Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player
Sony LF-PK1 LocationFree Player Pack for PC and PSP
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
List Price: $349.99
Used Price: $44.99
Customer Review: Not able to pick up stations in Japan
I purchased the Sony LocationFree device in 2006. I am working in Japan with the Military. The device was sold locally at our Military Exchange. I hooked the system up to my television in the states as well as downloaded the software onto my computer. Once, my computer arrived to Japan, I received error messages. The Sony people were not able to assist me and I wasted over $300 for the LocationFree device, shipping and handling, phone calls, and my stateside cable bill and internet.
Customer Review: Yeah, Don’t Bother… Buy A SlingBox Instead
I had this installed for exactly two days. I usually love Sony products. I’ve owned three Vaio laptops, a Sony Clie, PlayStation 1 & 2, and more. I typically buy the Sony variant of whatever product I’m looking for. So I figured that the Sony version of a video streamer would be better than anything else on the market. Well, I’ll never find out because this thing was such a pain to install that I just gave up. I got it to work a few times but then the software out of nowhere said that I had an illegal license despite the fact that I installed it from the original CD on one machine. The requirement to press a Setup button on the box to configure it is ridiculous. This compounded by the fact that you have to pay for an additional copy of the software for each machine that you want to use with it. This was the ultimate deal breaker. Not only is it tedious to set up, but you have to spend more money to make it useful. The next day I bought a SlingBox. The client software was FREE and easy to install and the box practically configured itself! It took me 5 minutes to set up as opposed to the couple of hours I spent with the LocationFree. I’m putting my LocationFree on eBay and am sticking with the SlingBox.
