Acer K10 DLP pico projector

Acer’s website describes the K10 as a "travel projector", but we reckon the tiny size and weight of this LED unit qualify it as a Pico Projector. Acer K10 Acer's K10: lighter than its own power supply The photos don’t do the K10 justice. Its dimensions are a diminutive 127 x 122 x 52mm tall, including the rubber feet. The …

[Anonymous Coward]

Misplaced blame?

"resolution of 858 x 600, which isn’t an option in Windows Vista."

Perhaps a different Visdeo driver might serve you better..

I do find it annoying that I cant get the stupid wide screen resolution needed for my TV from my vid card, hence have to put up with black borders.. or strech the aspect on the TV and squash it in VLC.. all daft, why the tv wont support better res is a mystery only the manufactures are keeping secret.

I think its about time that video drivers were universal in there ability to drive any res.

[Leo Waldock]

If anyone ...

... has a video driver that offers the option of 858x600 then feel free to let me know. For the record I was using Catalyst 9.2

[Toastan Buttar]

Scooby-Doo Projector ?

2009 is the year of the Scooby-Doo Projector in a corner.

It looks like the kind of thing Velma would discover hidden in a corner of Old Man Withers' deserted amusement park.

Mine's the one with the Scooby Snacks in the pocket.

[Carl Williams]

@AC

I had the same problem until I switched to ATi/AMD Catalyst CC will allow you to adjust the output res to fit your TV. Mine is something bizarre like 1258 x 704.

[Sam York]

@ AC

(not related to this discussion, but to answer your question)

The reason VGA ports etc on TVs are limited in resolution, even though VGA can comfortably manage the resolution, is to force you to use the HDMI port for full, which obviuosly has HDCP built in...

[Jolyon Smith]

Silent because....

Projectors need fans for cooling. They need cooling because the lamps in them get very, VERY hot. Typically the brighter the lamp, the more heat it generates and the more cooling it needs.

This projector on the other hand is not only not as bright, but it uses an LED lamp which in comparison with traditional projector lamps are very, VERY cool (thermally, not just because they are a hip and happening tech).

So a projector that uses an LED lamp should not need as much active cooling so fan noise should be vastly reduced if not entirely absent.

[lazee_boy]

old hat

I still have my Toshiba FF1 ... bought as an early adopter at the start of 2006. 500g LED projector with mains plus 2 hr rechargeable battery pack, supporting 800x600 and 1024x768; also has fully featured remote (not that you need it). I paid £350 then - seemed a lot at the time, but it did (does) what it says on the tin, and is ideal for travel use.

Although the colours (particularly reds) are a bit harsh and lacking 'warmth', and the brightness means it really needs a dark room to shine, it is still quite possible to enjoy a full length movie running only on battery, with a projected image easily equivilent to that of a 60" Plasma screen ... and unlike the Acer in the review, it is almost completely silent.

I actually looked it up as I couldn't believe that this Acer is being touted as a new gizmo 3 years on ... http://www.wedgwood-group.com/toshiba_tdp_ff1_multimedia_projector.htm ... turns out the Tosh has been discontinued and they haven't replaced it with a similar spec.

I can only conclude that it is too niche a market (£300+ for a low res, low intensity projector is quite steep). The current netbook craze will no doubt give this an initial sales opportunity, but the old Tosh was a much better product IMO - if they couldn't find a market for it, I think Acer will struggle (particularly at the quoted price).

[Simon Langley]

Pretty nifty but...

...since Samsung (I think) look like they are going to be building projectors into mobile phones, I'm a lot less impressed by the smallness of this projector.

As one of the posters above points out, old fashioned bulbs get very hot and until they replace that with something that generates a lot less heat, these things are always going to be too big, which is a shame because it would be nice to have one small enough to be able to carry around.

[Steve]

@ Jolyon Smith and non-fans of fans

Not quite!

LED lamps HAVE to run cool, certainly a lot cooler than HID. A hot die kills off the output light intensity. Couple that with the fact a lot of light is output (although 100 lumens isn't that much, even when considering colour losses) at not much efficiency means cooling is still needed. Turn the fan off, the LED might get as hot as HID - but you won't get any light.

My estimate: that LED will have to lose at least 6 watts (and that's assuming the latest tech is used – say a P7) and that's assuming a perfect cooling system. Keeping a small component cool without active cooling will require a large, expensive and heavy heatsink; for this application it is better to use a cheap, SMALL and LIGHTWEIGHT fan.