We've all been there - the camping holiday where the Sun shines for about three hours and the rest of the trip is spent sitting in a tent in soggy misery. What are you supposed to do then?

LG thinks it may have the solution, though more careful consideration suggests the designers of its latest portable monitor have never truly set foot in the Great Outdoors.

For a 24" 1080p touchscreen locked in at a measly 60Hz, the LG StanbyME Go's $999.99 premium may seem a little beyond the pale, but then again other, more reasonably priced monitors don't come integrated inside a snazzy briefcase.

"The briefcase design with handle makes the StanbyME Go the perfect product to take on the go to your next tailgate, camping trip, or wherever your travels take you. The hard sided case protects the screen while on the go and makes it easy to store when not in use," LG tells us.

"Controlling the StanbyME Go is as easy as touching the screen, using the included remote, or voice control, making it simple for everyone in the family to enjoy."

When deployed, the monitor can also rotate 90 degrees for doomscrolling or be laid flat for "board games and music," which we presume applies to specific apps as the screen runs on webOS, LG's TV operating system, and the media material features a mocked-up turntable.

Cine/audiophiles are also well catered for as the StanbyME supports Dolby Vision and Atmos, and boasts four 20W speakers. Partnerships with Apple TV, Disney, Prime Video, Spotify, Netflix and the like will pump the content you relish into the box via Wi-Fi 5 and there's a single HDMI port if you're also lugging a games console on your travels.

Which kind of highlights the shortcomings of the StanbyME. Though no battery details are included in the specs sheet, LG says a full charge will last three hours, so no Lord of the Rings extended edition marathons on this holiday, not without close proximity to a power outlet.

And therein lies the rub. LG says it's ideal for travel but even the most glamorous glamping trip lacks the basic necessities for our tech-obsessed lives. When hauling ungrateful children about especially, pre-charged USB battery packs are recommended, but they too only last so long, unless you fancy risking the car battery to pump them back up again.

Signal is also an issue. Wi-Fi doesn't just fall from the sky - you need to be deeply embedded within civilization for it to work - so taking off without movies or TV shows downloaded would be a non-starter. Though the StanbyME supports smartphone features like Apple's Airplay 2, you will still be hankering for somewhere to plug in pretty soon.

As a result, we don't see this briefcase traveling much further than the garden. All the same, it's available for pre-order now. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2023/08/18/lg_briefcase_tv/