Jonathan Takiff: Digital TVs go mobile: Here's a look at two new-generation portables

THE GIZMO: Portable digital TVs from Haier and Eviant.

With the last of analog TV now behind them, viewers might be on the prowl for a new-generation, battery- (or AC-) powered portable TV that can tune in digital channels. Something you could use on the porch. Stand up on a kitchen counter. Keep around for weather emergencies and power outages. Or maybe bring to a ballgame or campground.

Top-tier electronics brands have so far denied us any digital TV portables for reasons we'll get to later. But less-familiar makers have jumped in with premiere models.

Naturally, I was game to try out a couple: the Haier HLT7, spotted at Target and Target.com for $99 to $110; and the Eviant T7, available from a number of online merchants at prices ranging from $98 (Amazon.com) to $149 (Radioshack.com).

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Given their similar, 7-inch LCD widescreens, cabinet dimensions, on-screen menus, sealed lithium-ion batteries and country of origin (China), one might suspect that the Eviant and Haier rolled out of the same factory.

But closer inspection reveals differences - some significant - that make one a clear winner over the other.

The Eviant goes for a more cosmopolitan look, with a glossy plastic cabinet (black, white or red) and shiny-surfaced wide-screen that produces a slightly sharper picture than the Haier when both are viewed indoors, but also shows more room reflection.

Also distinguishing the Eviant are: its minimalist but easier-to-use button array; side-firing speakers (which play a bit louder); and top-mounted whip antenna, which can be popped off and replaced by a supplied, wired antenna that can stretch 4-plus feet away from the TV.

For better reception, you can connect a bigger antenna or a cable TV line to nab whatever analog or unscrambled digital stations are still available on your cable system without a box.

The Haier has a more rugged, outdoorsy, rubberized cabinet finish with an antiglare screen that's more viewable outside (so long as there's some cloud cover).

I also preferred its standard RCA audio and video input jacks for connecting a secondary source like a camcorder. (The Eviant offers mini A/V jacks.)

The Haier's whip antenna is stored on top of the set and screwed to a side mount when in use. If inadvertently rotated the wrong way, the whip loosens and starts flopping around. Very annoying. This antenna connector does offer easier access for attaching a cable TV line.

Both TVs are good for about two hours of continuous play on their sealed battery - longer if you're using it five minutes here, 10 minutes there. Lithium-ion technology holds a charge for at least a couple of weeks and doesn't suffer from the so-called memory effect. So you don't have to fully run down the battery before recharging.

THE ACID TEST: When all is right with the world, both TVs produce very good-looking pictures. Standard and high-def programs both play in 480x124 pixel resolution form.

But reception was often "iffy" with these portables. The whip antennas must be pointed "just so" to pick up a digital signal. Otherwise, the screen goes blank.

The Eviant, my recommended buy, invariably pulled in more stations than the Haier no matter where I was testing - in the city or the suburbs, to the south, east, north or west of our town's big TV antenna farm in Roxborough. (Neither TV was worth a fig down at the Jersey Shore.)

PITY THE VHFS: Hardest to nab were our digital VHF channels WPVI-6 and WHYY-12. In other markets, the Federal Communications Commission has allowed poor-performing digital VHF stations to relocate to open UHF frequencies. But due to crowded conditions in the Northeast corridor, ours are locked into their bad channel assignments.

Ironically, some small indie stations (like 48 and 61 here) have wound up with superior digital signals receivable even in challenging high-rise zones.

Compounding this problem, the federal government auctioned off some of the strongest UHF slots - frequencies that bore through even stone basement walls - to high bidder Verizon for its next-generation "LTE" wireless communications services.

FIXING THE HOLE: While the Haier comes with a car power adapter and it's an option for the Eviant, neither are reliable for watching broadcast TV in a moving vehicle.

To right this and other reception issues, a more robust flavor of (standard-definition) digital TV has been created specifically for in-transit applications. Called Mobile DTV and currently being tested in a few towns, the technology steals and reconfigures digital bits from a broadcast TV station's allocated bandwidth.

Will this bit diversion diminish picture quality of the station's primary high-definition signal? A scary thought.

Two format backers, Samsung and LG, want to put Mobile DTV tuners in cell phones. But we're likely to be watching this free video service first in portable products like a laptop computer (Dell recently showed a prototype) or a battery-operated DVD player (LG's game plan). Kenwood has a car-based receiver in the works.

Oh, and did I mention, VHF digital stations will suffer in the Mobile DTV world, too?

"There's a problem with the antenna," conceded LG Electronics' spokesman John Taylor. "For UHF-based M-DTV, a product designer can get away with a very short stub antenna. With VHF, you need a long one. Workarounds are being explored."

Send e-mail to takiffj@ phillynews.com.