Projectors with built-in DVD players aren’t particularly novel, but the Aiptek Mobile Cinema DVD from Firebox takes the concept to its extreme. Looking like something out of a Pixar film, this lightweight lump of plastic can chuck a 50-inch image on your wall, with sound, and all for less than £160. Have corners been sliced clean off to achieve this? Read our full Aiptek Mobile Cinema DVD review to find out.
The Aiptek Mobile Cinema DVD is probably the easiest projector in the world when it comes to setting up. The process is basically whack in the plug, point the thing at the nearest white wall and adjust the handle on the side to get the resulting image focussed. A dial on the opposite side adjusts speaker volume (and turns everything off if twiddled to its limit).
A pop up hatch at the top accommodates DVDs (including karaoke discs – there’s a microphone port for fans of drunken caterwauling), and four chunky buttons at the back handle playback, subtitles and so on. There’s no remote control.
Read our Denon DBP-2010 Blu-ray player review now
Read our Sony BDP-S760 review now
And what about the Aiptek Mobile Cinema DVD’s performance? Well, there’s no getting around this: it’s one step up from abysmal. Tinny sound trickles out of a single speaker, but is nearly drowned out by the hum of the cooling fan.
The picture, meanwhile, suffers from a tiny resolution (480 x 240) and low brightness of just 13 ANSI lumens. That means you’ll need to watch in a totally dark room, especially if you want to achieve the 50-inch maximum image size. The image itself is grainy, and you get the impression you’re viewing the movie through a chicken wire fence – fine details just disappear into the pixellation.
That said, the Aiptek Mobile Cinema DVD was never designed with performance in mind. Its a portable, simple projector for taking on holiday or to a mate’s house for the evening. To that end, it just about fulfils its purpose.
