Designtechnica Reviews Sling Media's Slingbox

[Damion Chaplin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review3394.html' target='_blank'>http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review3394.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Sling Media has been gaining a lot of attention over the past year with their new device, the Slingbox. Slingbox is a set-top device you hook up to your television and broadband Internet connection to watch your TV on the go. So what makes this different from a TV tuner card? Mainly, it’s the ability to watch your TV anywhere your laptop has an Internet connection. Slingbox will make you get back into watching TV again if you’ve stopped for a while—especially with a great price of $249.99. Find out why Slingbox is a winner in home entertainment, as we cover every inch of it."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/20060306_0958442.gif" /> <br /><br />I guess I'm still a little confused about this product. It's meant for streaming your current TV signal to your computer via the internet, but it's also got a built-in tuner? Their <a href="http://slingmedia.com">website</a> doesn't say it's a standalone product (and they probably would if it was), but it also doesn't say that a TV is required for it to function...other than that, this looks like an excellent product. If it supported streaming signals in high-def, I might seriously consider buying one. Anyone out there own one of these that can clear up my questions? If not, is this something that's tempting to you?

[Chris Gohlke]

I have one of these. It is awesome. No TV required. There are lots of ways you can set it up, but here is how I have it. Cable from wall directly into Slingbox coax jack. Network cable into slingbox to my router. Slingbox has a built in tuner, so it bascially, you can control and stream anything on basic cable with this setup.

There are also composite and S-video inputs which I use for two cameras I have in the house. This allows me to use these as remote security cameras. But, other use for the extra jacks (probably the intended use) was to hook up your cable box or Tivo. The slingbox has IR output at the end of cables so you can position them in front of your components so you can control them over the internet and stream any content from them to your laptop.

Also, you can regularly get this on Amazon for $199.

[Damion Chaplin]

Excellent, thanks Chris.

One last question: can it be used as a TV tuner for my PC? I mean locally over the network (or via direct connect), not out through the internet and back to my PC...

Security cameras... There's a function I hadn't thought of. I wonder if Sling even thought of that. Seems like they could advertise it as one of the Slingbox's 'features'...

[Chris Gohlke]

Yes, their software is pretty intelligent. I have it installed on my laptop and when I am at home and connected to my internal network, it automatically uses the internal network for higher speed and better picture quality.

That said, you have to use their client to view the stream, so you probably could not use the tuner as an input for other programs on your computer.