Anybody have a slingbox?

[jimnjana]

We are considering getting a slingbox to eliminate the need for getting a cable TV package in our 2nd home. I'm thinking if we maintain a cable/tv package in home #1 we would just maintain a cable internet package in our 2nd home and use the slingbox to access our cable tv/dvr in home #1. Does anybody do this? currently we place our cable and internet on vacation stop in home #1 when we are in home #2. We are considering cutting our stays in each location and increasing the frequency of going back and forth from seasonal to every month or so.

 

[tryan]

I looked at the sling box years ago (for the same reason - cable at the lake); but decided the TV's needed to be upgraded so I am waiting (and paying for basic cable in 2 locations). Also was concerned about ease of use for renters (at the lake). So I would have to be the remote site at home (with the TV upgrade but limited to the rural cable service).

Interesting twist ... a friend (die-hard Giant fan) wants the games in NH. Misses many because of schedule conflicts with the Pats. Doesn't want to pay for NFL Network. So he's talking to a family member in NY about connecting a sling box at his house so the games can be watched remotely in NH.

 

[easysurfer]

I have a slingbox for the main purpose of watching my hometeam sports while on the road (I watch it on my laptop). Just a note, if you watch it on your pc, there is a correlation between how fast a broadband speed you have (at home, broadcasting the tv over the internet) and the clarity. For me, I have a lower speed broadband, so only watch games on my laptop on a small screen setting. I'm happy with it -- don't want to miss the big game!!

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Don't want to be stupid, but what is a slingbox? It might be something I'm familiar with but call it by another name. Thought I'd heard it all until this term came up. Clue me in.

 

[Achiever51]

I have a Slingbox for two reasons: 1) to watch tv in our home office -- given the way the room is situated, bringing cable to the room was more difficult than it was worth; and 2) to watch certain shows on the road. It works great -- except if someone is actually watching the main tv and the viewer either on the road or in the home office decides to change the channel...resulting in some amusing conversations.
Easy to set up and so far (about a year and a half), no problems.

 

[easysurfer]

Don't want to be stupid, but what is a slingbox? It might be something I'm familiar with but call it by another name. Thought I'd heard it all until this term came up. Clue me in.

Their website: Slingbox.com - Watch Your TV Anywhere

I have their Slingbox Solo product.

 

[jimnjana]

Can you watch your programs on a TV or do you watch them on a PC? Is there a quality difference the larger the picture?

 

[Andy R]

I have been using slingboxes for the last 5 years. I was traveling abroad and wanted to watch USA tv. They work well but the picture quality depends on the upload speed of the connection where the slingbox is located.

I used to use DSL and the max upload was probably 300kb, the picture quality was adequate for most shows but high action sports was very pixelated. Now I have it hooked up to FIOS with a huge out bound connection and even action sports are crystal clear.

I connect it to a slingcatcher down here in brazil and can watch TV from the USA on my TV down here perfect. There is a latency when changing the channel as the signal has to travel across the internet, change the TV and then travel back.

Jimnjana, you can watch on TV (with Slingcatcher), PC or even iPhone. Surprisingly I find myself watching TV on the iPhone when I have to kill time. I never thought I would but it's nice to have.

 

[tryan]

It works great -- except if someone is actually watching the main tv and the viewer either on the road or in the home office decides to change the channel...resulting in some amusing conversations

Are you saying all devices must be on the same channel?

That's a killer for me ... don't want to be limited to what the "others" are watching.

 

[jimnjana]

Andy,

thanks, will definitely buy when we return to Florida. Only concern i guess is power interruptions.

 

[Katsmeow]

Are you saying all devices must be on the same channel?

That's a killer for me ... don't want to be limited to what the "others" are watching.

You can change the channel. It is just that the slingbox is duplicating was is on the physical TV. So if TV is in Room 1 and you are in Room 2 and change the channel if someone walked into Room 1 they would see on the TV what you had changed it to. Then if that person decided to change the channel to something else you would see that new channel.

We don't have Slingbox set up now but did in the past. We put it on a little used TV so that wouldn't be an issue.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Thanks for the info on the slingbox. I have weird setups in our house for the TV's. We have seven TV's in different rooms and have two main cable boxes. The main set in LR (cable box controlled) is also tied to the TV in kitchen and to the TV in DW's sewing room. The TV in my man cave (cable box controlled) is also tied to the master bedroom TV. So, when I go to bed and want to watch local news, I turn cable box to the local channel, turn off the TV and then the bedroom TV will show the local news. We also have different cable boxes for the TV's in the computer room and in DW's dressing room. These boxes were provided by Verizon free of charge and we can control those TV's separately just like a regular cable box would (they have limited functions, like no guide). I have a third free cable box that is not hooked up yet as we are moving and will have to start the entire process over again. I'm thinking that me wiring up the TV's like I did eliminates the need for the slingbox, except for the fact that the slingbox is portable.

 

[RockyMtn]

Also was concerned about ease of use for renters (at the lake). QUOTE]

I believe the renters at the lake would be limited to whatever show it is you are watching at home as well.

 

[ChiSaver]

The slingbox has been one of my favorite purchases over the past 2 years. I have several uses for it as follows:

1) When travelling for business or pleasure, I am able to control my TV/DVR/etc that allows me to watch local sports and news when on the road.
2) When looking to kill time waiting in line, riding the train, etc I can watch it on my cell phone.
3) When at a sporting event (say opening weekend for my beloved White Sox), I can have the Masters on my phone and update my jealous seat mates.
4) When watching a show on our main TV with the DW, I can use my PC to display my favorite sporting event on mute.

Really you can't go wrong, and for the price, everyone that travels should have one. The key for us was to set it up in a room that is rarely used for TV viewing. As many have mentioned, you are physically controlling the device that it is connected to. The only time this has led to anything of an issue is when my kids were watching cartoons in that room and my brother-in-law, signed on to my slingbox to catch a Cubs game. The kids came downstairs to tell me the TV was changing the channel by itself . Good times!!

That's right, others can take advantage of your technology as well which is another reason to grab one. I am not a slingbox employee, but I bet I have sold dozens of them over the years. Big fan.

 

[Texas Proud]

I had heard about it a couple of years ago during the last Olympics... but the way they talked about it, you could 'time shift'... they talked about some athletes who would go back and watch themselves on the TV... kind of hard to do in real time....

So, does it have a record feature

 

[ChiSaver]

The slingbox itself records up to an hour of programming which is nice if you need to pause for a bit to answer the door for room service . The best way to take advantage of it is hooking it up to your DVR and controlling it that way.

 

[free4now]

I use a PC as a DVR now. I use an outboard HDHomerun box that lets me watch two digital over the air channels at the same time, and feeds the content to my computer over my wired network.

For now I'm using the built in Windows 7 Media Center software to record TV. Then I can watch the recorded shows on my laptop wirelessly with W7 MC. Its like a slingbox but better because it records. Worse because I think it only works on the local network though.

But there are so many ways that things can go wrong trying to watch TV over a computer that I'd only recommend this approach to someone who doesn't mind futzing around a bit; I lived for years with a slightly underpowered PC as my DVR and the occasional dropouts drove me up the wall, and I spent hundreds swapping various components trying to solve the issue. This time I built a fire breathing PC with the latest hardware to serve as the DVR; it cost me $1000 or so. This is one of the least frugal expenditures for me, but I just got tired of not having my TV be reliable.