With more than a few of NUC-sized SFF PCs floating around these days, the BRIX Projector, with a catchy model number of BXPi3-4010, has something that no other option can offer: an integrated mini projector.  As the name would imply, the BRIX Projector is part BRIX and part projector, and the combination is unique to the market as far as I can tell.

The guts of the BXPi3-4010 are split seemingly in half between the computer components that make up the BRIX and the DLP LED projector that rests on top.  The processor inside is a Core i3-4010U that runs at up to 1.7 GHz and includes integrated Intel HD 4400 graphics.  With a dual-core HyperThreaded design, the 4010U is competent, but nothing more, for standard application workloads and productivity.  The HD 4400 graphics can run your most basic of games (think Peggle, FTL, Starbound) but isn't up to the task of most demanding 3D games like Bioshock.  

You'll get a set of four USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet connection, mini-DisplayPort and HDMI output.  Combined with the projector, you can use any TWO displays at one time: projector plus HDMI, HDMI plus mDP, etc.  

The mini-HDMI input is pretty interesting and allows you to use the BRIX Projector as a stand alone projector, hooking up a DVD player, game console or anything to be displayed.  The power button on the projector is separate from the PC power and you can run each without the other.

The unit comes as a barebones design, meaning you'll have to add mSATA storage and DDR3 low power SO-DIMMs to get up and running.  Once you have your OS installed, you are going to be met with a rather small 854×480 resolution projector powered by a 75 lumen output.  It's good, but not great.  

That low resolution causes some issues with browsing the web and using some applications like Steam because we have all moved past the likes of 800×600 – thank goodness.  Windows works fine and even Big Picture mode in Steam is an easy fix.

You can see in the video review below that image quality was pretty good for such a small device but the noise levels of the fan cooling the projector are quite high.  I was even thinking of ripping it open and trying more creative ways of cooling the display components until Gigabyte informed me they need it back in a…functional capacity.  Oh well.

The Gigabyte BRIX Projector BXPi3-4010 is selling for about $550 on both Newegg.com and Amazon.com which does NOT include the memory or storage you'll need (WiFi is included though).  That seems kind of steep but considering other pico or mini projectors can easily cost $250-350, this BRIX unit is a better deal that the price might first indicate.