It's all in the name: The AAXA P400 Short Throw Mini Projector ($269) combines small size, low weight, and a short throw distance. It's a little taller than most palmtop projectors with a similar footprint, including the Kodak Luma 350, our current palmtop pick for home entertainment, and it's a few ounces heavier. But it offers a higher native resolution, at 1080p (1,920 by 1,080 pixels), and it can sit a lot closer to whatever you're using as a screen than most of its competition. That means it can project a bigger picture in a tight space when you position it in front of you, rather than behind you, to avoid casting shadows on the image. As with most palmtops, it's usable for both business presentations and for home entertainment, but image-quality issues we saw when projecting film and video make it of most interest to road warriors.
A High Native Resolution for a Small Projector
At 1.2 pounds, the P400 is tied with the more expensive Kodak Luma 450 for the title of lightest projector we've seen with a native 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution. It's also easily the lightest in its price class.