Forever Plus finally takes a pico projector to 720p
Well, would you look at that! It's not 3M, Dell, Toshiba or any other mega-corp taking the totally tired pico projector from lackluster to 720p -- oh no, it's, um, Forever Plus. Said beamer has been around the block a time or two, but given the native 1,280 x 768 native resolution, we couldn't help but take notice. Reportedly, the 0.49- x 0.59- x 0.19-inch box outputs via HDMI and packs a lamp life of 30,000 hours, but we definitely have serious doubts about the quality. And the actual availability, for that matter.


















i can't help it but i LOVE small things! I have a small wife, a small car and I work a small job. gotta be absolutely FANTASTIC!!!
Everything small? Even the contents of your pants?
@ Mark
Why do ppl think that is so funny? I don't see the humor...it's not nice and inappropiate imo.
wow. that is small. 0.49- x 0.59- x 0.19-inch - that's smaller than the hdmi connector! (smile)
That was my thought as I read this. How the hell can you even put an HDMI port on something that small. Something tells me those dimensions are off by a couple of inches in every direction.
Outputs HDMI?
This writeup needs the loving touch of an editor, I think. The dimensions are adsurdly wrong, too.
I know that your not really journalist but come on take some pride in your work.
um...12.5 x 15 x 5 cm translates to 4.92 x 5.9 x 1.97 in
Not as pico as some of the others.
Based on the size of the VGA port in that picture, your dimensions are right on.
But still, pretty small. For something that could very well be a 3D mockup.
.01 lumens
I might be a bit late on this one but...
Anyone who has / is considering a pico projector- What do you use it for? I cant see many situations where a laptop screen (presumably you are connecting a laptop anyway) wouldn't be way more legible?
A reliable, sufficiently-bright pico projector would be a HUGE help to me in my job. I have to travel to new customers to train them on our procedures, and I typically train between 5 & 10 customers. Many of them don't have proper meeting facilities or equipment, so as things are now I have to train them by going through binders with our training material. My company has large, clunky projectors available to us, but I don't want to lug around a huge projector when traveling, be responsible for it getting damaged/lost in transit, etc.
Having a portable (and cheap) AV solution like this would be a godsend to me. If the prices hold true, I'd pay for one out of my own pocket if I had to.
I appreciate that many (myself included) could have a use for such a device, it just seems that whacking up the resolution seems secondary to making these things visible in anything other than a pitch black room!
Ben,
I've got an Adtec AD-MP15A pico projector I picked up at Yodobashi in Japan a few weeks ago for about US$380 and love it.
I use it primarily for business. I work in sales (not for projectors :-) and travel much of Latin America to meet with customers and prospects. Sometimes, the customer will not be able to get a projector. And in cases where we are early in the sales stage, I may end up presenting in a cube/office or even in the corner of the local version of a Starbuck's. Because I travel a lot, I use a smaller, executive laptop and it's not feasible to carry a projector around. It's not a great experience to get everyone huddled around a small laptop display. With the projector, I can get a decent quality 30" or better image on the wall, given dimmed lighting (doesn't need to be dark). Also,
Mine has a native resolution of 640x480 but accepts 800x600 and converts it. The conversion quality is impressive - it looks just like 800x600. Powerpoint presentations read fine and all text is readable - I had no slides where nothing could be read. Same for Excel. Very small text won't be readable, but most folks wouldn't be able to read it on a bigger projector anyway.
The colors look a little washed out, especially at a distance and in less darkened conditions. (I played around a little with contrast and brightness in Vista and maybe there are some things that could be done) But some older big projectors do about the same with colors. And even with many big projectors, you need to close the blinds and turn off a few lights. In the dark, the projector's output is impressive at short range. A fun side benefit is we can watch TV shows/movies on the ceiling with this projector. After a few minutes, we didn't notice any limitations. (although, side by side with a monitor, the monitor's colors are much better) This is also fun for impromptu slideshows from our camera.
A few side benefits with mine is that, unbelievably, it uses the exact same NB-5L batteries as my Canon camera. Also, when the backlight on my monitor burned out on a recent trip, I was able to get by for a few days using the projector.
Before buying any projector, I'd check it out connected to your own laptop, projecting your own presentations to see if the quality works for you.
Good luck!
I am a performance analyst with a national women volleyball team. I use the projector to show the girls video analysis of themselves and their oppositions before and after the matches. At the moment I lug a portable projector with me to tournaments (and training). It's only about 2.5kg (6lbs) but would love to have something smaller and lighter.
Those of us in deployable/remote environments would love to have a small projector that we could use with a wall as an all-in-one monitor/TV. Think USB OTA/cable antenna for your laptop to HDMI or VGA and you've got TV/DVD playback as well as a nice sized screen for gaming/email/pr0n etc. It's a hella lot smaller than a 19" to 24" monitor. It weighs less, probably uses less power, consumes less space in cramped quarters, and is more easily shipable back home (if you choose not to hand carry).
I'd buy one for use out in Iraq. Heck, it makes movie nights a breeze, all you need is a bunker wall, a white sheet and some power! Bring on the popcorn! And when I rotate home it goes with and goes into my bedroom to replace the TV there. Win/Win!
Regards,
-Bouncer-
Now all they need to do is bolt an atom/itx case with 60gb mini hd and then it is perfect
Wow, did someone put this website together in the 90's?
I mean, a 720 pico would be great but some things just don't add up. Like the fact that none of their projectors have a listed price or lumen output. This one is rated at 30w. That's an awful lot of power to dump into an LED even assuming some will be running the other gutts.
I'm calling BS
if this works, it'll be awesome
So! Someone else, besides myself, is beginning to suspect the much rumored tiny LED projector is little more than a tease. The ones that have appeared have been not too bright, low quality and expensive--they also might not show up! I wonder if by the time a truly classy one makes an appearance we may have moved on to something else.