Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player Pack for PC and PSP

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [5.92mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BGOWIE
• Item model number: LF-PK1
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 16, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Sony's LF-PK1 Location Free Player Pack, which includes the LocationFree base station and the LocationFree Player software, enable you to watch TV and your favorite videos both at home and on the go with your Playstation Portable (PSP) or Windows-based PC.

Whether you're viewing TV and videos on your laptop while traveling...

...or at the local coffee shop on your PSP, LocationFree technology makes it easy to take your entertainment with you.

The base station can be accessed via the internet while you're away from home, enabling you to view live TV, recorded TV (via a digital video recorder, or DVR), and DVDs. It also frees you from having to be tethered to your television in your own home, enabling you to use your laptop or desktop PC as your TV via your home LAN.

Sony's NetAV function simplifies operation and makes installation a snap with a simple worry-free setup wizard. The new LocationFree products also integrate a dynamic DNS service so there is no longer any need to use external dynamic DNS providers. This makes the setup process less complicated.

The new NetAV function also incorporates the MPEG4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile) compression scheme for content transmission over the Internet. The MPEG4 format provides high quality video at lower data rates and smaller file sizes than the MPEG2 compression standard. Further, MPEG4 features flexible compression ratios and, when combined with the LocationFree service's automatic bit rate control, results in a multimedia experience optimized for the available Internet bandwidth.

LocationFree Player software is also equipped with a key system, which uniquely identifies each base station and PC loaded with the LocationFree Player by an initial one button registration. As a result, the content sent from the base station over the Internet is viewed only by the intended user.

Requirements
The LF-PK1 Location Free Player Pack requires a PC with Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4) / Windows XP, a broadband connection with a minimum of 300 kbps of uplink/downlink speed, and a routable IP address. Users must have either a Fixed IP address or must register with a Dynamic DNS service. Sony does not offer a Dynamic DNS service. Sony recommends the service provided by Dynamic Network Services Inc., which can be found at www/dyndns.org. When using a home network, the user's home router must support either DMZ or Port Forwarding.

What's in the Box
Location Free base station, Location Free Player software for PC, IR blaster, AC adapter, DVD instruction video, printed operating instructions

Product Description

LocationFree Player allows you to stream live TV, VCR, or DVD's from your home to your PC and PSP game system wirelessly at home and over a broadband Internet connection. Quick one-button PC and PSP game system registration on Base Station Inputs and Outputs - Ethernet Port - x1 (1 Rear); RF Connection Input(s) - x1 (1 Rear); S-Video Input(s) - x2 (1 x Video in); IR Blaster - x1 (1 Rear) DC-In - x1 (1 Rear) Power Requirements - AC 100-240V, 50/60 Hz (power connector cord included) Requires minimum 300 kbps download/uplink speed. Some Intranet services may require a fee

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars get this if you have PSP, get legacy Sling if you don't, March 31, 2007

By 

matt.mingkee (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player Pack for PC and PSP (Personal Computers)

got it from local store
worried a bit because of some pretty negative comment, but the price is too irrisistible (cheaper than legacy Slingbox), then give a try
generally I am satisfied with this product
Setup: it is pretty easy, press and hold the setup button on the unit when adding device; channel add/delete is NOT centralized, you need to add/delete on each device connecting
Picture quality: this is OK on high setting, NEVER use auto rate setting on PC over LAN, use the highest rate when using over LAN
on high rate setting, the picture quality is pretty similar with Slingbox (note: up to 3Mbps bandwidth)
you can resize the window, but there's NO full screen option on PC
on PSP, you have 4 picture mode: original, normal, full, strectched (depends on your preference), to get the best compromise, use rate 4 (you can use 5, but you may experience interruption)
the base unit has 2 sets of A/V input (one of them has S-Video, just use regular cable)
all the testing and experience are based on LAN
the software requires key to install, not like Slingplayer, which is pretty straightforward, but the software on Locplayer is more simple
conclusion: get this if you have PSP (with software ver 2.5 and higher, the most current version is recommended), if not, get Slingbox (the slingplayer has full screen option)
note: this base station also has wifi AP built-in, but there's no way to hide SSID or disable wifi, then make sure you have good WEP or WPA setup

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great Sony product, September 18, 2006

By 

darkmoon (Greensboro, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player Pack for PC and PSP (Personal Computers)

Great product. If you're a gadget fiend as I am, then you'll have no problems figuring out how to use it. The "Quick" documentation is terrible, but readable.

The PC configuration of the base station is a lot better than the one that's formatted for the PSP. If you do install, install the PC first if at all possible.

Quality of the picture is great on the PSP, but lacking on the computer. It could feed better resolution to PCs but it lacks the support. It also wouldn't be bad if the player could support Mac/Linux. The PC player GUI is terrible looking but functional. PSP one is sharp and works like a charm.

As usual with Sony, the design of the box is superb. Very sleek looking. Could use some work in better functionality, but it's nothing some firmware updates couldn't solve if they got around to it.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Streaming your TV to Yoursefl!, January 4, 2006

By 

Mike Thompson "Electric Vehicle RAV4-EV (sola... (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player Pack for PC and PSP (Personal Computers)

If you need to stream to a PSP, use Sony's LocationFree.
If you want to stream to Pocket PC, check out the Slingbox.
Both products stream to a PC. Compare the licensing cost of the clients for PC Streaming.

Some more tips on usage and comparisons between Sony's LocationFree and the Sling Media's Slingbox
http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/thread/10083/

Also check out Sling Media's Slingbox reviews here on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AMLXHW/

I'm streaming content from the ReplayTV. Works out quite nicely.