Manage updates with the Download AppSling Media Slingbox
Manufacturer: Sling Media Part number: SB100-100
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- If you can't live without your favorite shows, the Sling Media Slingbox is the best way to beam them to any broadband-connected PC or Windows Mobile device in the world.
Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | In stock Get free shipping on orders over $25! | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 05/21/2013 |
| NovaTechGadgets.com | Not yet rated | | as of 05/21/2013 |
CNET editors' review
Sling Media Slingbox price range: $289.00 - $481.00
- Reviewed by: John Falcone
- Edited by: David Katzmaier
- Reviewed on: 03/22/2006
- Released on: 07/01/2005
The good: Works with Macs, Windows PCs and Windows Mobile handhelds and cell phones; simple, straightforward setup; no host PC or monthly charges required; decent video quality; easy-to-use viewing software.
The bad: No built-in wireless networking support; monopolizes the attached device.
The bottom line: If you can't live without your favorite shows, the Sling Media Slingbox is the best way to beam them to any broadband-connected PC or Windows Mobile device in the world.
User reviews
-
-
Best New Device in Years!
by Lonestar10 on September 17, 2005
Pros: Easy to set up with newer routers; Watch recorded shows or live TV away from home; Great for travelers
Cons: Requires a boradband connection at BOTH ends, at home and away.
Summary: This is a terrific invention. No hard drives, no subscription fees. Simply connect SlingBox between your TiVo or ReplayTV and your broadband router (also works with cable or satellite box)....
Summary: This is a terrific invention. No hard drives, no subscription fees. Simply connect SlingBox between your TiVo or ReplayTV and your broadband router (also works with cable or satellite box).
Install the SlingBox software on your laptop, connect to the internet from anywhere in the world (broadband connection REQUIRED) and you can watch your favorite live or recorded programs.
I give the SlingBox a "10." HOWEVER, if your internet connection is slow, SlingBox will be a terrible disappointment.
I've used it on the road even in China to watch my favorite shows recorded on ReplayTV back in Texas. I used it to watch live coverage of Hurricane Katrina and watch live Texas Longhorn football.
I highly recommend the SlingBox.. but just know that you HAVE TO HAVE a FAST connection to make it work as advertised.Updated
SlingBox works with not only TiVo and ReplayTV, but with VCRs, DVD players, cable and satellite receivers. SlingBox does NOT have its own tuner, but it can control (via IR Blaster) almost any audio/video device.Updated
I bought my SlingBox and added it to my home network. Now when I travel, I open my laptop, log in and watch local TV as if I were at home on the couch.
My SlingBox at home is connected to my ReplayTV (like a TiVo - only better), but you can hook it up to just about any Audio/Video device that can be controlled by a remote: VCR, TiVo, DVD, Satellite or cable box, even a TV set that has A/V outputs.
On a recent trip to China, for example, I connected my laptop to a high speed internet connection in my hotel room, logged on to my SlingBox back in Texas and watched the Longhorns beat Oklahoma.
I never missed an episode of 60 Minutes, Dateline or Lost. I also kept up with local news back home.
The SlingBox software on my laptop is simple and easy to use. When the program starts up, there's a remote control that looks just like the remote that came with my ReplayTV (it will look different depending on which device you have). I hit the remote's power button and instantly my ReplayTV back home comes to life. I can then select to watch live TV or choose to see a recorded program.
I can even program my ReplayTV by using the SlingBox, just by using the virtual remote control on my laptop.
When I'm finished, I click the power button on the virtual remote and the ReplayTV turns off.
The only performance issue I can report is that the signal will become choppy if you do not have a HIGH SPEED internet connection on BOTH ends (at home and away).
It's a great device. I highly recommend it for travellers wanting to enjoy their favorite shows while on the road. And best of all, there are no fees involved.63 out of 65 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great for international travel
by eldeesilver on September 22, 2005
Pros: easy to use, watch your local TV anywhere
Cons: don't expect a perfect picture
Summary: Really nice when you travel far from home. Worth every penny.
Don't expect the same quality picture as in your living room.
I watched my local cable channels from ...Summary: Really nice when you travel far from home. Worth every penny.
Don't expect the same quality picture as in your living room.
I watched my local cable channels from Hong Kong and mainland China last month. I couldn't believe the content made it through the Chinese internet police.
Due to my connect speed -- the slingbox was not good for action movies, but was great for local news and regular non-high-action shows.
It was amazing to change channels from half way around the world -- and it only took seconds.
