There are a number of ways of making your dumb TV smart, or for streaming shows directly to your projector. We recently were sent the Roku Express so we gave it a whirl.

We have all gotten used to being able to watch what we want, when we want. Fancy binge-watching a whole season of a show in one sitting? Sorted. Suddenly have the urge to watch the latest blockbuster without leaving your home? Just click and watch instantly.

However, there was a time when you’d have to head out to the video store or rely on your own tape/DVD collection for entertainment. That may be a dim and distant memory (or just plain history) to some, but others will still have a television without smarts. It may be in a bedroom, for instance. Or, you may have a projector that you want to add telly to.

This is where streaming sticks come in. These are a great and relatively inexpensive way to bring smarts to your TV or projector. Coincidentally,the Roku Express is their most recent and affordable offering.

Roku Express design

This is not a dongle. I thought I’d better be upfront about that.

The Roku Express is actually a remarkably small streaming box. From that unit, you can connect it via HDMI or USB ports.

One side of the streaming box is taken up by its infrared sensor for the remote to hit.

The other is where you’ll find the ports.

Having the sensor does mean that you need a line of site if you want to use the remote. On the plus side, you won’t have the possible issues that Amazon Fire TV Stick’s sometimes have with overly-snug HDMI ports.

Back to the remote. It actually feels pretty substantial, which is good. I do like the handy shortcut button for Netflix. However, I am more befuggled by the other buttons for Red Bull TV, Rakuten TV and Yupp TV. I can only assume that there was some deal between them and Roku. It would great if you could reassign those buttons through UI, but you can’t. I do like the colour choices on the remote and the added flare of the fabric tag.

All-in-all, the Roku Express is a compact and well-made system.

Roku Express performance

Firstly, don’t be expecting 4K here. This is a 1080p Full HD solution and proud of it. Being the owner of a Fire Stick already and still rocking a HD telly, this is cool with me.

Set up

The Roku Express is really easy to get up and running. Plug it in and follow the clear on-screen instructions.

This guides you through hooking it up to your wi-fi and grabbing updates. Yes, you can even name your Roku as I have done. Well, what else should I have called it?

After that is sorted it automatically checks your display and connection. This is so that it can optimise to the situation. Naturally, it went from from the 720p setup screen to 1080p.

This is handy if you are trying to use hotel wi-fi or similar as it will adapt to what’s best for Roku.

You will be prompted to go to Roku’s website on your phone, tablet or computer to register your device and add the streaming services you want. It does say that there’s a mixture of free and paid channels but it isn’t clear which is which.

This is a tad worrying when you have to hand over your card details at this point. Also, this step cannot be bypassed – no card, no play.

User interface

The homescreen is clean and simple (and not as blurry as my photography when I was testing the Qumi Q38).

You are shown thumbnails of your selected apps on the right, and a short menu on the left. The options are pretty straightforward, and include settings, a search function and a link to the channel store for browsing more apps.

There’s also a section called My Feed, which pulls through a curated selection of popular TV shows and movies, with options to watch them through Now TV or Amazon. Obviously, those are subscription or pay for channels. From what I can see, you don’t get nudges from from Netflix, iPlayer or any of the UK catch up services. This isn’t really a deal breaker, it just seems to be half-an-idea to me.

However, I am digging the way you can ‘follow’ actors, or even movies. This way Roku will let you know when the price of a followed movie comes down, or when new movies you’ve followed (or a movie with a followed actor) lands. Again, this will be Amazon and Now TV specific. Fortunately, I’m a Prime Video subscriber.

Apps

There’s pretty much everything you could want. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, All 4, ITV Player and Demand 5 are all to be found.

Additionally, there are heaps of other apps and streaming channels, as well as over 100 games.

The channel apps pretty much match what you’ll see in your smart TV. There are some simplified versions, for instance Amazon and Spotify, but you still get much the same functionality.

Even with the streamlined apps, there are some laggy occasions especially when scrolling swiftly through the menus.

The smartphone app hands you the navigation controls found on the remote. It also makes punching in search text a lot less bothersome. You even get voice search.

Furthermore, you also get the ability to share music, photos and movies from your device on your TV. Finally, there is an option for ‘private listening’. This chucks the audio from the TV to a pair of headphones connected to your device. I would suggest using wired cans as the Bluetooth option was out of sync when I tried it.

Picture quality

Most importantly, the picture performance is great. On a television Full HD video is crisp and sharp with plenty of detail. I really cannot fault the output from this tiny device.

Additionally, the Wi-Fi signal never dropped out nor was there a bad case of the spinnies due to buffering.

This is all very impressive; especially for the price.

Roku Express review conclusion

The Roku Express is hard to knock. If you are looking for an excellent and inexpensive way to add Full HD streaming smarts to a projector or daft telly, this is a great way.

Granted, to keep it at such an impressive price, there are some compromises to be made. Some, for instance, might not like having the mini-streamer on show. However, that trifles me not.

The Amazon Fire Stick with Alexa voice control is currently only a fiver more but then it is obviously more Amazon-centric. That’s fine for the likes of me with Prime membership. The 4K Fire is twice the price of the Roku Express. Roku also offers a stick for £55.

