Optoma PK101 Pico Projector – Projector Screens

Posted on October 2, 2013 By Art Feierman

General Screen Recommendations:

I suspect that people won’t be buying a projector screen to use with the Pico. Rather, they will project onto a white or near white wall. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one, but mini-screens do exist, including those that retract into a tube. I’ve seen such small screens in sizes from about 16″ diagonal. They can be opened up, and set on a table. By the way, I recommend finding a mini-tripod for setting up the projector. Those weigh only a few ounces and are typically less than 6 inches long.

If you are going to get a screen, I’d suggest a high gain screen if possible. That will help with ambient light, and provide some extra brightness. Some mini-screens come in high gain surfaces. One example is the Da-Lite Presenter screen shown here. It is 40″ diagonal, sells for around $199, and has a particularly bright surface.

For a lot less money (around $50), Draper makes a 25″ diagonal tabletop screen for pico projectors. I can’t say that I’ve actually seen one, but here’s an image I found.

I’ll be at Infocomm in June, and look around to see if I can identify more suitable portable screens.

Optoma Pico Projector - Competitors

How does the Optoma Pico compare to other “pico” projectors on the market?
5/8/2009 – Art Feierman

The Optoma Pico PK101 is the first of the pico projectors we have looked at, so we are not in position to do any kind of serious comparison. More details will show up in the Competitors section of three additional pico projectors we hope to review in the next 60 – 90 days.

Note: (11/3/2009). Well I’ve pretty much given up on the Microvision laser based pico projector, after months of delays. I’ll complete the competitors section this month without either the Microvision, or the Samsung, neither of which I’ve been able to obtain (the Samsung I was trying to get is actually a smart phone with built in projector).

Optoma Pico vs. Samsung

Optoma Pico vs. 3M

Optoma Pico vs. Aiptek

Optoma Pico PK101 LED Projector - Warranty

5/8/2009 – Art Feierman

Optoma provides a one year parts and labor warranty on their Pico projector.

While it does not come with it’s own warranty, the LED light source is rated by Optoma as having a life of 20,000 hours (that compares to, typically 2000 to 4000 hours on most lamps going into larger projectors).