Acer Releases New Ultra-Compacts Into Widening Portable Projector Pool

Acer has released a new portable projector that pushes mobility on a sub-$300 price tag for the active business presenter on a budget.
3D and Full HD content may be pushing projector sales, but portable projectors for businesses on the go are becoming a massive market of their own. Acer has thrown its name into the hat with its own $299 pico projector offering.

It follows the earlier Acer C20 hand-held projector released back in March for $349, though this new model is directed at notebook users rather than offering the complete mobile experience of running media of flash drives and SD cards.

Acer’s C110 portable projector comes in slim at 175 grams and sitting at a petite 110 x 85 x 25 mm.

The C110 pico-projector runs straight off a connected laptop via USB, though it may require a second USB for power as it sucks up a max 7.5 volts while typical USB ports output 5 volts.

Rather than rummaging through output options on your laptop, the C110 automatically displays the connected screen in less than five seconds when plugged in.

The screen size can push up to 254cm at 16:9 format, though the quality maxes out at a native resolution of only 854×480 with a brightness of 50 lumens or up to 1,280×800 through WXGA.

Like Acer’s previous releases, the C110 has a 25-inch foldable screen sold separately.

Portable projectors having been picking up steam as competitive models have shrunk to fit mobile applications (as small as handheld from companies like 3M, BenQ and Acer), increased connectivity and ramped up energy efficiency.

“Mobility and energy efficiency are two main trends in the projector market,” said Roger Chien, projectors product manager at ViewSonic in the US yesterday as the vision company released a slate of new LED projectors.

Spruiking ViewSonic’s new line-up, Chien added that “the PLED series transforms the projector from a cumbersome gadget to an incredibly lightweight, compact device that can be carried anywhere to meet all your projection needs. With a mercury-free LED light source and power consumption of less than 50 watts, these pico projectors are as eco-friendly as they are portable, making for powerhouse business solutions.”

Flick over the page to see the full spec list for Acer’s new projector including noise levels, refresh rates and projection distances.