Sling Media Slingbox Pro

• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 45 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 9 stars

  9/10 great product

  by trda on June 9, 2007

  Pros: Technology/Easyness/Quality

  Cons: None so far , nada

  Summary: I got it this weeek and installation was a breeze (which I feared most) , in house viewing is great I do have a tv tuner so I won<t ...

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  Summary: I got it this weeek and installation was a breeze (which I feared most) , in house viewing is great I do have a tv tuner so I won<t be using it much but I bought it mostly for my sister who is in europe working for one year and she misses some home Tv shows . We installed it in less than 30 min and she was up and running watching my subscription cable TV from thousand of miles away with near perfect image
  great product if you need it. very impressed

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• 9 stars

  Slingbox Pro is a Great Product

  by Robert Dobson on May 18, 2007

  Pros: Connectivity from anywhere you connect to the internet

  Cons: No High Defination Video

  Summary: The Slingbox Pro is really great. I can connect from everywhere I have network or wireless connectivity. If only I can get High Definition Video it would be perfect.

  Summary: The Slingbox Pro is really great. I can connect from everywhere I have network or wireless connectivity. If only I can get High Definition Video it would be perfect.

• 9 stars

  Good Unit so far

  by SuperTree on May 15, 2007

  Pros: Unit works good on local network, Fairly easy to setup.

  Cons: Tech Support not so good, and not 24/7, you don't get to talk with someone its all done via live text chat, If you want hi-def you need to spend another 50 dollars

  Summary: So I bought the Sling Box Pro. Then I returned it because it had a bad network chip in the unit. Of course it took 4 hours and 3 chat ...

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  Summary: So I bought the Sling Box Pro. Then I returned it because it had a bad network chip in the unit. Of course it took 4 hours and 3 chat sessions to figure that out.
  
  So I Got the new unit and it worked. Setup was quick, I hooked up my cable TV (found 71 channels), and my View Sat Ultra Satellite receiver. I had to go to JP1.com to get a remote control that worked with my unit, but after that it worked perfect.
  
  The unit works fine on a static network through a linksys wireless bridge. Wall mount extenders I think they call them might be better for the novice; however if you like power strips or your house wiring segments the two outlets you will have problems.
  
  Video quality local network: Good response, video and audio are synchronized well. The video quality reminds me of that of some of the movies that you can download where a person video taped a movie in the theatre with a video camera (The good ones). Note: this is with default settings and AV cables. I haven’t tried the S-Video yet. It has been my experience in the past that S-Video really isn’t that noticeably better than the A/V cables. I am sure some would disagree, but my eyes can’t detect it. I have been through battles with many friends on this one.
  
  I don’t use Hi-def yet, but it would have been nice if Sling Media would have used standard cabling with the Hi-def input cable. $50 for a cable that won’t probably make the video look any better on your remote connection seems rather stupid, but hey if you have the money knock yourself out.
  
  Technical support is not 24/7. I didn’t really find them to be all that helpful.
  
  In a nutshell I like the unit. I am opening up the tunnels in my VPN firewall tonight to see how this looks on the road. That is the final test; right. This device does well for my needs and I recommend purchasing this unit. For the price difference of the other sling boxes its worth the extra cash to have the extra options to hook up more devices. Of course I am the kind of guy that would rather have the options and not need them versus having to buy another unit if I want to hook up more devices. The unit was only $200 at best buy.

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• 9 stars

  Give Cable Labs the Finger

  by rcolbert on April 25, 2007

  Pros: Great HD on LAN plus easy setup

  Cons: No Blackberry player

  Summary: Well, my wait for the ATI HD Wonder is over. Thanks to the pointless entity known as Cable Labs, you can't buy an HD cable tuner for your PC ...

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  Summary: Well, my wait for the ATI HD Wonder is over. Thanks to the pointless entity known as Cable Labs, you can't buy an HD cable tuner for your PC unless you buy a whole new PC. Well, the Slingbox Pro has obviated the need for a PC-based HD Cable tuner altogether.
  
