# Anyone here hip to "Slingbox"?



## The Robman

I had been blissfully unaware of the "Slingbox" by Sling Media until I saw it mentioned in Walt Mossberg's column in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning (which comes compliments of the WSJ), so I thought I'd check in to see how many RTVers have already picked on up.


Here's a link to the article in question...
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050630.html 


Here's a link to Sling Media's web site...
http://www.slingmedia.com/ 


And here's a link to an AVS thread over in the Generat HT forum on the subject...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=529655 

http://online.wsj.com/public/resourc...2005182557.jpg


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## Jeff D

I don't have one, but I've seen a bit on them. There was some story on the company in some local SJ rag. Sounded interesting, although I think it's fulgy box... It hasn't been released yet that I know, but it should be soon.


I don't remember it doing anything by live encoding, ie you can't record a show for later watching. But... if you could remotely control your DVR you could stream that via the box. Boy would that be the nightmare support issue!


But it really does sound like a real-time video encoder/streamer. Nothing too fancy, and I'd think you could have a PC do it.


Fun to get up at 7am in Japan to watch your 5 o'clock news from the day before... that's so yesterday!


Since I never leave the house it wouldn't do me much good... (that said, myreplaytv site has saved me once!)


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## icecow

 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=426734 
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=546093 



A 'new' guy popped up on AVS a few days ago. Calls himself Slingbox411. He has 3 posts so far. His sig is 'Slingbox user for over 1/365th of a year.' Check out his slingbox411.com web site. I like him already; he grabbed the space early.


The slingbox appeals to me because I trust hardware for these things much more then I do software, and because the control it gives me can't easily be relinquished. With that said, I'd think similar software in a HTPC would be more straightforward.


There's ReplayTV Support (minus a few buttons)

I put this in google:

site:slingmedia.com replaytv

and got this..
http://portal.knowledgebase.net/disp...58&r=0.7950251 



Manual here:
http://www.slingmedia.com/documentation.php4 


For the heck of it I installed the slingbox software. It's a simple interface, sorta like vlc (without the huge lists in submenus). I like it.


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## icecow

(in short, you just plug in everything, ir blaster, cat5 cable, etc)


PDF page 13:

*Connect the IR control cable*

The IR control cable allows the Slingbox to act as a universal remote, controlling the device you connect to the Slingbox. It works with your cable/satellite box or

DVR, and many other devices. Make sure you place your Slingbox close enough to your device so the IR control cable can be attached to the front of your device.


1. Connect the IR control cable to the IR connector on the Slingbox. Make sure to firmly insert the cable connector so the cableâ€™s plastic covering meets the back of the Slingbox. It clicks in when fully inserted. Check this connection before continuing.


2. Place the emitter ends of the cable on the top and bottom of the device so they point at its IR sensor. Make sure they extend out far enough to send a signal to your device.

*Finding the IR sensor*

The infrared sensor is on the front of the device, usually behind a dark, sometimes reddish plastic window. If you donâ€™t see the sensor, shine a flashlight through the window and look for a small bulb, similar to the one on the end of the emitters.


â€¢ Once you are sure you have placed an emitter correctly, remove the adhesive covering and affix the emitter so it extends out far enough to send a signal to your device.


Important: When you install the SlingPlayer software, the Setup Wizard attempts to communicate with your device using the IR control cable. Make sure you place the emitters over the infrared sensor on your device before you install the SlingPlayer software. If the Setup Wizard is not controlling your device, you may need to adjust the position of the emitters. You may want to wait to affix the emitters until after you install the SlingPlayer software.


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## icecow

Slingbox's competitor is Orb (orb.com). Orb is free i guess. Looks like it has some software annoyances at first glance.


Here's an article on it:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columni...networks_x.htm 



'site: http://www.orb.com/ replaytv' in google renders nothing.


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## doppler

I don't want to be a killjoy about this box. But one of the specs I read after

some google researching. Said as a requirement to run this box. You will

need a P4 1Ghz min.


This could be a performance killer! Even at a min of P3-800, this box would

be hard to swallow. The general population of PC machines is not P4 and

certainly not 1 GHZ!!!!


Just look at how many people can get thier ass'es off Win95. I see many returns

for this device. From non-technical, spyware loaded, ownz'ed PC's users.


Link with bad news:
http://www.slingmedia.com/how.php4


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## The Robman

Here's a link to the Slingbox at Best Buy...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1115366460216 


Btw cow, your slingbox media knowledgebase link doesn't work, so I tried the Google search and that didn't find anything either.


