It’s been the age of “micro” for decades with common devices getting smaller and more compact. That’s not a news scoop. It’s like reporting we have something called the Internet, and it might be a big deal.
So, we’ve seen MP3 players get smaller while sounding better, external hard drives shrunk in size while growing in capability, and computers became more compact while becoming faster. I could go on listing shrinking modern tech examples forever and a day, but there seems to be one gadget/appliance that no one really bothered to shrink.
Projectors have stubbornly remained clunky, lensed devices about the size of a 1990s cable box. In that form, they’re a pain to transport around and set up (which opens the door for micro’ing, to coin a phrase).
The Favi Pico E3 LED Projector is not much bigger than a smartphone or iPod and serves as a fully functional video projector perfect for any public display or seminar. Favi claims it offers “Best in Class” brightness while working with iPad, iPod, Android phones, tablets, laptops, desktops and dvd players.
The Favi connects to those multiple devices via connections including:
- 1 x Headphone
- 1 x Power (12 V)
- 1 x Mini USB
- 1 x Micro SD Card Reader
- 1 x VGA / AV (RGB) Internal Memory
- SD/SDHC/MMC card slot with 32 MB capability
This little Favi projects video in 854×480 resolution with 1000:1 Contrast Ratio.
I tried it out, and it worked so well I didn’t want to send it back. I didn’t really have need for it, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot video around rooms and buildings with solid illumination.
Still, with a price tag around $350, it needed to be sent back and is a fairly big personal expense. But, if your gig requires video projection, this is an efficient and useful gadget.