  Of course, the HD is analog via component inputs. Not a big deal really. Typically if you're watching HD on a PC you'll likely have the window anchored to one side of the screen while you're doing something else on the other half. You'll never notice the difference. Anyway, with all the rules about protecting digital content, HDCP, and everything else that the boneheads in charge of the world of cable television have devised it's no surprise that DVI or HDMI is not available. The input for the optional HD input dongle is surprisingly similar to an HDMI connection. Unfortunately in the world of cable television, products are seemingly designed by lawyers moreso than engineers.
  
  The Slingbox Pro was very easy to setup on all the PC's and laptops around the house. It's fantastic for both wired and wireless LAN connections. It easily and automatically configured my router to allow sharing on the Internet. Video quality on a laptop using an admittedly slow Cingular wireless card was quite watchable. Slingmedia has done a great job of masking the complexity of connecting to the device remotely.
  
  The options for tuning the video stream are easy and intuitive. Moreover, they are seldom required since the Slingbox Pro automatically adjusts the stream for optimum quality.
  
  I think the big point of the Slingbox Pro is HD over LAN more than anything else. Multiple device control might be interesting to some people, but I suspect most users will simply hook the Slingbox Pro up to an HD cable tuner, likely a secondary household tuner such as one in the master bedroom.
  
  I wasn't really even thinking about remote viewing when I bought the Slingbox Pro, but I have to admit that it's nice to know I can tune in whenever I want.
  
  If they only had a blackberry client I'd be all set.

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• 8 stars

  Great Product!

  by vmgweb on April 25, 2007

  Pros: Your home TV anywhere you have a braodband internet connection.

  Cons: Video quality could be better (depends on connection)

  Summary: I really like this product, if fact, I bought two. Setup is tricky, especially if you are installing two Slingboxes, but Sling Media tech support was able to work through ...

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  Summary: I really like this product, if fact, I bought two. Setup is tricky, especially if you are installing two Slingboxes, but Sling Media tech support was able to work through all the issues with my router and cable modem (even so, it took over an hour of fussing with my equipment). I could never have done the install myself. Be warned, however, that users that expect a near HD experience will be disappointed. Video quality was what you might expect over the internet (it is better on your home network), and the defects really become apparent when you watch full screen. I travel allot, though, and the prospect of not having to watch the BBC and CNN (the only two channels available in English in a good part of Continental Europe) is a real plus.

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• 10 stars

  Amazing device, easy setup if you have high speed internet. works great with Motorola Q.

  by mariot1212 on April 16, 2007

  Pros: Once setup and learn how to use, the slingbox is amazing. full control of cable box and full access to cable tv anywhere you have internet. No monthly fees.

  Cons: 30 day trial for smartphone software. One user per slingbox. Family is upset when I change channels when I access slingbox. They have to watch a different TV or disconnect me.

  Summary: This is a great device. Once it is setup and you learn how to use it, especially if you travel or have a smartphone (Motorola Q etc.., life will not ...

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  Summary: This is a great device. Once it is setup and you learn how to use it, especially if you travel or have a smartphone (Motorola Q etc.., life will not be the same. I was able to watch the Sopranos in San Francisco on Comcast On Demand at 10:00 P.M. on my laptop through my slingbox and have full control of my Comcast receiver box in Chicago. I am still learning what else it can do. I seen the Apple TV Box in San Francisco for 290.00.
  It works with ITUNES and a computer. I need to reseach how to connect my PC to my SlingBox and if it has the same functions?

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• 8 stars

  Does the basics well

  by jvirgil1 on March 10, 2007

  Pros: Software interface, controller functionality

  Cons: Optional HD doesn't add much. No wireless

  Summary: I got the Slingbox Pro as a gift and it's definitely a cool device. The set up was relatively painless. It was annoying to have to buy a wireless ...

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  Summary: I got the Slingbox Pro as a gift and it's definitely a cool device. The set up was relatively painless. It was annoying to have to buy a wireless bridge separately. I also found setting up the IR blaster to be a bit of a nuisance. Once you find the right spot, you can tape them down and it's worked reliably since then. All in all, pretty simple.
  
