Projectors: Anyone know anything about these? I'm so lost.

[canderson]

I'm fairly good at a/v and IT stuff but I'm beyond lost re: projectors for my business needs.

What we're looking for is something small but mighty. A wireless connection would be preferable so we're not having to tote around tons of cables.

When we have our big meetings (three times a year, in various hotel ballrooms around Pennsylvania), we have one older computer (with VGA connections) that we connect with two projectors via a splitter. We also have Chromebooks available, but I don't think those would connect with our old projectors.

We also use a projector in our office conference room which isn't the size of a ballroom by any stretch but is probably a good 40' long and 20' wide so still a good-sized space. For this we have office managers around the state using a Chromebook to call in so they can see us and we can see them.

We ordered a ZTE Spro projector a few months ago, but we couldn't get it to connect wirelessly, which was most of the reason we wanted it. Furthermore, even at its brightest setting, it didn't have much power at a large size, and it would've been difficult for members to see.

We need a projector(s) that can connect to a computer that would take a USB drive because we have people who need to present things. It needs to be able to project at an angle in a big room but also in the smaller conference room.

I have no idea what to look for, where to start, etc. Anyone here familiar with a/v stuff that can help?

 

[begranter]

The "AAXA Technologies P300 LED Pico Projector" is the Wirecutter's choice

For inputs it has HDMI, VGA Composite A/V, microSD and USB readers. From what I know about projectors, one of the things I noticed is that it uses LEDs so the light source should last a long time. I've had friends in the past with projectors and when the bulb goes, it's basically time to get a new one as the bulbs cost almost as much as a new projector of the same model.

 

[canderson]

The "AAXA Technologies P300 LED Pico Projector" is the Wirecutter's choice

For inputs it has HDMI, VGA Composite A/V, microSD and USB readers. From what I know about projectors, one of the things I noticed is that it uses LEDs so the light source should last a long time. I've had friends in the past with projectors and when the bulb goes, it's basically time to get a new one as the bulbs cost almost as much as a new projector of the same model.

From what I gather (and the one we bought proved) is pico projectors won't work for us, they're best suited for a small room and not any conference room or larger. They don't have the lumens to be projected and seen.

 

[SumnerH]

Which ZTE did you have? You know it was insufficient, light-wise, so that'll at least start to narrow things down.

 

[canderson]

Which ZTE did you have? You know it was insufficient, light-wise, so that'll at least start to narrow things down.

It was this one.

 

[Saints Rest]

I don't know much about specifics of brands or anything about wireless versions, but the important things to consider are output and image size.

Output will most typically be defined by lumens. More is better.

That said, the apparent brightness of your output is going to be determined by your image size (which, in turn, will be determined by your lens. The larger your image size, the dimmer your image will appear to be (as you are spreading all those lumens over a larger area). Think of it like spreading cream cheese on a bagel. The amount of cream cheese is the output, and your bagel is the image: the bigger that bagel, the less cream cheese you will get in every bite.

Finally, don't forget that the brightness of your image will be HEAVILY impacted by the ambient brightness of the room.

 

[canderson]

I don't know much about specifics of brands or anything about wireless versions, but the important things to consider are output and image size.

Output will most typically be defined by lumens. More is better.

That said, the apparent brightness of your output is going to be determined by your image size (which, in turn, will be determined by your lens. The larger your image size, the dimmer your image will appear to be (as you are spreading all those lumens over a larger area). Think of it like spreading cream cheese on a bagel. The amount of cream cheese is the output, and your bagel is the image: the bigger that bagel, the less cream cheese you will get in every bite.

Finally, don't forget that the brightness of your image will be HEAVILY impacted by the ambient brightness of the room.

Yeah, I've learned this today. Thanks. I think something like this might work for us - it's not as small as I had wanted but if it gets the job done in multiple situations I'll deal with it. That seems to work when thrown from a 20-30' distance onto a large projection screen yet still be adjustable enough to work in a smaller conference room when projected 10' onto a small wall.