Pico Projectors

Pico projectors as they’re being called are the next great thing to happen to board rooms, but business people know all to well that something like this can have so many other options.  The pocket sized projectors are small enough to put in your pocket or brief case to dazzle clients with a huge presentation on a wall projected from your iPhone.  The new technology comes from 3M with the MPro120 and WowWee Technologies’ Cinemin Swivel.  Both of these projectors sell for about $350.

Both projectors do connect to the iPhone however the MPro120 has been more difficult to connect according to some users.  Both projectors do connect to DVD players easy enough.  The major drawback to the projectors is that due to its size, the bulb doesn’t produce as much light as dedicated larger projectors.  The bulb only emits about 10 lumens of light so you will need a darkened room to adequately see any movie projected onto a wall.  Now if you’re camping outdoors in the middle of nowhere and watching a movie, then there isn’ta problem and so shouldn’t be a dark boardroom.   Another drawback is that the battery life on these projectors may cause people to wait for a next version.  The battery will just get you through a 2 hour movie for the Swivel and the MPro120 lasts about four hours and you’ll need external speakers to power the audio.

The life of the bulb is rated for 20,000 hours of playback.   This should be plenty of watching time for a normal user.  Also, the company states that if the bulb goes out in the first year, they’ll replace the bulb free of charge.   The projectors don’t look as good as a dedicated projector but you’re really paying for the portability of the device.  In a pinch, the micro projectors works well and can produce some decent pictures but if you’re in the middle of nowhere and camping out by the stars, a movie would be a great idea.