  I wish it wasn't limited to one connection though. Even if one person has the clear control.
  
  The optional HD connect doesn't offer much quality improvement and unless you have multiple devices that's the only perk of the upgrade to pro.
  
  The primary reason I have HD in general is for live sports. That's really where the money in HD is in my opinion anyway. We've got 2 MB upstream on my home network and watching fast paced sports (basketball) over the internet is of OK quality. You can watch, but the HD really doesn't make any diff there. That's with getting about 1500kb down.
  
  It's a really cool device. Just know the HD isn't all it's cracked up to be and that you may have to drop an extra $100 to get a WL bridge and the option HD component connector.

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• 4 stars

  Good on home network Terrible outside home network

  by skaarj on March 9, 2007

  Pros: Almost a good idea. Great support

  Cons: $50 extra to do HD. Very choppy video and sound outside home network

  Summary: I applied all updates to software and firmware before attempting slinging video.I wanted this product to work. I wanted to watch MLB while working. I tried the slingbox pro ...

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  Summary: I applied all updates to software and firmware before attempting slinging video.I wanted this product to work. I wanted to watch MLB while working. I tried the slingbox pro on a 1.5Ghz Celeron M (Essentially a P4 with half the cache) with 1GB ram and 256 shared video. Worked good on home network with 3Mb down and 384Kb up. I tried to watch cable programing outside home network with 3Mb down and 512Kb up connection. However, I could not watch in full screen mode without severe choppy video. The video was barely ok on a small windowed box. Maybe I need a better PC. Although I have no problem streaming video and watching movies from sites witch offer VOD.

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• 9 stars

  Everyone needs a slingbox!

  by roccosperanza on January 22, 2007

  Pros: good quality video streaming, can hook up many devices

  Cons: no built in wireless

  Summary: The slingbox pro is a very good device to use if you want to watch tv anywhere in the world. Since it does not have wireless built in; it might ...

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  Summary: The slingbox pro is a very good device to use if you want to watch tv anywhere in the world. Since it does not have wireless built in; it might take a little time to set up if your ethernet cable is not next to your tv. If you have to have wireless you can you buy a gameing adapter or an ethernet bridge to put the slingbox anywhere in your house. I have a upload speed of 350Kb and the video is realy good.

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• 9 stars

  This thing rocks!

  by cupajoe on January 9, 2007

  Pros: Easy setup...sorta (see below), does what it's supposed to.

  Cons: If you want perfect video and audio quality, it's not for you.

  Summary: I couldn't get the remote feature to work at first. I spent hours searching knowledgbases, reading forums, and changing every setting I could find on my router. Then it ...

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  Summary: I couldn't get the remote feature to work at first. I spent hours searching knowledgbases, reading forums, and changing every setting I could find on my router. Then it occured to me, I should check to see if my Vonage box being between my modem and router is the problem. Well, it was. Once I re-organized, I went through the automated setup and Bingo! It worked on the first shot. I wish I had those few hours back, but oh well...I should have realized it earlier.
  
  Anyway, the video is about what you can expect for streaming video. I don't know why anyone would expect more. It works perfect otherwise. The remote control (on the screen) is exactly the same as my Directv remote (looks and function). That's a major plus. I even have the software loaded on my Blackjack, and that works great as well. It's a bit of a pain in the ass to work on the blackjack (the remote functions, that is), but it's tolerable. I'm using the trial version of the smartphone software, and I'll have to pay the 30 bucks after 30 days, but it'll be well worth it.
  
  I haven't tried the HD features because that would involve hooking it up to my livingroom TV, and besides, logic would dictate, the HD is gonna lose something along the way anyway.
  
  Now Wifey can drag me to a relatives house for something stupid on a Sunday, and I'll have my NFL Sunday Ticket right there with me. I can even watch an NHL game on my phone while I'm attending an ECHL game. Freakin' brilliant!

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