Big Dig

Big Dig

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Contrary to the famous expression, you can take it with you--if it's this petite electronic entertainment system, dubbed "The Roadster." In creamy white, this TV/VCR/FM package seems a natural accessory to the well-appointed kitchen or bedroom bureau. This 20-pounder is also easy to tote (handle on top) and can keep kids happily distracted in the back seat during long highway hauls, while the supplied car battery cable (connected via the cigarette lighter socket) powers the show.

While not up to fancy trick plays, the two-head monaural VCR holds the track when you're tilting the TV combo around corners (kitchen tile or road asphalt). The pop-on rabbit-ears-style dipole antenna (supplied) does a decent job with both VHF and UHF TV stations, but a cable connection will work better and show off the clarity and strong color of this picture tube. In our test of the FM radio reception in an urban neighborhood, the result was mediocre; a few strong stations bled across the dial, drowning out the rest. With a good signal, though, the combo's sound is decent from the small, sidemount speaker. A headphone jack connection lets you keep the sound to yourself.

Ergonomics are very good on this micro audio-video combo; the unit has nicely sized and situated buttons, an excellent standup remote control, plus a secondary magnetic card remote that you can secure to a refrigerator door. You can activate the V-Chip control to lock out undesirable programming from the kids. You can also wake up to entertainment using the built-in clock timer. Better yet, the clock automatically resets itself whenever the portable is plugged back in--and the local, clock-setting PBS TV station is tuned.

Pros: