Poll: Have you ever traveled with your portable projector?

If it feels like you’ve seen more ads for pocket-, backpack-, and even can-sized projectors lately, you’re not imagining it. Once a novelty, small form beamers are carving out a solid place in the mainstream market. Part of the appeal is obvious: today’s portable projectors aren’t the dim, clunky boxes you may remember from your school library.

Brands are cranking out units with higher resolutions (even 4K), laser and LED light sources, and wireless smarts that make setup simple. Meanwhile, autofocus and auto-keystone corrections mean fewer minutes fiddling and more time actually watching. Some models, like my Yaber T2 Plus, come with built-in batteries and speakers. Throw in built-in Google TV and streaming apps, and portable projectors are suddenly more like travel-ready smart TVs than novelty gadgets. Yet, portability doesn’t necessarily mean travel staple, and I find myself wondering if people are actually packing projectors for things like road trips and business travel, or even longer vacations. Have you?