The Benq GP2 is a part of the new breed of miniature LED projectors which provides portability and has multimedia features built into it.
The projector comes with multiple inputs including those for iPods and iPhones, making this the perfect way to view your photos and videos on a large screen.
Box Contents
The GP2 projector ships with a carrying case. Cables and power supply unit can all fit into the carrying case.
Contents:
- Joybook GP2 projector
- Connector cable
- Power adaptor
- Quick start guide
- Carrying case
The total weight is just under 600gms making for a very lightweight and portable package.
Hardware
The front of the projector has the lamp opening with a grille on the side to allow for ventilation.
Over at the back we have an SD card slot alongside the ventilation grille and speaker. The projector has about 2GB of storage available internally and takes full size SD cards.
The right side houses a range of ports including USB, mini USB , mini HDMI, audio in and a headphone jack. A major concern for us is that the projector uses a proprietary connector for VGA and composite input.
You do get a cable bundled in but given how the projector would be used in a lot of business settings and pre-wired offices, this is a major hurdle.
You can find the focus ring on the left side of the projector while the top of the projector has an iPod / iPhone dock which can charge as well as display content from supported apps. Worth noting is that you won’t be able to use the iPhone 5 or latest generation iPods with it unless you get a lightening connector adaptor.
Above the iPod dock are the controls for the projector arranged in a circle. The capacitive buttons offer no feedback and end up causing a lot of frustration when trying to set up the projector in the dark.
Projection
We mentioned the issues with proprietary connectors and capacitive buttons earlier but all that can be ignored to an extent if the projector does its main job well. With a resolution of 1280x800and a maximum brightness of 200 lumens, we weren’t expecting much from the GP2 but we were in for a surprise.
The LED DLP GP2 is a versatile little projector which definitely suffices to watch movies and give presentations. The low brightness means that you will have to dim the room as it just isn’t sufficient to provide a usable image in a bright room.
It is possible to correct the white balance according to the color of the wall and this definitely improves the image quality. Colors are generally bold but not necessarily accurate. We doubt anyone will be using this projector to accurately judge photos and for its target market, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Text is sharp and easy to read. The projector does suffer from a bit of inconsistent focus in parts of the screen. Movie watching is a fairly enjoyable experience though the non HD resolution does mean that you won’t be blown away by the image quality.
The projector itself supports playing back MPEG4, MJPEG, H.263, XVID, MKV, OGG, FLAC, MP3 and WMA content which is a very exhaustive list to say the least.
Conclusion
The Benq Joybook GP2 is a versatile projector which offers a good balance between image quality and portability. The iPhone dock and wide range of connectors are a boon mildly let down by the use of the proprietary jack. We were fairly satisfied with the image quality of the projector as well as the resolution which is higher than some of its competitors in the pico projector category.
Pros
- Good image quality
- Codec support
- Battery option
Cons
- Proprietary connector
- Controls and UI could be better