Slingbox - for those who just can't live without TV while travelling

Earlier this year, I was on trip with a buddy of mine from NYC, who was a Giants fan and wanted to make sure he could watch the Superbowl while on location. He made sure I arranged access to a 256Kbps DSL line where we were going. I had no idea why but humored him. Then on game day, he pulled out his laptop and hooked up Slingbox to his cable box at home in NYC. We watched the entire game, with a few internet bandwidth hiccups along the way. Despite my protestation of keeping 4 electrical devices (cable modem, router, cable box and slingbox) on for weeks so he could watch a football game, I was sorta impressed. The video was clear enough considering out bandwidth was limited.

It is a pretty cool device with features that would make any Live TV fan lust for. Think about it. Why miss Shark Week on Discovery because you're in France and Deeskovewree est en francais or worse, Hungarian? I missed the epic match at Wimbledon live with Johnny Mac commentary because where I was, I had John Lloyd and Tim Henman instead.

All those injustices made me buy my Slingbox Pro and I was recently enjoying US Open coverage by CBS and USA while (still) on the other side of the planet. It was streamed at 576p in anarmorphic, a down convert from my HD box. I could watch it over wifi so it was really even disruptive on this trip. At one point I even was watching Elena Dementieva play while in the bathroom (WHILE BRUSHING MY TEETH perverts! ). I could also access my DVR to record programs so that I could watch whatever I missed, all streamed to me over the internet.

With the new upcoming Slingbox Pro HD, it will now stream HD content over broadband. You'll need to upgrade your internet service to handle 1.5mbps (the faster the better quality). Better yet, with the new SlingCatcher, you can even hook up your another room or home without paying for new outlets etc. This is something I look forward to.

Thanks, Drew! I'm debating this purchase myself and I was hoping to get some reliable feedback on the video quality.

I have 1 mbps of reliable upstream bandwidth and a HD DVR that I want to stream to a broadband cable hookup at a house I'll be renting in the country. I figure if this works, I can just get the broadband internet package upstate and not pay for the TV stuff twice.

I bought a Slingbox Pro so I could watch Seahawks games when I'm out of town (I think the "Pro" must stand for "Pro"fessional Sports - that's got to be their primary audience!), since Seattle games aren't normally broadcast in obscure places like DC, L.A., NYC, etc.

I've been quite happy with it, although the video quality is mediocre and the signal can be a bit "gappy" depending on the bandwidth/connection speed of the hotel you're staying at!

One of the cool things is that I have a Tivo, and I've got the S.P. hooked up to that, so I can access it and watch recorded shows (can even access it and program it to record stuff!) and/or live stuff without affecting whatever my wife might be viewing on the Comcast box at home. So I never have to miss "important" stuff like Stargate Atlantis, Terminator/Sara Connor, House, etc. if I'm in meetings when they happen to be on where I'm at. Again, the quality of the picture leaves something to be desired (compared to big screen HD at home), but it's better than doing without entirely!

I guess you could call me a dedicated Slingbox user. I've got it hooked up to an isolated DVR (no TV) in the USA. This way it does not interfere with anyone who could potentially be watching on the other end. I transmit the signal to my apartment in Taiwan. On good days, it transmits at around 900 kbps, which is very clear on my 17 inch monitor. I don't think I'd want to stretch the picture out much further than that without considerably more bandwidth. Movies work great and American football is sharp. Basketball is a faster, more fluid sport, and therefore doesn't work quite as well. One BIG consideration before you buy: you need someone on the other end to handle bugs. Meaning, you cannot just leave the Slingbox unattended for six months and forget about it. Occasionally, you will need someone to hit the RESTART button, in order to un-freeze the player. Hope this helps

you cannot just leave the Slingbox unattended for six months and forget about it. Occasionally, you will need someone to hit the RESTART button, in order to un-freeze the player. Hope this helps

Ah that's what Insteon or X10 are good for. Hook your home power plugs to your home computer and remote control them from anywhere you have internet. I've even done it over GPRS, which is reeeeaaaallllyyyy slow.

As for action, I have a 2MBPS upstream at home so there's no problems with getting 900kbps. Out in NZ, tennis was not an issue. The olympics was no problem either. Can't wait for HD, although I won't be able to watch HD in Thailand. Not enough bandwidth.

I just got a Slingbox HD Pro and a Slingcatcher.

Haven't hooked up the Slingcatcher - but I'm already thrilled with this purchase ... it ROCKS! I sat on the runway at O'Hare this week for an hour and watched content off my DVR. When the connection is strong, I get a near-HD signal over my Sprint CDMA EVDO card.

And when you can't quite get the HD to work, the video quality of the stream at 640x480 over the internet with an HD source is outstanding.

rumour has it that the next Playstation will have these features built in.