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## Ed Rempalski

Here's a link to CompUSA they're in stock now...

http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...29231&pfp=hpf4


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## l8er

Quote:

Originally Posted by *doppler*
The general population of PC machines is not P4 and

certainly not 1 GHZ!!!!
But at $250 and what the Slingbox is and does, J6P is probably not the average Slingbox customer. Plus a 1 Ghz+ PC can be had for $200 or $300 these days, so I doubt Sling Media is worried about the required PC specs keeping people from buying it.


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## kelliot

Bought one but haven't hooked it up yet. The best test will be if I can get NFL Sunday Ticket away from home.


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## Jeff D

This morning's Merc has a bit on it, saying it wasn't worth the trouble to use. The writer liked the idea, just not setting it up. He said he had to spend 1/2 an hour on the phone with an exec at slingbox just to get it working in his setup...


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## Jeff D

As to Ken's point... I could buy one for my folks and hook it up there so I could always watch my Pats without the sunday ticket. And at $250/season I think the box might be a better choice than the ticket.


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## icecow

A netcitizen --somewhere-- wrote that the slingbox software is open source. I've made an initial attempt to verify that, but failed. I don't see it on slingmedia's website.


The slingbox bypasses the double-select bug since it uses a IR blaster. That's attractive.


I'll be watching them for a few months, and am prepaired to snap one up if they get ubruptly get sued, heh (I have no data on the odds, heh).


newsflash (old) Slingbox makes cnet top 10 gadgets:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-8900_7-...?tag=cnetfd.ld 

bonus: a mostly worthless video clip available!



giftlist:

>RTV

>DVARCHIVE

>SLINGBOX

>WIFI PDA

>BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES

> Teleglass Wearable Display

http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/...leglass_in.jpg 
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/news...tory_3580.html 


It would be nice to watch any show on a DVA Server on a wearable Display via slingbox. Why don't one of you rich, successful guys try it!





Year old forbes article:
http://www.forbes.com/infoimaging/20...isplay_ii.html 



wantonly strewn articles:
http://news.com.com/2060-10801_3-0.html?tag=nefd.bl 
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000850038379/ 



Note: The first wearable display

1966 (F) Sutherland creates first computer-based head-mounted display [MIT]

Sutherland created a tethered HMD using two CRTs mounted beside each of a wearer's ears, with half-silvered mirrors reflecting the images to the user's eyes. Another system determined where the user was looking and projected a monoscopic wireframe image such that it looked like a cube was floating in mid-air. The bulk of the system was attached to the ceiling above the wearer's head, earning the system the nickname "Sword of Damocles."


Story of "Sword of Damocles":
http://ancienthistory.about.com/libr...l_damocles.htm 



First dude (probably) to startwearing wearable display constantly, Thad Starner:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/.../thad.starner/ 


more crazy ****:
http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/history.html 


bonus random links:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DG 
http://isc.temple.edu/sdrury/survey/...sketchpad.html 


(first astronaut ever, Laika a russian dog, 1957)
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/laika.jpg 

http://www.aec.at/en/archiv_files/19902/E1990b_123.pdf 
http://www.cis.rit.edu/people/facult...p_9/ch9p1.html 


no clue:
http://www.khm.de/~vrmlkurs/historie/sensorama.jpg


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## Slack

I've read most of what has come out recently on the thing. And I just can't see it working for anyone with 128k upstream bandwidth. Which is the majority of dsl customers these days. Myself included.


So you can watch your home town football team in Tokyo... at what resolution and what compression to get all the way there without drop outs? I mean could you even see the ball?


Unless you got a fat upstream pipe, I just don't see this thing working well. Well enough for the news maybe, but not football.


The idea is solid but the infrastucture. Is it ready for this? Sony has a similar product. I'm guessing it'll languish for a while in the shadow of PSP sales than get the axe.


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## Jeff D

Holy COW! IC you have got some kind of freaky ability to gather information. Was that your major?


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## plyons10

I think he majored in "Google".


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## slowbiscuit

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Jeff D*
As to Ken's point... I could buy one for my folks and hook it up there so I could always watch my Pats without the sunday ticket. And at $250/season I think the box might be a better choice than the ticket.
Wow, haven't really thought about it but the possibility of region-shifting sports in particular makes you wonder if this would be a wide-open invitation for the leagues (NFL, especially) to sue Sling. There's lots of good games that my Dad gets that I don't because I'm in an NFL market (ATL), and even though I love the Birds I still want to have more than two choices on Sunday afternoon. Not to mention the possibility of people getting blacked-out games that they're not supposed to...


