Chinese firms have been selling mid-range electronics in the US market for a number of years now, and the quality tends to be high, while the price is wonderfully low. Granted, we do lose out in a few areas, but overall you can rest easy, knowing you got something good. The DBPower RD-810 is a portable projector and a surprisingly nice one too.
DBPower RD-810 Portable Projector Initial Impressions
I got my RD-810 from Amazon. I have been looking into portable displays for a while now, and the versatility inherent to the projection system seemed like a good bet for me. It arrived in short order, Thank you Amazon Prime, and out of the box, there is a lot to like. The feel of the build is far higher than I expected it to be considering the extremely low price. It is sturdy, but not overly heavy, about 2lbs, earning that portable title. In terms of dimensions, we are looking at 2.76 x 5.83 x 7.3 in, which is perfect for me. In the box, there isn’t much. A power cable, manual, HDMI cord and a little card offering a USB drive in exchange for a review. I recommend passing on that offer.
It’s a basic package, but that should not dissuade you from purchasing. Considering the price is currently sitting at $68.79, there is a lot that I am willing to forgive. The bulb that comes with the build seems to be pretty good, not the brightest thing in existence, but I was able to stress test it, had it running for a number of hours, then rapidly switched it on and off, and it held up to my battering. Some folk have had less luck, claiming breakdown after a single use, but seen as the build comes with a good warranty, a rarity in this market, then you can rest on that peace of mind. The RD-810 seems to be a good product, but we haven’t gotten to the tech specs yet. Let’s see if it matches your needs.
DBPower RD-810 Portable Projector Technical performance
The RD-810 is far from a top of the range piece of hardware. Know that going in. It is, however, an excellent small form factor projector, able to be connected to pretty much any piece of tech, assuming you got an HDMI converter, and display it pretty well. There are a number of caveats though, and chief among them is the resolution. We are limited here to 800 x 480 native. It does upscale to 1080p, but this can be blurry depending on the input resolution. It meant that running it via my phone was a bit of a miss. I use a Nexus 6 day to day, and that has a native resolution of 2560×1440. I bought it for VR, and it works well there, but having it downscale to 800 x 480 then upscale to 1080p leads to a less than stellar visual, even if it is still usable. I bought it for use with my laptop, and here it really shines, pun intended. Setting the res on the laptop to 800 x 480 then pumping that through this little projector leads to a crisp and clean visual, and considering I bought it for small-scale presentations with my team it does the job admirably. The brightness is alright, sitting at 1,200LM, around half as bright as a high-end projector, but assuming you get the light levels low it is fine.
You need around three and a half to five feet fo space to project accurately, which is fairly standard in this form factor, and the contrast ratio is excellent. I have used a number of small form factor projectors, and getting a nice clean black is difficult. Nice to see that the RD-810 has no trouble there. There is little else to say on the build The issues are obvious, and I would have preferred a higher resolution, but considering what you pay for you get a fine little piece of kit. Using it with anything other than a custom resolution laptop is a bit of a chore though. It does work and looks okay, but I prefer a crisper image, and for that, you need the input resolution to match the native. If you need perfect then you are going to have to spend ten times the price here. Getting a native 1080p projector is prohibitively expensive and going beyond that even more so.
DBPower RD-810 Portable Projector Final Verdict
There is a lot to like about this one. The core feel of the build is excellent, with a good small form factor, and a solid 2lbs of weight. Using the RD-810 is simple, though for devices that lack an HDMI you will need a converter. The downsides are obvious, that low resolution is a killer, but considering the ludicrously low price, it is fine. The size of the output screen in impressive, able to hit 50″ with ease. I would prefer something a little more powerful, but again, for under $70 you cannot ask for the world. If you are looking for something simple that allows you to present your work on the fly then this is probably the best option on the market.
Coupon & Discount Codes – Current Deals
You can save even more money on the DBPower RD-810 by doing the following:
Step 1) Click Here to view the listing on Amazon.com
Step 2) Use the coupon code JRM24QBW when you are checking out!
