the classroom. For example, within our primary school we are finding it useful for promoting quality speaking and listening opportunities in order to support the objectives of the renewed framework for literacy.”

Clare also believes that the technology has a number of benefits for both pupils and teachers, “Children are really taking an interest in the content because its coming from an exciting new device that they can actually control themselves. With it being so portable it can be used in teaching areas without traditional projection facilities such as shared learning areas. One such example is with teaching assistants delivering the daily phonics session.

3m Micro projector

One of the things I really like about the projectors is their portability; they can easily be transported around school and used in a variety of teaching spaces. There is no need to ensure there is a power socket available or a projection screen. Staff project onto wall space, easels and even onto a large sheet of paper.  The projectors are ideal for working with small groups of children with Teaching Assistants or group members who can control the content delivery.

The ability to play video clips has been a  particularly  exciting application for the product. Staff have downloaded content from Espresso and Teacher Tube onto the Aiptek Pocket Cinema for use with small groups.  We recently used it when teaching French where videos of native speakers reading French story books were played to encourage a genuine French accent. The advantage of the pocket projector is that it focuses pupil learning and in MFL lessons pupils are more likely to experiment and practice speaking a foreign language if they are in a small group situation. It also helps they they also think that it’s a totally cool technology!

From a budgeting perspective,  mini projectors are affordable, totally portable and help us fulfil many objectives such as improved mobile learning, enhanced knowledge sharing, improved health and safety (as there are fewer wires), greener use of technology and will even help lower our long term costs (bulbs don’t need to be replaced).

From a teachers point of view, small hand held projectors are ideal as they are completely silent as they have no fan and can be turned on and off almost instantly without the need to boot up and down.

We used Personal Projector as they were the only firm who we felt clearly understood our training and education needs and also helped the school choose the right pico projector as there are some very distinct differences between the types available.”(see compare pico projectors).

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.