Mini Projector by Viewsonic M1 1080 LED ($159.99)

now I only need a house with a big enough basement for this :P

Poor reviews on battery life and how it discharges faster than it charges.

Specs:

• Brightness: 120 LED (50 ANSI)
• Resolution: WVGA (854x480)

50 ANSI lumens is very dim, you would need to use this in a dark basement.
The native resolution is actually only standard-definition, not native high-def (1920x1080).

Best avoided.

I don't know why reputable companies call these 1080p projectors, this is a 480p projector.

I used the viewsonic m1 for years. Great little projector, my favourite feature was that little folding "foot" allowed me to attach it nicely to my headboard, and I could watch movies and TV on my ceiling. The fan is pretty quiet, overall it's a nice little unit.

I would caution anything with text (even subtitles) is going to be pretty difficult to read at this resolution, so forget powerpoint or anything like that, but for watching videos it's great.

You need a very dark room if you want the best picture quality. Picture quality is good enough for watching kids youtube videos (supposedly better for kids to watch a wall projection than a TV) and its small size is nice. I only use it plugged in so can't comment on battery life.

Is there any audio out port for external speaker?

Mikus007 wrote: ↑ I don't know why reputable companies call these 1080p projectors, this is a 480p projector.

I used the viewsonic m1 for years. Great little projector, my favourite feature was that little folding "foot" allowed me to attach it nicely to my headboard, and I could watch movies and TV on my ceiling. The fan is pretty quiet, overall it's a nice little unit.

I would caution anything with text (even subtitles) is going to be pretty difficult to read at this resolution, so forget powerpoint or anything like that, but for watching videos it's great.

"My computer monitor is 20k, which I know because I opened up an image thats 20,000 pixels in photoshop and could see the whole thing on the screen."

Same logic these companies use. This monitor can take 1080p input so they claim it's 1080p. Ridiculous.

Putting 1080p in the title (on staples not here) should be forbidden, that's downright a scam.

GerardOD wrote: ↑
50 ANSI lumens is very dim, you would need to use this in a dark basement.

I've been using projectors for decades and I can't actually imagine what 50 lumens would even be like.
1000 to me in a fairly dark room is like the bare minimum to be viable.
Pitch black you could go a bit less.

But 50? I'm tempted to buy it just to see what it's like.

Mikus007 wrote: ↑I don't know why reputable companies call these 1080p projectors, this is a 480p projector.

Everyone does. While I agree it's wrong, it's not nearly as bad as you describe.
I quite like my budget upscaling projectors. They're obviously no 4k but they're passable if all you want is a large screen in a portable format.
Even subtitles aren't that bad since it's a ratio of text size to screen size.

50 is dim for sure. Having said that, pitch black room 50 ANSI LUMEN is "fine".

I have the Kodak LUMA 75 (LUMEN) is bright on white background in an absolute pitch black room.

Same price on Amazon. Also show sample images in reviews.

https://www.amazon.ca/ViewSonic-M1-Mini ... r=8-1&th=1

I have the M1 mini plus for almost a year, it's basically same as the mini, except the plus version comes with WIFI and type C charge port
If you are only going to use it at home, look for something else. This projector is for people who will carry it around outdoor

pros:
small and light enough to bring for backpacking
USB C charge port <<< able to charge from power bank (I was surprised that many portable projectors are still using coaxial power connector)

cons:
loud fan noise (quite noticeable indoor, not so much outdoor)
no 3.5mm headphone jack, but you can pair it with a BT speaker
short battery life, wouldn't last more than 1.25 hours
discharge faster than it can charge (not the case when plugged into wall charger). When using outside, it's better to keep it plugged into a power bank the whole time. it's too late to charge when the low battery sign pop up.