So, I could hook him up with one of these (after the price drops to a more realistic level, natch) and possibly get four or more game choices on Sunday without paying for the Ticket (which I can't get anyway since I don't have DTV).


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## kcbs

It is Wednesday night 7/6/ and I am looking to do a story on the new sling box. I am a producer with KCBS Channel 2. We would love to come out and see if you like the product, and how it works. I can't submit my email because I'm a new poster, but please reply.


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## plyons10

Hmmm.... maybe not such a good idea to have a So. Cal. affiliate of CBS showing off all the neat ways we've devised to circumvent the entertainment industry's IP protections.


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## Ed Rempalski

The box works well, setup was straight forward. I/R blaster positioning on my Replay 4500 was very critical but does work.


I also tried it on an old P3 500Mhz (XPpro) Laptop with wireless G and it streamed my Replay without any stuttering.


I'm not so keen on the non-standard rear connectors, the blaster phone jack is smaller than the industry standard 3.5mm. I'm using S-Vid input (the only Std. connector) and wish the audio was Std. RCA's, but they are quad mini-phone with composite video mixed with them so I have to use the Sling supplied cable and leave the yellow connector unplugged.


All in all, it's a cool box. It will rock when it supports a WiFi PDA like an iPAQ 4700. Hopefully that will happen sometime soon!


I've no interest in streaming outside my area, and wouldn't like to see the media play it that way. It's a great product to allow one to see their own content, anywhere.


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## tluxon

I didn't see anyone mention it, but there's also a PC Magazine review at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1833045,00.asp .


Tim


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## melduforx

Quote:

Originally Posted by *plyons10*
I think he majored in "Google".
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


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## Jeff D

Slowbiscuit, so if the falcons are playing that's the only game on? I thought that was was something special in the bay area where if the 9er's are playing that's the only game that can be one. How stupid of the NFL if they did that. They don't get that fans don't always live in the towns with the teams they love....


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## slowbiscuit

Yeah Jeff, I get two games when the Birds are at home, one of them the Falcons and another in the other time slot. Sucks when the game is a blowout and a better game is on in the same slot. But that's the NFL's rule, the home team gets exclusive rights.

I was kind of joking about the NFL suing Sling since they're so under the radar right now, but I can see this device (or others) being used to circumvent the restrictive broadcast rules used by sports teams. I would love to be able to get other games live every week simply by accessing a relative's or friend's cable box, sat receiver, etc. over the net, but you know the leagues will not let this lie if it becomes widespread.


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## replayrob

I'd like to try one out, but maybe it's vaporware??

Last week Best Buy estimated units in stock by 7/11, now their site says 7/20-7/27, CompUSA has no physical inventory, but is taking orders.... Hmmmmmmm.


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## plyons10

When they get a PDA client going, I'll definitely buy one of these. My Treo 650 should easily handle the streaming and I already watch coverted Replay MPGs comfortable on the small hi-res screen.


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## Ed Rempalski

They may be in short supply, but are not vaporware. They work as advertised and will just be better when the Win2K and PDA client software is released, hopefully soon!


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## replayrob

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ed Rempalski*
They may be in short supply, but are not vaporware.
Where do we order one from? No one seems to have them in stock.

Thanks...


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## Scyber

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Jeff D*
As to Ken's point... I could buy one for my folks and hook it up there so I could always watch my Pats without the sunday ticket. And at $250/season I think the box might be a better choice than the ticket.
Actually this is a darn good idea. If my brother ever got broadband he would probably pay me to buy the box so he could watch Giants games. I don't think my sister-in-law appreciates him going to the Sports bar at 10am on Sundays.


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## l8er

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Scyber*
If my brother ever got broadband he would probably pay me to buy the box so he could watch Giants games. I don't think my sister-in-law appreciates him going to the Sports bar at 10am on Sundays.
Unless there's more to going to the sports bar than just watching football.


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## Ed Rempalski

I checked CompUSA web, put in my zip, picked a store close, walked in and bought. They weren't on display yet in the store, but were in stock.


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## replayrob

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ed Rempalski*
I checked CompUSA web, put in my zip, picked a store close, walked in and bought. They weren't on display yet in the store, but were in stock.
Thanks Ed...

