Monday, July 11, 2011

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road [Toolkit]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5819984/8-tools-to-help-recreate-your-home-theater-on-the-road/gallery/

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the RoadVacation season is kicking into full gear now, and though you may be racking up the ground/air/sea miles, you'll inevitably have some downtime. Why not watch a movie?

Just because you're not at home doesn't mean you have to have an entirely terrible movie watching experience. Here are 8 tools to set up a portable home theater, assuming you'll be operating from an iOS or Android device:

Image via Shutterstock/Kokhanchikov

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

SRS iWow 3D Audio Enhancer

Never underestimate the power quality sound can have on the immersive effect of a movie. The iWow 3D is iOS only, but if you have an iPhone or iPad, this dongle will provide a bigger, more immersive sound for your movie watching. $60.

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Razer Ferox Speakers

You have the sound-enhancing dongle, but you'll also need a pair of speakers that can take advantage of that audio boost. The Razer Ferox are fairly compact (2.75" x 2.75" x 2.5"), plus have 30mm drivers and 10 hours of battery power to keep the sound alive. $60

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector

Laptops and tablets are great for quick and easy movie/TV watching, but sometimes you want a BIG picture to look at. Samsung's pico projector fits in the palm of your hand, but can project up to an 80-inch image up on a wall/screen at 854x480 resolution. $180

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Netflix

We're all way past dragging physical copies of movies around with us. And if you're fortunate enough to have a solid internet connection on the go, you shouldn't deal with stuffing your hard drive full of video files. Instead, just get the Netflix app for your smart device. You're certain to find something you'll want to watch. Free (Requires monthly subscription)

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Seagate GoFlex Satellite Wi-Fi Hard Drive

If, for whatever reason, you're still attached to your local, digital library of movies and tv shows, there's a solution for that too. Seagate's GoFlex Satellite combines wi-fi and 500GB of storage into a portable drive so that you that your smart device can tap into the drive as needed. $200

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Shure SE215 Earbuds

Sometimes a day of traveling or vacationing means you return to your resting spot at a late hour, and you don't want to wake the person on the other side of the hotel wall. You'll need a good pair of headphones to get the job done. Shure's SE215 headphones not only deliver clear sound and big bass with their dynamic drivers, but also won't take up much space in your bag. $100

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Pic3D LCD Film

OK, so you have some 3D content you want to watch, but no display to take advantage of it. If the video employs the side-by-side stereoscopic 3D technique, you could slap one of these Pic3D overlays on your tablet/computer screen and enjoy a movie in eye-popping 3D. Roger Ebert will hate you forever though. ~$60 (ships next month)

8 Tools to Help Recreate Your Home Theater on the Road

Energizer External Battery

If just stuck somewhere without adequate power, you'll need some power, serious power, if only just to get a single movie in. Energizer's external battery can handle three devices at once, and can power a netbook for up to four hours. That should be enough juice to handle your portable road show for a couple hours. $143

Toolkit is Gizmodo's daily roundup of the gadgets and gear you need to tackle any and every situation.

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