toddly6666

So I bought a used Optoma PK201 Pico Pocket Projector for 200 bucks and also a Epson 80 inch portable screen for $150. So for $350, this was totally worth my money. Here's my review:




The PK201 Pico Pocket Projector is pretty impressive technology. I bought my projector to just watch movies, so I'll give a rundown of the positives and negatives of this projector and how it plays movies on a blu-ray player using the HDMI connections.

I tested a bunch of blu-rays and dvds with this projector connected to a tripod onto my Epson portable 80 inch screen. Blu-rays are really impressive and DVDs look pretty damn amazing also. To name a few, I tested the Gladiator blu-ray, Wall-E blu-ray, Ponyo blu-ray, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom dvd, Return of the Jedi dvd, Jodhaa Akbar blu-ray, Step Up 3 blu-ray, Amelie blu-ray, Serpico blu-ray, Charlie Chaplin's The Circus blu-ray, M.A.S.K. Season 1 dvd, and Toy Story blu-ray.

Bright films such as Amelie and Jodha Akbar look much better on an HDTV. If you watch a bright movie with this projector, it's like watching a lower, slightly darker contrast version of the film, which still looks pretty damn good for a tiny projector.


POSITIVES:
- This projector can be hooked up to a blu-ray player and project 1080i, which really shows crisp clear definition, excellent detail, not a trace of pixilation, great skin texture
- Since this blu-ray can't play movies as bright as a regular high-end projector or a regular HDTV, darkly lit films stand out more with this projector, such as with my Serpico blu-ray. The best way to describe the look of blu-rays projected from this projector is as if it's playing darkly lit films such as Serpico, We Own the Night, Dark City, Blade Runner.
- Cartoon movies/tv shows of course look better than live-action films.
- Movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones are made to be projected on a big screen so I was happy the way the dvds looked.
- Playing DVDs on my blu-ray player are more impressive looking coming out of the Pico Projector than playing on my HDTV.
- Light and portable
- Looks great projected onto a wall
- Looks even better projected onto a movie screen
- This Projector has great sound when connected to headphones.
- Letterboxed, non-anamorphic DVDs look better on this projector than if they were played on an HDTV.
- After reading negative reviews of how this projector handles text projected from a computer, I got concerned how it would handle subtitled foreign movies. Not a problem at all. Subtitles and text were totally clear and in focus when watching my Amelie, Charlie Chaplin, and Jodhaa Akbar blu-rays.
- Focus knob works perfectly.


NEGATIVES:
- Skin colors show a bit red the larger you make the screen size: less than 70 inches projected has good skin tones but when it gets larger than 70 inches, skin tone gets a bit red.
- Since this is a low-budget projector, the image is a bit darker than what would be seen on a bright HDTV. But I've actually seen movie theater projections which have been equal to the projection of the Pico Projector.
- Room needs to be totally dark to benefit the best quality of the projection (which is the norm for projections).
- The directions that came with the Pico Projector are just awful. It took a while to interpret their "guidance illustrations". And to my fault, I spent almost 4 hours trying to get the projector to work. The main problem was that I didn't know that you have to push the Mini HDMI input all the way into the Projector (Don't be afraid to push it all the way in as I was.)
- The sound is a bit tiny sounding but can get loud enough to watch a movie normally.
- Battery doesn't last (but not a big deal since you can just have it plugged in all the time if you plan to watch movies in the house).


Overall, the Pico Pocket Projector is pretty amazing and a great way to project your blu-rays and dvds BIG!



This is a screenshot of the Ponyo blu-ray playing on the projector. It's not blurry, it's just that I took the photo quickly and didn't pause it. I'll upload better photos soon:

Spiky

It accepts 1080i and other resolutions, but its actual native res is 854x480. Not bad for the price and portability. Combine with an iPod or similar and you've got quite the portable child-pleaser.

Sdallnct

Yea...be careful with the resolution thing....Most moder displays will accept anything (almost). But the end result is whatever the display is.

For the money tho....hummm....might be fun when stuck out of town during football season.