Let me first mention that I haven't been trying to cultivate PCE's, but my first impression about the very mentioning of the term and then by and large the more I'd read about them the more I've wondered if they are something I used to experience as a child and then induce as a teenager.

When I was a kid I'd have these moments of some odd feeling, which I would think strange, and which I began questioning friends about as an early teenager, one of them, allegedly, knew what I was talking about. We, at the age of fourteen, called it the "unnamed feeling". I used to do odd things back then, like practice psychokinesis, and for both that reason and some great curiosity that feeling held some philosophical secrets, I would cultivate it, I used to be able to do it with a 95% success rate by chanting, "I'm right here, right now, right here, right now". And rather then focusing on the endeavor, I'd focus on the wonder of mere existence, the fact that I was actually existing, in reality. It sounds a bit callow and cheesy, but it worked like a charm, and probably still could, as I did it up until the age of seventeen or so regularly, only about seven years ago.

The actual experiences were characterized by something which, only very much later in life, a few years ago actually, I felt was the inducing of depersonalization and derealization. In my younger years it was simply an interesting, out-of-body perspective shift, in my later years I assumed it was identity dissociation. It always felt like I was literally out of my body, watching myself, along with other classical dissociation signs, like feelings of watching a movie. It came in two stages: first the inducing, what I believe was depersonalization, and then, with persistence in focusing on my existence, it would peak into what I assumed was full derealization. It seems that those feelings are also similar to what I'd experience very occasionally walking into a merchandise store or a new job, it's linked to anxiety and is meant to suppress the emotions.

Does this sound like a PCE?

Well, the wonder and amazement definitely sound like it, but the other phenomena sound more like concentration stuff, especially shifting perspectives, mild OOBEs, etc.

PCE you know by the following:
• Color is like jacked-up 1950's TV color
• Every sense gate experiences total, utter, absolute clarity
• There is absolutely 0 emotional resonance whatsoever, in any way, shape, or form, except for a strange understanding of everything being super-awesomely-awesomeness, except that it's not emotional, it's just the simple fact of there being nothing remaining to trigger any sort of emotive pain. Sort of like immense, utter joy of being alive.
• Everything has a crisp yet soft ambience that I can only ascribe to seeing clearly the light that is present in air itself.
• Things appear to be alive, sort of. Hard to describe this one. Not that things are sentient or self-aware, everything is just happening in real-time, vibrant seems to be the best word.

You should check the AFT website to match up your experiences. Some of what you describe sounds like a PCE and if not very close and can be used to induce a PCE but an out of body type experience is not a PCE. A PCE is a direct experience with actual physical phenomena sans any affect or interference of social identity (circling beliefs or emotion). Its as if no "self" is interfering with any of the sense doors or the inherent well-being.

I do this a lot (pretty sure it's the same thing) by consciously trying to "see myself from the outside", leading to a state of detachment from self-view, suppressed emotions and "inner life" in general, and increased appreciation of sensory, particularly visual data. I always assumed this is not PCE or EE - just because this state is very easy to get into. On the other hand I can't do anything in it - my mind is all busy observing the reality and sustaining the state. I also agree with the observation that this state is linked to anxiety - it seems to occur naturally as one of the effects of the fight or flight instinct.

Whatever it is, I definitely find it useful and pleasant whenever I remember to get into it. I don't think it's "depersonalization" in the clinical sense, which is a scary experience where you're stuck in a movie you have no control over. It's definitely good for cultivating equanimity the parami. Although I can't seem to get into it with my eyes closed, making it useless for meditation.

(Edit: I assumed that you mean OOBE in a purely figurative sense, not some kind of astral travel)