Relax with a hookah and a High Definition TV to watch the weekend sports

Anybody who has ever travelled to the Middle East, India or North Africa has probably seen groups of men sitting at roadside cafés and drawing smoke from a fragrant, flavoured tobacco that subsequently passes through a water chamber on its way to a long tube with a mouthpiece at the end. At cafés in western countries you are more likely to see people staring at the screen of a mobile computer and sipping a hot coffee. For many people the functionality offered by a modern laptop notebook makes them ideal as a tool to carry their work out on. Portability and power are now a possibility, with the latest units comparing favourably to desktop models. With the growth of hookah bars in the West people are now able to rediscover the atmosphere that they encountered on their travels and those who do not have the time or money to visit foreign countries can experience for the first time this unusual way to spend a couple of hours with friends. A netbook is handy for checking out their location and large cities are where most of them are found. The small size and weight of such a computer makes them a good choice for people who like to travel light and use a PC for everyday tasks such as checking emails and working with spreadsheets. Although they are not the most powerful machines on the market they are more than capable of handling such tasks with ease and are relatively inexpensive.

Exotic sights

Many people like to take a digital camcorder on holiday with them and make a permanent record of their time away. The narrow streets and souks of towns in Morocco and Egypt make for fascinating places to shoot a film and are also home to many hookah bars. Friends back home are sure to be entertained by the colourful sights and sounds, including the locals savouring the taste of the mixture that they fill their hookahs with. If you are planning on making a travelogue to watch at home, for a television LCD screens offer the best picture quality and the latest ones are capable of displaying video shot in high resolution. They also offer a wider viewing angle than conventional sets so are handy for larger groups. To make a night of it you could invite all your friends round and maybe set a hookah up in the living room so they can all try it out for themselves while watching the film. To avoid missing any regular programmes that are on at the same time a DVD recorder can be set to burn them to disc. These have proved to be popular owing to the advantages that they have over VHS machines. The discs take up less storage space and do not get tangled. They can also be used when you are out at the weekends exploring the local hookah bar scene. After a pleasant afternoon relaxing with like-minded individuals you can watch the big game at home.

Small packages

Some people say the best things come in small packages and a mini notebook would seem to prove the point. These compact machines have full-sized keyboards and batteries that can last up to as long as nine hours, making them a good choice for people who spend a lot of time working outside. They are easy to carry around and would not take a lot of space up in a hookah bar so you could work and enjoy yourself in a local bar at the same time. If you need more power then another option is a multimedia laptop. Although not as compact, they do make good machines for watching films and listening to music on and if you felt like having an impromptu hookah party at your house then you could play some suitably exotic music or videos on your computer to entertain guests. Generous screen sizes make them good all-round entertainment centres. As with ordinary bars, hookah bars often have entertainment laid on as well and it is possible to combine spending time chatting with friends and watching a football game on an LCD TV, on a Saturday afternoon. Many models have surround sound systems to complement the large screens which make for a cinematic experience in the home. If you buy a hookah for your own personal use around the house then you can choose from many different styles. For people that only ever smoke them in bars it is possible to buy separate mouthpieces to use.

Practice makes perfect

In common with many things a hookah may take some getting used to. Armed with a DVD player and some instructional discs it is possible, with diligent practice, to master the technique for playing a musical instrument or the skills necessary to play a sport. There are probably no videos for sale on how to smoke a hookah though so asking a friend or a member of staff in a bar could be the way to go for novices. Hi-def movies can be enjoyed on the latest players as long as you own the right equipment to display the picture. HD TV sets should come with a socket that can be used to connect players capable of outputting a signal in high resolution. There are several standards on the market at the moment so it is best to check which one is most suitable before buying. If you try smoking a hookah in a bar and decide to buy your own then it is worth asking the sales staff for advice on which one is the best to start with. When shopping for a high definition TV the main differences are in the refresh rates and the number of pixels displayed on the screen. A hookah is more down to personal preference than anything else. Their aesthetic appeal plays a large part in most people's choice and some of them may offer a smoother smoke than others. It is a good idea to try a few before making a decision