Super Mini projector for $269

[Kaido]

Stumbled across this on Amazon, $270 shipped: (not HD, but super portable & relatively cheap compared to other projectors)

http://www.amazon.com/RIF6-CUBE-High-Res-Projector--Mini-HDMI/dp/B00QXS8L6I

Official website:

http://rif6.com/

* 2" x 2" x 2"
* LED lamp (20k hours)
* 854x480 (WGA) resolution (not HD, but fine for movies)
* 50 lumens (note that LED lumens appear brighter) with an advertised max 120" screen size
* Manual focus (no zoom)
* Built-in battery (reviewers say it lasts about 90 minutes aka 1.5 hours)
* Mini HDMI/MHL port (for Android; you'll need a Lightning to HDMI adapter if you want to use an iPhone)
* Mini HDMI charge port
* 3.5mm minijack for headphones or speakers
* MicroSD slot

In the box: (based on this video)

* Projector
* Mounting bracket
* Tripod
* Remote control
* MicroUSB cable (5-pin & 11-pin cables) * Doesn't appear to include an A/C adapter
* Mini HDMI to HDMI cable

I haven't found much in the way of reviews other than this one:

http://www.chipchick.com/2015/04/rif6-cube-mobile-projector-review.html

Their Youtube channel is kind of sparse:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkNsnbYkIT5_RiZ0ACs0lqg/videos

I'm a fan of all things cube, so this looks pretty neat. The reviewers say that the DLP tech gives it an acceptable picture quality, despite not being HD resolution. If you wanted to paint a wall (or board), this would probably be a good candidate for either an ambient light screen or a MaxMud Low-Light paint. There's some other cool mini-projectors reviewed here:

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-pico-projector/

On the topic of tiny projectors, Brookstone has a 720p model with 200-lumens & a 2-hour battery life for $399:

http://www.brookstone.com/brookstone-pocket-projector-pro-with-dlp-intellibright-technology

And for another hundred bucks, the ZTE Spro 2 just came out, which has Android built-in for playing games & movies: ($499 without contract)

http://www.att.com/devices/zte/spro-2-smart-projector.html#sku=sku7540226?CAGPSPN=pla&WT.srch=1

 

[ImpulsE69]

It kills me that at this point, there are things like these that still are not at least 1080. ;/

Also - there's lots of reviews saying that it only lasts 90 minutes and you can't charge it while it is playing. That won't do for most newer movies. However there was one review I found that says that it will continue to run if you plug it in (contrary to their manual).

This would be a major negative if so.

Correction. Found this from them:

To overcome the battery life we offer a very deep discount on our external powerbanks which should allow you to watch entire movies without a problem (please contact us if you want the discount code, since you purchased the CUBE). Also please note that when you connect the CUBE to a laptop or another device that is connected to electric current you override the battery and can basically watch indefinitely.

 

[Kaido]

It kills me that at this point, there are things like these that still are not at least 1080. ;/

Also - there's lots of reviews saying that it only lasts 90 minutes and you can't charge it while it is playing. That won't do for most newer movies. However there was one review I found that says that it will continue to run if you plug it in (contrary to their manual).

This would be a major negative if so.

Correction. Found this from them:

To overcome the battery life we offer a very deep discount on our external powerbanks which should allow you to watch entire movies without a problem (please contact us if you want the discount code, since you purchased the CUBE). Also please note that when you connect the CUBE to a laptop or another device that is connected to electric current you override the battery and can basically watch indefinitely.

Most non-techies don't mind the resolution issue; I have a lot of friends who still buy non-HD projectors for like their kids who only watch cartoons, which is useful when you're looking at the price difference of $600 for a decent projector vs. $300 for an acceptable projector & the audience won't care that it's not high def. Plus it's so small that you can toss it in a bag & just hook your phone up to play a movie in the basement or a wall somewhere.

The big thing they need to fix at this size isn't so much the resolution as much as the lumens. I feel my 500-lumen LED is only acceptable in a pitch black room; the 750 & 800-lumen models I've used (ML750, PLED-W500, etc.) are in the "this is perfect" level. So they need to figure out how to amplify the brightness while keeping the size small. The Optoma ML750 is pretty close (4" x 4") & pumps out a good, bright picture at 720p, so it's just a matter of shrinking it & adding the good Ti chip for the resolution.

