Sling Media Slingbox AV (SB240-100)
by Sling Media
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Our Price: $299.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $49.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sling Media Slingbox AV (SB240-100)
Customer Review: Great in general with greater potential for "Educational" purposes
Summary: 5 Stars
I teach ESL and love the potential flexibility this amazing black box could offer me. I stress potential because I haven't actually started using it in the way I envision. The institution where I work is understandably wary about copyright infringement so I'm holding off. All that said, I love the idea of using it in tandem with a DVR to bring shows to my students that are both educational and entertaining (edutainment in the end). Now I'm trying to figure out how to get corporate permission to actually try it out in a classroom setting. Sigh...I imagine the likes of PBS, BBC, or CNN (they all have excellent programming perfect for teaching English) would be open to this but I'm chomping at the bit. In the meantime, I enjoy it a lot just watching shows on my Macbook when I'm out of the house or not in the living room. It's one of the best purchases of 2006 for me. The Macbook was easily the best, but this box along with a DVR and the Macbook have really raised the bar. For now, I will still make a VHS tape or burn a DVD when needed, but I can't get over the potential of the this amazing black box.
As for video quality and ease of set-up, well, all the included documentation will have you up and running in no time. The picture quality at home using my network is great. Outside of the house, it's just fine, too, and beats watching a show on the small screen of an iPod or whatever device you may have. The control of the DVR is simple as can be and there have been recent updates for Mac users that make it much more appealing in that regard.
All in all, 5 stars.
Customer Review: AWESOME! - if you have the right router
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, this is a really cool product! It does just what it says it does. you can watch tv on your computer. It is very easy to install, and it walks you right through even if you don't know much about computers.
When I first got this I had an Ativa router. The software loaded and worked, but my router would not let me watch it outside my home network. But the thing was so cool that I just watched it in my home network. After a few months, my router went out on me and I had to buy a new one. So I checked the compatible routers on the software and purchased the Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster.
I couldn't get this router to work with the slingbox at all! After a while of frustration and checking online, I finally figured out that
there is a small reset button on the back of the unit itself. After resetting, everything worked fine. Now I can get on my slingbox in my home network or outside my home network and it was very easy to set up.
I really just use mine as a toy. If you travel alot and are places where there is a hotspot to get online, you can watch tv just like you are at home. Don't forget, you need a dedicated source. I have mine hooked to
the cable box in the bedroom. If you hook it up to your main tv and you are away watching tv, the person watching that tv has to watch what you are watching.
Customer Review: This is SOOO cool !!
Summary: 5 Stars
I set this up with my DirecTV DVR and Home computer over a router and it works flawlessly. Setup took a bit longer than I hoped, but it was fairly painless.
The computer screen brings up a virtual Remote for my DirecTV unit next to the view screen. The view screen is scaleable to whatever size you wish to view. The bigger the size, there will be a slight drop in video quality. I have the DirecTV unit hooked using the RCA jacks rather than the S video cable, you should bet higher video quality if you use S video. Although, I must say the video quality is very good.
I will have a new Treo 755P in a couple of days and hope to stream my DirecTV to the Treo over the Sprint data network when I get it set up. I'll update when I get this hooked up and let you know how it went.
You'll love this gizmo - Buy It !!
Update-
I just set this up on my Palm Treo 755P and it works flawlessly! This is awesome- DirecTV on my mobile phone !!
Setup for remote viewing had to be finished by tech support though, not a slingbox issue, but the router setting was messed up. 10 minutes and the tech had it done.. Excellent service.
I can change channels and watch whatever I want on my DirecTV over my phone on the Sprint Network. The picture is chrystal clear and the sound is pretty good. This is the coolest thing yet !!
Customer Review: Wonderful Idea!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a bit apprehensive over buying an item like this one, since I have had bad luck figuring out how to hook video items to anything other than a TV. When I got the Slingbox, I read the Quick Guide, made sure all the parts were there, and started to work.
Within 20 minutes, I had the Slingbox working on one computer. Then I set out to get it to work with my network. I initially had a problem with my Linksys router recognizing the Slingbox, but a little research of the Sling tutorial showed me that the problem likely was with a setting on the router. Once I enabled UP&P on the router, everything worked fine from there.
The software puts a window on your PC containing the TV picture, and an interactive (using the mouse) picture of your normal remote control. Pressing the buttons on the onscreen remote functions the same as if you were in front of the TV using the real remote. Wonderful!
You can set the screen for 4 x 3, 16 x 9, letterbox, whatever - great for movies if you have a widescreen monitor and a source like DirecTV.
I highly recommend this item, especially for those who want to get the most out of those sports subscriptions, or for college students who don't want the nuisance of paying for a special cable hookup in the dorms - they can watch what they watch at home, literally.
Incredible device.
Customer Review: Former Orb User
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great product!
I have my Slingbox AV connect to a Directv HD Tivo.
I have been using [...] for over a year and just switched to the Slingbox AV because the computer I was using with orb was having trouble streaming live TV. I purchased the Slingbox instead of buying a new computer because of the cost difference. This has proven to be the right choice. The Slingbox is much better than orb at streaming live TV. Orb uses Windows Media Player where as Slingbox has their own "SlingPlayer". The Slingplayer is far superior to windows media player at adjusting to the varing bitrates required to stream to cell phone.
I'm using the Slingplayer for Windows mobile 5 on a Cingular 8525 and it works great as long as I have HSDPA access, which is most of the time. Video looks great with far less problems than with orb and windows media player. Notice I said less problems. The very nature of trying to stream video to mobile phone makes getting "perfect" video all the time unlikely, but after using orb for over a year I'm shocked at the quality the slingbox can deliver.
When I use the Slingplayer on my laptop, it's pretty much perfect. I can't say anything negative about it.
Bottom line. If you want to stream video from your home entertainment equipment to any computer or cell phone, Slingbox is the way to go.