LG PF50KA 100” Portable Full HD (1920 x 1080) LED Smart TV Home Theater CineBeam Projector with Built-in Battery (2.5 Hours) - White
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Ian B
> 3 dayI would give this a ZERO if possible. Very frustrating interface. The instructions are worthless. Does not give you any guidance on how to connect/stream from a device. I simply wanted to use this for presentations and maybe some movies. The picture may be okay but I cannot tell you because all I have seen is the menu. It does not recognize Apple products even when connected to the USB. I understand you need to get an app for iOS, but it has horrible reviews. The PowerPoint only gives you an option to play presentation. You cannot control when to advance a slide. It just advances the slides at its own pace. There is nothing simple about this. When I connected my iPad it would only give you an option to view picture files and it was VERY slow to even do this. You cannot simply connect your iPhone or iPad and play a movie or mirror you screen. This is absolutely horrible and would not recommend to anyone. Also, I have an LG TV and I realized the remote was controlling both the projector and the TV at the same time. I cannot express how frustrating this thing is!!!!!
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Vida Koswara
> 3 dayI rarely write reviews but man, this projector is awesome! I dont feel much heat around the projector and the video quality is just fantastic. I highly recommend getting this product. Smart TV feature is absolutely a plus but I also use ChromeCast to cast NFL/NBA/PL games.
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Dave
> 3 dayI have a love/hate relationship with this projector. The picture quality is amazing for its super portable size. Its really the only one of its kind that I know of (full 1080p battery powered with smart features). The battery life however is just ok. You might be able to get through a movie if you have it set to the highest power saving setting but its definitely under 2 hours in the normal power mode. It can charge via USB which is great, but it uses the battery faster than it can charge on USB so that can only extend your time another hour or so. There is no zoom function so the screen size is based on how far the projector is from the wall/screen. It does have auto keystone adjustment which is nice. The interface could definitely use some improvement and it has some bugs that can make it very frustrating to use. For one, I primarily use the USB input for playing files offline from a USB flash drive. The projector will often have trouble reading files/folders on the flash drive. It will work fine at first, play a video, then you go back to play another video and it says the file/folder doesnt exist. You then have to eject and reinsert the USB flash drive (sometimes a few times) for it to work again. Ive had this same issue with several flash drives including a brand new one so I know its not the drive itself. Also, it always wanted to default to the TV tuner input when I dont have a USB flash or HDMI cable plugged in. This is super annoying because you just get a screen of white noise and loud static when it selects the TV tuner as input. It would be nice if you could disable the TV tuner for this reason but you cant. This last weekend I forgot the remote for the projector. but you should be able to still control it using the navigation buttons on top of the projector, but I found another bug. If you select the USB flash drive with the onboard navigation, it wont let you select any of the files. For some reason the left/right navigation buttons (the only way to select files) controls the volume instead of letting you navigate through the files. In other words, you cant play any files on a USB flash drive without the remote. I was able to find a workaround by using the LG TV plus app on my android phone as a remote control, but this brings up another annoyance. The LG TV Plus app only works if you have both the phone and the projector connected to the same wifi network. This can be a problem if you are somewhere without wifi. Also, the projector doesnt seem to save the password for wifi so you have to tell it to connect each time. It seems like you should be able to control it over bluetooth with the app instead of wifi when you are on the road. Anyway, it definitely could use a firmware update to resolve some of these bugs. I would up my rating to 5 stars if they fixed these issues.
