Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

If you are looking for portable tvs for traveling, camping or at home use, be sure to know what features you need to make your purchase a valuable one.

1. As of February 2009, all tvs must receive a digital signal in order to watch local channels.  When looking for a new portable tv, you must get one that has an ATSC tuner which receives those free digital signals at no extra cost.
2. Most portable tvs come with a car adapter so it is the perfect road trip buddy for your children to keep busy while you keep your attention on the road.
3. If you are going on a business trip and feel comfortable knowing how to use the tv and have closed caption capabilities in your language, use the portable tv to keep you informed in the local news.
4. Some people need background noise to fall asleep at night.  By using a portable tv with built in speakers near your pillow, you can turn down the volume so you can slowly drift off to sleep.
5. Getting an LCD screen portable tv will give you hassle free entertainment wherever you are.  Since the device will be lightweight and compact you can easily pack it in a backpack, carry-on suitcase or even a sleeve in your briefcase.
6. If your tv comes with a remote control, you can easily change the volume and channels without even looking at the screen.  This comes in handy when your children are using it in the car or you want to change the channel but the tv is out of reach.
7. Listen to the shows without interrupting anyone else in the room by having the option to plug in standard headphones into the built in audio jack.
8. If you are the type of person who loves to use their video recorder, but you hate that you can’t see much detail on the little viewable screen; hook up your camcorder through the video jack on the portable tv to show off your great footage anywhere you are.
9. Purchasing a high definition portable tv could be a good idea since many of the local news stations film in HDTV.
10. Use your portable tv to watch cable channels by simply hooking up a nearby cable box to the tv’s built in coaxial output.

Refer back to this list of features when you are comparing the best portable tvs for your lifestyle.  Remember, analog tvs will no longer get reception and are still being sold online and in-store.  To get the most out of your purchase, go with a DTV.

-Desiree