I'm surprised they haven't released a 4K chip, but that would pretty much kill the 4K TV profit margin because why buy a huge new television if you can spend $700 on a bright 4K LED projector that lasts forever & paint some ambient screen paint on your wall to view it during daytime hours? :awe:

 

[Kaido]

Found another neat one, this time with an external battery:

http://www.celluon.com/products_picoair_overview.php

Celluon PicoAir, $349. 32 lumens, although reviews are really good. Picture quality is excellent...I'm starting to become really impressed with low-lumen LED projectors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM9aEBqqPAU

Aaxa also has a new super-bright LED projector (800 lumens) sporting a 90-minute battery:

http://aaxatech.com/products/m4_mobile_led_projector.html

90 minutes just seems kind of pathetic to me. I'd want at least double that, ideally. Although they also sell a short-throw LED projector now: (150 lumens)

http://aaxatech.com/products/ST200-Short-Throw-LED-Pico-Projector.html

The interesting thing with this one is that it uses a LCOS engine with LED lighting, which actually looks awesome: (and under $300!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADzfO970LjU

There's also a competitor to the Cube - the UO Smart Beam - a laser-based projector:

http://uobeam.com/

And a whole bunch of RIF6 clones on eBay: SKT, SK, and Synet "smart beam" cube projectors (ranging from 40-lumen 640x480 VGA to 50-lumen 854x480), as well as LG MyBeam. One really neat cube model with Android is the iCODIS CB-100 for $300, which is another Full Wide VGA projector: (FWVGA @ 854x480)

http://www.amazon.com/iCODIS-CB-100-Projector-Android-Portable/dp/B00KSTMVT6

The Brookstone projector looks like it has some Chinese competition in the Hanying K9+ projector on eBay as well. Lots of neat options coming out. The Pico Pros channel on Youtube has a bunch of video reviews available:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Picopros/videos

I like the idea of integration for convenience...having a battery pack built-in, having Android built-in. Plus there are some neat features in newer models coming out, like the Indigogo-backed Touch Pico Android projector, which turns any surface into a pen-capable touchscreen: (80 lumens with an IR tracker)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P604eW4Ttk0

That one is a little pricier tho: ($600)

http://www.touchjet.com/

Kind of neat that you can throw the image on a table & basically use it as a giant monitor:

https://youtu.be/PzWv3Bgijlk?t=495

With stuff like micro Laser LED & micro LCOS LED projector tech becoming more available, it will be interesting to see what kind of brightness levels we can get. The Aaxa ST200 looks pretty great in a dark room based on the Youtube video above; I'm sure TI has a 4K DLP chip ready to go, it's just a matter of getting them into suppliers at a cheap enough price & combining them with an nice bright light source :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

On a tangent, I didn't know Aaxa was in the projector film business:

http://www.aaxatech.com/products/film.htm

They sell 3M's Vikuiti raer-projector film, as well as their own Vizitex film, Brightex film, and Cleartex film. This is similar to what Visual Planet is doing, although they also integrate touch capability:

http://www.visualplanet.biz/

It will be interesting to see how this stuff progresses, especially with inexpensive short-throw projectors like the Aaxa ST200. There's some additional technologies available, like Projection Film US's anti-glare film, which goes on the outside of the glass:

http://projectionfilm.us/anti-glare-films

And 3M's Vikuti black film, which looks great in bright environments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFcpg5A8AhQ

Like, it would be cool to set one of these up with a huge glass room divider for an interactive jumbo touchscreen for family gaming, family planning (week's calendar, financial planning, etc.) so you could just fire stuff up at the dinner table or whatever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1TkYWh8lPQ

Last I saw, the highest number of touchpoints available with the foil tech was 32 on multi-touch, so you could get some fun multi-player action going on. Really neat stuff to see...homes of the future! Would be interesting to build a DIY rear-projection television too. Screen Goo has a sprayable paint that essentially does that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGiQfhmn4hQ

I'd love to build a larger version of this & put it between say the family room & kitchen as a kind of ultra-modern television set:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw0fM5L-844

 

[MongGrel]

I'd looked at similar things before.

Not going there myself.

 

[Kaido]

Wow, so many creative possibilities with these micro projectors. Lumo is a $500 model that comes with games for kids & projects onto the floor. I've seen these at movie theaters & kid's museums:

http://www.lumoplay.com/shop.html

Includes over 100 games at launch...pretty awesome!

 

[Kaido]

I'd looked at similar things before.

Not going there myself.

I think it's just a matter of time. funboy6942 posted the LG PF1500 LED projector in the other thread, which is a 1400-lumen 1080p LED projector for $950 with a footprint of less than 9" x 6" x 4". Really, anything above 700 lumens (for LED) gives you an excellent picture in a dark room, so while the new LG is pretty compact, these models are getting even smaller. Combined with different screen paints, touch & display foils, IR trackers, etc., some really cool things can be done.

 

[MongGrel]

I think it's just a matter of time. funboy6942 posted the LG PF1500 LED projector in the other thread, which is a 1400-lumen 1080p LED projector for $950 with a footprint of less than 9" x 6" x 4". Really, anything above 700 lumens (for LED) gives you an excellent picture in a dark room, so while the new LG is pretty compact, these models are getting even smaller. Combined with different screen paints, touch & display foils, IR trackers, etc., some really cool things can be done.

True, but if I were buying a Projector myself these days I wouldn't worry about it being portable I guess personaly, and could get a higher res one for cheaper than 950.

Almost wish I'd bought a Mitsubishi that was nice awhile back when they were clearing em out.

They do seem to be improving of course.