AAXA Pico - Review Summary
A bottom line summary of the AAXA Pico Projector's pros and cons and capabilities.
08/23/2010 - Anthony Arrigo
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AAXA Pico: Bottom Line
In summary I would say the AAXA L1 stacks up with other Pico projectors pretty well in terms of performance, but the price point with a MSRP of $599 is a little on the high side when you consider projectors that are more capable are going for about half the price. It is hard to recommend the AAXA L1 because of the price. Compared to similar models it just did not have any particular special features that justified its above $400 price tag. One has to really know exactly what they want to get out of such a tiny projector. As mentioned, this is not a tool for presenters who need to impress large audiences. It is more designed for those that have portable devices that want a portable device to help them share content on their iphone or similar. Quick, show and tells when you need something bigger than your smart phone screen make these really an ideal tool. If a projector that is a little larger, lets say about the footprint of a piece of paper and a varying height of about 3 to 4 inches is not a big deal, then you might be able to find a much more powerful and capable projector for about the same price. So keep that in mind.
Navigating and setting up the AAXA L1 was pretty straightforward, but certainly was not as easy to use as your typical portable projector designed for professional business presentations that often produce 1500 lumens or more. The menu system was just not as easy to work with because of the limited control panel and lack of remote control. Nonetheless, the projector was never really designed for those purposes to begin with.
The fact that the projector can read so many different types of files without the use of a laptop is pretty impressive. I can see a lot of moments where a person who prefers to travel very light might want to project a PDF onto a hotel wall to review points for a business presentation. It could provide a great practice platform.
The projectors ability to show movies and games is limited, but for camping trips and other situations where image quality is not a make a break situation, the Pico style of projector, especially the L1 would perform adequately.
AAXA Pico Projector: Pros
- Incredibly small size and weight. Weighs just 170 grams
- Reads many different types of files without the use of a laptop
- Has a USB port to read files from
- No need to focus the projector. Just position and start presenting
- Has a fairly long battery life of 1.5 hours
- 10,000 hour light source
- Supports up to three different types of video signal. VGA, RCA and S-video
AAXA Pico Projector: Cons
- Not very bright at 20 lumens. Measured lumens on a 30” x 23” image was 11 lumens
- Menu system was not very straightforward and required the manual.
- Laser light technology had a speckled appearance and was distracting after a few minutes.
- Limited video inputs.
AAXA Pico Projector: 20 Questions Answered
1) What is the native resolution and what is the max resolution?
Native Resolution is SVGA(800x600). Does not accept higher resolutions.
2) Largest image you can project and how far do you have to be to achieve it?
You can achieve a 70 inch diagonal image and you must be 84 inches from the screen.
3) Standard battery life?
1.5 hours.
4) Does it have internal memory, and how much?
No internal memory. Comes with 2GB USB memory stick.
5) What light source technology does the projector use?
Uses laser light and lasts an estimated 10,000 hours.
6) What is the native aspect ratio and does it support other aspect ratios?
4:3 and does not support other aspect ratios.
7) What is the throw ratio?
No zoom. Distance is 1.2x screen diagonal.
8) Does it have a remote control?
No You will not need one since for this kind of presenting you will be right next to the projector. .
9) Does it have a full featured control panel on the projector?
Yes. You can control all the projectors functions.
10) What type of warranty does it have?
1 Year limited parts and labor.
11) Does it have a focus adjustment?
No. Is in focus if within the projectors specified capabilities.
12) What inputs/ouputs does the projector have?
One input for video signal that accepts a VGA cable, a RCA cable and an optional S-video cable.
13) Is it compatible with smartphones? Which ones?
Yes, with optional cable. Project images and your smartphones screen.
14) What files types can be used for a presentation. Document?
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF. Image formats: JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG. Video formats would be: AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, MPG. Audio formats: MP3, MP2, OGG, WAV.
15) What light source technology is used in the projector?
The light source is laser technology rated to last 10,000 hours. Most likely will have next generation model before needing to replace.
16) Will it accept HD video sources and what is the highest resolution it will accept?
It does not accept direct HD video sources.
17) What cables does the projector come with, WHAT might I need?
The projector comes with one VGA cable to connect your laptop and one RCA cable with L/R audio. For S-video you will need an optional cable. Also, a special cable is necessary to connect an iphone, or ipod device.
18) How much outboard memory can be used by the projector?
The projector uses the 2GB included memory stick, but the projector can accept up to 16GB of USB flash memory and 30GB of a FAT32 USB hard disk
19) What is the highest brightness in standard mode with just battery and brightness with expansion pack or AC?
Highest brightness is 20 lumens. It has just one brightness mode.
20) What environment is this projector best suited to be used?
Dark environments with no ambient light for best viewing.
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