Geekwire LP-4: Low-Cost, Mini-Projector
This is a guest review submitted by Phoronix reader Lauri Kasanen for a mini-projector he recently purchased. Thanks to Lauri for submitting this original guest review to Phoronix and others are able to submit their own articles too for publication on Phoronix.
With the recent launch of the Raspberry Pi 2, I had immediately ordered one for some ARM hacking, as the price-performance angle was finally acceptable. Then it hit me, I had no idle screens with HDMI/DVI input.
I then proceeded to check the prices of small LCDs with HDMI inputs: in the 100$ region. Of course I could get a Pi-specific display, but that would be of limited use otherwise. What about those cheap Chinese mini-projectors? They are priced around 50$.
I had an unused 20$ coupon for the store, bringing the projector's cost to mere 30$. At that it was a no-brainer, even with there being no reviews of it on the 'net.
The Geekwire LP-4 is a LED LCD projector with modest specs:
- 480 x 320 resolution
- 24W rated power use
- VGA, HDMI, composite, USB and SD card inputs
- Stereo speakers rated at 1W each
The projector came well packed, with minimal accessories. Besides the power brick rated at 24W, it had a remote control, a small manual, and an adapter cable for the combined composite+audio input.
In typical fashion for these cheaper Chinese goods, the manual makes no mention of the native resolution, only mentioning that 1920x1080 is supported. Certainly, the projector has a built-in scaler, but you'll prefer your graphics card doing that as you'll see later on.
It is quite tiny, measuring 12.5 x 13 x 7 cm with the lens retracted (4.9 x 5.1 x 2.7 inches). The lens fully stretched out can add around 10 cm to the length - this projector has manual focus, tuned by turning the lens. The bottom has a mounting hole for standard camera tripods.
With mainly intended for desks, there is no possibility for ceiling mounts, though the tripod mount could be fashioned for that. With the projector only weighing just shy of 400 grams, there is little fear of the mount failing.