Mark Spoonauer

TV to Go

Wireless, portable cable TV for home and on the road.

 

Now you can watch cable without the cables, and wirelessly surf the Web at the same time -- anywhere in your house. Combining a TV with a Web tablet, Sony's LocationFree TV lets you roam 100 feet from the included base station, which connects to your cable or satellite box. The 5.3-pound LF-X1 model has a 12.1-inch screen, great for toting to the kitchen or bedroom. At 7 inches and 1.2 pounds, the LF-X5 is better for travel. Both have a three-hour battery life and an onscreen keyboard. Here's the coolest trick: If you connect the base station in your home to the Internet, the LocationFree TV can tune in to your cable box from any Wi-Fi hot spot. You do, however, need 300 Kbps of uplink speed for tolerable video streaming, which not all ISPs support. LF-X1, $1,500; LF-X5, $1,000; www.sonystyle.com.