I just checked NY area (10001 zipcode) and not-a-one to be found yet. Guess I'll just have to wait it out.


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## The Robman

I've got one myself now. I haven't hooked it up to try using it yet because I noticed that there's a UEI chip and EEPROM on board to work the IR blaster, so I'm trying to hook up a 6-pin JP1 connector with a view to loading my own custom upgrades.


If anyone's interested in tracking my progress (or lack thereof at the moment), go here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4847


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## icecow

If you want to keep up on the slingbox spend some time in this area of AVS:


Digital Media Servers & Content Streamers
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=39 


Many threads are actively being created about the slingbox


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## Wrecks

Does Orb make Slingbox unnecessary?


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## Jeff D

TechTV talked about this box this week.

I got to admit, I can see some interesting things with this. My previous plan still sounds pretty sweet to me. =)


Wrecks, I think Orb is subscription based so you'll keep paying.




And no HDTV slingin'....


TechTV also talked about using the "TV station GPS" system for tracking criminals... this idea TV station GPS thing is getting a lot of press. Pretty sweet idea...


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## Wrecks

Orb has never billed me for anything.


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## replayrob

Finally got my SlingBox yesterday. Now in stock at CompUSA NY area stores.

Hookup was easy, used the pass-thru feature for the S-Video/audio from the Replay to the TV, the sling is "invisible".

Network setup was easy, had to turn router DHCP on to see and setup the Sling, once it was configured... turned DHCP off again. No problems there.

Watched my Replay via wireless laptop from outside on the patio... pretty cool.

Logged into a computer at work (from my house via REAL VNC), setup the Slingplayer client, watched my Replay shows at work, then watched live TV from my sat box too..... very nice little product!!



BTW: Sling software guys.... please activate the "page Up/Down" icon on the remote.


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## mhargr03

Here's a new article that popped up in in my Google news alerts:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000933050954/


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## The Robman

Thanks for that link mhargr03, that was an interesting read.


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## mhargr03

I found it interesting also. That, and the comments from many in various threads here on AVS, led me to buy one. I hope it really is as cool as people are saying when it arrives later this week...


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## icecow

Looks like chocolate
http://www.cricketsoda.com/images/st.../chocolate.jpg 





Easy Setup
http://slingmedia.com/i/dia_completesetup.gif 





Theator comming to a pda near you.

100s of devices supported, including ReplayTV:
http://i.timeinc.net/popsci/images/w...r_a700x500.jpg 




Slingbox

mMmm.. It's goood


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## Jeff D

Quote:

*So what Tivo did for time-shifting, you hope to do for place shifting?*


Exactly right, couldnâ€™t have said it better. The DVR, especially pioneered by TiVo and Replay, delivered on the original promise of the VCR, to allow you to time-shift and watch when you want.So what Tivo did for time-shifting, you hope to do for place shifting?


Exactly right, couldnâ€™t have said it better. The DVR, especially pioneered by TiVo and *Replay*, delivered on the original promise of the VCR, to allow you to time-shift and watch when you want.
That's right!!! Set that reporter straight REPLAY!!! YEAH, stick it to the man....



Now that I see win2k will be supported I think I need one of these. Now I need to just get the folks to get broadband!


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## l8er

FWIW, I picked one up Sunday at a CompUSA store. Maybe my expectations were too high but I'm a little disappointed in the video quality. It's acceptable for watching most TV and it'll be great when I'm out of town with nothing to do and some time kill. But I can't see watching sports with it. (I generally don't watch sports but add this comment for those interested in sports). I can't see watching it at anything close to full screen either, as everything starts to blur when you make the image much larger than the default for the Sling player. (And this is using the lastest Sling software and firmware downloaded 7/18/2005).


I read the review here that says:
Quote:

... picture quality is roughly on a par with a good videotape recording ...
I have to disagree with that. It's better than most Internet streaming (I have not seen it stutter or get hung), but it's a far cry from a good VCR recording.


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## mhargr03

That's good feedback Gary, thanks, because I was looking forward to using it somewhat for sports, mainly baseball games I am not home for. I have and will continue to try to find out and test it out to see if the quality is adequete, but no stores in my area have them yet.


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## icecow

Quote:

Originally Posted by *l8er*
I read the review here that says: I have to disagree with that. It's better than most Internet streaming (I have not seen it stutter or get hung), but it's a far cry from a good VCR recording.
I don't know about you, but when I'm going to thanksgiving at my sister's new house in some alien city, and find myself in a residentual area a few blocks away sitting in my car using someone's open wireless network to watch shows from my DVA server on a wireless PDA, I don't care about 'good VCR quality' I just want to be able to skip the commercials.


