Slingbox or Slingbox HD (1 Viewer)

[GeaxSaints44]

Does anyone have experience with either one of these? I'm going to Korea soon and I don't want to watch Korean satellite or AFN. Any stories or comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[xpuma20x]

I was in Prague a few years back and Saintsabroad was using a Slingbox to let us watch Saints games when they weren't on the European networks. From my understanding, and this could be all wrong, its basically just a link to someone else's cable box and you get whatever channels they can access. So if you are linked to someone in New Mexico, you'd get their channels there in NM.

 

[GeaxSaints44]

I was in Prague a few years back and Saintsabroad was using a Slingbox to let us watch Saints games when they weren't on the European networks. From my understanding, and this could be all wrong, its basically just a link to someone else's cable box and you get whatever channels they can access. So if you are linked to someone in New Mexico, you'd get their channels there in NM.

I may send it home to I can watch the NO channels but are there any concerns about quality? Does it require an enormous amount of bandwith to be effective?

 

[whodatfever]

Mine is awesome and I use it frequently (thanks to Buzd-that was when he was nice to me)

 

[GeaxSaints44]

Mine is awesome and I use it frequently (thanks to Buzd-that was when he was nice to me)

Would you like to give a review on yours?

 

[buzd]

Would you like to give a review on yours?

I have two of the older models and they are awesome (although its about time to upgrade - the newer apps don't work with my oldest model).

They don't require much bandwidth to have a viewable image, although more will provide a better picture. If you have a few mbs, you should be able to get a very viewable image. You will get some pixelation if you are watching fast action (like football), but it's quite tolerable, especially with a decent connection.

Be prepared to spend a little extra for apps (free on PC, but mobile is $30/device) and such, but it's a very useful tool, IMO (and yes, slingbox projects whatever the cable box is currently tuned to - it doesn't have its own tuner, although you can control the box via an IR remote).

And thanks for reminding me that I still have a login to wdf's slingbox. I'm going to reconfigure it now.

 

[GeaxSaints44]

I have two of the older models and they are awesome (although its about time to upgrade - the newer apps don't work with my oldest model).

They don't require much bandwidth to have a viewable image, although more will provide a better picture. If you have a few mbs, you should be able to get a very viewable image. You will get some pixelation if you are watching fast action (like football), but it's quite tolerable, especially with a decent connection.

Be prepared to spend a little extra for apps (free on PC, but mobile is $30/device) and such, but it's a very useful tool, IMO (and yes, slingbox projects whatever the cable box is currently tuned to - it doesn't have its own tuner, although you can control the box via an IR remote).

And thanks for reminding me that I still have a login to wdf's slingbox. I'm going to reconfigure it now.

Thanks for the info! So am I stuck watching whatever mom is watching? Korea has awesome ISPs, but will I be stuck watching The Golden Girls for a year?

{Edit} Information online says that it allows controlling of the cable box, but we all know that it always doesn't work that way.

 

[aj]

you can change the channel use the slingplayer but your mom may just change it back

i guess you could always have a second box put in at her house dedicated to the sling box - that way you wouldn't have to worry about anybody else changing the channel

 

[GeaxSaints44]

you can change the channel use the slingplayer but your mom may just change it back

i guess you could always have a second box put in at her house dedicated to the sling box - that way you wouldn't have to worry about anybody else changing the channel

That was the plan. Thanks for the info everybody! Placing my order now.

 

[whodatfever]

And thanks for reminding me that I still have a login to wdf's slingbox. I'm going to reconfigure it now.

Hey!

I have yours too.

This doesn't have to get ugly.

Everyone just calm down.

 

[Galbreath34]

BTW, in case it isn't obvious, the bottleneck for what kind of image you get is pretty much the uplink speed of where the box is. Even streaming over mobile on old 3G that was the old choke point. Still, they're pretty good.

 

[whodatfever]

1-2Mb hotel speeds struggle.

I used my LTE connection during my daughter's birthday party last June to stream the LSU baseball game to my ipad at the Lafreniere Park Carousel. I had 20 guys watching it streaming through my iPad and they all loved me (although they hated the fact that I had a 9:30am birthday party on a Saturday-Fruit, yogurt and doughnut holes were the menu). I work out of town for 6 months a year and having Saints games available anywhere is peace-of-mind.

It's a treat. Do it.

 

[GeaxSaints44]

1-2Mb hotel speeds struggle.

I used my LTE connection during my daughter's birthday party last June to stream the LSU baseball game to my ipad at the Lafreniere Park Carousel. I had 20 guys watching it streaming through my iPad and they all loved me (although they hated the fact that I had a 9:30am birthday party on a Saturday-Fruit, yogurt and doughnut holes were the menu). I work out of town for 6 months a year and having Saints games available anywhere is peace-of-mind.

It's a treat. Do it.

Thanks WDF. A grainy and pixelated picture while watching Bob Breck is a whole lot better than watching something that I can't understand. I just need to trick mom into keeping her internet service turned on.

So since I left, people quit drinking at their kids' parties? I'm never coming back!

 

[Eeyore]

I have a five year old slingbox solo which works rather well. I've managed to hook it up to a direct tv box,.a ps3 (for Sunday ticket), and an xbox360 (controlling Windows media center). I would hope that the newer models are better at compression so that streaming is smoother (perhaps a separate setting for mobile) but that might not be a priority for them. I would recommend a model with hdmi but that isn't necessary at the moment but there may come a day when composite and component are not included on devices.

 

[GeaxSaints44]

I have a five year old slingbox solo which works rather well. I've managed to hook it up to a direct tv box,.a ps3 (for Sunday ticket), and an xbox360 (controlling Windows media center). I would hope that the newer models are better at compression so that streaming is smoother (perhaps a separate setting for mobile) but that might not be a priority for them. I would recommend a model with hdmi but that isn't necessary at the moment but there may come a day when composite and component are not included on devices.

Did some reading on it, and they never mentioned that it was capable of connecting with so many systems. I'm looking at the Slingbox HD at the moment, and my sister already agreed to let me use her DirecTV service. With a 15-hour time difference, I shouldn't be bothering her much. The info is greatly appreciated.

[EDIT] After further reading, the highest level Slingbox (Pro HD), does not allow for a HDMI input. HD signals connect via component video only and is down-converted to 1080i. Still beats AFN by a long shot.

 

[KiwiSaint]

We use American TV to Go here in Moscow. They host the sling box for you...somewhere in Virginia. You pay a monthly fee and don't have to worry about a thing...excellent uplink speeds and I can access it anywhere.