I would recommend the Roku Express to all those looking for Full HD smart telly tech with a holistic approach to streaming.

Price and availability

You can buy the Roku Express right now for £29.99 from Amazon.

The post Roku Express streaming media player review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Vivitek’s Qumi range of portable projectors are ideal for those on the move. So, whether you’re going from site-to-site to present facts and figures or enjoy some guerrilla film nights, you can be assured there’s a projector for you. Recently Vivitek added the Qumi Q38 to their go-anywhere range so we asked to have a look.

GadgetyNews is quite familiar with the Qumi range having reviewed a number of Vivitek’s portables. The Qumi Q38 boasts 1080p native resolution and the ability to project a 130-inch image.

It manages all of this from a compact device packing a rechargeable battery for total wireless operation.

So, let’s see how the Q38 performs, shall we?

Qumi Q38 design

Vivitek lists the Q38 amongst its pocket-sized portable projectors. Well, technically, it is – as long as you are wearing a jacket with decent-sized pockets. However, it is most definitely portable. Measuring a more than reasonable 188 x 118 x 34 mm (W x D x H) you can easily slip it in to a small bag or large pocket. It is light, but no featherweight at 0.746 kg. Again, it is still well within the portable realm.

Most of that weight will be due to the Q38’s battery. Yup, you are able to use the Q38 totally wireless. The internal 12,000 mAh battery last up to 2 hours. You also get built-in Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth.

Naturally, it comes with mains power via a rather hefty power brick. This really adds to the weight but is a necessary addition.

The projector is a nice-looking rounded rectangle. The one sent to us for review is finished in a rather nice, glossy red. When it catches the light just right you can see that there is a subtle stippled design in the finish too.

Up front you’ll find the lens hiding behind a little sliding door for protection. The rest of this face is covered in a mesh grille.

The sides and the rear are fitted with cooling vents. Additionally, whilst around the back, this is where the ports live. You get a HDMI port, a pair of USB A ports, audio out mini jack and a microSD card slot. Also here is the power jack for mains juice.

Up top are some touch controls that mirror what the little bundled remote can do. So, you have menu navigation keys including select/return, a back button, menu button and a plus and minus for the electronic focus. Also up here are a pair of indicator lights for power and battery.

Finally, underneath, is a little kickstand to aim the projector upwards.

It is a neat and funky-looking projector, I have to admit.

Qumi Q38 performance

The Q38 has a native resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080) through its LED lamp free light source. This should be good for up to 30,000 hours. This dishes out 600 ANSI Lumens of brightness. It will support up to WUXGA (1920 x 1200) @60Hz though.

It projects in 16:9 as its native aspect ratio and can throw an image of between 19-inches to 130-inches. The Q38 does have keystone correction (Auto Vertical: +/-40°)

As well as the audio out jack port the projector is fitted with a pair of 2W speakers. As in most cases, the audio from the speakers is OK in a quiet environment if that’s your only option. If you’re looking to watch a movie, hook up some external speakers or use headphones.

Set up

Setting the projector up straight out of the box was fairly straight forward. I had to use the power brick as I had not left it to charge.

Powering the Q38 up I was faced with a fuzzy image. A couple of prods at the electronic focus and job done. Connecting it to my home Wi-Fi network was a tad laborious but, if you own a Bluetooth keyboard, this will make things easier. Also, I had to enter my network credentials a couple of time before all was golden.

A quick software update and we were away.

In use

The Qumi Q38 isn’t the brightest projector on the market but the picture is watchable even with ambient light. The colours are decent and 10,000:1 contrast is reasonable.

Using a Roku Express in to the Q38’s HDMI port I tested out Star Wars: The Last Jedi and a bit of Vikings. For these I used the ‘Normal’ picture setting.

In a darkened room the picture quality is more than adequate. However, fast paced action games such as FPS and driving sims did suffer from blurring. That said, more ‘party’ games and the likes of Mortal Kombat are handled well enough as well as being great fun when supersized over 100-inches.

The user interface is friendlier than the one we faced in our review of the Q6. One minor niggle is that the little remote control needs to be pointed accurately at the device in order for it to work. Even then there was occasional lag which added to the frustration of setting it up.

The Q38 runs both cool and quiet. Even after a few hours it didn’t feel like it had been working hard, and that’s during the recent warm-spell we’ve been enjoying.

Qumi Q38 review conclusion

[amazon_link asins=’B07BMDW252′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’gadgnews-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=”]We are generally impressed by Vivtek’s Qumi range of portable projectors and, with the Q38, they have done it again. The Q38 looks and feels like a premium device and it performs well.
 
Whilst not perfect, the Q38 does extremely well for its size and price point. The assumption here is that you have a good reason to be buying a portable projector instead of a compact one. This is something I would advise you consider well before making a decision to buy.
 
If portable is the way forward for you, then the Qumi Q38 does a lot of things well. I love the fact that through its in-built rechargeable battery and wireless device connection you could literally watch a film in the middle of a field, so that be what you want to do.
 

