Ever found yourself in a far-flung hotel room at the end of a tiring day, only to find that there’s absolutely nothing on the telly? Where all the channels are either in a foreign language, or else the televisual equivalent of watching paint dry?

Oh, if only you could somehow beam the pictures from your own beloved Sky / Freeview or cable box back in Blighty and into your laptop…. Well, you know what? Now you can. And what’s more, you can even control your distant receiver, right down to changing channels and even watching recordings.

Making this seemingly impossible dream a reality are not one but two different ‘TV anywhere’ devices: Sony’s Location Free LF-PK1, and the SlingMedia Slingbox. With a stay in a cheap hotel in Germany looming, it seemed the time was right to give both systems a try…

The Slingbox £180

The Slingbox and Sony systems both work by opening up a two-way broadband internet link between your TV receiver and your laptop, delivering AV information one way and remote control signals the other.

The Slingbox installation wizard walks you through set-up step by patient step, and even better, Slingmedia’s associated web site provides a superb guide to configuring even the most awkward of routers.

The Slingbox’s connectivity is impressive. The unit has two aerial jacks, revealing that the Slingbox has its own built-in TV tuner. What’s more, this tuner is digital. So the Slingbox can work as a standalone Freeview receiver for your TV (one of the aerial jacks sends pictures out) as well as a device for ‘slinging’ Freeview programmes all over the world.

There are also S-Video and composite video inputs for connecting external sources such as a Sky Digital receiver, cable box or DVD deck, plus, of course, an Ethernet port for that all-important internet connection, and a socket for attaching an infra-red extender so the Slingbox can control your sources while you’re accessing them from wherever.

How easy is it to use?
The Slingbox installs onto your laptop ‘virtual remote controls’ (onscreen representations of real remote controls) for hundreds of different potential source devices, including Sky Digital and Sky+ receivers. So accessing the programmes and functions of your home TV box is no more complicated than connecting to a broadband internet service where you’re staying, opening up the Slingbox programme, and selecting the relevant buttons on your virtual remote.

Will it only work on laptops?
The Slingbox can now work with smaller, more convenient devices like Windows Mobile phones and PDAs, plus Symbian Smartphones via 3G or wifi. The phone options open up the possibility of watching your own TV receiver on, say, a train, rather than just being restricted to places with broadband internet connection.

How does it perform?
The Slingbox’s software has to convert the pictures from your TV receiver into a compressed form that can be transmitted comfortably over the internet, yet the software used to achieve this does its thing with surprisingly little detriment to the picture quality that ultimately reaches your laptop. Telltale signs of compression, such as blockiness, smearing and rough edges, are remarkably few and far between. Even better, although the broadband link we used to test the Slingbox only supported 256kbps, pictures arrived on our laptop superbly smoothly.

Summary
Ultimately it’s hard to fault the Slingbox. It makes a mind-blowing concept into not only a superbly accomplished reality, but a reality that even diehard technophobes can enjoy without their brains exploding!

Size: 46(h) x 269(w) x 102(d)mm

The Sony Location Free LF-PK1 £230

If like us and many other unlucky souls across the nation you happen to have a broadband router that isn’t a ‘UPnP’ type, getting the LF-PK1 working is a nightmare. The main problem is that Sony offers precisely zero help with the crucial but complex process of ‘port forwarding’ necessary to integrate the PK1 onto a non-UPnP wireless network.

The Slingbox also requires port forwarding, but it’s a testament to how easy that system is to set up that we barely noticed this procedure happening. With the Sony you’ll likely have to do what the PK1’s instructions ‘helpfully’ suggest, and ring the manufacturer of your router in the hope they can sort you out.

Another niggle with the Sony set up is that unlike the Slingbox, you can only install the system’s LocationFree software on one laptop/PC at a time, with discs for further installs costing £20 each. Hardly ideal when the PK1 costs significantly more than the Slingbox in the first place.

Is it well connected?
The PK1 sports neither the S-Video input nor, more significantly, the tuner connections enjoyed with the Slingbox. The lack of tuner jacks naturally means you’re restricted for your sources to external devices (Sky boxes, DVD decks and so on), which can only be connected via two composite video inputs – neither of which offer the same picture quality as the Slingbox’s S-Video port.

Naturally there’s a broadband Ethernet port, and a plug for the remote control extender.

How easy is it to use?
Once you’ve finally got the PK1 working, life thankfully becomes a whole lot simpler, as Sony provides a huge database of easy to use ‘virtual remote controls’ to simulate those of your home equipment.
All is not perfect, however, since bizarrely the PK1’s laptop window can’t show widescreen sources correctly, leaving widescreen programmes looking squashed. Even though the PSP’s LocationFree software handles widescreen programmes well!

Will it only work on laptops?
As we’ve hinted, the PK1 works with PSPs as well as laptops. But for now at least, other devices such as PDAs and Smartphones are off limits. And getting the PSP ‘LocationFree Ready’ can be a very time-consuming process.

