AAXA Pico Projector - Physical Tour
08/23/2010 - Anthony Arrigo
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Appearance
The AAXA L1 is a pretty simple looking device. Not a lot of styling but it is a durable projector with no apparent physical weaknesses. Dimensions are about the same size as an iphone but just more depth at .8 inches. It is light at 170 grams so you barely notice it in your laptop bag. The only physical limitation I noticed was that it did not have a tripod mount hole on the bottom. However a separate mounting bracket is included for this purpose. Just to note, the threaded hole is recessed under a cone pictured below. A longer screw than most tripods have might be necessary. Most Pico projectors do have the tripod hole built in, so mounting to any tripod is easy.
Control Panel
The L1 does have a pretty full featured control panel. It is also backlit. This is especially important since you will be working in the dark when you use this projector. Was impressed that they took the time to add the backlight, it might have made the projector almost too frustrating to setup had they not built in this feature.
AAXA Pico Inputs
The L1 comes with a special VGA cable to connect your laptop to the projector. This port is also used to connect a RCA and S-video signal. Right next to the video input port is the AC power to either charge the battery or run the projector under AC power. To read files, it has a USB port for the included 2 GB thumb drive. Also on the projector is a 3.5mm headphone jack. A tiny reset pin hole is also built into the projector to get it back to original factory settings.
AAXA Pico Menus
Being that the AAXA L1 has a control panel it also means you have a pretty extensive menu system. You have a substantial amount of control over the projectors functions. You can control the language, the volume and all your documents. It is not as intuitive as one might think and the manual will be required to get around smoothly at first, but there is no doubt it is full featured. There is quite a bit going on in terms of the interface. I liken it to using an actual PC computer in some areas of the menu system.
Remote Control
The AAXA L1 does not have a remote control, but you won’t be using this projector in a large room so being mobile while presenting is not necessary.
AAXA Pico Lens Throw
You can achieve a pretty nice sized image with the L1. The range of image possibilities go from from projecting a 10 inch image from 12 inches away to projecting a 70 inch image from 84 inches. Keep in mind that you will want to stay with the 30 to 50 inch diagonal in order to get the most out of your projector. The AAXA L1 was just too dim when you start to go any larger.
Lens Shift & Setup
Not only is there no adjustable lens shift, but there is no lens offset either. The AAXA L1's image will begin exactly where the lens begins. So imagine that if the projector is 4 feet off the ground, then the projected image will start at 4 feet. Any tilt of the projector both downward or upward will create the keystone effect or that trapezoid look that we often see when presenters don't setup their projectors correctly. The AAXA does not have keystone correction like most LCD and DLP projectors of the non Pico class. You will need to set the projector up completely level and have the lens be exactly perpendicular to the screen to have it project a square image.