Below is just a ‘casual’ comparison of run length of pico/pocket size (or call it handheld) projectors. It is not a hidden truth that battery life in miniature devices is a big problem for electronics manufacturers but now when the PC age is getting expired, iPhone type mobiles are becoming an integral part of computer culture. The inheritance of computer functionality in mobile phones has gained trend but it will take time to become a sustainable product. Battery life is crucial to everything.
Few Pico Projectors with Battery Life
(comparison may vary on different settings, below is the most casual observations taken from their websites)
- Optoma PK101 Pico Projector: 90 minutes
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Aaxa P1 Pico Projector LCoS Hand-Held Micro Projector: 45 to 60 minutes
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Microvision showcase Pico Projector: 2 hours 30 minutes
- BeamBox Evolution R1 Pico-Projector: 1 hour 13 minutes
- Apolco P3 Micro / Pico Projector: 40 minutes
- Samsung MBP200: 2 hours 40 minutes
- LG shows off HS102 DLP mobile projector: ~2 hours
- Dell’s M109S pocket projector: 1 hour 20minutes
- LG HS102 Pocket Projector: -don’t know-
The shift from PC to Laptop, in the past 5-10 years, was rather swift and everybody feels comfortable with it. Now, everyone who owns a computer also tends to buy a laptop as well. Today, we can see tiny laptops that are almost equal to 15inch length. This miniaturization of laptop has created a new market for projectors’ industry. The problem is, you dont want to watch a movie in a tiny laptop with 12 inch screen. You still need a big screen.
Apart from tiny screens, ‘Battery Life’ for pico projectors is not going to be solved in a near future but atleast when everyone has a laptop, manufacurers can bring the two together to present a good looking sophisticated laptop.
The idea is to embed projectors in your laptop to make your life more comfortable for entertainment and official-business purposes.
Consider this, your team is going on a car to a remote clients’ office to give a presentation. The route is too long, and you planned to watch a movie on your way (forgetting that you also have to give the presentation through your pico/pocket projector as well). The battery is consumed, lets say, 70%; now what do you want to do. Would you feel comfortable using it for the presentation (when the presentation is heavy and it might also includes some video clips). May be ‘NO’. So, what to do?
What I want to suggest is rather not as attractive as hand held pico projectors, or dual pico projectors in mobile handhelds (related post Mobile Phones Unleashed), but an embedded projector with laptops. The advantage is the extra space we can adapt for higher battery consumption and flexibility to use a laptop for entertainment/work or in corporate environment.
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