Price and availability

You can buy the Vivitek Qumi Q38 portable projector now from Amazon for £564. It is available in red, white and black.

Qumi Q38 specs at a glance

The post Vivitek Qumi Q38 Full HD pocket-sized projector review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Vivitek’s latest addition to its Qumi family features full HD 1080p resolution with Android OS, wireless connectivity and built-in rechargeable battery. Let me introduce you to the pocket-sized Q38.

The Q38 joins the popular Qumi series of industry leading LED Pocket projectors.

Set to enhance the large-screen experience, the portable Qumi Q38 joins the successful Qumi Q3 Plus, Q6 and Q8.

Vivitek Q38 projector

The Q38 is set to deliver even bigger and better performance, as it offers the largest projection display size yet in 1080p resolution from a projector this small.

Vivitek Q3 pocket projector review

The Qumi Q38 boasts full flexibility with the embedded battery that lasts up to two hours. Additionally, the built-in wireless connection delivers a truly cable-free projection solution for any setting.

Ultra-portable

Weighing just under 750g, its slim and lightweight design allows the Q38 projector to easily be carried around in a handbag, briefcase or backpack.

With a sleek minimalistic design the projector is stylish enough to be suitable for a range of settings. It will look equally at home in the office or the studio.

Vivitek Q6 projector review

Furthermore, this pocketable projector has an incredible diagonal projection of up to 130-inches. Moreover, that is at full HD resolution.

Its performance is aided by 600 Lumens brightness, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, along with its 30,000 hours LED light-source lifetime.

Finally, there are integrated dual-2w speakers, as well as the option to pair the device via Bluetooth to a compatible sound system.

Stream direct from the Q38

If all that is not enough, the Qumi Q38 features a built-in wireless connection so you can project Full HD digital content straight from the web.

Easy access to services such as Netflix and YouTube just requires a smartphone to be used as a hotspot.

Similarly, the projector’s PC-Free Reader enables users to preload media and document files onto the projector’s internal 8GB memory. You also have the option to stream from a connected USB drive.

Words

Commenting on the introduction of the Qumi Q38, Holger Graeff, General Manager, Vivitek EMEA, said:

The Qumi Series is one of our signature product ranges, and the newest addition to the range continues to show the improved technical advancements and projector innovations that Vivitek is known for. The ability to give customers solutions that project on to a bigger screen size at a high quality resolution, while featuring an embedded battery and light weight design, are all factors that have been designed with our customers’ needs and requirements in mind.”

Pricing and availability

The Qumi Q38 is available immediately in red, black and white, from £499 ex VAT.

The post Vivitek Qumi Q38 750g portable 1080p 130-inch projector appeared first on GadgetyNews.

We’ve had a bit of a ‘break’ but we’re back and in full effect!

Now, I am using ‘break’ in its loosest term. We’ve basically all been busy with tech and/or life commitments. That said, you know you’re important to us too, right?

Well, this week you have the dulcet and familiar tones of Gareth, Gavin, and I but you also get an added bonus…

~drum roll~

Tech Talk Vodcaster, Ricky West, joins the Tech Addicts team!

So, waddaya waiting for? Push that button!

In today’s show

News

• Honor 9
• OnePlus 5
• Vodafone Smart V8

Reviews

• Aukey Bluetooth Speaker
• AOC PDS241
• Qumi Q6 portable projector
• Aukey 30000mAh power bank
• Iiutec R-Cruiser robot vac
• Avegant Glyph first impression review at Selfridges
• OnePlus 5 – Camera Review
• 4K Pro Video Editing on iPad Pro 10.5 vs iPad Air vs MacBook Pro TB i7

Bargain basement

• Amazon Prime members get a 20% discount off of select products from Amazon Warehouse Deals
• Toshiba Exceria M302 64GB microSDXC 90MB/s 4K UHS-I U3 Class 10 Memory Card.Was 24.99 now 17.99 delivered.
• Vodafone Smart V8 on Pay as you go £159
• Honor 9 + Free Orange Hauwei Band 3 Sapphire Blue, 64GB, UK £379.99

Get involved

• Main Show URL: http://www.techaddicts.uk
• Email: contact@techaddicts.uk
• Twitter: @techaddictsuk ; @garethmyles ; @gavinfabiani  ; @GadgetyNewsCom ; @JayGarrett ; @swanny ; @girlsngadgets ; @wildlime ; @TechTalkUK1
• Facebook: Tech Addicts; GadgetyNews
• Web: http://gavinsgadgets.com ; http://GadgetyNews.com ; http://swanny.me/
• Google Plus: +Techaddicts; +garethmyles ; +gavinfabiani-laymond; +JayGarrett

Other ways to listen

• RSS Link: http://mobiletechaddicts.libsyn.com/rss
• Direct Download.
• iTunes
• Stitcher
• Tunein

The post Tech Addicts Podcast #34 – OnePlus 5, Honor 9, Vodafone Smart V8 appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Following on from the well rated Vivitek Qumi Q3, can its bigger brother, the Qumi Q6 do any better?

