Portable TVs tested

Keeping your passengers entertained in the car these days requires more than a game of I Spy. Whether it’s a football match or soap opera, there’s now no need to miss any ‘must-see’ television programmes.

Getting a vehicle with a wired-in TV system can be expensive, so a portable unit is a good option. We tuned in to eight products to find out which are the screen stars.

The test
For this range of standalone units, we put more importance on quality rather than screen size. To assess the picture, we connected the sets to the same proven external aerial. For those that wouldn’t allow this, we used their own built-in antennae, but all were road tested to see how they coped with movement and speed.
As the analogue signal is due to be switched off entirely by 2012, we looked for digital reception. An easy-to-use stand was also vital. Bonus points were available for features such as DVD compatibility, or the ability to play digital music or picture files. Finally, price was taken into consideration.

Verdict

As our test route took in woodland areas, built-up city centres and the open road, none of the TVs worked perfectly. However, the best for picture quality was easily the August range. This meant we had to compare screen sizes in order to choose our winner.

The nine-inch DA900C was awarded top honours, as it is even possible to record to an SD card and access features such as red button interactive services and Teletext. Taking silver was the 3.5-inch August, which just pushed the bigger nine-inch Nikkai A10HJ into third place on our portable TV podium.

Contacts
John Lewis 08456 049 049 www.johnlewis.com
Firebox 0844 922 1010 www.firebox.com
August 01920 487700 www.augustint.com
Maplin 0844 557 6000 www.maplin.co.uk