Review: Sony Location Free Player Pak
Where do you watch television the most? Is it on the couch, on a
favorite recliner, or just in bed? With Sony's LocationFree Player Pak,
you can watch your favorite shows from anywhere you can access a
broadband connection.
Whether you're sitting on the porch within reach of your wireless
network or in a cafe halfway around the world, your television can go
with you. All you need is a notebook computer or a PlayStation
Portable.
Unfortunately, when you get over LocationFree's novelty, you'll find it has lots of problems.
Impressive Features
LocationFree accepts inputs from up to three video sources. There's
an integrated NTSC tuner, an s-video or composite input, and a second
composite connection. That's plenty of connections for hooking up your
TV, DVD player, and VCR.
When you have it hooked up, LocationFree only offers a one-to-one
relationship, so only one person can watch shows through the device at
any given time, but that's the same limitation you'd have at home where
only one person has control of the remote.
LocationFree includes integrated Wi-Fi for all popular standards
(802.11a/b/g) to broadcast a video signal throughout the house. The
Wi-Fi capability also can be used as an access point, so it's
especially convenient for those who do not have a wireless router or
need to extend the range of an existing network with another access
point.
On your computer, you'll need to install LocationFree Player to
find, view, and manage your TV shows. Sony's device uses a dynamic DNS
system to associate its unique address with your broadband IP address
to let the player find only your TV.
For PlayStation Portable owners, firmware 2.5 or higher includes the
player already, so you just need Wi-Fi access and you're ready to go.
Missing Pieces
Unfortunately, LocationFree isn't well thought out. There's no
pass-through capability, which means devices with a single output, like
a cable box, can't be connected to a television simultaneously. We'd
forgive the missing pass-through if Sony included the necessary cables
and adapters to split the signal, but the LocationFree package doesn't
even provide an Ethernet cable.
On the wireless side, we expected the presence of a bridge mode to
connect to an existing wireless network and eliminate the need for a
network cable. But LocationFree acts only as an access point. You'll
still need to get a network cable to LocationFree if you're planning on
streaming outside your home. That proves problematic for the majority
of households that don't have network connections behind their
television sets.
To control your TV, DVD player, and other devices, LocationFree
relies on infrared to transmit the control codes. Unfortunately, the
device comes only with one transmitter and requires careful placement
if you want to control more than one device.
If you plan to use three devices, for example, you'll need your
components stacked and the infrared transmitter strategically placed to
hit them all. Horizontal arrangements won't work.
Performance
Video playback is smooth with LocationFree's on-the-fly MPEG-4
encoding. Whether it's inside or outside your home network, you won't
be plagued with the kind of stuttering video that you find in most
online video-streaming services.
Sony recommends a minimum upload speed of 300 Kbps to maintain
watchable quality. LocationFree automatically adjusts the bitrate
according to you network's speed, which means that the video quality
gets better with faster speeds.
While video playback is smooth, colors aren't as vibrant as what
you'd see directly on your TV. That's not unexpected and typically is
the side effect of most video-compression technologies. However, set
side-by-side with other devices that do the same thing, like
SlingMedia's Slingbox, LocationFree's colors look dull, flat, and
unimpressive.
Verdict
Frequent travelers will appreciate access to their
home-television lineup, especially in contrast to what's available at
most hotels. Add a DVR into the mix and you can catch up on all those
shows you record at home but never have time to watch.
Around the house, LocationFree effectively turns a notebook or desktop computer into another television set.
LocationFree does a respectable job and the feature list is impressive,
but Sony has taken too many shortcuts that hamper what could have been
a great device.
The Slingbox might not have integrated wireless and might have fewer
inputs, but video quality is superior and it comes with everything you
need to get up and running. That makes the Slingbox a better option.
Unless you're a PlayStation Portable owner and you want TV on your
handheld, skip LocationFree.
Sony LocationFree Player Pak
Specs: NTSC tuner; two video inputs; MPEG-4 compression; Integrated 802.11a/b/g; infrared transmitter.
Pros: Integrated Wi-Fi; multiple inputs.
Cons: Dull colors; No A/V pass-through; cables not included; single infrared transmitter.
Verdict: Sony's LocationFree does a respectable job and the
feature list is impressive, but Sony has taken too many shortcuts that
hamper what could have been a great device.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Price: $349.99
http://www.sonystyle.com
Source:
Yahoo! News