Jay took the ultraportable projector for a spin a few months ago. Today I take a look at the next level up, the Q6.

Is bigger better?

Qumi Q6 design

The same but different?

Dimension wise, the Qumi Q6 measures 165 x 103 x 34 mm giving it a reduced width but slightly more height then the Q3. It weighs in at a supermodel like 0.475 kg, only slightly heavier than its sibling.

The extra height means you won’t be slipping this into your pocket, but the projector does come with a handy travel case that also holds all the required connectors. So it fits neatly inside your bag, with the added weight not impacting its portability.

As with most devices that have glossy finishes, be prepared to wipe away those fingerprints on a regular basis.

Differences between the Q3 and Q6 can be seen all over this model from the get go.

The top of the projector sports touch controls, meaning if you do lose the remote you’ll still be able to access all regular functions. This is excellent for the absent minded amongst us and me in particular as the watch battery in the remote was dead!

As you can see above, the front of the device lacks a sliding cover, but as this won’t be travelling around in your pocket its loss wont be missed too much.

The grill at the front continues the same design that exists on its side. The side section now also boasts a focus dial.

We were sent the black and silver version which looks very professional, but the Q6 comes in a variety of colours which look great!

The biggest changes can be seen at the rear of the device, and in some ways are a big boon.

Check out our review of the ultra-portable Qumi Q3 projector

Ports

The Q6 loses one of the USB A ports, and surprisingly the Micro SD port, but is now 3D ready and sports an extra HDMI Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) port.

While MHL isn’t a term many people will be aware of (I wasn’t), from what I understand in layman’s terms it is optimised to output your devices’ images/videos to a larger screen as long as they also support MHL.

Theoretically you could connect a keyboard and mouse to your tablet, plug in the included HDMI to MHL cable and have a fully functioning workstation to play around with!

Power

Unlike the rear of the Q3, the Q6 does not have a teeny tiny battery symbol on it, simply because it isn’t rechargeable.

I assume this is because of the extra power this thing has over its little brother, which we’ll get into later.

But, it did surprise me as I’d expect the line to continue the trend, and for me does impact its portability as you have to carry around the power cable and mini brick with you.

Added to this, the mini stand has also been removed, meaning this either has to lie flat, or a tripod will need to be bought which I imagine will be essential.

They’ve taken away quite a lot…

Qumi Q6 performance

As alluded to, this thing is mostly about a step up in power rather than portability.

Full specs are at the end of the article, but stand outs to me include WXGA (1280 x 800) output (which lends credence to being used more with workstations as a lot of LCD monitors use this same resolution), and a boost from 500 to 800 ANSI Lumens.

Files and apps

Image size has been lowered to 90-inches max. This improves the clarity of picture and I don’t think the extra 10-inches the Q3 offers will be missed too much.

The Q6 also improves the support for different file types, and contains a 2.5 gb on-board memory meaning you can preload the projector before you go on any travels. Probably not great for films, but very handy for files/presentations as you wont need a separate external device.

In addition to the ports mentioned earlier, there are several ways to connect wirelessly to the projector.

You can get the EZCastPro app for iOS and Android devices (although it doesn’t have great reviews or look particularly official), or visit a site when using a PC/Mac (www.iezvu.com) to purchase a dongle. Both options are displayed on the Q6 when powered up so you don’t need to remember them.

Your Q6 will appear on your wireless devices list – connect to it, open the app and you’ll be able to connect the Q6 to your wifi network.

You’ll probably be faced with the firmware updating which you cant skip, a bit annoying but once done hopefully wont appear very often.

There are some niggles – once I had downloaded the app and updated the projector, it then told me I would need to download a different app – QumiCast, and also kicked me out of the first app.

Personally, think the OS is pretty unwieldy: the process needs to be streamlined a bit, and needs to be slicker. You definitely want to sort out all the settings and updates before taking this little guy on the road.

Enough talk, lets get to the using bit

I tested using an iOS device initially.

The app allows you to display your photos and annotate them while on screen which was pretty cool although screams for use with a stylus rather than fingers.

iTunes

It’ll play music and videos that exist in your iTunes library (although you cant play videos you have taken yourself which is odd!). You can also access documents and iCloud, and mirror your web browsing, although I did run into problems attempting to do the latter.

You should also be able to use split screen using the app, but this did not work at all and disconnected me from my session. You’ll also be disconnected if your pc/phone/tablet sleeps or becomes idle (grrrr).

Live stream

One cool (but potentially useless) feature was being able to live stream from your device: my test subject was my puppy who looked suitably confused about seeing himself on the big screen.

Menus

The menus themselves are quite basic, and can become a chore to navigate through.

It left me wanting a really good app that you could use to control all aspects of the projector rather than using the touch controls on top or the tiny remote supplied.

PC

As expected, connecting a PC via HDMI was easy. Everything looked sharp and crisp, perfect for presentations.

Colours were nice and bright, even in well lit room, and stood out even more once the lights were turned down.