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KL
Greater than one weekThis is my first projector experience. I had a Wowoto H9 for a very short period of time and returned it because of a critical focus issue and bought this LG PF50KA instead on flash sale. Its been about 10 days since I received it and I am generally very happy with it. No issues with uneven focus on this one. **Updated on 4th week and very important. You can adjust display option. My mistake.** Pro 1. Its a major pro. The image quality. To begin with, 1080p (LG PF50KA) is way better than 720p (Wowoto H9). Pixels are easily spotted on the 720p screen but 1080p is smoothly faded with no obvious pixel presence in close inspection. Brightness is really good too. Even in low light settings (in the morning with blinds, in my case when the sun is shining to the opposite direction of the projector screen from around 7am to 3pm), the image is still very bright. But when the sunlight is coming toward the screen (4pm to 7pm), it is not so favorable while still watchable. And obviously, a full light on room is not working for this projector at all and a complete dark room setting at night is the best. 2. Smart TV capability. Hulu and Netflix are pre-installed and available on the go. LG contents movies and dramas are easy to navigate too. 3. Battery capability. I havent moved the projector from its set position yet, but I certainly think I can carry this to another room for movies or outdoors. Not a pocket sized projector but still very much carry-able in your backpack or small designated carriers. 4. Wireless connectivity. Works well with my bluetooth headphone. No hassle. Havent tested other bluetooth connections like smartphones but there are many more connectivity available via wireless. Con 1. No longer a Con. You can adjust display such as contrast, brightness, etc. So disregard this section. **updated** 2. Amazon Prime video is not available on the go. The pre-installed Internet browser (Chrome) works well but it does not support Amazon Prime video streaming. Amazon fire stick will probably allow you to watch Amazon Prime videos. I havent tried it yet, but it should work. 3. Remote control could get better. I got used to it in 2 days but it seemed complicated at first. Too many buttons. Also, the buttons feel a bit too dull, making the whole menu navigation experience feel less crisp. Durability looks good instead. 4. No zoom in out or position change. I knew about this before the purchase and it didnt cause too much trouble, but Id much prefer to have the feature. Okay 1. Fan noise level is okay. When there is sound it is barely noticeable. When there is no sound, it is quite noticeable. But, it did not bother me much for 8 hour straight use even though my projector is placed right next to me. With headphones on, the fan noise is unnoticeable. You can hear the fan running on open can headphones, but only when theres no sound. Not a big problem for me. 2. Sound quality and loudness from this tiny projector is actually not bad. It depends on what source you are playing, but with Nintendo Switch hooked on, it gets pretty loud. The projector is set right next to my bed and if I put it over 50% loudness, I lower it down to 35% to 40% in less than 10 minutes because it hurts my ears. Nothing special but clear enough sound. Left right recognition is there, too but not great. Bass is not really there and I did not expect it to be. I think overall sound quality is okay for a small projector. Definitely acceptable. However, the internal speaker wont be good for Bluray audio or other multi channel support audio media. I played a 12GB movie and the internal speaker just sounded jammed. Foggy and very unclear. I suspect it is due to the amplified bass signals the input source is sending out. Otherwise, everything else worked just fine so far. 3. Built-in TV interface. Its alright. Pretty fast to go through menus. Click response time is very short and the operation software has never been slow or draggy for me. Menus look clean and easy to navigate. Fast enough to change through differenct sources, too. Takes only 3 seconds to change from HDMI port#1 to port#2. Have not noticed any lag at all in terms of software interface. Also, the menu orders are customizable. For instance you can put Youtube 1st, HDMI#1 2nd, HDMI#2 3rd, Netflix 4th, etc. You can change pre-set display mode with short key button on the remote control. However, as I mentioned, there are too many buttons on the remote control and the buttons feel dull, rubbery, and somewhat hard. I believe it is made this way for durability, but the fast interface feels slower due to this not so snappy feeling remote control. Final thoughts **updated** **I could give this projector 4 stars for not having the display customization**<<NOT TRUE. You can adjust display attributes all you want>> but decided give it a 5 stars because of the flash sale (about 100 off). The preset modes arent bad either except for the two expert mode for different room situations which I think are pretty useless. The remote control gets on my nerves but its not like they feel cheap or dont work properly. Just lack some finesse. Overall, I am really glad I bought this 1080p projector over the 720p Wowoto H9. **update** I read someones comment and realized you can adjust Contrast, Brightness, H Sharpness, V Sharpness, Color, Tint, Color Temperature, Dynamic Contrast, Super Resolution, Color Gamut, Edge Enhancer, Color Filter, Gamma, White Balance, Color Mnagement System. Wow.
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Reek
Greater than one weekBought projector new but came with several dead pixels. It doesnt affect viewing experience much, but I expect a new product when I purchase one.
