Sling Media Slingbox Pro

November 13, 2006 10:17
Excellent
2.0/5
I wound not tell anyone too buy this product. I bought it too watch tv on my laptop and hooked it up to my digital HD cable box (s-video) Is all you can do. The pic usually looks horrible even on the HD channel. And when the stream gets low the sounds cuts out and then the video and the audio never sync up again. Great concept. Wish it worked.

- bsd300d

May 1, 2007 01:57
Mediocre
1.0/5
This product requires a static IP which will cost $89 a month from Hughesnet. I spent hours with customer service from both slingmedia and hughesnet before they decided that it wouldn't work without an upgrade. I already pay $60 a month for poor internet service with a terrible FAP, I'm not paying more. They need to advertise this fact so others won't waste their time.

- kitzig

November 9, 2006 10:04

5.0/5
I'm not sure why the other guy gave it a 2. It's not advertised that you can record things off your stream and it wasn't designed for that anyway so I believe that's an unfair rating.

I got this the day it came out along with the Slingmedia network outlet adapters. Setup was incredibly simple. I installed the software on my pc and it started working immediately after hooking it up to my DVR. Downloaded the software on my laptop and again it was simple as can be.

If you are watching the slingbox on a pc connected to your network it's always super smooth and great resolution. I do not have a tv in my office so I always watch my slingbox on the computer while working or surfing the net.

My wife travels a lot with work and we love using the Slingbox to watch a show at the same time. If she is out in Seattle and I'm in Ohio we can still watch our shows together. Another nice feature with the pro is that I can also hook up a DVD player or another device that can be controlled via the slingbox as well. One note: just make sure you have solid upload speeds on your high speed internet connection. It makes a difference when you are "slinging" from a remote location.

Overall this is an excellent product and does what it was designed to do. No complaints here.

- lindseybp

February 1, 2008 11:35

4.0/5
My problems with setting up Slingbox had to do with port forwarding, which took several calls to tech support. Once set up though, I found out that my broadband speed was about half of what I was paying for, 800kbs. I had to get Qwest DSL to run a homerun cable to my modem, and now I get 1.3mbs download, and 840kbs upload, which makes my picture quality a lot better. I also ran a cat5e cable from my modem to my Slingbox, one floor above. So, the better the broadband connection, the better the picture, even with wireless, which is what I use. I have a Dish 722 DVR, so I can control and watch my own programing, instead of being stuck with BBC, Sky news, stuff in French, etc. I also find that I watch the news and stuff on my laptop wherever I am in the house, instead of sitting in front of the big TV in the living room. The main drawback is that the Slingbox Pro is not plug and play, but geeks will have no problems with it, and will love it. All others will probably have to get a geek to set it up for them, then they'll love it too! This is an excellent technology that we need to support, that will get better and better over time.

- Bobdc6

January 25, 2008 08:03
Mediocre
1.0/5
I've had the Slingbox Pro for about 6 weeks now. Each week I try to remotely connect and each week I have to contact the tech support. Each week I have to go home and re-set the entire system. When it does work, the picture's only OK. Don't waste your money. I wonder how the HAVA system is.

- LawyerTech

January 7, 2008 02:33
Terrible
0.5/5
Device worked fine for 5 months. Was out of town and couldn't connect to the Slingbox. Came home and there wasn't a link light on the ethernet controller. Called customer service to reset the box and that didn't work. Been waiting a week for a call back but haven't heard from their Senior technician.

- Hugodwarf

January 3, 2008 06:30

5.0/5
I received this as a Christmas gift this year. I am running 3 MB Cable Internet with a Linksys Wireless N router with QOS. My laptop is an old Dell Inspiron 8000 with wireless G connection. I also have it on my Verizon Wireless Palm Treo 700w and it is all connected to a DIRECTV HD-20 receiver.

When this was bought they also had the foresight to purchase the SlingBox HD connection cable as well the Slingbox Powerline Adaptors.

Each of the items comes with a quick start guide that honestly I didn't even use. I plugged everything in and timed myself doing it. With in 30 minutes I had my DVR "slinging' on my laptop. 10 minutes later it was on my Palm Treo.

Since my HD DVR is down in my living room and my router is 1 floor up the power line adaptors where put in. They work PHENONMENAL.

Picture and sound quality is unreal on both my laptop and Treo. I am surprised how well the picture and sound is on the Treo with even 1 bar in Verizon's EVDO network coverage area.

I have shown a ton of people it on the laptop and the phone and they are BLOWN AWAY with the technology. If you spend time away from home like I do DO NOT wait to get this product. A good broadband speed and good router are probably key but if you have that don't think twice about getting this product.

The CNET review is a little out of date as it mentions it only works on Treo 700p which is no longer the case.

- Mark132888

August 22, 2007 10:34
Good
1.5/5
The Slingbox is a great concept especially for road warriors but it is not quite what I expected for the price. The Slingbox Pro is $250, the HD Cable is $50 and the mobile device software is an additional $29.99 per license. I would expect a very high quality product for these prices and I cannot say I feel like this was money well spent. The connection rates via Sling Media are slow, the direct connect function does not work, and the picture is pixelly not HD. While some of the streaming issues may have been resolved in the latest software and firmware release I would not recommend this appliance to a friend unless they were looking for a convenient way to view Television from their computer locally (Source and Destination being on the same home network). I would love to see Sling fix these issues as foreign TV is so... Foreign...

- johncreasy

January 29, 2007 01:52

4.5/5
As an aging (61) toy lover (especially the electronic and gadget kind), I get first in line for the latest and greatest. Slingbox Pro is on top of my latest and greatest. This is not my first attempt at "TV on PC"; tried 2 Hauppaugue PVRs before (PCI install). While I had grave doubts about Slingbox Pro, I took my 3rd plunge--WOW, what a dream. Having a home network made installation a 5-minute snap.

Until Slingbox Pro, my wife and I would go separate ways on nights when our favorite programs conflicted. Sure, I can do the DVR or TIVO thing, but I know it won't work for us. It would be 3 months, if ever, before I found the time to view my missed program. With Slingbox Pro, I remotely access my cable box in a different room on my wired networked laptop (17" monitor), my wife watches American Idol on Fox and I watch NCIS on NBC in the same room--I put my HD 650 headphones on and I see an image of equal quality as the TV (not HD, but great) and am immersed in the action with my headphones.

Gadgets are great, but the novelty often wears off after a short time. Not so with the Slingbox Pro--no more debates, no more watching different TVs. Now when my wife grabs the physical remote there is no grabbing and pulling. I simply open to my virtual remote and quietly choose my selected program and we will live happily every after.

GREAT product--no cons of consequence. Advice: Best when you have a very fast broudband connection, lots of RAM (3GB) and fast video card--streaming is instant and no delay in speech and video.

A funny looking long brick worth every penny of $250--if I tested it first, I would have been willing to pay twice the price.

Sid Gibson
Alienware Area51 "Laptop", Intel 3.6Ghz, nVidea Quadro FX GO 1400, 17" 1900X1200 Native, 3GB RAM.

- Sid Gibson

October 17, 2006 06:39
Mediocre
1.0/5
Sling Media took a winner of a product and "enhanced" it by encrypting the media stream last month. This nifty feature was a hidden consequence of a firmware upgrade they pushed on owners last month. As a result, the ability to record a media stream for later playback is now taken away.

This seems to be the first time I've known a supplier to downgrade a customers service and product capability after the device was purchased. That they did it in such a sneaky manner says much about the companies committment to the customer.

I'd advise you look at the Monsoon HAVA instead!

ASTROBUF

- astrobuf