Ricoh PJ WXC1110 review

Projectors have been here for a while now and while we might not see as big upgrades as we do with Smartphones, there are some exceptions which come along. Ricoh PJ WXC1110 is one such device.

Where once the word brought up images of mirrored glass with transparencies I now think of lumens, throw distance and mercury lamps.

But even that notion is changing as smaller LED projectors enter the market vying for a spot in boardrooms, classrooms and in some cases your living room.

One of these LED projectors is the Ricoh PJ WXC1110. While it’s name is a mouthful, this little projector is quite simply an LED projector with a short throw lens.

The trouble however is that Ricoh has done little to differentiate the Ricoh PJ WXC1110 from the smorgasbord of LED projectors on the market, and it’s definitely on the expensive side.

Small but not small enough to lose

The Ricoh PJ WXC1110 measures just 4cm x 10cm x 11cm which is small enough to just fit in the palm of my hand. The projector comes with a rather nice carrying case which contains all the cables you’ll need to power the projector and connect it to your PC.

Sadly our review unit did not include an HDMI cable but rather a weird VGA to proprietary connector.

Aside from the power and “Computer In” input you’ll find HDMI, USB and 3.5mm jack ports as well as a microSD card reader. The Ricoh PJ WXC1110 also boasts a 1W speaker which is useful.

Something that is rather interesting is the the Ricoh PJ WXC1110 boasts nearly 3GB of on-board storage capacity so if you have a presentation that you make regularly to clients or have a movie you love watching you can store it directly on the projector.

On the top of the projector there are buttons you can use to access the menus, though a remote control is included.

Picture this

The most impressive thing about the Ricoh PJ WXC1110 is the quality of the picture. While the resolution is only 1280 x 800 (WXGA), Full HD movies look great as do presentations coming in through the HDMI and Computer In ports.

My fear for this projector was that it would be somewhat hampered by sunlight. This is the case with many projectors but I’ve found this to be more of a problem in these little LED projectors.

In a room with the curtains drawn and no direct sunlight on the projection surface you’ll get a great image though the darker scenes in Deadpool had us straining our eyes to distinguish what was on screen. This is due to the low brightness of 600 lumens on the Ricoh PJ WXC1110.

You can adjust the colour settings to make the picture brighter and that can amply optimise the image.

What really surprised me is the throw of this projector. At a distance of 1m I had filled up 1.5m wall with a 16:10 image which is great for a classroom or cramped boardroom, provided there isn’t too much light.

Conclusion

While darker images aren’t very visible in bright light the Ricoh PJ WXC1110 is completely serviceable for a movie night with your mates, a snap meeting in a dark boardroom or a presentation in a darker classroom.

Being on the pricey side of the spectrum it could hamper potential buyers but if you have the need for such a device this is one of the best out there.

That however is not enough to recommend the Ricoh PJ WXC1110 outright. It may be light and portable and have a great lamp life but Ricoh asking consumers to cough up more than the competition is just seems like a battle it’s going to find a little difficult to win.