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Andrew D. Lossing
> 3 dayProjectors have come a long way since the old days with hot, slow (expensive!) light bulbs. The LED projector era has come about slowly, with a lot of weak, small and power0hungry devices in the last half-decade or so, but this device signals (for me at least) that the technology is maturing into something useful and convenient, and the price is finally coming down a little. The built-in LG smart TV functionality is very useful, and easy on the eyes. Im a big fan of smart TV tech being built into devices like this, as it eliminates a lot of the need for connecting devices and navigating around webpages and third-party apps. While I used to use my Xbox One as my main media portal, I found the Roku functionality built into my TCL TV to be even easier, and LGs functionality looks pretty similar. Especially since this projector has wifi and a battery, having that convenience makes it truly mobile. The hardware feels pretty nice, and the picture is very clear and crisp, which indicates a good lens. There is a physical lever for focusing the picture on top of the device. Others have noted that it is a little laggy, but this isnt due to any issues with the physical lever, its because the lens is what is called focus-by-wire, which means that it is controlled electronically, not by any physical connection from lever to lens. The lever is nothing more than a button and input from the user takes the device a little time to digest and move the lens. I recommend just taking it slow, as the lens will definitely respond to any input from the user, but it is not 1 to 1. So far I have only been able to focus on small wall spaces, so I havent displayed at over about 32 approximate. At this level the picture is quite bright, easy to see during daylight (without direct sunlight of course). Given my small wall space, I will need to add a projector screen to be able to take full advantage of potential display size. Im a little doubtful about a 100 size, given that I havent seen anything that large out of an LED projector, but I will update when I am able to test the device under a greater range of sizes. All in all, Im quite pleased with the hardware quality, the ease of use with the smart TV functionality, and the picture. Its a great option if a projector is the direction you want to go.
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Vinh Quang Nguyen
21-11-2024It does not work with PAL TV system!!! Please let us know how to fix it!!!
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Foysal Ahmed
> 3 dayGood small size, decent battery life, picture quality is excellent, lumens isnt too bad in a semi dark room and is more than adequate in a dark room (if you have dark walls and ceiling too then the contrast level would be outstanding). On medium/maximum energy saving mode the projector is super quiet. The connectivity is great, Bluetooth, WiFi direct/miracst etc, all seem to work quite well. Things I didnt like: Lack of any kind of optical zoom though I did know this before buying it so havent marked it down for that in my rating, Menu wont let you change region from US, and there seems to be no good reason for this, which means you cant set the time zone properly for it (which is a sillyoversight for what is ostensibly a travel projector), this may not be true of non-US bought ones, I dont know for sure, given that the option is there in the menu but just greyed out so you cant change it I would guess that other countries or an international model might allow you to change that country setting, Bluetooth audio does sometimes lag ever so slightly / goes out of sync, particularly when watching streaming videos, not as much when watching regular content, but to be honest I find this seems to happen with basically all Bluetooth speakers when watching streaming videos so to some degrees it may just be a limitation of the technology, also some people may not notice this as much anyway just I find Im quite sensitive to it and it bothers me so I just plug in speakers with headphone jack because it does have a line out option through that same headphone port which is good at least, (it also has an audio resync option in the menu but its a rather unwieldy automated affair that doesnt seem to work all that well, particularly when it comes to Bluetooth audio sync issues because the syncing issue usually isnt a steady difference, Minimum energy saving mode provides brightest picture quality but is also accompanied with louder fan noise. Its not an intolerable level of noise, but its definitely noticeable and so usually I use the medium setting or if my room is completely dark with dark non reflective walls then maximum is fine too. Even on minimum I would say it still is quieter than most other projectors I have heard though, The remote has waaaaay to many buttons that you dont need since everything can be adjusted by the software menu, yet weirdly is missing buttons that would be quite useful to have quick to hand (like changing the energy saving level with a click rather than having to go through the menu). Remote should be back lit but isnt :-S Sidenotes: I dont know what other people here have been complaining about with their issue of the unit going straight to TV when they turn it on instead of to the last used input, when I turn mine on it just goes to whatever I was last viewing, it could possibly be that theyre fully switching off the unit by pressing the button on the top maybe? I dont know, but basically if you use the remote to power up and down then you wont have this issue. Final thoughts: Theres room for improvement with this projector, its far from perfect... But if you want 1080p quality, with acceptable brightness and contrast when used in a dark space, good connectivity, and you want all that to be portable... Well then I dont think there are any better options than this out there at the moment.
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Annalisa
> 3 dayThis projector is FANTASTIC!!!! I purchased a $100 one on Amazon before this one and I got headaches while watching movies it was so bad. The picture is super clear, no pixels visible, it’s pretty easy to set up and I suggest to get a Bluetooth LG soundbar to go with it, because the speakers in the projector are not loud enough. Overall there’s absolutely nothing bad to say about this product, it can totally replace your HD TV, I’m super excited to have bought this!!!!
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Matt Voll
23-11-2024Complete garbage. Doesnt work and cant connect anything