Mobile phone working as a WiFi access point (and a contract with a decent amount of data) and a tablet with a reasonable sized screen.

Job done, probably costs a quarter (or less) of what this does, and, well, it's a tablet so could be used for serious stuff (runs a well known OS with lots of third party apps) as well as watching videos of kittens frolicking...

Running a phone as hotspot kills the battery and is pretty impractical in this theoretical situation, 4G/5G routers make more sense.

But I'm trying to think what this offers over a simple monitor perhaps with one of the myriad HDMI sticks and power from a good old 12v car battery. I guess the only challenge is the voltage regulator so you give the monitor what it wants. Worked for us in the 1980s (well, without the internet).

>But I'm trying to think what this offers over a simple monitor perhaps with one of the myriad HDMI sticks and power from a good old 12v car battery.

Full 24" 1080p screen access to the streaming services embedded in the platform.

It is really irritating how many streaming services iOS (and I presume Android) detect and bar the use of HDMI connected screens or (in the case of Prime) decide they don't like your external HD screen so will only stream SD...

I was thinking of the Amazon Prime stick or similar, for which HDMI is their only screen. Don't use one myself but can still often connect the phone for a few services, though the "second screen" detection bug seems to be spreading. For a while I could run stuff from Samsung's DeX which mirroring was banned. Doesn't really cause me too many problems for time- or geoshifting but annoying all the same.

If I was going to tap off car power, I have headrest-mounted DVD players (built-in screens) for the kids.

Without AC power [1], if I wanted to do that -- or any significant task, maybe using an inverter -- outside the car, I'd bring along a second full-size car battery [2]. I might build a cable from the 12V power port to recharge the "spare" battery.

1. We always camp in state parks with nearby outlets, primarily for those with trailers/RVs (BIG campers), but useful for a fan, hair dryer, inflator, radio, or whatever, given an extension cord and suitable power strip (I have an 80-foot reel with 4 outlets that I keep in the garage but always bring for camping). And "whatever" could possibly include my $200 32" monitor -- or a projector borrowed from the library -- and our normal HDMI DVD player ($100). Plenty of good times right in the tent if we wished.

2. Had quite the adventure with one of our cars this spring, already damaged from a collision (their fault; ran a red light). Started with a flat tire, and the experience (hazard lights) also killed the battery. Both replaced, but about a month later there was a "final" incident that left it further damaged and barely operational. Sold it to a nearby scrapyard, but I stipulated that I wanted that battery. (They could keep the tire since I didn't know if I'd get another vehicle with the same rims.) I took that battery home and they didn't even reduce my payout; it sits on my workbench on the float charger, ready to jump our other (older) car or the riding lawnmower... or provide off-site power for a while. (I should build that recharge cable...)

Have you ever used the phone as a hotspot? I can shift enourmous quantites of data about with no issue at all - think of downloading Baldurs Gate 3 in about three hours whilst out and about. Still plenty of battery left. As long as there is a somewhat sensible connection ro mobile data they work very well as a hotspot.

I don't see why battery power would be much of an issue. Most campsites you can get a power outlet, so you can run an extension straight to your tent if wanted...but...

People who ave an RV or caravan seem to have basically their whole house in there, so it's more like they have a summer house than 'go camping'... and if I'm camping I'm spending my time outdoors enjoying nature... yes, that's possible even if it's raining. As per the expression - there's no bad weather, only bad clothing / equipment. So I can't see the point is of having a TV in your tent, but well - to each their own!

An exercise bike in a briefcase?

Water in powdered form?

So you just add water?

hold on...

Checked the specs on the LG website, and while it's actually 27" not 24", it's still only 1080p60. Digging deeper it turns out you cannot remove the batteries, which might be a problem both for air travel and adding more battery life than 3 hours. There's no aerial connection, so using Freeview is out of the question without an external STB, only one HDMI, no onboard media storage, SD card slot or USB port. Meanwhile for less than half the price, you can get a 32" smart TV designed for caravans and boats that runs off 12V DC. Comes with built in DVD, Freeview, satellite tuner and all the usual apps, assuming you can get internet where you are.

On that point, I've also been camping with friends where one chap had the same idea as me and took a small projector and portable screen to keep the kiddies amused at night, but was still relying on a mobile data connection to get any content. Didn't work as he expected, so next time I offered to bring a small DVD player and box of discs. There's the key thing to be said for physical media, they work offline.

and with that spare change you could get a portable power station like a Jackery, £200 gets 240WH capacity, so we still have some change for a cooler and some beer.

Given that the get-out clause for needing to buy a TV licence as a student living away from home is to view on a device with internal batteries, that could potentially be a niche.

Except that $1,000 buys a lot of TV licences!

(or a decent laptop)

M.

Dumb American here... What's a TV licence? I'm assuming it's what we call a "subscription" to a cable/satellite provider or streaming service?

We have the BBC which has no ads, it's instead funded by a licence (license? Never sure) that you have to buy if you have a TV. It's £159 a year so worth it I think, although there are those who think it should be abolished.

I wish they would use that model here in the US.

Directors and writers can't do as good of a job when they have to compromise show quality for market optics.

When the money is preallocated without concern for profit later, everybody can focus purely on making a good show without fear.

When done as a financial investment, the content takes a back seat to gimmicks and reboots.

We have the same problem with AAA video games.

No stats exist on anything fundamentally new, and so most ideas worth producing are scrapped.

Once you've seen a few shows based on the the common template, rebrands and reboots have no savour as everything is so familiar as to be boring.

The UK TV license model that's content be made for the sake of content rather than as a bait and switch to encourage bad consumer habits.

Um, no. Vehicle registration is a better analogy than a subscription. In kind, it resembles the money you pay the government annually to operate your motor vehicle after you have purchased it.

If only it was comparable to a subscription - I'd love to be able to get into the BBC archives, and apparently they are available to folks with licenses, but not to those of us without them. And I have asked about the possibility of obtaining a license only to be resoundingly ignored. After getting over the frustration of being geofenced out (yes, I know vpn, which is an ongoing arms race - I'd rather be legal if possible) I realize that no one in their right mind would try to register a car bought and used in the US for operation on UK roads.

For one thing, the controls are all on the "wrong" side...

Found that kind of stuff on Amazon. You'd need a nice bit of extra trunk space to store one (or two), but apparently, if you've got the sunlight, they can do a fair job of keeping your laptop charged.

What they would do with this, I have no idea, but it's better than just leaving it to an external battery.

Or there's always the dirty version... 12v to 230v inverter (sine wave) for about a buck and a half off the amazon tateria, that plugs into your car's lighter/power socket and plug your 230v telly/dvd thing into that.

Or being greener... hefty watted solar panels iare cheap as chips these days, so is an mppt controller, battery is a bit more expensive though and then connect your inverter noted above to that. Lob in starlink for streaming and you're golden.. and no nasty LG data slurping. And all for about half the price of the LG effort.

Or being even greener, go old school camping and use a tent for what it's meant for when its raining.. Shagging.

A lot of campsites have 240v hookups these days, and a lot of tents (especially big family tents) are starting to come with an access port for a hookup. You can buy a simple RCB protected board to plug the hookup into and then you've got three mains sockets in your tent.

Although, if you're going camping and want to watch TV so much you buy this device, did you really want to go camping in the first place?

>Put kids in car.

>Activate in-car back-seat entertainment system

>Drive to the wilderness

>Set up briefcase TV

>Watch the same stupid mass media garbage available at home

No wonder the next generation is growing up clueless in the ways of the world.