I wasn’t able to play sound through the projector (probably due to my settings) so was still relying on the speakers attached to my laptop, but that might not be a bad thing: the speakers on the Q6 are still only 2W so would struggle with conveying the power of the Star Wars opening crawl.

USB

Also tried a USB with mixed results: photos and documents worked fine, but video play was a bit jarring, odd as the consoles and laptop play the videos without issues.

Sound

Next up I plugged the Q6 into my console, which is what I was really looking forward to trying out.

Sound did come through the speakers, and it was my first massive disappointment with the projector.

The speaker was far too quiet and really tinny.

While OK for presentations you’ll definitely want to find an alternative to these speakers if you are relying on audio.

Netflix

Watching Netflix the picture was great, and the unit has a number of pre-programmed display settings, with ‘Bright’, ‘Movie’ and ‘Game’ being the best for me, although you can create and save two of your own schemes.

Gaming

Gaming up next, and up first was an First Person Shooter (FPS).

Diving straight into a multiplayer game, am happy to say there was little to no lag for me, and using it with a headset was very much the preferred option.

I find FPS hard to play on big screens, so went to a couple of other games, with party/sports games being best for this size of screen.

I was very impressed with how quiet the unit was while running. There wasn’t anything that would take me out of a movie or game at all.

It also remained cool through the 3 to 4 hours of use, but in case it does get hot the Qumi Q6 has a little light on top to indicate when you should turn it off.

Qumi Q6 portable projector review conclusion

Having read the Q3 review, I was really looking forward to testing the Q6 out but it is definitely aiming for a different audience. than

Without a doubt the Q6 has a lot more power and offers more options for those who want more out of their projectors, but does come at the expense of not being truly portable. By removing the rechargeable battery, needing a stand/tripod, and having poor connectivity wirelessly means you’ll have to carry a power brick (however small), shell out for a stand and carry that, as well as needing to plug into another device to get the most out of the projector. Additionally, you really should invest in some portable speakers if you need better sound.

I think it’s a bit of a shame that with all the great ports the system has, it doesn’t have an optical out for use with compatible surround sound systems.

However, I thought the picture quality was excellent, and barring the video play via USB (which could have been down to the file format i used) it was spot on.

The preset display options were all useful, and being able to create your own presets is an excellent idea.

The unit itself looks great and although not pocket sized I was impressed with all it could do in such a small shell.

Having heard some projectors suffer in low light conditions I have to say it excelled. I could easily see myself using this during the day for work, and watching films/playing games in the evening. I imagine conference centres/schools etc would be more than happy with it too!

To sum up: A great projector in of itself (if you have the set up for it!) even though it’s not as portable as the Q3.

Qumi Q6 price and availability

The Vivitek Qumi Q6 is available now for £525 from Amazon.

Check out the Vivitek website for a full list of stockists.

Qumi Q6 specs at a glance

The post Qumi Q6 portable projector review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

We love tiny yet capable tech here at GadgetyNews. So, we jumped at the chance to play with the ML750ST ultra portable projector from Optoma.

The Optoma ML750ST is classed as an ultra-portable projector. It weighs less than half a kilo, will fit on one hand, but still manages an impressive spec sheet.

This DLP projector is kitted with a short-throw lens so perfect for ad hoc cinema or gaming.

Optoma ML750ST design

A few years ago this would be classed as a pico projector but, since things such as the Qumi Q3 turned up, ultra-portable it is.

The ML750ST will still slip inside a bag or briefcase though – not that it needs to.

The 112.5 x 123 x 57mm projector comes with its own case. In what is no bigger than a small laptop bag, you get the projector, power and connector cables and a little remote control.

As the little Optoma only weighs 420g, you’re not going to do yourself a mischief carting it about either.

Its lens is protected by a little rubber cap but the rest of it is quite sturdy.

Somehow they have managed to squeeze in a HDMI port, SD card slot, a USB port, a headphone jack, and a universal in/out socket (for which a cable is helpfully provided for free).

The HDMI supports the MHL protocol for sharing content from compatible mobile devices. Spend an extra £27 on Optoma’s optional wireless USB adapter hands the projector wireless streaming support. This was kindly bundled in with my review pack.

It all adds up to being the little projector that can.

But, can it?

Optoma ML750ST performance

Specification

The ML750ST is an LED projector and uses a DLP (Digital Light Processing) system of individual red, green and blue LED modules. This is instead of the colour-wheel system used by most full-sized DLP projectors.

As you can imagine, this helps in achieving the portable-friendly size. It also means that the ML750ST’s lamp life is rated at 20,000 hours. Quite a difference to the 4,000 hours on the average full-sized home model. Most handy of all though for this projector on the go is that you don’t have to allow for cool-down time. Thanks to the LEDs, just switch off, unplug, pack up, move on.

Brightness

The ML750ST claims a brightness of 800 lumens. It also boasts a contrast ratio of 20,000:1 according to the official site.

It also manages a 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution at a native image aspect ratio of 16:10 rather than the 16:9 ratio of TVs and most video content.

