I have been one from those people who have “not had a TV” for a long time. My entire adult life really, except for those times when I shared my space with someone who brought their own to the party.
My exact motivation is a little hazy all these years later, but at a certain point, it’s a lifestyle you kind of settle into — one that can occasionally make your job as a hardware reviewer a bit of a pain.
The truth is, however, that the distinction between owning and not owning a television has become increasingly blurred over the past decade. Perhaps as nebulous as the definition of television itself. Think of this cable cutter’s journey as a sort of roof set Ship of Theseus. Sometime along the way, we have severed our ultimate ties first to terrestrial television and then to cable companies.
Movies, live TV, sports — all these familiar examples have been adapted to the digital age. Ultimately, how much you want your own home setup to resemble previous models is entirely up to you. Personally speaking, I have no faith in live television, and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has personally seen to it that my primary relationship with professional sports is severed.
All my home movie/TV viewing was done first on a laptop and then on a tablet. In the intervening years, any stance I might have originally held against owning a TV has actually become arbitrary, except for two: space and money. Of course, the price of TVs has continued to drop over time — although that doesn’t affect things like sound systems and all the other ephemera. Space, on the other hand, will concern me as long as I live in a city like New York on a journalist’s salary.
I’ve thought about projector life over the years — I’ve also tried a few here and there. There’s something very appealing about a large screen that you can store away when you’re not using it. Until fairly recently, however, it seemed that price and ease of use lagged far behind the much more popular TV option.
In the twelve years since its founding in Shenzhen, Anker has grown into a powerhouse of accessories. Overall, the company has done a good job balancing price, quality and creative design. I’ve recommended many of their products over the years and have been tempted to check out an Anker Nebula projector for quite some time.
Just before the holidays, I contacted the company to check out a review unit and purchased a projector screen at a decent price. My original goal was to get something between 70 and 80 inches, totally unsure if anything larger would fit in my living room and/or bedroom. Even the low end is significantly larger than the average TV, which sits somewhere between 30 and 65 inches.
The story of how I ended up with a 100 inch projector screen in my bedroom is a totally fascinating combination of prices, comparison shopping and reading reviews. But here we are, from watching all my TV shows and movies on an iPad to having to walk around a movie screen every time I wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.
Image Credits: Brian Heater
However, screens are like many other things in technology: Once you get used to it, you suddenly wonder how you managed to survive for so many years without it.
Released earlier this year, the Anker Nebula Capsule 3 is pretty much exactly what I was looking for in a projector. It’s extremely compact (the company compares it to the size and shape of a soda can), simple to use and extremely self-contained. The question of price is interesting here. The device retails for $800 (although you can usually find it for $50 less on places like Amazon).
You can find a 60-inch 1080p smart TV for a few hundred. As with any big ticket purchase, you need to do a cost-benefit analysis here. A 100-inch TV will likely cost you more than a large, while the Capsule 3 produces up to a 120-inch picture. Factor in the projector screen and that’s another $70 in my case. Like many screens, mine is essentially a frame of PVC pipe holding up a stretched, silky white sheet.
The Capsule has a decent Bluetooth speaker and built-in Chromecast, which are in its favor. Actively working against this, however, is the fact that even with a laser projection system, the image only gives you the desired effect in a completely dark room. You also need to find a suitable spot to place the projector that avoids possible obstacles. There is also a calibration process that you will have to deal with every time you move the projector or screen.
That last part is less scary than it sounds. The system does a decent job of automatically calibrating and shrinking the screen size to avoid obstacles. Many times, however, I’ve found myself using either the included remote or the Nebula app to better fit my screen dimensions.
Image Credits: Brian Heater
When it comes to compact design and portability, you can’t beat the Nebula right now. I’ve used it exclusively at home, so it’s largely plugged in. But it can get around 2.5 hours of playback on a charge, so it’ll get you through plenty of movies not directed by Martin Scorsese. When the weather warms up, the idea of rolling up the screen and taking the projector outside is certainly appealing.
At $800, it should probably be considered more of a TV replacement than a secondary display. For many, the need for total darkness and the issues surrounding the calibration process are reasons enough not to recommend it. If you’re serious about a home projector and want something portable and easy to use without spending a fortune, the Capsule 3 is easily your best bet.