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## icecow

Quote:

Originally Posted by *l8er*
I read the review here that says: I have to disagree with that. It's better than most Internet streaming (I have not seen it stutter or get hung), but it's a far cry from a good VCR recording.
I don't know about you, but when I'm going to thanksgiving at my sister's new house in some alien city, and find myself in a residentual area a few blocks away sitting in my car using someone's open wireless network to watch shows from my DVA server on a wireless PDA, I don't care about 'good VCR quality' I just want it sync up to the best available quality and skip the commercials.


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## mhargr03

Quote:

Originally Posted by *icecow*
"...find myself in a residentual area a few blocks away sitting in my car using someone's open wireless network to watch shows from my DVA server on a wireless PDA..."
I'm having trouble deciding whether that is really sketchy or really cool...


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## Ed Rempalski

Gary, Did you play with the Slingplayer Options, encoding tab, I see three profiles, one of them is fast action, sports. This isn't the default. I was wondering if it made much difference.


I don't watch much sports so I was pleased with the quality considering what it's doing.


I really want to see the PDA version, that will be fun.


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## l8er

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ed Rempalski*
Gary, Did you play with the Slingplayer Options, encoding tab
Yes. The default was Medium and I switched to High and there was a slight improvement.


A thought I had after posting - I'm viewing it on LCD monitors that are a couple of years old. The slow response time in the monitors might be part of what I'm seeing. I've got a new 19" monitor to hook up at home and that may give me a better grasp on the Sling player quality.


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## [email protected]

I've purchased several of the SlingBoxes so I can reduce the bandwidth required to view my ReplayTV material remotely. I frequently would VPN into the network where my Replays are and stream the content directly to VLC or use VLC on the far end to transcode the stream down to 1 mb.


Now with the Slingbox it's a lot more flexible to use and it uses as little as a quarter of the bandwidth.


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## replayrob

Slingbox is very convenient, Iâ€™m watching the latest incidents live from London via CNN on my laptop while at work. Quite handy for breaking news stories when all the webcast feeds bog down!


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## jdn

Can you guys comment on the picture quality?


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## l8er

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jdn*
Can you guys comment on the picture quality?
 Yes.


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## replayrob

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jdn*
Can you guys comment on the picture quality?
I'd say it's a slight bit below Replay's STD quality.


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## jdn




> Quote:
> 
> Originally Posted by jdn
> 
> Can you guys comment on the picture quality?
> 
> 
> Yes.
> 
> 
> OK, I set myself up for that one! Actually Gary I was wondering if you had connected it to the 19 inch monitor that you talked about. That's how I would use it so I'm just curious to see how it worked for you.


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## l8er

I did hook it up the new 19" monitor and there wasn't a great deal of improvement compared to my older 17" monitor. With the video viewed as a small window in the SlingPlayer it looks pretty good, but when you start to make the image larger, it loses some definition.


The SlingBox idea is great, and I'm relatively confident they'll continue to improve the SlingPlayer.


That's my $.02 worth, YMMV.


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## cool8man

Why do I need to buy the $250 slingbox? Doesn't my ReplayTV 5000 already have all the necessary hardware to do exactly what the slingbox is doing?


The question is why did ReplayTV let this boat sail away from them? All they needed to do was provide a software application for Windows that would let you stream video from your RTV over the network or over the internet and then there would have been no need to drop $250 on the slingbox.


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## Wrecks

It sounds like you need to go to orb.com on the internet.


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## KevinLS

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ed Rempalski*
Here's a link to CompUSA they're in stock now...

http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...29231&pfp=hpf4


Yuuuummmmm, chocolate.......


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## Jeffreymb

I just picked up my Slingbox last Friday at the Paramus, NJ (South) CompUSA. They had 6 in stock when I reserved my unit from CompUSA's site. They are probably sold out by now (unless they received another shipment since then.)


First, I thought the setup was incredibly simple. I was truly impressed (though I would NEVER, EVER give one to my parents!!). As simple as the setup was, I could not get the Replay to change channels during the Slingplayer setup. No matter what I did, it wouldn't work. After 1/2 hour on the phone with a Sling tech, he decided that I had a faulty flasher cable and he is sending me a replacement. That was a bummer - 'cause I really wanted to play with it. I was really pissed that Sling decided to use a 3/32 jack, instead of a standard one, as I had other flashers I could have tried, but I they had 1/8 jacks. It was late at night so I had to wait a day to pick up an adaper at Rat Shack. I must say that the small jack did not seem to have a very tight fit (it didn't really "snap" when I plugged it in).


