Aiptek Pocket CinemaV10 review

Aiptek's V10 isn't the first palm-sized projector we've seen: we had a brief test of Optoma's Pico Projector at its launch (see www.computershopper.co.uk/news/232050).

The V10 is only marginally larger and, although it costs £50 more, it has many advantages over the Pico. It has a much higher resolution of 640x480, compared to the Pico's 320x240. There's also a built-in media player and 1GB of memory, which means there's no need to connect another device to watch videos or photo slideshows. A memory card slot supports SDHC, MMC and Memory Stick formats.

Like the Pico, the V10 is battery powered, so you can use it anywhere you like. However, with a brightness of just 10 lumens, it's really only useful in almost pitch-black conditions. This seriously hinders the V10's flexibility as a portable presentation device. In very low light, you can project images up to around 50in, but turn the lights on and you'll have to reduce this to around 15in. Like any projector, you'll need a flat white surface for the best results.

The battery lasts for about an hour, so you'll need to use the power supply if you want to watch a whole movie. It's possible to charge the V10 via USB, but you can't project at the same time as it switches to storage mode when connected.

JPEG and MP3 file support should be sufficient for most people's photo and music needs. Video files must be MPEG4 in an AVI, ASF or MP4 wrapper, H.264 in an MP4 wrapper, or Motion JPEG in an AVI wrapper. ArcSoft Media Converter is bundled, but it produced mixed results in our tests. Some files converted fine, while others ended up as a corrupted mess.

Navigating the basic-looking menus is simple, and photo slideshows work well. Video playback is smooth, but there are no fast-forward or rewind controls - you can only skip to the next or previous video in the folder.

Any video sources you want to connect - such as an iPod, games console or camcorder - will need a composite video output. Audio can be connected via phono plugs, but the 0.5W speakers are too quiet to be useful. If you're not using the AV input, the 3.5mm jack can be used as a headphone socket. Image quality is reasonable, but colours aren't accurate. Dynamic range is limited, which means there's not much detail in shadows or bright areas of images. Overall, it's just about acceptable for playing games or watching the odd TV episode.

The V10 comes with two essential extras, a mini tripod and a protective case, plus there's a two-year warranty. Because of this, its £300 price isn't completely unreasonable. For under £400, though, you can buy a sub-2kg projector with a 2,000-lumen lamp. Such a device will work under almost any lighting conditions, but you'll need mains power and a video source.