Crowdsourcing is the new way of getting people's opinions or getting information about something.

I mostly see it on facebook so I tried it here on steemit through my post last week about what your opinion is about Pico projectors or portable projectors. This is unfamiliar ground to me because I am used to using mounted ones in corporate trainings and meeting rooms similar to the ones we used to have in our past meetups that @deveerei lends @steemph. (Thanks @deveerei!)

I have been looking online since November and scouring Manila online shops on a projector that had good reviews and would give us the best bang for our buck. I was still undecided but since we have another meetup happening on Saturday in UP Diliman, I thought it was about time to eenie meenie miney mo this- but seriously I didn't do that, I picked the best choice, I promise.

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Why the AAXA P3000 Pico Projector?

Option 2 - Elephas LED Mini Portable Projector won the crowdsourcing game but I opted for the evasive AAXA P3 Pico projector because it was named one of the best Projectors to buy in 2018 by LifeWire AND Best Pico Projector of 2015 by Engadget/The Wirecutter. Unfortunately it was unavailable in the Philippines aside from an online second hand seller in OLX. I am NOT an impulsive buyer, telltale of that is how it took me 3 whole months to take the leap and buy this projector FINALLY. If I like a dress or a pair of shoes or a gadget, I usually wait a week and if I still cannot imagine NOT getting my hands on whatever it is, that's when I buy it.

Eventually, I went for Option 3 - Aaxa P300 Pico Projector because of this review which I also included in my crowdsourcing post-

When it comes to projectors, contrast ration is a major factor. If it’s too low, it will be hard to see the screen, even in dark environments. The P300 is one of the brightest pico projectors on the market, with 400 lumens and a solid 813:1 contrast ratio. The P300 also has a short throw distance. You can place the projector as close as four feet from the screen and still get a decently large and bright picture. This makes it a great projector for business and gaming alike.

The P300 has a removeable battery pack that lasts about an hour. It’s not quite long enough to watch a full movie, but if you carry a spare battery, you’ll be fine. Alternatively, you can keep it plugged in via HDMI. On top of that, it also has connectivity options for VGA, Composite A/V connections, plus microSD and USB readers. Unlike most other small projectors, the P300 comes with a remote, which lets you adjust volume and switch inputs, among other things.
Source, verbatim from - https://www.lifewire.com/best-mini-projectors-4139747

Of course it must be a paid advertisement but with 1280x800 HD Resolution and standing out with having the best contrast fit for Steemit presentations, that just made me want it. Option 2, the Elephas projector only came up to 800x480p Native Resolution.

The above review also states that with only 4 feet distance or 1.2 meters, you get "a decently large and bright picture". This would be helpful in small areas like cafes where we can have future meetups.

The P3000 Pico Projector comes only up to 400 lumens vs the Elephas Mini Portable Projector that boasts of 1200 lumens. The trade-off is that for HD resolution, the Elephas may come up blurry since it is not the native resolution according to the same lifewire review. That may be the reason why on contrast ratio, the P3000 Pico is still better.

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What's in the box?

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The projector was very light and because I have petite hands, it doesn't fit into a one-handed grip but still an easy lift at only 0.97 lbs and 1.5 inch thick. I got the AV cable, a tiny remote control that fits my palm perfectly, an adaptor, and a mini-tripod. The seller didn't have the VGA adapter cable which is ok because there is an HDMI cable option or you can plug in a USB or memory card.

Aside from the remote control, the projector has some rubber buttons on top for selection and for choosing the connection used. I was able to test the USB, memory card and HDMI output so far and all worked great.

This buy worked out well, don't you think?

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Projector Menu Options

The Projector Menu is very user-friendly and non-techie friendly. First you get to a landing page where you select the type of media you want to play on the Projector - text, videos, photos, or music.

The menu with the gear icon is for manual adjustments on the projector in case you need it, I forgot to take a photo but I didn't really need to adjust a lot since my projection was not that large. Then after selection, you may choose USB or MicroSD card for storage source. On the lower right, you have connection options where you can choose VGA or HDMI.

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See it in Action!

Featuring @bearone's steemph flier

In Bright Flourescent light

on battery at 200 lumens capacity

In bright flourescent lit room, the test comes off blurry, the larger font being visible, still. The smaller font, you had to squint a bit to read but I thought it was good since there is still something to read there. The images are visible considering how bright the lights were.
More info below on size and throw ratio of this specific test.

featuring 7 habit of highly effective people video

with LED light	with all lights off

In a dark, pitch black room

with font, it looks very clear and sharp

with high contrast colors, it shows really good picture and still vibrant, but pardon the low resolution on the Hi5 video from youtube

with subtitles and 360p video resolution featuring Korean show, Arang. plugged in at full 400 lumens

I wasn't able to compare that well how it was plugged in at 400 lumens vs on battery at 200 lumens. My opinion is that it did quite good if you see the dim tests, I started off using the battery but it died and I had to plug it in because I wanted to see how subtitles or text looked.

I really expected that it would read powerpoint presentations, but I found it doesn't and was a bit disappointed but if plugged into the laptop with HDMI cable, you can use it as an extended desktop to display presentations.

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Throw Ratio Performance

1.5 m away from the wall with 51 inch screen diagonal

1.5 m away from the wall with 51 inch screen diagonal

The Throw ratio showed good promise on delivering clear and large images on such short distance from the wall or projector screen to the projector itself. The first one above in the fluorescent light example was very large and still showed the colors and graphics albeit being in fluorescent light and at 2.5-3 meters distance from the wall resulting in 68-76 inch projection.

These last two ones showing the projector at 1.5 meters away from the wall showed an acceptable 51 inch vibrant projection that did not compromise the quality of the text shown on screen.

What are your thoughts on my final choice? Let me know in the comments!

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Reference:
(1)http://www.aaxatech.com/products/p300_pico_projector.htm
(2)https://www.lifewire.com/best-mini-projectors-4139747

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