Polaroid 15.4" 16x9 LCD/TV Monitor $239 looks decent

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Do any of these units work on battery?

I use a Husky power supply when I need portable juice:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100096992&N=10000003+90401&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125

It's a pain to be lugging around, so I don't think it's appropriate for true run-and-gun stuff, but I don't think a 15.4" monitor really is either. As David said, not very portable. If you'll be outdoors with a setup that doesn't require a lot of movement, then both should serve you if you're on a budget.

Caveat #1: I've never used one of these low-end monitors in bright sunlight yet, but I have a feeling they'll need a hood or some sort of shade. Mine isn't bright by any stretch of the imagination.

Caveat #2: the Husky power supply engages a small fan when the AC power is in use. It's not very loud (more of a low hum), but you'll need to keep it at a little bit of a distance to make sure it doesn't interfere with your sound.

--nick

 

[Joe Kocsis]

It's connected directly to the cable.. No cable box... I also noticed that on the screen along with something like 83-4, 83-5 it also displays RF83-4, RF85-5 under the normal channel numbers.. It does not do this on the lower channels.. Or anything that doesn't have a -3 or similar after the channel number.. Channels are like CSPAN, and NBA Ticket Preview Channel, The on Demand Preview Channel...

Is QAM tuner used to decode digital OTA? Or is that something else?

Joe

Joe...

Really weird because I called Polaroid yesterday, and they said NONE of the LCD TVs had a QAM tuner!

Edg

 

[dworsky]

Joe...

QAM is used to receive unscrambled digital cable stations without a cable box. An ATSC tuner is used to bring in over the air HDTV.

On your information, I went to CC and bought the Polaroid 15.4" model. When I did the scan, I got 79 analog stations, and 165 digital stations, 50 of which were digital music only! (I have RCN cable in Boston.) So much for Polaroid saying it did not have a QAM tuner!

Most annoying is the channel display, as you mention. In almost no cases, analog or digital, do I get the names of the stations. So I get stuff like 85.10, which is MTV2, for example. I could live with the scrambled order, I guess, but without ID, you need a program card!

Edg