Found the picture clarity better when I used a TV as a monitor(rather than on my laptop screen).56 out of 56 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Finally! A long wait but I love it!
by MopTop on July 1, 2005
Pros: Easy setup with my wireless router (54g)
Cons: A long wait for the product
Summary: After following this thing since CES I finally found one - the last one - at CompUSA in San Francisco. It took no time at all to hook up, but ...
Summary: After following this thing since CES I finally found one - the last one - at CompUSA in San Francisco. It took no time at all to hook up, but make sure you read the box. I had to also buy a pair of powerline ethernet adapters because of the setup in my apartment.
I spent most of the afternoon showing people in the office how I can now watch my Tivo from the laptop and they were blown away. The video quality was very good too. Some of the reviews I've seen are a little critical of the video, I'm watching the Tivo IN MY HOUSE. How cool is that!
This may be a whole new idea for Starbucks, latte and TV (Sling are you listening?).42 out of 45 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
The best gadget I bought in the last two years!
by ehuna on July 18, 2005
Pros: Watch live or recorded TV from anywhere in the world, easy to setup
Cons: Price is $250 (although worth every penny)
Summary: Both the hardware (SlingBox) and the software (SlingPlayer) work great. None have crashed in almost a week of use. Here's how I have used it:
1) Laptop in backyard, ...Summary: Both the hardware (SlingBox) and the software (SlingPlayer) work great. None have crashed in almost a week of use. Here's how I have used it:
1) Laptop in backyard, watched Brazilian soccer and the Giants beat the Dodgers while writing a few articles for my blog.
2) Watched the Giants beat the Dodgers again in my "office at home" while writing some code. My VGA has an S-VIDEO out option. Went to Circuit City and bought a TV and I can now watch anything full screen while having the Slingplayer minimized. This rocks!
3) While cooking some good spaghetti, placed the laptop on the kitchen counter and watched "Six Feet Under". I think I'll cook a bit more now that I've got any show, including live Baseball/Football.
4) Went to my buddy's place, and installed the Slingplayer on his XP. He was amazed at how well it works. He travels a lot to Korea, so he'll be getting one on Monday!
5) Went to my Mom's and showed her how cool this is. She likes the French channel, so she'll be watching it a few programs I recorded on one of the three ReplayTVs we have. The streaming from one ReplayTV to another works great, and the streaming from the "Slinged" ReplayTV to my Mom's DSL worked without a glitch. I think I'm going to have to buy a second Slingbox since my Mom will probably be using it a lot.
Going to the Microsoft PDC in September and there are some critical World Cup qualifiers then - thank God for Slingbox!!39 out of 39 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great Product - Must Have!!!
by Dan6971 on November 4, 2005
Pros: Great Audio/Video - Fantastic Features - Favorites
Cons: Can Only Use Device On One Computer At A Time
Summary: Well, I've only been using it for about 2 days now and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised and 99% satisfied! (1% is lost on the fact ...
Summary: Well, I've only been using it for about 2 days now and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised and 99% satisfied! (1% is lost on the fact that only one computer can use it at a time.)
The quality is top-notch! I thought it might be pixelated, jerky, or buggy - but it isn't. It flows and runs like a regular TV. It just feels like you're watching TV.
Let me also mention all of the features that it has:
* You can watch TV with a full screen and either have the remote on the screen, or not.
* You can hit a button and it will automatically dock to one side of the screen and re-adjust the size of your other windows. And then, you can even fine tune and adjust the size of that window.
* If you just want it to be on your screen and not be docked, you can do that and adjust that screen size as well.
* You can also create a list of favorite channel icons, so all you do is click onto your favorite channel's icon. If the icon doesn't exist - you can create your own!
* It also works with channels like HBO On Demand and with TiVo as well (however, I don't have TiVo).
* If your workplace has a firewall, you can access your home computer using your home computer's IP Address.36 out of 36 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Very Impressed with product
by ScottBrown2005 on October 30, 2005
Pros: Works great on my wireless connection! Slingbox has software updates, and FIRMWARE updates, Easy SetUp, All Cables Included to get you going. SetUp Manual is minimal and straightforward.
Cons: I don't expect anything from the product, other than what it claims it will do. Few quirks in the installation setup, that I am sure will be updated soon.
Summary: Warning: SlingBox is like a Tivo, once you have one, you can't live without it.
I was very hesitant about purchasing the product for months. I didn't buy ...Summary: Warning: SlingBox is like a Tivo, once you have one, you can't live without it.