While this means 16:9 content can’t make use of every pixel available in the ML750ST, the projector does preserve the correct aspect ratio when showing 16:9 content.

Short throw

The ST part of the projector’s name stands for ‘short throw’. If you’re not sure if this is a good thing or not, I reckon it is. You see, this means that it is able to deliver big images from a reduced distance away from the screen or surface you’re projecting on to.

For example, you can achieve a 100-inch image from having the ML750ST just a meter away from your screen.

Set up

I was somewhat relieved to discover that the ML750ST actually sports an automatic keystone adjustment feature. Not only that, but it actually works.

This uses a built-in sensor that auto calibrates the LEDs each time the projector is switched on to give you a rectangular viewing area rather than something a little more trapezoidal.

There’s not a great deal in the way of fine tuning options. Thankfully the presets generally do the trick.

The HDMI port can be used for connecting Blu-ray players and games consoles for home entertainment uses, as well as PCs and laptops. For me, this was utilsed for my trusty Amazon Fire Stick.

The SD card slot and USB port can be used for playing Microsoft Office, PDF, photo, video and audio files directly from the projector. Handy should you be planning on using the ML750ST for presentations and the like. A quick warning though, the projector doesn’t play nice with PowerPoint animations, apparently.

Optoma ML750ST picture quality

Choosing a film at random from the Prime Video section – it happened to be the 1996 Dolph Lundgren flick ‘Silent Trigger’ – I was actually surprised by the projector’s performance. Less so, Dolph’s.

I set this up over the recent sunny weekend in my living room. The curtains are thin so the room was still quite light. Even in this environment the black-level response and colour performance made the film watchable. Again, no real help from Dolph here – and I do usually like his films, especially Universal Soldier and Showdown in Little Tokyo (the latter gets bonus points for the added Brandon Lee factor). But, I digress.

Dark scenes contain much more realistic blacks than I was expecting for such a diminutive projector. I couldn’t really detect that haloing effect that you can sometimes get around dark areas either. This makes the shading and contrast much more natural.

This lack of haloing also means that you get more definition in dark scenes. This goes hand-in-hand with more depth in the brighter scenes.

As I was watching a video I had the ML750ST on the Movie preset.

This produced a fairly natural colour pallet. It is still vivid where needed and subtle in other areas.

You can still get the wow-factor from a striking sun-set but, when dealing with skin-tones for instance, there is still a subtlety without over-saturation.

Response

The ML750ST handles action pretty well too.

Its responsiveness isn’t going to make it a competitive gamer’s go to display, but it keeps up with fast scenes well enough. Gamers might be interested in the GT1080Darbee though.

Input lag is minimal – around 16.5ms is the quoted time.

The only real limiting factor I could see in my test was my room wasn’t dark enough. Had I been equipped with black-out curtains I am sure that I could’ve stretched the viewing image more. As it was, I could still get a 50-inch image that still had plenty of detail.

Detail

Regarding detail, some of the edges did appear not as sharp or defined as I would have liked. Perhaps full HD resolution may have smoothed this out a bit.

There were also a touch of rainbow-ing in really bright scenes. Again, nothing major but something I feel I have to mention.

I have to admit though, I did have to remind myself that I wasn’t dealing with a full-sized projector. Naturally, they will be able to dish out the lumens but the little ML750ST does perform well.

Optoma ML750ST sound quality

The ML750ST’s focus on convenience extends to an integrated speaker to save you from always having to find an external unit to hook it up to.

This unit is rated at 1.5W – but you weren’t expecting full Dolby Atmos were you?

Thankfully, the projector runs quite quietly.

You can make out dialogue, even in more rowdy scenes but the speaker is perhaps best left as a last resort.

Audio projection is poor, and there is little to no bass.

It’s best to use the headphone jack and hook-up a speaker. Bluetooth would’ve been a nice touch.

Optoma ML750ST review conclusion

This little ultra-portable projector certainly ticks a lot of boxes. It is easy to carry around, it’s bright and the colours are good.

The speaker is very weak, but then that’s going to be pretty low on your wish list if you were considering the ML750ST.

As a business projector it does pretty much all you’ll need it to. Being able to run Office presentations without a PC is a bonus. Running it from a computer is decent too and the PC setting works as it should.

If you had a business account, then the price might not be an issue. However, if you were looking at this as a personal purchase, then this might be a stumbling block.

We all know the smaller things are the more they tend to cost but, if Optoma managed to keep this closer to £400 it might have been a little more tempting. Not only for those looking for portable projectors, but those considering other budget versions. It could be an excellent all-rounder.

As it is, if you need a portable projector with skills that can match many full-sized budget offerings, then the ML750ST might be worth it.

Optoma ML750ST price and availability

You can buy the ML750ST now from Amazon.co.uk for £530.

The post Optoma ML750ST ultra portable LED projector review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Amazon is bringing the refreshed Fire TV Stick with Alexa powers to the UK and it is available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk now.

The all-new Fire TV stick was launched in the US at the end of last year and it will soon be landing here.

The new version of the Stick has a quad-core processor, so will be much quicker and smoother to use.