How does it perform?
The PK1’s pictures are no match for those of the Slingbox. Using exactly the same broadband connection for the PK1’s tests, its pictures emerged on our laptop and PSP beset by quite considerable amounts of blocking and twitching noise, suggesting that the PK1’s encoding and compression software isn’t as sophisticated as the Slingbox’s. Manually selecting the PK1’s highest quality setting reduces much of the blocking noise - but only at the expense of frequent annoying pauses in the video stream.

Summary
If you’re willing to put in the massive upfront effort, are lucky enough to have a broadband connection with upload speeds comfortably higher than 256kbps, AND own a PSP, then the PK1 is perhaps worth considering. But even then there’s no avoiding the fact that the Slingbox does pretty much everything better (bar the PSP compatibility) while costing considerably less.

Size: 183(h) x 60(w) x 130(d)mm

What equipment do you need?
The system uses a rooftop aerial to pick up the signals. In strongsignal areas you may get away with a set-top or a loft aerial. You willalso need a Freeview adapter (also called a set-top box (STB), receiveror digibox) costing between £25 and £100, or an integrated digital TV(iDTV) with a built-in Freeview adapter. You may need to upgrade yourTV aerial.
 You do NOT have to change your existing television. The adapterenables ordinary TV sets to receive digital signals. Set-top boxes havedifferent features and connections - so check out what you need interms of connections (such as Scart sockets), before you buy. Owners ofOnDigital or ITV Digital set-top boxes have been able to use them topick up Freeview services by simply retuning them to the newtransmissions. Even so, the latest set-top boxes offer bettersensitivity and more features.

What does Freeview cost?
There is no contract to sign and there are no subscription charges,unless you decide to subscribe to Top Up TV Anytime. The only costs arethose of a standard UK TV licence, the set-top box, and a new aerial ifnecessary.

What is Top Up TV Anytime?
Top Up TV was launched in March 2004. The service carries subscription channels on the Freeview DTT network.

Are you covered?
Although the signal strength has been improved, only about 80% ofhouseholds are covered. Check with BBC Reception advice, your TVretailer, or if you have internet access, log on to Freeview’s web site- http://www.freeview.co.uk/, or the Digital Television Group’s site - http://www.dtg.org.uk/- and perform a postcode check to see if you are covered. The coverageprediction will err on the side of caution. If there is doubt as towhether you will get a signal you should check with a local aerialinstaller for advice before you buy a Freeview adapter. Some retailersoffer a survey from around £30, but may refund the charge from the costof installing a new aerial. An aerial upgrade can cost between £80 and£300. Alternatively check using a friend’s or neighbour’s Freeview boxconnected to your existing TV aerial and linked to your television.

Aerial and cable
It is essential if you are in an area of marginal reception that youuse a good aerial and high grade double screened satellite-qualitycable. If you live in an area with a reasonable signal you may be ableto get good reception using a loft, or even a set-top aerial.

Freeview transmitter Improvements The BBC has recently signed adeal with Arqiva to upgrade much of the Freeview digital transmitternetwork (see News story). As this is done, and analogue transmittersare turned off, the power and coverage of Freeview transmissions willimprove. However if you adopt Freeview before switchover you may findthat your digital signal is not as good as your current analogue one.

Freeview Multiplexes
A multiplex is simply a bundle of channels transmitted together. TheFreeview adapter separates the multiplex into individual channels whichare then listed individually in the on-screen programme guide.

Why is the multiplex operator important?
There is a trade-off between the number of TV and radio channelscarried and the strength and quality of the signal. Two systems arecurrently in use. 16-QAM, with the most robust signal, is used onmultiplexes 1, B, C and D. 64-QAM, able to carry about 25% morechannels per multiplex, is used on multiplex 2 and A. If you arereceiving Freeview, but find that some channels are unreliable orunavailable, it is likely that they are on the less robust 64-QAMmultiplexes. See page 145 for the multiplex details.

What stations are available?
 The number of digital channels is likely to increase when morefrequencies are released for digital terrestrial television followinganalogue switch-off.

What other services are available?
As well as TV and radio channels, Freeview also gives access to digitaltext pages and home shopping services. Interactive TV features aresupported, with the option to get further information such as sportsreports and statistics by pressing the red button on the Freeviewremote control.

Can you get high-definition TV on Freeview?
Apart for a very localised trial in the London area Freeview does notcarry HD signals. Eventually when analogue TV transmissions areswitched-off after 2012 there may be spare capacity that can be usedfor HD. Until then, if you are after HD your best bet is Sky or cable.

Freeview – Pros
The key advantage of Freeview is that the main channels are allsubscription-free. Once you have paid for the equipment there are nomonthly subscription charges. The range of channels covers most popularUK national networks, including the new BBC digital ones, and a numberof other interesting channels.  All the BBC radio channels are alsoavailable on Freeview - in some cases in higher quality than they areon DAB digital radio.