I was very hesitant about purchasing the product for months. I didn't buy it cause it seemed liked there had to be more to it. It was never promoted, stuck in the back of the store on a side shelf and collected dust. No stores have SlingBox on display showing the actual product working. For months SlingBox sat in COMP USA until they started promoting the product in ads. The Burbank COMP USA is out of stock of the SlingBox. I bought the last one. Best Buy sells the product too.
I had a slight problem with my installation. It seems the SlingBox provided A/V in/out cords are not exactly made for each other. It took me an extra hour and a half to finish my installation, due to the faulty connection of the SlingBox A/V cord. I needed to uplug (at the SlingBox) their supplied A/V cord and re-plug it, jiggle it, then I got video/sound. The little installation screen says "Starting", which isn't that informative. The software installation should say "STOP and check your cable connections, if you don't SEE video. Unplug and replug your connections, wait a few seconds for lag to see if you repaired the problem."
Once I got it going, it was smooth. Of course having a good connection is important. If your wireless connection is not rating itself as EXCELLENT, don't blame SlingBox. Even when my SlingBox is using bandwidth streaming at 1288kbps, it doesn't slow down my wireless web browsing! So I can check email, surf, without worrying about my SlingBox hogging ram/bandwidth.
I was surprised that this thing that looks like a toy is capable of FIRMWARE updates. The firmware update was the easiest fireware update I've ever done. Just a few clicks and it was done. You don't unplug, or reset anything! Way-easy! Don't you wish all your toys could be updated via the internet?
My best friend is wanted to buy a wireless TV and has a HP 17" widescreen WindowsMedia XP P4 laptop laying around collecting dust. He already has a wireless lan, and he's has a cable TV box that he uses for himself. I suggested that he purchase a SlingBox, now that I know that the product works, he will love it.
Upon opening the box, I was amazed that all the cords needed are included. I managed to test the SlingBox on the go feature. I hooked up to my SlingBox successfully through a neighbors unsecure wireless connection (without any port fordarding). The wireless connection to my laptop showed excellent, and so was the video.
If you want to hear a little nit-pick about SlingBox, the color and shape-design that makes it look like a cheap toy. The SlingBox rear side is red plastic, with gold lettering indicating the titles of the jacks. Bad color combinations(gold on red) for those with imperfect eyesight. SlingBox is not a replacement for a high quality TV, so if you don't mind the occasional jerk in motion when your wireless connection has a drop in transmissions, then you'll continue to enjoy the product. I am running a HP laptop with a Centrino processor and it is great. I also reccomend those who plan to use a SlingBox on a regular basis to use it with a HP laptop that has Altec Lansing speakers on the front side(not top) of the laptop, so the sound projects toward you. The sound is great when laptop was created with great sound in mind. If your laptop has tiny little tin-can sounding speakers (such as on Toshiba laptops)under your laptop screen, then you should consider running out and get a new HP laptop. I will never own a new laptop model that doesn't have speakers on the front side of the laptop.36 out of 36 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
I love my sling box, but I am experiencing some connection issues
by eeggeegg on August 4, 2005
Pros: Price. Does what it claims to do... watch TV,DVD,Tivo, whatever wherever.
Cons: Periodic loss of connection, even on home network...
Summary: I hope to be able to edit this review someday soon to up my rating from a 6 to something higher. However, right now I am experiencing some problems maintaing ...
Summary: I hope to be able to edit this review someday soon to up my rating from a 6 to something higher. However, right now I am experiencing some problems maintaing a solid connection to my slingbox. Initially everything just worked. After setup, I was able to watch my Tivo on my laptop from anywhere in my house. Unfortunely, it seems that I loose my video stream fairly regularly now... whether I am connected to my home network via wireless, or wired in to my router directly over ethernet. I am pretty experienced with networking so I am confident that I have properly configured the slingbox and my home network. Nonetheless, I can't rule out the possibility that the problem is related to my router. This seems unlikely however because I have managed to find a work around... I rolled back the firmware on the slingbox (by holding the reset button down for 5 seconds) and reverted my pc software to the version that shipped with the unit on a CDROM. Since this rollback I seem to be getting a far more reliable connection, although it still occasionally goes out. After talking to the very helpful help desk at slingbox, I was told that some slingboxes are having problems like this and they offered to send me a new unit. Actually I am going to check if the retail store I bought it from will exchange mine first. I believe that any slingbox you are likely to find in stores now will NOT be from the bad batch that I apparently got. Check the sling media website for info on this (I think you can tell if your unit is suspect by the serrial number). Anyway, it seems like the network card in my slingbox might be the culprit, but as I said above I can not rule out my own router/home network setup. Despite this issue, I still highly recomend the slingbox, because even if you have problems, the company is really helpful and seems willing to send you a new unit with out any hassle.