You also get more stable and stronger 802.11ac Wi-Fi. But, the real cool bit is that, like most things this year, it comes packing an Alexa Voice Remote.

Amazon Fire TV and Alexa

The remote not only enables you to search using speech, it also brings full Alexa functionality from launch.

Just tap the microphone button, speak into the remote and you can do almost everything an Amazon Echo can do through your TV.

We have it on good authority that this very same functionality will be coming to the existing 4K Fire TV too!

New Fire TV Stick

The new Fire TV Stick hasn’t really changed that much to look at. You still get a HDMI jack at one end and a small USB power socket.

Just shove it in to a spare HDMI port on the back of a TV or in to a suitable projector, and away you go.

The remote doesn’t need a clear line of sight to work so you can happily hide the stick from it.

Through the Fire Stick you can access thousands of apps, including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and Demand 5, as well as all of Amazon’s own streamed video content.

It is 1080p only, not 4K – for that you’ll need the set-top-box.

Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa price and availability

The new stick is available for pre-order now at £40 and will ship from April 6th.

The post Amazon Fire TV Stick now packs Alexa remote appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Here’s another huge issue of our free online magazine!

November brings Mark Fenlon of Markaudio and Markaudio-Sota for the regular ‘Behind the brands’ feature. This month’s classic album is Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’.

There’s also the usual columns, features and gig reviews. We also bring you loads of photos from the Indulgence Show in Hammersmith and the Windsor Hi-Fi show.

More pages of great content than many of the mags you’d pay good money for!

HIFI Pig reviews

• Westminster Labs Unum power amplifiers
• Avid Hi-Fi Volvere turntable
• Taga Harmony Platinum F100 SE loudspeakers
• Axis Voicebox S loudspeakers
• Revel Concerta 2 M16 loudspeakers
• Fostex TE05 and TE07 IEMs
• Black Rhodium Quickstep speaker cable
• Mid-priced loom from Chord Company

GadgetyNews reviews

• Acoustic Energy Aego Sound3ar
• Vivitek Qumi Q3 pocket projector
• Udoq universal phone and tablet dock
• Prism Sound Callia DAC/pre/HPA
• Garmin DriveSmart 60 Satnav
• Skullcandy XTfree sports earphones
• MVR Ascend Virtual Reality kit
• Parrot Minidrones first look
• Dali KATCH Bluetooth speaker
• Dell XPS 15 laptop
• Skullcandy Barricade speaker

The post Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews – November 2016 appeared first on GadgetyNews.

The Qumi Q3 certainly answers one of today’s demands; smaller tech. Phones have to be thin and light. Cameras have to be powerful yet tiny. Vivitek has listened and have come up with a projector that can not only fit in your pocket, it can cast a HD image equivalent to a 100-inch TV!

There is a problem with miniaturising some tech. Like the iPhone 7, something has to go. Or has it?

Looking at the Qumi Q3’s spec list, it almost seems that Vivitek has managed to add a bunch of features whilst keeping the 720p projector’s frame tiny. The thing is, how does it perform?

Qumi Q3 design

Upon opening the box I liked what I saw.

The Qumi Q3 looks every bit the professional’s portable buddy. I can imagine high-power execs rocking up to a business meeting, opening up their expensive case and unleashing the Qumi Q3 to confused looks. That confusion soon turns to amazement when our travelling friend switches on the projector without the need to locate a power socket. Only then to navigate to their presentation which is stored on the Q3 and get straight on to business, moving through slides using a tiny Bluetooth remote.

Yes, gadgety faithful, the Qumi Q3 can do all of that right out of the box.

The projector measures just 176 x 103 x 28 mm and weighs just under 0.5Kilos (0.460Kg) – so not much more than a rather chunky smartphone.

It has a neat industrial look to it which I really like. The cooling grilles at either end look like they’ve been taken from a classic British Grand Tourer.

The lens is protected by a sliding cover. The Q3 uses LED lighting rated at 500 ANSI Lumens. This not only enables the projector to be this small and still throw a bright image, but LEDs are a darned sight cheaper to replace than regular projector bulbs.

Around the rear is where you’ll find a healthy array of ports. HDMI, Composite Video (via 3.5mm mini jack shared with audio out port), Audio-Out (Mini-Jack), two USB A, and microSD card slot are all present. Do you really need any more than that from a pocket projector?

But there are further ways to connect which this device. This has the added bonus of both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi! This just seems to get better and better doesn’t it? I have already mentioned that it has a rechargeable battery, haven’t I? I should add that this also has a pair of 2Watt speakers on-board though.

The projector also has a little kickstand which angles it slightly upwards.

I was sent the gold one but there are a whole load of colourways to choose from.

Qumi Q3 performance

Apps

The Q3 runs on the Android operating system and so share’s the OS’s flexibility. It also allows you to use the Play Store.

The Qumi projector also has its own preinstalled apps that allows you to view photos, videos, play music, access documents, and so on. Thanks to its Wi-Fi skills there’s even a web browser.

