Need Help Deciding on a Projector!

[RingDongDing]

Hey everyone,

Just to briefly introduce myself, my name is Daniel and I am a 22 year old student attending university in Southern California. I'm kind of a movie buff and obsessed with TV dramas so I love watching NetFlix or Hulu in my spare time. I lurk around these forums from time to time, but I created an account to get some help and advice on which projector I should buy. Right now, the situation is me and my roommates just moved into a new apartment a week ago and noticed that we had a nice, white wall in the living room that we could use for watching movies! My roommates aren't into movies as much as I am but I convinced them that it'll be a great idea if we chipped in to buy a projector (Plus it'll be a great way to impress our girlfriends ). Also, the NFL season is coming up and it'll be awesome to watch some football on a big screen!

Of course, we are kind of on a budget because security deposit and furniture took a hit on our bank accounts (thank goodness for financial aid haha). We're not looking for a top of the line business projector since we'll probably have a maximum audience of 4 to 5 people, but we are looking for something that is bright enough for movies and football games. I was doing some research and it seems like BenQ and Optoma are the leading brands; however, BenQ is simply way too expensive for us! After further research, I discovered AAXA Technologies and they have a mini projector called the LED Android! Of course I was intrigued because I never heard of any projector that ran an Android OS. I mean theoretically speaking, if the projector ran Android then it should come with NetFlix, am I correct? It can also project 1080p and has 550 lumens (to be honest, I have no idea how bright that is but a quick Google Image search makes it seem like it'll be more than bright enough for our use). I'm not sure what the throw ratio is like, but I attached a picture of our wall just so you guys can get an idea how big we want our projection to be.


(Pardon the mess, we're still moving a lot of stuff around haha)

Has anyone had any experience with the LED Android from AAXA Technologies or with the company in general? I'm kind of hesitant because I never really heard of the company but it seems like they are pretty up there in business of mini-projectors. Then again a projector that can run NetFlex directly would be absolutely perfect for me. Not to mention it's definitely affordable split 4-ways!

 

[barth2]

Do you have good light control in your room, ie can you make it real dark. That helps with any projector.

A small led projector is a pretty decent choice for the dorm. You may want to look at other tiny led projectors to see if they have better specs. You are looking at lumens, contrast ratio, and resolution. Don't get too hung up on it having android if you can hook up a laptop and play anything.

Don't expect very good picture quality. It's not going to look like your phone or the cheapest lcd TV. But it'll be a fun toy to have.

If you get a real projector with bulb, it'll be more expensive even with a low end model. It'll have much better picture and you guys will be kings of the dorm. Unfortunately bulbs last only 3 to 5 thousand hours and replacement bulbs run around 300. Also bulbs run hot and need time to heat up and cool down, which means you can't just turn it on and off like a TV. You need to take care of it a bit. Leds don't have this problem. So bulb projector is not a good choice for a dorm, unless you are really into picture quality and the home cinema experience.

 

[codyoehl]

Have you considered getting a TV, it might cost more than a projector, but I think it could be better for you
Plus you could just buy like a $35 chromecast for the Netflix and stuff

Posted via Android Central App with my Samsung Galaxy S5

 

[RingDongDing]

We have considered getting a flatscreen TV, but it's way too expensive for us poor college students haha. Plus it'll be nice to have our laptop plugged in next to us instead of right next to the TV.

We can turn off all the nights so lighting condition shouldn't be a problem. My friend brought over his ViewSonic mini projector. I think the model was PLED-500 and it worked really well! But it costs $600 on NewEgg which is like $100 more than the LED Android from AAXA. Not to mention the convenience of running Android directly on the projector saves me the trouble of bringing my laptop charger to the living room whenever I wanna watch some NetFlix or Hulu. I was checking out some of the reviews and it seems like the LED Android would work perfectly for our apartment.

I'll let you guys know how it performs when I order it and play around with it!