Over at Makita’s corporate page, they’ve got a banner ad up for their 18V cordless TV. I didn’t know that Makita made a product like this and took a closer look.
It’s an interesting concept. Makita has cordless coffee makers and a cordless cooler. A cordless TV seems to fit right in with their other lifestyle products.
Advertisement
Makita depicts their cordless TV and radio being used at construction sites and other types of off-the-grid types of settings.
It’s also showed off being used in a truck or van, perched on the center console. Perfect for break time.
Or, sync it with a Bluetooth device as a streaming music player.
Advertisement
The Makita TV100 is compatible with their 12V Max slide-style batteries, 14.4V, and 18V Li-ion cordless power tool batteries.
They advertise it alongside other tools described as being suited for disaster prep, such as USB charging adapters, LED worklight, a disaster prep combo kit, cordless radios, and cordless coffee maker.
It makes sense in this context.
You can watch your favorite Makita spokesperson basketball star out on what looks to be a farm.
Or while your friends are playing basketball.
Or take it tailgating.
And of course it’s great to take to the campsite.
The Makita TV has a 10″ LCD display and is weatherproof to IPX4 standards. The music player features a “good morning timer,” off timer, and alarm function.
Unfortunately, the Makita TV100 doesn’t look to be launching in the USA. If it was, would you buy one?
It’s priced at ~¥50,000, or ~$458 USD for the bare tool. You can order one from Japan, but you probably shouldn’t, as it looks like the TV can only display over-the-air TV signals via the extending rod antennas.
Here’s the promo video:
The Competition
Other professional power tool brands don’t seem to have their own cordless TVs. While not the same, Milwaukee has their MX Fuel power station, and Dewalt has a 4x20V Max cordless power station, and you can use these to power portable TVs and other AC electronics.
Hon Cho
Makita has lots of cool stuff. An electric bicycle, an electric assist wheelbarrow, cordless cooler (don’t know if it has a compressor or is a thermoelectric model), cordless vacuum that looks like a household instead of shop version, cordless auger, an external power pack that holds up to four batteries and connects by cord to your cordless but now corded battery powered tool, plus all the typical cordless tools that everyone else has too.
Hon Cho
Oops, forgot to mention that most of the items aren’t available in the US Market. They’ll have to be ordered from a stocking international vendor.
Scott K
I can’t see the logic in this. I’d rather spend the money on an iPad with a durable case…
Brad Justinen
Useless in US market without HDMI input. Could see this being use with a game console or apple tv but with no video input other than an antenna its pretty much useless.
Jared
Exactly. It doesn’t make sense to me either. Maybe if it Bluetooth streamed from your phone or could download movies to internal storage via wifi.
Just seems like a weird retro product. I don’t even watch over-the-airwaves TV at home.
rob
If (and a strong if) they decided to bring something like it here… well, it would be “something like it”. They often make entirely different products to better suit (translation: sell better in) different regions.
Stacey Jones
You can play movies from a thumb drive, which is probably better in places where you might not get good cell reception. HDMI would require bringing another player and powering it. Still streaming video from bluetooth would have been nice.
X lu
Time better spent on building better tools and batteries. what a distraction from mission.
Serendipity
If only every company had this thought. Samsung would never make phones or refrigerators, apple would never make the ipad, Sony would only make cameras, Mitsubishi would only make airplanes, Milwaukee would have no ope, or radio, or packout, Hyundai, Honda would have stopped at motorcycles.
Mike B
I think its safe to say that Makita should stick to tools, not TV’s.
Frank D
As somebody who has been many a day without power during and after severe weather events; I’d love a compact modern rugged-ish portable Tv, external antenna, hdmi, powered conveniently by powertool battery packs …
I still regret having to recycle our portable 5” and 10” battery tvs, when OTA ( Over The Air TV ) went digital. They were perfect for tuning into local news during emergency situations. No internet needed. No cell data needed. Cellphone can just remain topped up to look at radar every half hour.
Koko The Talking Ape
You can buy tv tuners for iPads. Some stream over wifi so you don’t even have to connect them to your iPad.
Rob
I already have a TurboExpress with a TV tuner at home.
The wait for an XGT Metal Circular Saw is killing me.
Ecotek
I don’t know how many people on here are going to know what that is. I do. But still a pretty arcane reference. I have to think though that since everything went digital the TV Tuner no longer works, right?
Rob
Man, I’m glad someone got the reference. :0
Yes, it is indeed a joke. I don’t believe any of those tv tuner attachments for Game Gear and whatnot would function anywhere at this point.
Serendipity
With the ability to download nearly everything onto your phone and tablet, plus expandable storage, unless live tv is required I don’t see the point. And every battery oarfish l platform has a USB adapter for the batteries. I’m also fairly sure there are digital tv tuners for mobile.
