Initial impressions very pleased
This was an upgrade for me from a 720p DLP projector (Mitsubishi HD1000u). Initial impressions are very positive based on about 10 hours of viewing & tweaking. Very quiet and plenty bright running in low power mode. The high resolution (1920 X 1080) approaches that for a typical 2k digital cinema so my 145" diagonal screen viewed from about 15 feet distance provides a very pleasing movie experience. That said the increase in resolution from 720p is an incremental step so it is not the be all and end all of image quality in projectors. More specifically the source material you feed it is what really brings out the quality. Many HD feed materials (from cable or satellite) don't ever approach the inherent resolution of the projector so at this point only blu-ray source material will really give the utmost in high resolution detail (and not even all disks depending on the original mastering etc.). Black levels are similar to my previous DLP projector so if you are obsessed with having pitch black star fields you should opt for a pricier DLP or LCD projector which may more closely approach jet black in those situations. I don't worry too much about this aspect reminding myself that even film projectors don't provide jet black when the screen goes blank so the HD20 actually matches the real cinema experience more closely (how's that for rationalizing why a cheaper projector is better!) . At this price level (<$1000) it is hard to imagine a bigger bang for the buck in terms of image quality. Finally I highly recommend you check out www.avsforum.com where there is an extensive discussion thread about this and competing projectors.
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Wow Certainly worth the wait!
I had pre-ordered this projector for almost a month before it was shipped which gave me time to contemplate my purchase decision. I went around to the shops and checked the PK 201 102 models and other brands like the 3M pico projector and the Samsung palm sized LED projector. Especially that I have a full size DLP HD projector that i bough last year. The inconvenience of having to setup the screen and the speakers in the garden to watch a nice cinematic experience on giant screen reduced these occasions to just a handful through a year. I had high hopes for the portable battery operated projector but I was aware of the fact that its power was low and can only be used in dimmed rooms.
It finally arrived and much to my surprise it beat my expectations just out of the box. it looks and feels better than any of the other ones i have examined first hand. The casing is sturdy and compact although the zoom swivel looks fragile.
The picture quality is very good and can certainly beat the quality of a regular TV. i used it with a nokia micro SD card from my old mobile and i ran a slide show on the ceiling with short videos it took my breath away. i hooked it up to my iphone and watched a full movie in my bedroom in full widescreen mode you will be in for a good surprise :) you only need the AV cable for the iphone or ipad and a bluetooth or wired earphones and you have you 100% portable cinema box that fits in your pocket. I also tried it with apple TV connected through the HDMI link. It delivers a very nice picture. the built in speaker is good enough for my kids to watch cartoon while sitting just behind the projector.
Although I love this projector i have a few comments to make.
The battery life is not enough for one full movie and does not charge well if you operate the projector while it is plugged to power source.
It heats up a little too quickly i know it is summer time but in 10 minutes it's casing is hot.
With that said my final verdict is still excellent and highly recommended.
I also recommend the following accessories:
1) A small tripod is very important for ventilation and also positioning
2) The remote is very handy because the buttons on the projector are small and as they dim you cannot make out which button you are pressing. also good for slide shows and short videos off the memory card.
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