Good luck to all.Updated
Turns out it was the slingbox and not my network setup. Actually the sling media website provides the following "Product Advisory":
--------------------------
Product Advisory
On July 21, 2005 at 8:37am PST, the Sling Media Quality Dudes determined that some Slingboxes may have a component inside which causes intermittent performance and quality issues. Our job is to maintain 100% user happiness with your Slingbox experience.
If your Slingbox has a serial number in the range of 50600000 to 50700801, please read this tech article for more details. Your serial number is printed on the bottom of your Slingbox. If your serial number is not within this range, Sling on!
--------------------------
So i just exchanged mine for a new box at the store (one with a serial number outside the range described above) and everything seems to be working great now. If i have problems I will add to this review, but if I don't add anything else, then you can assume my new slingbox is working great and that I would rate the sling box a 9 out of 10 (cnet doesn't seem to allow you to change ratings once you make your first entry).17 out of 19 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Fantastic product, works very well, ** A+ **
by kyknos2001 on December 26, 2005
Pros: Easy setup, good pic quality, free Dynamic DNS
Cons: No software for MAC or Linux yet
Summary: The slingbox is a terrific product. Here is what a potential buyer should know.
1.) Setup is a piece of cake if you have a standard home network.
2.) The ...Summary: The slingbox is a terrific product. Here is what a potential buyer should know.
1.) Setup is a piece of cake if you have a standard home network.
2.) The product works exactly as advertised. Allows you to control and view your Tivo/DVR/TV from anywhere on the internet.
3.) Picture quality is very good. Primary limitations are the available bandwidth and resolution of the program you're watching. These limitations are independent of the device, however.
4.) No software for MAC or Linux. This is unfortunate, but I have faith the company will release at least a version for the MAC (as promised on their website).
Overall, I highly recommend the product. Works exactly as advertised -- and this is rare these days.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Dude, it works like a charm
by mossig on July 6, 2005
Pros: Good Video Quality and Easy Setup
Cons: Nothing really at this point
Summary: This is a great product! It's not perfect but close.
It delivers exactly what it promises to do.Summary: This is a great product! It's not perfect but close.
It delivers exactly what it promises to do.5 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
I hate SlingMedia ... for letting me wait so long
by mlehiste on June 30, 2005
Pros: Its TV everywhere!!!
Cons: No List button yet (u know the 1 for saved shows on DVR)
Summary: Go run to the store - this box is worth getting it. It will only take half an hour to setup - after that it will entertain you wild.
They ...Summary: Go run to the store - this box is worth getting it. It will only take half an hour to setup - after that it will entertain you wild.
They should have released it a year ago (thats when it 1st hit the news) so that now we would have second version with HDTV, wireless & Multiple input device support.4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sling Media
- Part number: SB100-100
- Description: The Slingbox is a breakthrough consumer electronics device that enables you to watch your living room television programming from anywhere by turning virtually any Internet-connected laptop or PC into a personal television. The Slingbox place shifts your television signal from a cable box, satellite receiver, or DVR to your PC - located at home or 3, 000 miles away - via the Internet. Whether you want to watch your soaps in the laundry room, or catch the big game during a conference call, or watch your local news from China, the power is now in your hands. Wherever you go, your TV will follow.
General
- Dimensions (WxDxH) 10.6 in x 4 in x 1.6 in
- Weight 1.5 lbs
Network & Internet
- Functionality Digital video broadcasting
TV Tuner
- TV tuner qty 1
- TV tuner reception system NTSC
Connectors
- Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Audio System
- Output Mode Stereo
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x Composite video/audio input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - Rear,
1 x S-Video input ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - Rear,
1 x RF input - Rear,
1 x Composite video/audio output ( RCA phono x 3 ) - Rear,
1 x S-Video output ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - Rear,
1 x Network ( RJ-45 ) - Rear System Requirements Details
- System Requirements Details Windows 2000/XP - RAM 256 MB - HD 100 MB
- Operating system Windows 2000/XP
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 2 x Video / audio cable,
Network cable,
S-Video cable,
Antenna cable - Software Drivers & Utilities
Power
- Type External
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sling Media products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Sling Media
- Phone: 650-378-4411
- Fax: 650-378-4422
