Slingbox Video Streamer Discussion

[Nuje]

Basically, it's a box that hooks into your tv, is capable of streaming whatever signal is going to the tv, not only to other tv's in your house, but also (via broadband) to your PC anywhere you can get broadband.

The total killer aspect, is that it lets you control your DVR, Sat box, tv tuner, cable box, etc. from your remote PC. I mean, what could be cooler than being stuck in a hotel room after a day of meetings, and missed the "big game" that you DVR'd back home....and just plugging into the 'net, and watching the game off the DVR at home on your PC in the hotel room?

http://www.slingmedia.com/

I was just in San Diego, and wish I'd heard about this while there so I could have checked one out at Best Buy or Tweeter or whoever.

[robertligne]

It's not the coolest thing ever, but it's pretty cool.

ONe of my friends has it to watch DVRed programs while he's travelling.

[elvislovesHD]

I thought it would be the coolest device ever until I got my bill from the ISP for using too much bandwidth.

[JimmyFace]

There must be cheap software that does the same thing.

[elvislovesHD]

I am sure there is free software that will allow streaming but this device hooks directly to your tv source, be it cable, dvr, sat and allows you to control it remotely, well I am sure there are limitation on that. Like I said in a previous post it is a very cool device and was going to find one online to buy but then I started to think about bandwidth. I am not 100% sure what format it streams in but I suspect its windows media so lets say an OK quality 1 hour WMV file is about 600 MB, for my isp I would be over my monthly bandwidth after 10 hours of streaming. Maybe I am missing something or my ISP is limiting my use too much but this fact alone makes the device basically useless at this time.

[DigitalDreamer]

Yup, there's definitely free software that does this. I saw it on WIRED magazine once and looked it up but forgot the name. Starts with "O", maybe Orbitz or something like that...

[graham]

Time's Best Inventions of 2005

time.com rates this as cool too:

http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...9528-2,00.html

[wysiwyg]

Is there a European version of this? I would like to hook one up over there and be able to watch here in Canada.

[Nuje]

I think that's the beauty of the Slingbox - it splits the signal going to your tv, so that your tv still works, but that same signal also goes out on the server. And you can "control" the tv (or cable or satellite box) from your remote connection....at least, that's my understanding.

I don't see why you couldn't buy a box here, bring it over there, set it up, and then watch from here in Canada.

[wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by Nuje

I don't see why you couldn't buy a box here, bring it over there, set it up, and then watch from here in Canada.

Well, the primary reason would be because the TV signal is different over there. Here we use NTSC, but over there it is PAL and Secam. It would make a difference for the built-in tuner.

[fahr451]

Originally Posted by DigitalDreamer

Yup, there's definitely free software that does this. I saw it on WIRED magazine once and looked it up but forgot the name. Starts with "O", maybe Orbitz or something like that...

Close; it's "Orb" and can be downloaded from "www.orb.com".

I've been playing around with this software for the past week and it's quite amazing. Although the server software will (currently) only run on Windows XP or Windows Media Center, any device that supports a web browser and Windows Media Player or RealPlayer can be used as a client. I've tested it from an old Windows 98 machine, a Linux box, a Mac Powerbook, and an iPaq PDA without any problems.

Even if you don't have a supported TV tuner card (for recording and playing live TV), you can still stream AVIs and audio files and access photos, IE Favorites, and Firefox bookmarks.

Considering the software is free, it's definitely worth checking out. One word of caution: I was unable to get the North American version of software (with EPG support) to work properly. On the other hand, the UK version (which requires manual configuration of TV channels) works fine.

[kenw]

I am wondering if anyone has tried the new Slingbox in Canada. If so, I would appreciate hearing of your experience and if you have connected it to a cable box.

As I travel often outside of Canada, it could be useful to be able to keep up to date on Canadian news, sports, and a few favourite shows.

[Cow]

I'd like information on this because my brother is considering this because he wants to be able to watch the CBC in the US.

Also, we have cable internet on both sides (uload on this side: 384 kbps I think), what kind of video quality can he expect?

[Nuje]

I picked up a Slingbox last time I was in the US and got the CAT-5 cable finally installed last week.
Installation and and setup with BEV was simple, and it really works quite well....overall, I'm totally impressed.

Picture quality? On my 14" laptop, it's better than most streaming video off websites - I've watched Letterman, some NCAA ball, and it's certainly watchable - although the b-ball was pretty rough; you could make out the scores, but seeing school names on the players ....... uh, no.

Basic talk and drama is pretty good - I like it. I"d recommend it. For $250 and no fees ever......consider me happy customer.

[rpokane]

I've got something similar called "LocationFree" from sony.
It works quite well on my laptop and on my PSP. The only gripe I have is that channel changes are slow and that you can't move by pages within the guide.