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How good (or bad) are these $50 LED projectors ("Eyeclops") — Parallax Forums

How good (or bad) are these $50 LED projectors ("Eyeclops")

TubularTubular Posts: 4,726
edited 2011-05-29 19:15 in General Discussion
These LED based projectors keep getting cheaper. Anyone got experience with them?

How bad are they? I know they're not good for projecting big images, but what size would be reasonable to achieve in a normal lighting office light?

Comments

  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-05-19 21:12
    I bought one.. While I haven't a lot of time logged on it yet.. It's for my Stingray.

    You can get a "fair" 30 inch screen from it. It's a toy, but a decent toy.

    Jeff
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-05-19 21:16
    I have the cheap 99$ radio shack one . its not as good as my $700 Epson but for what I paid it's realy not bad !

    it has plenty of rsoultion but I really neds more power . I was going to hack it with a HUGE LED but I found out it used 3 LEDs as a trio not one white one as its LCoS RGB .

    Peter
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2011-05-20 12:04
    Curious, Peter, the $99 Radio Shack (Giga-ware) projector I have is a single white LED/LCOS unit. I actually did put a larger LED in mine and quickly found out that the plastic optics tube couldn't handle it, even with a fan in the case.

    This is the unit I have: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3825558

    I prefer the Microvision ShowWX+ projector. I actually tested a dozen different types this past year and found it to be by far the best. They have a cheaper version called the ShowWX for $199. The ShowWX+ is $349... both are great units, however.

    As for the brightest, I found that the Mitsubishi (PK) series of "mini-projectors," which are about twice the size of the Radio Shack unit are much better. They have a light output that is several times that of the other units, but they are larger. Still, they're only about 5" x 4" x 2".

    Bill
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-05-20 12:33
    Those Eyeclops were WOOTed a while back for ~$40, IIRC. The consensus was "toylike in brightness and resolution", but OK if you keep your expectations low.

    I fairly like OBC's idea to mount one on a Stingray (or a mobile plywood robot), especially if you rig up an autofocus. Use a PING to get perpendicular to a wall and measure the distance, and a servo adjusts the focus to the distance.

    Poor man's version: no servo. Preset the projector focus to N inches and use the PING to drive the robot exactly that far from the wall.

    "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."
  • schillschill Posts: 741
    edited 2011-05-20 12:37
    I have one that I got pretty cheap. It's been a while since I played with it but I remember it as being not too bad (considering what it cost), but you really needed a lot of "darkness" for the picture to be halfway decent.
  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,246
    edited 2011-05-20 17:51
    erco wrote: »
    Poor man's version: no servo. Preset the projector focus to N inches and use the PING to drive the robot exactly that far from the wall.

    "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."
    That's a pretty smart idea.

    Paul
  • Don MDon M Posts: 1,654
    edited 2011-05-20 18:53
    I have a new one in the box I'd love to sell....
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2011-05-21 07:58
    I have one. It's okay.
    I also have a LightBlast it's better but still not a "real" projector.

    I think both are worth the price though. Fun toys.

    Bean
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2011-05-21 08:07
    I purchased a couple from Woot a while back. I personally like them. I don't think they would work well in a normally lit office. I can use one with normal light if it's a few feet from a wall.

    I also plan to use mine with some sort of robot. I haven't worked out the details yet.

    I agree with Bean's assessment.

    @Tubular, If you'd like I'll dig mine out and try to get some better quantifiable numbers. I'm not sure if photographs of the image would turn out but I'm willing to try, if you'd like.

    Duane
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-05-21 14:40
    wjsteele wrote: »
    Curious, Peter, the $99 Radio Shack (Giga-ware) projector I have is a single white LED/LCOS unit. I actually did put a larger LED in mine and quickly found out that the plastic optics tube couldn't handle it, even with a fan in the case.

    This is the unit I have: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3825558

    I prefer the Microvision ShowWX+ projector. I actually tested a dozen different types this past year and found it to be by far the best. They have a cheaper version called the ShowWX for $199. The ShowWX+ is $349... both are great units, however.

    As for the brightest, I found that the Mitsubishi (PK) series of "mini-projectors," which are about twice the size of the Radio Shack unit are much better. They have a light output that is several times that of the other units, but they are larger. Still, they're only about 5" x 4" x 2".

    Bill
    irt may
    I have this one Here you may be right but I looked more fancy insde then the micro one one .

    peter
  • TubularTubular Posts: 4,726
    edited 2011-05-24 13:41
    Thanks for your responses everyone.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-05-24 14:24
    erco wrote: »

    "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJAbV_vt1bY&feature=channel_video_title

    Yeah, I thought I had come up with an original idea for my our robot, then I discovered later there are a bunch of R2D2 clones on youtube doing the exact same thing. :)

    OBC
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-05-29 19:15
    $219 buys a heck of a picoprojector right now! http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-SP-H03-LED-DLP-Portable-Projector---Refurb/230623475943?_trksid=p1468660.m2000037
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