All of that means there’s no need to drag around your laptop or any other device as the Q3 can pretty much cover all those bases. Just switch it on watch YouTube, Netflix or play something from your Amazon Fire Stick. That’s what I did. I also downloaded ShowBox but selecting a video wasn’t happening. I think a Bluetooth mouse might work though.

Flicking through settings and the app menus is fairly slick with hardly any lag.

The picture mode offers Movie mode, Bright, a custom user option and Presentation mode.

Picture quality

The photos here really don’t do the picture quality any justice really. The Q3 actually has a native resolution of 1280 x 720 (720p). My bad photography must be excused – low light, shortness of time and poor eyesight are my excuses.

The Qumi Q3 automatic vertical keystone works incredibly well. This means no matter what angle the projected image hits the surface, the picture will always present as a rectangular viewing area.

The LED lightsource is very bright, even in a lit room the picture is clear and watchable. The projector’s light is good for 30, 000 hours before you need to start thinking about replacements.

Watching a film from Amazon Prime and the action was clear with very little noticeable blurring or hazing. I kept on having to look at the size of the device that this image was being sent from.

PowerPoint presentations were excellently clear and crisp. Charts readable and still images popped with strong and vibrant colours.

Sound quality

The speakers aren’t going to shake your foundations but I dare say that they’ll wake the people in the next tent. Yup, I have already mulled over the thought of taking a Q3 on camping holidays, using the tent as a screen.

Watching a few videos in my quiet living room and the speakers were passable. Hooking up the Dali Katch (review soon) or the audioCube and things went up a notch. Where sometimes mumbled dialogue was difficult to discern, all becomes a lot clearer.

Qumi Q3 review conclusion

The Qumi Q3 really is a great little device. I can really see this coming in to its own in a professional scenario but I can’t ignore its usefulness for leisure too. Who can resist an alfresco summer screening of a classic flick? As I’ve already mentioned, taking a Q3 on holiday would ensure no evenings of boredom.

If you travel as part of your job and have to make regular presentations, you really need a Q3 in your life. Me? I’d have one just to watch films wherever I want to – on a 100-inch screen.

Qumi Q3 price and availability

The Vivitek Qumi Q is available now for £429. Check out the website for listed stockists.

The post Vivitek Qumi Q3 pocket projector review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Vivitek has just announced an addition to its popular Qumi Series of industry leading pocket projectors with the introduction of the Qumi Q3 Plus.

The Vivitek Qumi Q3 Plus is an ultra-portable LED smart projector. It is powered by Android and is designed to provide entertainment on the go.

Redefining how and where the big screen experience can be enjoyed and shared, the Qumi Q3 Plus joins Vivitek’s existing Qumi projectors – including the Qumi Q6 and the Qumi Q7 Plus – which also offer Wi-Fi connectivity and PC-free access to multimedia content.

Pocket-friendly and potent

The Qumi Q3 might only be slightly bigger than a smartphone and weigh just 460 grams, but it is able to project a large widescreen image up to a massive 100-inches diagonal size.

The pocket powerhouse packs native HD720p resolution, 500 lumen brightness and 5,000:1 contrast. The LED light-source is good for 30,000 hours before needing a refresh.

Under the hood of the Q3 projector you’ll find a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU running the Android v.4.42.

Combined, these ensure that the Q3 Plus packs a visual punch wherever it is used. It’s an experience set to last too, thanks to its built-in 8,000mAh rechargeable battery which delivers up to two hours on the go projection.

Wireless and versatile

This pocket projector will play nice with a multitude of content sources – playing back video, photos, documents and other content from a PC-free reader via a USB drive, microSD cards or even from its 64GB onboard memory.

The Q3 Plus even has built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. This gives you the freedom to put the projector where you want it. It’s also handy for those looking to use it on their travels.

Not only that, you are able to project content from iOS or Android devices. If that’s not enough choice, then there’s the preloaded online streaming content provider apps. Expect Netflix and Youtube for starters, so you can watch without having to use your smart device.

If you need more sound than the integral 2 watt stereo speakers can give, the Q3 Plus offers Bluetooth connectivity. This means that, not only can you use headphones, but it can transmit from the projector to a compatible external speaker for increased volume.

Looking good

I have to say, I really like how the Qumi Q3 Plus looks.

It has a minimalist-yet-functional design. The Qumi Q3 Plus’ sliding lens cover, curved edges and neatly integrated speakers sits somewhere between business-like and understated elegance.

Commenting on the Q3 Plus’ introduction, Holger Graeff, General Manager EMEA, Vivitek, said:

This projector encapsulates Vivitek’s commitment to engineering excellence which is reflected in its innovation, performance and flexibility. It also shows our enthusiasm for giving our customers solutions that deliver the image quality and performance associated with Vivitek, irrespective of the size of the projector or where it is used.”

I am really looking forward to reviewing the Q3 Plus so stay tuned!

Qumi Q3 Plus pricing and availability

The Qumi Q3 Plus comes in white, black, red and gold. It lands in stores from September 2016 at a list price of £429 inc VAT.

The post Vivitek Qumi Q3 pocket projector released appeared first on GadgetyNews.