Truth is, I was really trying to NOT use Sling's flasher. My problem was that the IR window in my 4516 is really small. My Replay sits in a converted cabinet behind a swing-out drawer front. It is hidden, along with the rest of my equipment and works with a main IR Receiver that blasts the IR signals to each of my components through a Xantech connecting block. There is literally NO room for any additional flasher in front of the window. The dual flasher that came with the Slingbox is really big, and is made to extend an inch or so in front of the window. I don't have that space available in my setup, so I decided to use a 3/32 > 1/8 adapter and a 6' m-m audio extender cable to connect the IR out from the Slingbox directly into my "IR Receiver IN" jack in my connecting block. This way, I would only have my original flasher over the IR window and the Sling signals would be transmitted through my connecting block. To others out there... 'DON'T DO THAT!". I burned out 2 transformers (one for each of my 2 connecting blocks). So, I now have the solution: I am using the 3/32 > 1/8 adapter with a standard Xantech flasher placed ALONGSIDE my original flasher. The two flasher "lenses" are side-by-side over the IR window and they both work well (even though the window is a 1/4" circle). Fortunately, I had 2 replacement transformers and an extra flasher. I did have to buy the adapter, but it was pretty cheap. And YES, the Sling flasher was defective as the Xantach one works just fine.


Otherwise, I have the beta player installed. I am pretty impressed, but so far, I have only viewed through my local network. Seems much better when I am wired vs. wireless (b) My LAN bitrate has been as high as about 850 kbps on my desktop, but it seems like it averages between 500 and 700. My laptop on wireless sometimes goes below 200 and then it ocassionally stutters. And I sometimes get a severe humm (which is now starting to bother me). I just moved the transformer and I think the hum went away. Will have to wait and see... All and all, I think this is way cool. Now I have 3 networked Replays, a Slingbox, a Proliphix IP Thermostat, a Pan/Tilt/Zoom Netcam, Vonage. Soon, I won't even have to get out of my chair!! Anyone know of an IP device that will feed me??


Also the Slingbox and the transformer seem to get very hot. Any one else notice this? Any reason to worry? Mine is in an enclosed cabinet, but there is ventilation space on all sides.


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## replayrob

Sling support....

Yesterday my Slingbox streaming was down to under 30 kb/s instead of it's usual 400-700 kb/s. Resulted in choppy/frozen video. I dropped the connection and restarted several times without result. I realized the Slingbox probably just needed a reboot (remove DC power, connect DC power) but I was at my office. I couldn't find anything about remote reboots in the FAQ's or other docs.

I gave tech support a call for advice.....

Seems there's no way to do a remote reboot of the Slingbox at this time. I asked him if he could add that feature to the "wish list" he told me it was already on there. Shouldn't be too hard to add a reboot feature to the firmware.

Anyway, I just wanted to let others know that Sling mgmt. is open to suggestions and it seems they want to improve their product.


----------



## DTSfan

The Slingbox will reboot if you change the network configuration, which you can do remotely with the administrator password. I came up with a method to kick off a "guest" user that I posted here . You could attempt using the same method to force a reboot remotely once you set up two ports in your router to toggle your Slingbox between.


----------



## l8er

Quote:

Originally Posted by *DTSfan*
... You could attempt using the same method to force a reboot remotely once you set up two ports in your router to toggle your Slingbox between.
Tried this (toggling between ports) and can see the Slingbox go off line and then back on line, but can't tell if it's really doing a "reboot". Time will tell. Thanks for the tip.


----------



## DTSfan

Quote:

Originally Posted by *l8er*
... but can't tell if it's really doing a "reboot". ...
Yes. I think the phrase used by the Slingbox is something like "restart" so I think at best it is a warm reboot and more likely just restarting a service with the new port assignment.


I helped test the initial W2K beta and was happy to see the new player and firmware released yesterday so quickly after the public .89 beta. However, I was disappointed the new build didn't include the improvements in the Replay remote controls to enable a button for direct access to the Replay Guide and for the Pgup Pgdn displayed button to work.


I know they're working on getting those codes mapped and I thought they wouldn't be too difficult to add - especially since they tackled the multiple Replay/Tivo codesets. Since they get many feature requests, Replay/Slingbox users will need to speak up if they want improvements in the remote codes.


