Kangaroo TV review
September 2, 2009 by mark h
Filed under Parc Fermé
Long-time F1B followers will remember a podcast featuring Marc Pelltier from Kangaroo TV. The company offers portable television sets at F1 race weekends, helping fans to overcome that age old problem of actually going to the races – the fact that you see far less than you would sat on the couch at home.
Well, the Kangaroo TV crew was kind enough to supply me with a set of my own to try out on my visit to Spa at the weekend. To sum matters up simply, it helped make an amazing weekend even better, and I would certainly miss the product at any other motor-racing event.
What Kangaroo can do
It’s basically a mini television-meets-laptop on which you can follow all the bits of the race (at Spa there are MANY, regardless of where you sit) that happen out of your field of vision. It works for all of the support races on any given weekend (or at least every one I tried), but for the purposes of this site, I’ll concentrate on the F1 viewing.
You have the main world video feed available, just like viewers everywhere, however, there is also a selection of in-car camera feeds available so you can follow certain drivers at any given moment.
For audio, the circuit commentary (which flits – at least in Europe – between English, French and the local language) is always available, and during the F1 sessions themselves you can also tune into the BBC Five Live commentary team, which is preferable for a child of the empire like myself.
But the other – and arguably best – feature on the Kangaroo set is the live-timing device, allowing you to keep track of individual drivers’ pace and the gaps down the field all race long. This is very useful in the race (because when are the cameras ever following the battle that interests YOU?!), and it is utterly invaluable during Qualifying. You can also have a watered down version of this running alongside a minimised video feed in order to get the best of all worlds, so to speak.
Benefits
You don’t miss anything. You see the start of the race, know if there’s a safety car, are on top of who’s pitting when and if there was a problem, and don’t miss out on the context and insight provided by a professional commentary team. Also, you know when to stand up armed with your camera, as you can follow the cars’ progress more precisely around the track.
It helps people with cheap tickets see more. At Spa, at least, most of the big screen TVs cater for the expensive grandstand seats. Either that, or they’re on a part of the circuit that is dull as ditchwater – probably in a bid to make some people sit there! Having this TV makes the big screens redundant anyway, so you can go and sit where the real-life racing is at its best.
You make friends. I actually owe Kangaroo TV for quite a few (ridiculously overpriced) beers, which were kindly purchased for me by some of the people I kept informed on Qualifying and race results during the weekend.
Drawbacks
The big one is cost. At Spa it was 80 Euros for the weekend, or 65 for the day. As great as the product is, that’s a lot of money, and I am not certain that I would pay in the future. I would want to, but I might eventually think better of it.
Sometimes you miss the real action. No, I’m serious! It can be really tough to tear your eyes off the screen when the pack reaches you, especially if there’s something going on elsewhere that is really interesting.
Battery life. It runs on a battery pack, not AAs. There is ample juice to last one full day of racing, but if you’re there for the weekend, be sure that you have access to a power point in the evenings, and put it on charge. Otherwise you might find yourself out of power just as the race gets underway on Sunday.
And in summation…
I honestly don’t know if I’d rent one out next time. But I do know that I would miss it very much if I decided not to spend the money.
Loading ...
Several points…
You can usually get a discount… I have paid less than 70 Euros at each of the last few races I attended this year…
Always book over the net as that automatically reduces the price anyway… they are also promising to go back to a season rental next year….
You get a spare battery so usually have enough “juice” for three days (including GP2) although I admit I do always top mine up every night just in case…. (If you have a problem with a battery the Kangaroo guys will give you a new one too)….
Having the 5Live commentary team always in English for Practice, Qualy and the Race is brilliant and you also hear the Press Conferences which are not always on the track commentary…
You can also get an “On car” feed although not all drivers all of the time… notably Fisi had no on board that I spotted this weekend…. Kimi had on board most of the time so I was happy…. but to follow that you have tear yourself away from the Stats screens which I find difficult… but if you have a big screen plus the stats plus watching the live action on track is fantastic…
There are several stats screen including my favourite which has the sector times a la Live Timing…
Basically I can’t do without and it’s my first stop on Friday before first practice…
great addition to the review LS. I appreciate your adding the extra info and taking the time to do so. We’ll have a review from Steve’s experience at Monza coming soon.
I used Kangaroo TV at silverstone 07 and it was great! I saw it advertised in a mag a few days before and splashed out! Me and my dad didnt really use the stats much as we were in a grandstand opposite the pitts and i was too busy waving to Lewis! But even tho we could see a big screen, we couldnt hear it very well. So Kangaroo TV was fantastic and meant we could view everything that was happening on the otherside of the track and didnt miss a thing!
(My friend was at Spa last week and kept texting me asking what was happening at the start….she missed the whole 5th corner incident, so she couldve done with one!)
It is quite expensive, but if like me, you just attend a one off race and are there the whole weekend, its brilliant! Also gives you something to watch/listen to between action.
does anyone know how long it takes for a refund?, they have taken the money from my account even though i returned it.
Thomas…
Did you get a receipt when you took it back?…
I have used a Kangaroo more than 20 times and never had the deposit charged….
I would get on to them immediately if you took it back and have subsequently been charged….
I had it in Montreal. Thought it was great since I was sitting on the front straight near the grid to be able to see the rest of the track and the commentary was good too. Gave me what I thought I would miss most going to a race live
I had one at Silverstone this year and it was a fantastic addition to a GP weekend. Outside the massive waiting time in a line of Friday morining (over an hour), it was really good. Few items of note, it can be a real distraction to the reason you are there in the first place…to experience the the sights and sounds of an F1 race. You need to remind your self every now and again to look up and watch the track action with you eyes and not through a screen. In addition you need to disconnect the ear plugs on occation hear the raw screem of the F1 machinery. The other problem is the people surrounding you wanting constant updates on the events on track (and I did not recieve any complementary beers!!). These quibbles demonstrate its addictive nature. However, one additional feature it needs is recorded playback of the sessions. One should be able to select various channels after the session ends for track and onboard action. The could then be enjoyed with a beer or two. I would recommend one if you are attending an F1 race. Im off to Singapore later this month and I will not be found without it.
Great feedback on this post folks. I can also email Marc should anyone have any issues or comments. Heck…I’m on a first name basis with the legend that is Kangaroo Marc! I know he would be very interested if there were any problems of praise. He really is a great guy and does love his products and services.