Aiptek's pico projector pocket cinema fails to impress

David M Williams
Sunday, 23 November 2008 04:42

At first, I re-converted the same show. However, as they say, insanity is attempting the same thing in exactly the same way and expecting different results. Sure enough, the jaggies persisted.

I converted some different TV shows, and while the source files varied, the problem did not. I could still hear the soundtrack fine, but the video was trash.
I wondered if the resolution was too high for the projector; even though it advertises 640x480 maybe something lower was required. I thus opted to use ArcSoft MediaConverter's custom settings and convert to 320x240 resolution. I did wonder just how poorly such video would look like (although that was the video output of the venerable Commodore 64, but 8-bit computers weren't exactly renowned for their video playback capabilities.)

No change. The image was still trash. Let me mention, by the way, that the original and the converted files all played fine on my laptop. I had all the appropriate codecs and the source files were not corrupt.

In case the problem was with the ArcSoft software I loaded eRightSoft's trustworthy (though ugly) SUPER media converter.

I set up an MP4 output file using H.264 as the video codec. The resolution of my selected TV show was actually 384 by 288 so that was definitely within the 640x480 requirement. I converted this show, copied it to the internal memory and fired up the projector hoping, finally, for some satisfaction.

This time the projector locked up while listing the video files available, no doubt seizing when attempting to display a preview image of my newly added file. In fact it locked up so badly that I had to remove the battery to power it off. The power button did not respond, nor the menu button.

You can probably guess that I'm taking my Aiptek Pocket Cinema portable projector back today for a full refund.

Maybe it works fine if you're also carrying a battery operated DVD player, or you have the right cables to get TV output from your iPod. Let's give the device one credit: the composite video input worked fine. I plugged in to my Medion Portable Media Player and had perfect video playback (but no sound! Yet, sound emitted from the PMP when I removed its A/V out leads.) Did I have a second faulty device out of two? Or is there some other obscure reason for this failure?

Let's cut to the chase. The device is plainly and simply crippled for what I want to use it for, and for what I think should be reasonably expected.

Despite the box picture, despite the marketing hype, this is not a tool for business. You can't have an impromptu demonstration – unless by “impromptu” you mean previously having converted all your Power Point presentations into static JPEG images, or wasting hours attempting to transform a video presentation into something that you can only pray the unit will concede to display (and in my experimentation, I couldn't get anything to play properly!)

If you give something like this to your boss or to your sales team you're just asking for trouble. The formats supported by the unit are too limited, the lack of VGA input is a major flaw and the software provided fails to do its job – but it will consume extra resources despite that a media converter program hardly merits a load-on-startup buddy.

Oh, it looks nice. Give this to someone and they'll be impressed – the package includes a drawstring carry bag and a remote control and the projector is oh-so-tiny and light and just looks damn good. Yet, it virtually doesn't do a damn thing. Any delight on your recipient victim's face will soon drain away when they try to use it.

Back to the drawing board, Aiptek. Let me know when revision 2.0 is out.