I’m getting to know my Nikon D90 video capabilities and thought I’d throw together a quick video about the PK301, a new projector of mine and another favorite new toy. This was a cool project to get to know my Nikon better and see how Microsoft Movie Maker worked.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Cerebrum72
December 30, 2012 at 11:59 am
Hej. Thanks for sharing. Is it better than Philips Picopix 2450 or 2480? Thanks 🙂
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 12:21 pm
one more negative on this device (not sure if fixed on later models): the focus changes as the machine heats up so each time you turn it on, out of focus, but easy to fix. as it remains on it heats up, now its out of focus again, easy to fix as I’m usually seated right next to it and it takes one second. turn it off, it cools off, its out of focus again when you turn it on again. That is an annoyance I could really live without, but a minor one.
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 12:52 pm
I don’t know the others. The unit I reviewed here is now aging, there’s a few newer ones out including a more advanced version of this model. I would purchase another PK301 in a heartbeat, I love it. The fan on it can be loud if your sound is quiet, but that’s not an issue for action movies or gaming. If another model from anyone had higher resolution, better color and was brighter, I would seriously consider it, but the price on this was quite low and I went for it.
dave sherrill
December 30, 2012 at 1:44 pm
I was wondering is this optoma pk301 the best for the price? I hear aaxa tech has a p4-x pico projector for 299 and that it has the best specs for its pricing? I was wondering is this true?
helicoptered
December 30, 2012 at 2:28 pm
whats the one?
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 3:16 pm
My sense is yes, it looks good and is really responsive in my opinion, but I haven’t tried with anything else. MW3 coming from XBox360 looked and ran great. If compared to other projectors, I’m sure others may be brighter, have better color, better response time but this guy is cheap. They have released a nicer model, I only know that it is brighter, there may be other benefits. If you want a large screen on a budget, I don’t think you can beat this.
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 3:32 pm
hey @perskyjoe the 301 I have has no controls to control the ‘keystone’ effect. Perhaps a later model does (I’m considering the latest myself, but no idea on a keystone correction feature). Otherwise you need to have the device pointing directly at the viewing surface, it cannot be below, above, left or right of dead-center if you want to avoid this issue. It also will help with in focus and out of focus areas which I struggle with even if only slightly off center.
perskyjoe
December 30, 2012 at 4:04 pm
hi, do you know how can i avoid the trapezoidal shape of the output screen, when the projector is not opposite the wall i want to project on?
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 4:20 pm
@spcomputing about 8-10 feet
spcomputing
December 30, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Approximately how far away from the screen was the projector in this video?
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 4:37 pm
it is the ‘masscool’ hdmi switcher
I paid over twice the current newegg asking price (~$20) for it, not sure when the price dropped, but this seems a FAR more reasonable amount to pay for such a device
Roma2156X
December 30, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Hi great presentation . What is the HDMI 3 in 1 switch call.
htc zeggis
December 30, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Why in Europa are those thing so expensive like this one here cost 399 euro’s 🙁 where do you buy him from 300 dollar?
dreamworksarvin
December 30, 2012 at 6:18 pm
unfortunately D90 doesn’t have continuous AF which makes its harder to shoot objects in motion… imgae stabilization is poor too… with photos D90 is unbeatable in its range..
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 7:06 pm
no, not really, not compared to an LCD or Plasma of the same size, but perhaps ‘good’ is possible. I happen to think it looks really good at 88″. They advertise up to 120″ I think, but that sounds like it would be blurry a bit and dim. For the size of such a small device, it’s impressively clear and bright at 88″ in my dark apartment. I wouldn’t consider it a replacement for big screen tvs or game play because people’s standards are so hi
Julio Andrade
December 30, 2012 at 7:29 pm
hi! can I get 100″ with good quality with hdmi+xbox 360?
Connor Dobie
December 30, 2012 at 8:15 pm
if you don’t have a surround sound i suggest you get one the little speaker is hard to hear when you are a couple of meters away
yellowej2
December 30, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Cool thanks for the reply.
mattdotgreenlake
December 30, 2012 at 8:49 pm
that was just the camera, you don’t see those when watching live. I’m not sure if I mentioned it in the video, but netflix from xbox appears sharper than from the roku box. That’s because xbox does 1080i, which this pk301 can display, but roku only outputs ‘p’. Since the pk301 will only do 720p at the most for the ‘p’ HD, that’s all you get from roku. Huge bummer for roku fans.
yellowej2
December 30, 2012 at 8:59 pm
Can you see those lines on the screen? Or was it just the camera?