There’s no question the creators of mini projectors want them to become the popular portable alternative to expensive TVs and big projectors, just like the netbooks have cut into the market for laptops.

But looking at recent announcements of high-quality mini projectors, like that of the Syba RCG RC-VIS62002 this week, we find that the comparison is not yet apt. Mainly, they’re still too expensive.

Let’s first take a look at the Syba RCG. It’s pluggable to your notebook (or DVD player), and displays images at a 640×480 VGA pixel resolution (though it’s also mentioned it can go up to a 1024 x 768 resolution, probably with interpolating with XGA).

I like the fact that company is willing to come out and say the optimal size of the projected screen (at 25 inches) instead of giving us the largest potential size possible. That happens when the projector is pulled away the farthest from the distance of the wall, a max that always turns out to be unwatchable.

This is not a pocketable projector, despite the early claims. Just like the EyeClops Mini Projector and the similar LG, it’s a light (80 grams), mid-range, palm sized box that fits better in a large purse or backpack. And this is the key. If someone is willing to carry a projector in a bag separately, they might want to get the projector with the best image possible, and it’s not going to be the smallest Pico. It will probably be one at this size or a normal-sized projector.

But the rub is that this one is going to be almost $400, just like the LG. Put in an extra $50 or $100 at most and you can get a regular-sized, higher-quality projector. At this point, if you can carry the larger one, the mini is not cheap enough to be worth it.

Netbooks don’t face the same close price range with their competitors. The best cheap laptop comes in near the $1000 mark, twice as much as most netbooks. And they offer a similar quality version of the most popular and basic apps – word processing and internet browsing. A projector’s most basic app, the image, still can’t come close to the resolution quality of an LCD at the same price. Check out these available TVs from Amazon for comparison.

We’re going to love testing this one out when it’s available, but they’re gonna have to lower it to really take off.

You may recall Beambox as the company that brought us the very tiny Beambox Pocket Projector. Well, its newest model, the just-announced Evolution R-1 is not quite as compact (though it’s still pretty tiny), but it looks like it will pack a lot more punch than its predecessor. The R-1 will boast an LCoS chip, a brightness of 30 lumens, with a 200:1 contrast ratio and VGA (640 x 480) resolution, and will be capable of projecting an up to 100-inch image. The little guy will also have up to 4GB of onboard Flash memory, plus a microSD slot. The pico — which weighs in at 175 grams — is expected to ship around March 20th. It looks like the projector is going to run you £250 ($360), and be available in black, red, silver and white. One more shot after the break.

Continue reading Beambox launches Evolution R-1 pico projector

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Beambox launches Evolution R-1 pico projector originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Designer Abhinav Dapke has come up with a green lighting concept that appears to be modeled on the easy old-school chore of taking out the laundry to be dried by the sun.

His Go Rack design centers around a combo cloth that is layered with flexible OLED displays, solar cells, and a textured, safety plastic. A person simply takes out the light ‘ironing board/clothes rack’ body outside, unspools the legs, and places the backside of the cloth (the solar cells) in an optimal angle to receive sunlight. In order to let a user know the power charge level, a small time indicator is also embedded on the side of this cloth. 

Once the panel is full, the body is once again erected, the cloth is folded in (exposing only the plastic) and the aluminum legs are used to conduct energy, once connected to a base inside a home. Presumably, you can then use the regulator switch to modulate the level of illumination. The brightness of the light, if and when this concept is ever brought to light, will depend on the materials chosen for the plastic.

I like this idea mainly because it’s a simple, probably cheap way to bring solar light into the home without re-building the whole structure of a house. But there are potential problems. The single Go Rack won’t be enough to provide enough lighting for a whole house. Also, the body of the rack needs to be engineered with enough safety features that transferring the aluminum legs after days left out in the sun can’t lead to scalding injuries, and the OLED layers need to be durable enough to withstand the constant folding.

Still, it’s a quality concept that we’d love to check in action in the next few years.

Hidden within the usual litany of claims in a patent awarded this January—titled “Display Housing for Computing Device”, which covers their current portable displays—Apple describes a tablet display, with the display housing the computer device.

The patent describes several forms for these displays—most of them already in use in current Apple laptops—, describing displays attached to portable computers. However, one of the claims describes the display as a “housing for a computer device”, which would include the computer electronics within the display housing, sandwiched between front and back shells.

[0015]As a housing for a computer device, one embodiment of the invention includes: a front shell; a back shell coupled to said front shell to produce said housing, electrical components for the computer device being internal to said housing; and a foam stiffener provided internal to said housing to substantially fill unused space internal to said housing, thereby providing stiffness to said housing.