----------



## replayrob

Quote:

Originally Posted by *DTSfan*
The Slingbox will reboot if you change the network configuration, which you can do remotely with the administrator password.
Thanks, I'll setup another port forwarding line on my router in case the Sling gets sluggish again. I'll let you know if it works out...


----------



## l8er

It appears the good people at Slingmedia are going to continue to improve what the Slingbox can do. They released a software and firmware update in the past week that greatly improves the picture quality. I can't wait to travel out of town and view my ReplayTV programming and live TV from my home setup remotely.


----------



## mhargr03

Pretty cool indeed  Can't wait for the customized ReplayTV remote they're hopefully working on.


----------



## Wrecks

Do a Google search for "Internet Power Switch".


----------



## replayrob

Quote:

Originally Posted by *replayrob*
Yesterday my Slingbox streaming was down to under 30 kb/s instead of it's usual 400-700 kb/s. Resulted in choppy/frozen video.
Well, looks like Sling had some bad hardware shipped out. Seems there's a "recall" of sorts with unit sn# in the range of 50600000 to 50700801. My unit is SN 5060XXXX. That would explain the streaming problems I've had with it. I contacted Sling support, they loked up my case notes and agreed that my unit displayed all the symptoms of a defective box, and they are sending a new advance replacement unit. Here's the link to the "recall" notice: http://www.slingmedia.com/gethelp.ph...007%26p%3D7393


----------



## carpathia16

Got my Slingbox and want to set it up to work with my Replay5XXX, linked by Ethernet cable to a wireless router to DSL connection. We have Directv and use an IR Blaster to change channels via the Replaytv. We have 4 Replays, all 5XXX in our network, with 3 wireless and one wired.


My question is, when I hook the Slingbox up to the RTV, I am supposed to attach an IR Blaster to the RTV, but I can't see where the "eye" is on the front of the RTV to attach the IR blaster to. The Slingbox directions are pretty general.


Any insights?


Thanks,


Carolyn


----------



## mhargr03

Carolyn, the ReplayTV's IR receiver is between the red light and the blue light. You should be able to find it based on that


----------



## rplenty

Only had it 1 day so far and it is great even over the web! Easy to set up and you can control replay easily and use replay inputs to monitor your security cameras etc.


----------



## carpathia16

Thanks, MH!


Carolyn


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *mhargr03*
Pretty cool indeed  Can't wait for the customized ReplayTV remote they're hopefully working on.
Just FYI, I have figured out all the details for using JP1 to create new codes for the Slingbox, and have been working with the guys at Slingbox, so they should have the ability to create customized remote codes very soon.


----------



## scottmd1us

I am using ORB software right now but I have to first download the shows via DVARchive before I can view them using ORB, with the Slingbox, do you have to download them or can you seen them directly off of the replay?


----------



## mhargr03

You can see them directly off your ReplayTV, as well as watching live TV or shows recorded on other networked RTVs through the ReplayTV if you desire.


----------



## scottmd1us

that is pretty kick a$$


----------



## The Robman

Basically, the Slingbox let's you watch and control a device from a remote location, regardless of whether that device is a DVD player, a Replay, Tivo, etc. Right now, the Slingbox will just control one device, but they tell me that they are working on making it control multiple devices. Also, right now you're SOL if the "remote" code that you need isn't part of the software package, but that too is being addresses. In fact, if there's anyone here that has a Slingbox that won't control the intended device (or the control is incomplete), let me know and I'll tell you how you can rectify it, but be warned, it will mean getting your hands dirty as there's no fancy software ready for this yet (and I do mean "yet").


----------



## icecow

Quote:

Originally Posted by *The Robman*
Just FYI, I have figured out all the details for using JP1 to create new codes for the Slingbox, and have been working with the guys at Slingbox, so they should have the ability to create customized remote codes very soon.


Good work! btw. So many things go unsaid around here.


Expertise is _almost everything_, but good timing of initiative is the _everything else_ that decides whether something happens or not.


Way to manifest yourself. four hooves up!


----------



## The Robman

Thanks Ice-C!


----------



## rplenty

It allows you to watch and control your replay tv in real time over the internet. All you need is a broadband connection and the $249 retail Slingbox (slingmedia.com). Plug your video and audio out into the Slingbox, set the remote infra-red transmitter and plug the Slingbox into your ethernet connection and it does the rest. It is an amazing thing!

