The Good
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The technology works! Using a Sprint Air card I was able to keep tuned into my TV while driving in the country. This is probably the worst case scenario for remote reception. I was only getting about 100K download speed with occasional dropouts. No other streamer that I have tested would work under these conditions.
I was running 320-240 res under these conditions. With faster more stable connection you can run higher.
At home on my home network I run 640x480 resolution with a maximum stream rate of 6000Kbps with Near CD quality Audio.
It works! It works! It Works!!
The Bad
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This box did not come with a software CD or SVid cable. So I had to dig one up. I had the player software from SlingBox AV that I had tested. In any case you will need to download the latest software from the SlingMedia website. I had to dig up an aditional Svid cable.
The Ugly
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Couple things that I realy hate about the SlingBox technology.
-Max Res 640x480 res
-Only one connection allowed at a time. If you try to connect and someone else is watching the slingbox you will get a Buisy indication. Thats why it is called a Personal TV Viewer.
-No Recording Option available. There are some third party venders offering this at a cost of $49.
-Mobile Player software is not free. You must pay $29 for wach mobile device you want to install the player software on.
Final Thoughts
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All this said, I still love the SlingBox. I had originaly purchased the Slingbox AV but found its connection options limited with out a pass through connection. I now have two devices set up. Dish Sat box and Panasonic E55 DVD recorder/player. I can remotely change the channel and start my recorder from anywhere in the world that I have an internet connection.
BTW this box retails for $179 and I picked mine up for $159. Thats only $30 more than I paid for the AV. Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)
first - AMAZON IS AMAZING. when slingmedia would not help me, amazon totally stepped up and took care of a problem for me that they did not need to. thanks amazon and i didn't know you could make me a bigger fan than i already was but you have.
second - i have had the same problem with slingbox solo that other one star reviewers have had. i too just had my unit for under a year and was still under warranty but like others, technical support gave me a total run around and would not give me an RMA and my options were to pay for a tech support consult or buy an extended warranty... but wtf, i was STILL UNDER WARRANTY - why would i want to purchase an EXTENDED WARRANTY when i'm still under warranty now when the unit has failed?!
these are bad, disingenuous and sneaky people who want to nickel and dime you for every little thing. they don't care about customer satisfaction or their own commitments and you will notice that their culture is one that is absolutely closed and stonewalled.
in every way that amazon shines for their dedication to their customers, slingbox radiates bad faith.
this technology is not worthy of these guys and it is my fondest wish that they fail so that someone bigger, better and more committed to their customers becomes the standard bearer.
i loved my slingbox and i loved the technology. they had a die hard fan in me. but with one phone call to a tech support person far more concerned with selling an extended warranty for a product that was already under warranty when it failed... man, they have earned my enmity.
as for a recommendation, it's a tough call - if it works and never fails, it's great. but if you need to have ANY kind of backup from slingmedia, you are completely out of luck.
UPDATE - for me, it WAS bad capacitors: [...]
I have heard the Slingbox advertised for several years and have often wondered what the appeal was--with other technologies like tv tuner cards and portable media players, I never saw the point. Recently, however, I purchased a 3.5G smartphone and found there was Slingbox client software available for it. The idea of watching television anywhere from my phone [with an unlimited data plan] intrigued me enough to make the relatively minor investment in a Slingbox.
After trying it, I can only say it is incredible. Having a device in my pocket that can receive television is amazing, and the fact that it is not some choppy over-the-air signal but a beautifully clear signal with access to an entire cable tv feed, on demand services, program guides, and recorded programs is mind-blowing. Even from a laptop or other client, having access to all the channels and features you normally have in your living room, no matter where you are, makes the Slingbox much more powerful than a simple tuner card. For those so motivated, it is also possible to spy on what your kids are watching when you're not home (or annoy them by changing the channel).
I purchased the Slingbox SOLO because of the built-in high-definition component input. Because I was eager to set-up the box, I initially connected it with a simple composite connection--later, I dug-out an RGB component cable and connected it that way instead, but found with the lower resolution and compression artifacts introduced by the Slingbox I didn't notice a significant difference and ended-up switching back just to eliminate some cables and to take advantage of the cable-box's ability to convert everything to the same aspect ratio to avoid having to switch the client. The video quality looks perfect on the cell phone [although I don't think anything less than 3.5G service would work well] but from a PC or laptop, the picture quality is similar to a high quality standard-definition tuner card, even when viewing a high-definition source.
Setting-up the Slingbox was absolutely simple and almost completely automatic; it does require a pc on the same network. The box was detected and video was working as soon as set-up started. A huge variety of equipment is supported, with pc client software displaying a remote that looks almost identical to the actual equipment remote. I did not have to make any adjustments to the box's IR signal timing to the cable box and it has worked flawlessly without ever missing a command. - Solo - Internet Tv - Remote Viewing - Slingbox Solo'
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