According to our patent expert R. Polk Wagner, Professor of patents law at University of Pennsylvania Law School:

What might be fair to say is that Apple’s patent is significant in that it shows something about the company’s thinking: that they are thinking about “portable computing devices” where the display (and/or keyboard) are larger than the volume required to house the components inside – thus allowing or even requiring a stiffener. Maybe this means Apple is thinking about tablets (i.e., “big iPhones”) or maybe they’re just thinking about further miniaturization of components / lighter weight in existing form factors. Hard to know.

So there you have it. To me, the patent claim quoted above leans clearly to a potential tablet device. In any case, remember that patents don’t have to materialize into products, but it’s always comforting to see Apple thinking about creating such a device. Or at least, contemplating the possibility seriously enough to cover all bets in a patent. [USPTO via Electronic Pulp]

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest TV events of the year, and people are always interested in buying a new set for their house party, recession or not.

They are just more careful about the value of their dollar this year. As a result, retailers and manufacturers are getting together to bring plenty of good last-minute offers, including sales by as much as 45% off, like a couple of Sharp TVs we found online. Most of the sales we’ve monitored this week, however, are coming in between 20% and 30%. That’s not too bad.

According to TV company reps, part of the motivation to pick up a new set this week is to also avoid problems with the upcoming DTV transition, but we don’t believe that at all. A big sports event supercedes any sort of concern people might have about that, and most people who are buying a TV for a SB party have previously upgraded to an HD feed. Often, they’re just trying to man up to something bigger and better.

Samsung, in particular, is trying to take all of the attention during the run up to the Super Bowl. Having paid a huge chunk of change to have the honor of being known as the "Official Sponsor" of this Super Bowl, they’re offering a $200 gift certificate on any TV bought over $1000 at Amazon.com.

This deal (and others online) might prove to be a Shipping Impossible Mission, what with the game coming in only 48 hours, but we’ve heard that many of the retailers are honoring online deals at their bricks & mortars. Even against offers of their competitors. So that means you should take your iPhone, G1, or Netbook with you to show the salespeople the competing offers and hassle with them for 15 minutes until they give you the appropriate discount. Believe me, they want to sell you that TV. This is not the time to turn away customers.

Check out some of the top TV deals we found that are available right now (above), and then check out our Google Docs spreadsheet with the larger list, right here. That one includes more big box retailers (so you don’t have to deal with the shipping nightmares) and we’ll update it throughout the day. Also, please let us know if you find out about any deals that are better than these in the comments below or by email, to jferm80@gmail.com. 

And here are a few important tips you should keep in mind before making a purchase:

• Do account for the number of people attending your party. If it will be less than ten people, consider buying a set at 40 inches of less. You don’t need a monster set, just sit a bit closer together.

• Do consider the viewing angle of the set. The larger the angle, the more people should be able to crowd beside the set. But the angle should not be a priority ahead of resolution, brightness, and image processing speed.
• Do stick with LCDs for their durability and power savings. That is, unless you pick up one of the ‘Ultimate Black‘ Kuros from Pioneer (with their ridiculous contrast ratios), or one of the Mitsubishi Laser TVs. In that case, you probably shouldn’t be checking out any posts that feature ‘deals’. But if you are really sticking to your price points and want to maximize size, there will be some, older good Plasmas available.
• Do try to pay for your TV straight-up, without buying into any interest deals. As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, many of the ‘no interest’ multi-year payment plans become horribly one-sided against customers the moment you send in one late payment. Please don’t be that guy.
• Don’t buy any high-end HDMI cables while at the store. They will pitch them to you, with ridiculous, cross-eyed, teeth-shattering lies. You don’t need any Monsters in da house, just the TV. And some some chips. And guacamole. Skip the peanuts this year.
• Do figure out the best seating arrangements before the game starts. HDGuru came up with a great list that defines the optimal viewing distance for each size of a television. The main rule is that you should measure the distance in feet that you (and your friends) prefer to sit away from the set. Then, multiply that number by four to get the number of (diagonal) inches of screen you need. Check out the full (PDF) list of distance measurements right here, or after the jump.
• Do calibrate the TV to produce the best picture quality possible. Associate Editor Joe Brown recently noted during a video of his winter outing at the Wired Store that calibrating displays is a key to get the best out of any TV. Often, big box retailers will amp up the contrast, brightness, and color levels on in-store TVs in order to stand out in the high-ambient light conditions.

See also:

• Thanksgiving Update: We Rank the Best Early Black Friday TV Deals

Gadget Lab 2.0: Jose Fermoso’s Twitter feed; Gadget Lab on Facebook.