Casio Green Slim Projector – Review

Back in June 2010, I attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, CA. During my three-day stint there, I had over 15 one-on-one meetings with various companies around the show floor, including Casio. Their booth was unique because contained therein were several of the new Green Slim line of projectors aimed squarely at the gaming community. I got to sit down and play a fighting game and a racing game–both of which had high frame rates and loads of motion on-screen–and test drove the new Green Slim line of eco-friendly projectors.

This is the review of the XJ-A230 review unit. I tested the unit over a two-month period without direct use of a projector screen. Sadly, I had to test the unit on a flat, white section of drywall, which worked surprisingly well. However, I had to note this, because with a quality screen, this projector would’ve really produced some amazing eye-candy. Even on a white wall, the quality is phenomenal.

FEATURES OF THE XJ-A230 GREEN SLIM PROJECTOR

Forget what you know about conventional projectors:  those bulky power-hungry monsters that pump out lots of lumens and chew through environment-damanging mecury bulbs like a kid in front of a Halloween candy bowl. When it comes to projectors, it’s all about the lumens. A lumen is a unit of luminous flux, the measure of the power of light perceived by the human eye. The greater the lumens, the brighter and sharper the image projected on-screen.

Casio is the first and only projector manufacturer to take an eco-friendly step forward by discontinuing the use of mercury lamps commonly found in high brightness projectors. Utilizing solid-state technology, Casio has replaced the projector’s mecury lamp with a laser and LED hybrid source, achieving the industry’s brightest, non-mercury lamp projector at 2,000 and 2,500 lumens.

Speaking on the hybrid laser/LED light source, this feature provides the Green Slim models with a long-lasting light source. Just how long, you ask? Try 20,000 hours! Talk about reduced costs of lamp replacements, not to mention electric bill savings. If you’re looking for an amazing projector that won’t chew up your electric bill and cost an arm and a leg in lamp replacement, look no further. The Green Slim is your device. In the age of “going green,” many companies are using it as a slogan or punchline without delivering much of a difference in the hopes of cashing in on willing dollars. But Casio has put its R&D money where its mouth is and delivered a line of products that perform amazingly well with a reduced carbon footprint and the benefit of saving the environment from additional mecury run-off. They must be applauded for these efforts.

For an at-a-glance look at the features, peruse the list below:

• Mercury-free, laser and LED hybrid light source providing high-brightness projection
• Use of the laser and LED hybrid light source increase the light source life to approximately 20,000 hours–up to 10 years at 5 hours per day
• Powered 2X zoom lens for large screen projection, creating a life-size gaming experience in any room
• Available with XGA (1024 x 768) and WXGA (1280 x 800) native resolution
• Capable of displaying HD inputs including 720P/1080i/1080P
• Equipped with an HDMI terminal that can transmit digital audio and video with only one cable and connect directly to game systems with an HDMI Output
• The models range in price from $799 to $1,099 and are available at Best Buy and B&H

In addition to these technical features, the Green Slim projectors weigh in at a scant 5 pounds! Whether you’re traveling to a friend’s house or visiting family, the Green Slim Projector can be packed with any gaming system, enabling video gaming on the go with the included padded pouch. Even in brightly lit rooms, the Green Slim projects clear images.

THE REAL LIFE TEST

The XJ-A230 review unit sent to me was at the upper end of the Green Slim model line-up, bested only by the XJ-A240 in terms of lumen output at the highest resolution. The A230 pumps out 2,000 lumens at WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution. The Green Slim projectors come with four “Eco” modes that combine power savings with color and brightness balances, all of which can be customized for the needs of every gamer.

Eco On Level 1 provides the best balance of color and brightness; Eco On Level 2 minimizes energy consumption; Eco Off Mode 1 maximizes brightness; Eco Off Mode 2 improves color performance while maintaining high brightness, but consumes the most power. For my tests, I used all four modes, but preferred the Eco Off Mode 2 as it provided the best performance on the white drywall section in the house.

Of course, with higher performance comes a higher need for cooling the unit. On Eco Off Mode 2, the fan runs the most and at the highest rate, but it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. If you’re sitting back from the unit while playing, you won’t even notice it. The up-side to the high fan level is the cool-down period when you shut the unit off. It doesn’t take nearly as much time to cool down as a conventional unit, lending to the portability of the unit in quick-change situations. Casio has promised that the next generation models will have enhanced technology to quiet the noise even further.

The crispness of the image and color projection of the XJ-A230 was nothing short of amazing. If I had the proper living arrangement right now, it would replace my 3D television as the primary display for my PlayStation 3. Yes, it’s that good. I played Resident Evil 5, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Gran Turismo Prologue, and each game just popped off the surface at any zoom level. Of course, playing the games on different Eco levels presented different color and brightness experiences, but those were expected, and the differences, while noticable, weren’t awful at all. Again, if I had a quality projector screen–which I plan on purchasing at some point in the future–I believe the great experience I had would’ve been even better.

The only downfall is the sound output. Yes, the Green Slims have HDMI for both audio and video output from your game console, which is a terrific feature. Without that, audio would be forced into a third party external solution. In my case, I didn’t hook up any surround sound to my PS3 to output audio external to the XJ-A230. Naturally, with a small projector like this, and a single speaker, one can’t and shouldn’t expect high performance audio output. However, the fact that audio can be output through the unit works in a situation where surround sound isn’t possible. And in a portable situation–like a family vacation–having audio output built in gives the gamer at least some audio feedback without the need for a bulky and expensive surround sound option. If you’re going to use this projector as your permanent display solution, do yourself a favor and output the audio from the console to a surround sound system…the projector isn’t meant to provide that.

SUMMARY

The Green Slim line of Casio projectors provide eco-friendly technology with high performance output directed at the gamer community. Portable, lightweight, and cutting edge hybrid lighting boasts the best feature-rich projector to hit the market. Video output is amazing at any Eco mode level, easy-to-use menu navigation puts every option at your fingertips with little effort, and you’ll applaud Casio’s efforts to eliminate the use of mecury lamps, which damage the environment greatly.

I give this unit my highest recommendation and two thumbs up. The balance of performance and cost savings is something that anyone should appreciate, and the gamer community has been given a Green gift that will keep on giving years after the purchase.

The XJ-A230 was provided for review by Casio. Learn more about the Green Slim projector at the official website.