The folks at Slingmedia were nice enough to send me a Slingbox Pro (http://ca.slingmedia.com/page/slingboxpro.html)which is HD ready for review.

I hope to set it up in coming days and review the unit.

If you have questions, I will try to answer them.

Hugh

Setup of this device was very straightforward.


First, I unpacked the box.
Hooked up S-Video and Audio in from my PVR to the Slingbox. (could have hooked up a second input but did not)
Hooked up Ethernet cable to my router
Hooked up IR to my PVR
Plugged the power in


Once it was physically connected, I installed the Slingbox software. Went through a wizard asking what my source was, checked my source, setup a password and an admin password etc. The installation software also updated the firmware on my box and then I was set to go.

I hooked up the software to both a wireless computer (my laptop) and a wired computer so I could see what the difference is like.

So far so good.

I see from the link your provided they don't package an HD cable and it looks like it is proprietary. They must be figuring not a lot of users are going to be using the HD capabilities. Is that true? I only ask because even 480P widescreen would be nice out of the box for all those widescreen TVs we have.

Yes to both questions. I was really surprised at this.

I personally don't see a need for the HD-connect. I have my 8300HD hooked up to the S-video input/output, and it looks great when viewing remotely. Unless you want to view in Full screen, I don't think you'll see much of a difference between HD and S-video, and I don't think it increases the transmission rate, so I doubt you'd be getting HD in any event.

Just got a Slingbox PRO on a 30-day trial - and also surprised by lack of the cable which would indeed match the marketing of an "HD" unit (and enable thorough testing).

Installation was pretty straight forward - especially liked the firmware update being integrated into setup - and picture quality is decent.

For a networkable unit, biggest surprise is the access restriction to one user at a time. With help file screenshots of multiple "Slingboxes" residing on a network, this would clearly be an expensive solution to implement within homes where resident spouses travel independently, or family/roomers include two or more remote viewers.

Maybe another use for Terminal Server or PC Anywhere(?)

Biggest personal challenge is a local one. The set-top digital cable box Look provides (an RCA TRD04M3C) isn't recognized by Slingmedia's IR controller, and a couple hours on the 'net have proven fruitless.

After using this a few times, I agree with Larry. The picture quality is pretty good but the limitation is going to be more a function of bandwidth than the cable.

Agree that the lack of an HD cable wouldn't necessarily be an issue - if of the three remaining input "channels", there was more than one SVHS input available.

I have a question regarding the PRO, on the lower right hand corner of the Slingplayer software you will see the "throughput" of the video stream... you might have to click on it to show kbps rather than fps. On the local network (LAN not over the internet), what are you guys getting? I am just wondering how it compares with the classic Slingbox... I get about 2000 kbps on the LAN.

I was wondering what were the biggest diff between the classic and the new line of Slingboxes. The classic are quite cheap on ebay and I was wondering if it was worth it to pull the trigger on one.
Patrick S.

I am just wondering how it compares with the classic Slingbox... I get about 2000 kbps on the LAN

Seems to me I have seen it as high as 5700 but I'll check again. Don't know if it would be higher with HD.

Haven't tested but I doubt it would be any higher if you're watching away from home

I get around about 2000+ Kbps on my network at home, using an original Slingbox 'Classic'.

On the road I've found it's highly dependent on the bandwidth available at the place I'm using it, which varies wildly. Some hotels I've been lucky to get 200 Kbps, and the picture quality reflects that.

So I could theoretically set this up to an HD source in the US and watch everything in (somewhat) HD on my computer/big screen in Canada?

I was wondering what were the biggest diff between the classic and the new line of Slingboxes. The classic are quite cheap on ebay and I was wondering if it was worth it to pull the trigger on one.
Patrick S.
I haven't gotten my hands on the PRO yet but the biggest difference appears to be the picture quality over the Local Area Network (LAN). Over the internet the quality is limited by your connection's upload speeds anyways so the Classic and the PRO will probably have similar PQ.

On the local network (LAN not over the internet), what are you guys getting? I am just wondering how it compares with the classic Slingbox... I get about 2000 kbps on the LAN.

Getting roughly 2150 Kb/s when viewing a digital cable signal in stereo via coax connected over a Fast Ethernet LAN intranet.

Hugh - is your Slingbox on a Gig LAN?



Jeff

Hugh - is your Slingbox on a Gig LAN?

Nope 10/100. Just so you don't think I'm fooling you. Here is a screen shot. It takes a while to get that high. It starts at around 2,000 then moves up. Currently its streaming around 3400.

Hugh, thanks for the screenshot... my next question is: Have you tried using the "HD Connect" component cable and if yes was there a noticeable improvement (in streaming rate and actual Picture Quality)? I am still wondering if spending an extra 50 bucks for the HD Connect dongle is worth it.

I finally got the PRO and the HD Connect package at FS this morning. The PRO is a step up from the Classic in picture quality. IMHO, the 50 bucks for the HD Connect is also worth it. It not only comes with the "dongle" that allows pass through of component video and audio signals but also with decent component and stereo RCA cables.

What surprised me about the HD Connect package was it that it also came with an Remote IR Cable with 4 IR emitters. So in theory I can control 4 devices with the PRO when using this cable.

Compared to the Classic, the PRO with the HD Connect package allows me to watch HD channels in real Widescreen (16:9) mode... no black bars on the bottom or sides like what I get when viewing HD channels using the Classic. The picture quality is also better and I am getting an average stream rate of between 6000 and 6600 Kbps which is approximately 3X what I get from the Classic. I have the PRO connected to a Linksys WRT54GL wireless G router running in client bridge mode (thanks to the open source DD-WRT firmware). Signal is then wirelessly streamed to my main router, another WRT54GL, to which my primary PC is connected.

Connecting the PRO was not that difficult as I was already using the latest version of the SlingPlayer. After connecting the cables to the HD Connect dongle and hooking up the PRO to my remote router running in client bridge mode, it was immediately recognized by the SlingPlayer software on my PC and all I had to do was configure the video for maximum PQ.

Compared to the Classic, the PRO with the HD Connect package allows me to watch HD channels in real Widescreen (16:9) mode..

You can watch 16:9 without the HD package.

I enabled both S-Video and HD Connect (extra 50 bucks) input options and here is what I found:

To watch in widescreen mode when using the S-Video input without the black bars appearing on top and bottom of the screen you have to set the Video Size to "Letterbox". This "Letterbox" mode actually stretches the image (which you see when you set the Video Size to "Widescreen") to fill the 16:9 screen.

Using the HD Connect cable, you can use the native Widescreen (16:9) option and this fills the screen with the image (no black bars top or bottom). There is a noticeable improvement in PQ as the image is not stretched to fill the screen. The image is noticeably sharper and the colors are slightly brighter (more saturated).

There is also a patch on SlingMedia's website for the firmware... I did notice less problems (dropouts) and a slightly improved image with this firmware. I also get slightly higher rates with this firmware update. Here is the link for those interested: Slingbox PRO Firmware Update for HD Connect 12/07/2006 (http://us.slingmedia.com/object/KB-005212.html)