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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 640x480 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.
