Zune 120GB w/ Pico Projector European Trip Review

[polarbear429]

Just came back from a 2 month back packing trip in Europe (holy crap it was hot!) Traveled hella light but of course I brought along da good ole Zune 120GB as well as an AAXA P1 pico projector. Now a few months back I remember posting seeing if you guys thought the pico projector was a good idea for the Zune as I was looking to buy one for the trip. I remember someone replied “no it’s for geeks you better get some protection or you’ll get robbed”.

Well no worries about that – I got the protection covered yo!
THIS geek ain't getting robbed!



Anyways I was worried about the weight of the Zune and projector when starting out. But as we got into it I’m sure as hell glad I brought them along - the Zune 120GB is simply badass. You cannot believe how many videos you can store with 120GB. I swear I loaded like 20 movies and as well as my entire (extensive) music collection with room to spare! We hiked through England, France, Italy bumping to my entire album. The radio didn’t work for any of the countries however, which was a bummer, but I guess it didn’t really matter since I don’t speak French or Italian anyways LOL. The battery life was decent, I brought a USB travel charger and was pretty much able to charge the Zune anywhere although I think I only charged it like 10 times even though I used it constantly. The Zune 120GB and the AAXA pico projector really shined on nights when we were too tired to go out and just wanted to chill or on the airplane and the train. It was a real hot item on the overnight train as we watched 3 movies for the 20 hour trip. This is where the AAXA P1 Pico projector came in real handy – there’s no way 4 people could stare at the tiny screen – instead we blasted a ~40” video on the train door. Only downside was the projector’s speakers was pretty weak and hard to hear over the train. Here's a pic of the P1 pico on the ceilling of the train:



Overall for you guys with the smaller Zunes I highly recommend getting the storage capacity, you cannot beat the ability to load a dozen or so movies. As for the pico projectors – GET IT! You cannot stare at a 6” or whatever screen for an entire movie – Microsoft needs to build in a pico projector into the Zune!! But since they don’t have it I highly recommend picking one up – the AAXA P1 Pico has a cable built for the Zune, but there are a lot of other pico and micro projectors out there these days too.

Cheers!

BR



Here's a youtube video I posted up for fun showing off the video out features of the Zune and how you can actually use the entire menu in TV out not just a few features (ahem Ipod)

YouTube - Zune 120GB TV output with AAXA P1 Pico...

And for those of you that are wondering here's their website:
http://www.aaxatech.com/products/kp190.htm

[Zombii Matt]

wow thats awesome. thanks for the review

nice H&K USPs btw

.45 USP and 9mm USP compact right?

[polarbear429]

Originally Posted by Matt

wow thats awesome. thanks for the review

nice H&K USPs btw

.45 USP and 9mm USP compact right?

Yup - you know your H&K's! The 45 is a full size (hard to tell in the pics)

[Jorvette]

They let you bring those guns?

[polarbear429]

Originally Posted by Jorvette

They let you bring those guns?

Hehe naw, no guns allowed in Europe I think - I just thought it was funny that someone said to own a pico projector you needed a weapon so you don't get jacked hehe

[runtohell121]

never heard of that brand projector o.O pico projectors are not bright enough most of the time for rooms with lights on =/

[polarbear429]

Originally Posted by runtohell121

never heard of that brand projector o.O pico projectors are not bright enough most of the time for rooms with lights on =/

Yeah you're definitely right, the pico projector is definitely not bright enough with the lights on but I guess that is the drawback of a battery powered projector. It's pretty cool with the lights off though it's definitely a badass Zune companion... Also if you think about it, my bro has a $2500 Samsung home theater projector that you can barely see anything with the lights on also so for the 250 bones I dropped I ain't complaining!

I hadn't heard of AAXA P1 before either, but it was between this and the Optoma PK101, the P1 was way cheaper and had higher resolution. Their website is here I guess they are going for $239 now:
AAXA Technologies - Pico Projector Specialists - Advanced Nano-LCoS Systems

The optoma pico did get cheaper to $299 though though but lower resolution (480 x 320)
Amazon.com: Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket...

I've also had my eye on the Samsung pico projector since it has an LCD screen and will probably upgrade to it once it comes out and gets cheaper
http://www.samsungusanews.com/2009/0...jector-cometh/

[Dilpickle1]

Woah! I didn't know you could use a projector on the zune, I suppose its only capable with zunes that support TV-out?

[Zombii Matt]

Originally Posted by polarbear429

Yup - you know your H&K's! The 45 is a full size (hard to tell in the pics)

yeah im thinking about getting an USP when i turn 21

[polarbear429]

Nice! the USP is an awesome firearm. I particularly like having the safety which allows me to carry with bullet chambered without a holster - something I avoid with either my glocks or sig 2340. And of course the polymer frame makes it all that much lighter

[grasshoppa]

Sweet man - where did you get it from and how much???

[polarbear429]

It's in the post:

http://www.aaxatech.com/products/kp190.htm

$239 - I got them to give me a Zune AV cable and shipping for free because they messed up my order at first