LG Minibeam PW800 Projector Review - Hardware Tour

Hardware Overview

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The above photo gallery shows the LG PW800 from various angles.  The 1st gallery photo shows the projector along with the supplied hardware with a 1 ft. ruler included as a reference showing just how small this projector really is.  In addition to the usual accessories (power supply, remote control, etc.) the PW800 is supplied with what LG refers to as a "Jelly Skin Guard", as seen toward the top-left of the 1st gallery photo above.  This should add some protection for when the projector is being moved around. The PW800 projector itself includes a set of the essential inputs and controls that are covered in more detail below.

The 2nd gallery photo shows the front of the projector with a air inlet vent toward the left and the projector’s lens toward the right. The right side of the projector has an air vent toward the front and a very small opening for one of the projector's 2 speakers located near the rear of the right side, as shown in 3rd gallery photo above.

The top of the projector, as shown in 4th gallery above includes the manual lens focus adjustment toward the front, just above the lens, plus a 'joy stick' control (see more below) toward the other front corner of the top panel. The rear of the projector is visible in the 5th gallery photo.  The projector's rear panel includes the signal connectors, remote control IR receiver as described in more detail below.  As visible in the 5th gallery photo, the left side of the projector has a small opening, for 1 of the projector's 2 speakers, located near the rear. The bottom of the projector, not shown, includes a tripod socket than can be used as a portable mounting solution.

Connector Panel

The PW800’s connector panel is located on the rear of the projector, as shown in the above photo. Starting at the top and going from left to right, there is an antenna connector, a headphone connector (can also be used to connect external powered speakers), and an AV Input connector (for Composite Video plus stereo audio). Below those there is a USB connector and toward the bottom is the IR receiver window for the remote control, an analog RGB computer input, a HDMI w/MHL input and finally the DC power input connector (for connected to the supplied power supply). Vents/grills are provided on both sides of the rear panel.

Control Pad

Lens

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The PW800 has a fixed focal length lens (i.e., not a zoom) with a manual focus adjustment.  As shown in the 2nd gallery photo above, the focus adjustment is located on the top panel of the projector just above the lens.  I found the focus adjustment to be very good and achieving good focus was always quick and easy.  The projector's lens provides a 1.5:1 throw ratio meaning the projector would, for example, need to be placed 75 inches back (i.e., the throw distance) from a 50 inch wide screen.

Remote Control

The PW800 is supplied with a moderate size remote control.  At the top-left is the button for Power on/off and to the top-right is a button to bring up the Media Player, for displaying media files stored on an attached USB drive.

Below those are 4 buttons for Blanking the screen, selecting the aspect Ratio, changing to an Energy Saving mode, and selecting the signal Input.

Below that is the numeric keypad and with 2 additional buttons next to the zero button to display the channel List and a the second one to Flashback to the previous channel (these only apply when using the PW800's built-in TV tuner).

Below those are Volume up/down and Channel up/down buttons along with buttons to display a Favorite TV channel, to use 3D mode, and to Mute the audio.

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Next down are buttons to:  switch the Left and Right images (when displaying 3D), display Info about the projector,  and a Still button to freeze the current image.

Below those is the 4-way navigation pad along with the buttons to display the Settings Menu and also the Quick Menu.

Toward the bottom are buttons for the electronic keystone adjustments and below those are buttons for use with the media player function.

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