Today we’ll take a look at a mini LED projector which can be as large as 130 inches. The Abdtech mini LED projector is a lightweight and low-end projector, and it performs quite nicely (actually, better than expected). The product page states that it’s not recommended for PowerPoint or business presentations; it’s more ideal for home theater movies and video game use. After testing it out with both cable TV and an Xbox 360, I agree that it’s best for home media and gaming usage.
What’s Inside the Box
Just about everything you need to get up and running with the projector is inside the box. For my personal testing, I only needed to purchase an HDMI cable since one is not included. Additionally, I connected my own personal speakers since the quality of the built-in speaker isn’t the best. Here’s what comes in the box:
the projector, of coursevery detailed user manual with illustrationspower cable3-in-1 AV cableremote controlheight adjustment nut
Usage and Performance
For the most part, I’m really happy with the performance of the projector. There were a couple of hiccups, but my husband was able to get things running smoothly in no time. For someone who is not very familiar with electronics like this or the cables that accompany them, things may get a bit frustrating if you can’t get it to act right. The projector can be used with a gaming system, television, desktop computer, or a laptop. Along with playing content from one of these devices, you can also add content to a USB or SD card (micro-SD not supported) and insert them into the projector. Even though a remote control is included (2 AAA batteries are not included), it’s also nice to have navigation buttons (play/pause, back, OK/Enter, arrows, power, menu, exit) right on the projector. This way you can control it from there should you forget or lose the remote control (or if you just prefer to).
Display
At a far enough distance, the display goes up to a whopping 130 inches. I’m not sure the distance I was able to get on this, but it took up about 75% of my wall and looked really great! I had no issues seeing the screen; everything looked smooth and detailed. The colors aren’t as vibrant as a TV screen, of course, but they definitely are good enough for the average user. This is nowhere near the best quality picture, but hopefully it gives you a good idea of the display size. After some maneuvering and moving things around, I ended up switching to another wall without windows, but I don’t have a picture. One of the main issues, of course, is the fact that the projector is only good for nighttime viewing or in a very dimly lit or dark room. During the daytime, even with the shades pulled all the way down, the projection is just really hard to see. So obviously you don’t want to replace your TV with this unless you have a media room or basement (preferably without any windows or external light) to use it in. There are two dials on top of the projector for adjusting the Keystone effect and focus. Although I couldn’t get the display as crisp as a TV screen (I didn’t expect to.), it’s still a great view and in clear focus. I didn’t have to squint or strain my eyes and had no headaches after watching for a few hours.
Speakers / Audio
As I mentioned above, the built-in speaker is pretty sub-par, and you’ll want to use your own speaker for audio. Not only that, but I could not get the speaker to work with my cable TV. It worked fine with the Xbox 360, but I actually had to connect external speakers just so I could hear the TV audio. This was remedied by connecting speakers to the digital cable box since connecting them directly to the projector did not work either. You can also attach headphones (3.5mm jack) or use a Bluetooth speaker via a Bluetooth transmitter if you’d like. It also should be noted that the projector does not support Dolby audio format due to patent issues.
Other Notable Features
There is an “OUT 5V” port that allows you to charge a USB device such as your smartphone or tablet. This is great if you’re using the projector away from home and the battery is low on your mobile device. I won’t go into much detail on the different menu options when using the projector. However, here are the menus and a couple notable options for each one:
Picture menu – Color temperature, aspect ratio, noise reductionTime menu – Set the clock, set an on and/or off timePlay menu – On screen navigation buttons, which are handy if the navigation buttons on the actual projector malfunctionSound menu – Sound mode, balance, turn surround sound on/offOptions menu – Language, restore to factory default, update software
Specifications
image system: LCDlamp: LED with an estimated 20k hours of lifespecial function: Keystone for correcting picturesnative resolution: 800480supported resolution: 19201080aspect ratio: 4:3/16:9brightness: 800 lumenscontrast: 800:1focus: manual onlylens: F=125image size: 34-130 inchesprojection distance: 1.07-3.8mprojection source: external from AV in/USB jack/memory SD cardports: USB, 3-in-1 AV input, SD card, 3.5mm earphone, DC connectorOS language: English, Polski, Russian, Deutsch, Spanish, Czech, etc.input: AC 100-240V 50/60Hzoutput: DC12Vpower waste: 30Wspeaker: 2.0W *2
Multimedia Player Support File Formats:
video encoding format: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, DivX, Xvidvideo format: AVI, MOV, VOB, DAT, MPEG, MPG, RM, RMVBaudio format: MP3, WMA, WAVimage format: JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNGe-book format: TXT
Final Thoughts
For the cost, I feel like the Abdtech mini LED projector is a great value. It performs well and has ample jacks and ports, along with some great features. Plus, it is small and will travel easily. If you’re setting up a media room in your home and are on a tight budget, this would be a great option. Just attach some high-quality speakers, and you’re good to go. If you don’t have or can’t afford a huge projector screen, a smooth wall works just as great, too.