Wayne R.
I can see such a radio/TV being a real prize during an emergency, when downloaded stuff is just for killing time, but news is urgently needed.
Everyone have a AA-powered radio with weather band, just in case?
Jared
I think radio is sufficient though – and $500 just so I can get eyeballs on the news anchors seems excessive.
If this is for emergency preparedness, there’s a lot of other priorities that should come first. If power, wifi and cell towers are down because of some severe cataclysm, you might even just prefer to have $500 in your jeans so you can leave the area and stay in a hotel somewhere.
Koko The Talking Ape
Yes, there are tv tuners to let you watch over-the-air tv on your tablet or phone, or laptop. Some stream over wifi, so you don’t even need to plug the gizmo in.
Kingsley
You can buy a USB-C 15″ monitor for about £150 that is really thin and can be powered from a phone (works with my note9…just) or powerbank. It’s 4k and a touchscreen with HDMI (via a second USB-C input).
John S
Surprised they don’t have a cordless wifi router –
MM
As many others have said this product just seems redundant. Mobile phones already do most of what this thing can do. And if someone wants a standalone option or a bigger screen the Car Audio scene has tons of portable TVs and monitors with a variety of inputs, not to mention things like ipads and tablets. IMHO the only real advantage of the Makita tool is that it takes Makita batts, and that’s only an advantage if you happen to be into the Makita system already, and it’s a pretty minor advantage. Most brands of cordless power tool have some kind of a power station or USB power adapter these days, just use one of those and let your Milwaukee or Rigid or whatever other brand battery power your tablet. This looks like an oversized, overpriced, re-invention of the wheel.
Mister Mike
No one seems to remember that once upon a time, in the prehistoric times of analog electronics, Radio Shack hawked “pocket” televisions with almost the same marketing images as this Makita. Recently I finally chucked a few portable TVs that I had inherited because even though they powered up, they were unable to connect to any 21st century broadcast signal. Most thrift stores won’t accept old CRT televisions and monitors because it is so difficult to dispose of them. The world doesn’t need more plastic crap like this Makita 18v junk.
MM
I remember those well, and the expensive Sony models that came before Radio Shack started offering knockoffs under their “Realistic” brand. The big difference is that those actually were a new, different, and functional thing during their day. There were broadcast signals on the air for them to receive and there was no other alternative for a cord-free TV at the time. They weren’t worth bringing up because they actually made sense for their time. But things are very different now, the widespread adoption of smartphones has made a “portable TV” entirely redundant for most people, and at least in the USA there is no analog signal for them to be used with anyway. If Makita had announced this 20 years ago it would have been great, but in today’s market I just don’t see the point.
Mike
Not sure the Japanese have the same OTA system as NA, so I don’t think I’d order one even if I could get one.
MM
I know that Japan used the NTSC video standard just like the US did; Japanese VHS tapes and Laserdiscs work just fine on American equipment, so I think the old analog systems would be interchangeable.
However, according to Wikipedia Japan transitioned to Digital TV in 2012, and I happen to know for a fact that their Digital broadcast standards are very different from ours. Japan uses ISDB-T for digital and US uses ATSC. I would assume this device is meant to receive ATSC so it probably would be useless for receiving any sort of broadcast in north America.
DC
Pass…..
Corey Moore
I don’t see a professional market for this. Aside from the redundancy of modern video options, this thing has no place on a job site. Some of us who travel will park a trailer near site for between shifts, but I don’t know of anyone who cares about TV that doesn’t just stream or cast to a normal TV in their temporary lodgings. Even for camping I’m inclined to think leaving TV is sort of the point.
cary
As someone who lives in hurricane country I would rather spend $500 on a decent used generator to power my regular tv, fridge, lights, window a/c etc. No power also means no internet or cable unless you have a dish. So an antenna would be a must.
atomic
2003 called, they want their pocket TVs back. I honestly even has the rough form factor of a tube TV.
Mr. Creek
I have been using the DeWalt cordless power station to power my tv at hunt camp for years. I bluetooth the sound to my toghsystem radio.
Chris
Oh great, another thing to keep the apprentices occupied 😂
Steve
I refer to these non-tool battery powered items as “gizmos” I wish Dewalt would come out with more of them.
IronWood
Yeah, where’s my FlexVolt coffee maker already? What am I just supposed to keep using a thermos like an animal?!?
Nathan
in another case of I’m surprised something like this hasn’t been made yet.
would love to see like a Roku baked in, 20 inch or so LCD screen device that partnered with ________________ to use power tool batteries.
but you and I both know what’s far more usefull for this.
Dewalt power bank coupled with a (insert brand preference) 50 inch LED and whatever internet connection you use or a dish box