Loyal AV Rant listeners/readers will know that I got one of the BenQ Joybee GP1 projectors a while back in for review. It’s a small, portable projector designed for images up to 80″. Sure 80″ is the max but I’m not exactly about taking it easy on a projector am I?

The Joybee GP1 comes in a nice little canvas case that really, really looks portable… until you notice there is no room for the power supply which is about half the size of the projector. The projector looks nice with a round iPod-esque control panel on top. There is a USB and another connector on the back. The second one links to a split cable that will accept either PC or composite video with RCA audio inputs. The projector has a manual focus slider on the top, a front IR receiver, and a small, credit card-style remote.

The Setup
I’ve got an Elite Screens F80NWH portable 80″ screen. I’ve also got a son with a birthday coming up. I’ve also got a deplorable lack of funds for said birthday. Hence the birth of the movie party. So, to prep, I set up the Joybee GP1 on a camera stand (yes, it has a threaded insert for it) and placed it behind the couch right near my head. With the 10 foot-ish throw distance, I got just about a perfect 80″ image. I ran a composite cable from both my Denon DVD-3910 and Sony PS3 viewing a few different animated movies. I did not utilize the audio capabilities of the Joybee as 1) I’m sure they are lacking and 2) God didn’t give me a subwoofer not to use it.

The Good
The Joybee was nearly dead silent. even at just over a foot from my head I could only hear it during the most silent of passages and even then, I didn’t notice it during playback at all. Setup was a breeze as it auto-detected the video signal. It even scaled it’s output for a 16:9 picture rather than it’s native 4:3. Once you got into the menu system, there was a bit of depth there with keystoning, digital zoom, all the normal color/contrast/brightness/tint controls, a number of different user modes (my projector was pre-set for Movie which I always like to see), and color temp controls. While there wasn’t the fine controls you’d need for a real video calibration, you should be able to get a pretty good picture out of it with a few minutes with your THX or Avia/DVE disc.

The picture, even with the low spec’ed lumens, was pretty bright. Of course, this was in a nearly completely blacked out room. A little light would seriously affect the performance of this projector. With a smaller screen size, I’m sure you could get away with more ambient light. Colors were well-saturated and I never noticed any stair-stepping or macroblocking. In fact, there was a lot to like about the picture. Even with a basic “by eye” calibration, I was able to get a really nice image out of it. As a suggestion, make sure you bump down the Sharpness as soon as possible as I noticed a lot of edge enhancing going on.

The Bad
The Joybee GP1 isn’t quite as portable with the large power supply. At 80″, the picture is soft. Who could expect more with a SVGA projector and a composite video input? As you shrink the screen size, you’re going to see the image tighten up considerably. While I found the fuzzy image at this size to be unbearable, my kids (and subsequently the kids at the party) loved it. “Daddy, can we watch on the big screen,” was the mantra of the weekend. I wanted to say, “You know, a lot of kids would consider our 42″ LCD to be a big screen,” and, “When I was a kid…” OK, feeling old now.

Conclusion
The Joybee GP1 has a $500 MSRP which many have speculated is quite close to the price you can pay for a 720p projector. I’m not seeing it that way. The small size and semi-portability means that the BenQ may make the perfect (as Alton Brown would say) multi-tasker. This is the projector for a business man on the go that wants something to keep the kids entertained on the weekends. I played around with the screen size I can think you can get a 40-50″ size out of it with fairly acceptable picture quality.

Overall, I think people will enjoy the Joybee GP1 as long as they can write it off as a business expense. Its ease of setup should allow for quick installation/deinstallation on the weekends. Its quiet operation means you can place it on the couch next to you if you need. I could see this projector living in Dad’s briefcase during the week and on a high shelf in the kids room on the weekends.

Joybee GP1 Mini Projector
– DLP® Technology
– 3LED Light source
– SVGA 858X600
– USB Reader
– 100 Lumens + 120% NTSC
– 20,000 light life
– 1.4 lbs & 5.3 X 2.1 X 4.7 inches
– MSRP: $499

Ratings
Ease of use – 5
Overview picture quality – 3
Portability – 3
Features – 4
Overall performance – 4
Value – 3

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