And you can set up recordings immediately. It also allows you to watch the replay inputs in real time such as any cable channel.


----------



## rplenty

can you help me out? roady2 is the model


----------



## mhargr03

Quote:

Originally Posted by *scottmd1us*
that is pretty kick a$$
quite


----------



## davester2

Who would want to spend all that money for that little functionality?


----------



## rplenty

if you travel or want to watch your replay at work, it's perfect. I have my security camera as an imput to the replay and can monitor it in full motion and sound from work or while traveling.


----------



## slprp1

I've been reading about "slingbox" and please excuse the confusion but I wanted to clarify an issue. The only function that I really need is to be able to access my replay 5000 unit from a PC in a different location (i.e the library or on while on vacation) and program a show that I may have forgotten to do or that popped up suddenly. I am not concerned about watching shows I have recorded from a remote location but I would love to be able to control the replay (delete shows, check to see if a show recorded ok, etc.). Do I need "slingbox" for this? Are there other options? Cheaper options? Software options? etc.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated! THANKS!


----------



## Clay Schneider

Seems to be XP only [maybe w2k] -- but that leaves out a lot of my hardware.


----------



## mhargr03

The web interface of DVArchive will do everything you are wanting to do. All you have to do is leave DVA running on a home computer on the same network as your ReplayTV(s) and you will be able to do what you mentioned.


The Slingbox allows you to interface *directly* with the ReplayTV, which means you can do everything you could do if you were sitting in front of that particular ReplayTV.


----------



## mhargr03

I wouldn't say it's a must for a ReplayTV owner, but it is pretty darn cool and the fact that you can have multiple inputs into the ReplayTV means you can access that many more video sources from anywhere with a decent Internet connection.


While DVA allows you to schedule recordings almost instantly from anywhere, and manage shows as far as deleting, triggering downloads to your home PC, etc, the Slingbox certainly provides more and different functionality.


----------



## slprp1

Thank you for responding!

I should have been more specific.

I do not have a PC at home currently, nor do I have a network.

Can I simply use the "slingbox" ONLY with the replay and then control the replay from a remote PC.

If so, how is this done? What software and/or requirements does the remote PC need?


How exactly do I control the replay from the remote computer? Is it simple and intuitive or is it complicated to use? I would appreciate any detailed info any experienced user could provide.


THANKS!


----------



## Slack

The thread title should include 'and you have killer upload speeds, and you travel alot to places with broadband for free'.


Otherwise, I don't see sling box as being a 'must' for RTV fanatics.


----------



## mhargr03

Yes, you can use the Slingbox only with the ReplayTV and then control the ReplayTV from a remote PC as if you were sitting right in front of the ReplayTV.


Go to www.slingmedia.com to see what the exact system requirements are. You'll also find a good overview of the product. Once the software is installed and the box is set up, it is very easy to use. However, you need to hook up the Slingbox to both the video source you want to use (ReplayTV in this case) and you also have to hook it up to broadband Internet. If you don't have broadband (cable or DSL) then you should forget about using the Slingbox as it needs a good amount of bandwidth that dialup doesn't provide.


----------



## rplenty

I get good video at 100kbs or more so you don't necessarily need great bandwidth with the slingbox, thay's one of it's benefits.


----------



## cool8man

I agree that this will be a must have device but only if you also have a windows mobile phone and an EV-DO connection.


The sling media site says in the FAQ that certain buttons are missing from the ReplayTV functionality of their client. Which buttons are these?


----------



## rplenty

the replay guide must be accessed via menu=3 clicks unless you are already playing the just return to replay guide and commercial skip on/off must be accessed via menu. neither of these is a big problem and sling is working on adding those buttons.


----------



## Jeff D

slprp1, you don't think this will work without a broadband internet connection do you? That's piece number one in this Slingbox puzzle. It doesn't work via dialup. It sounds like with your current setup this won't help you out.


----------



## Jeff D

And if CA button is disabled in the 5k line it also means the input button is disabled on others...


----------



## Clay Schneider

why are there all these different threads about replay? Isn't one enough?


----------



## icecow

In response to the other thread 'If you have a replay TV, Slingbox is almost a must!'--which I'm trying to drag back to this thread--there is a article in the LA Times today about the Slingbox, its 'gee whiz' factor, and its 'do I need this?' factor.


Here's the LA Times article:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...ck=1&cset=true 


Most notable, is the end of the article:
_But are any of these applications compelling enough to justify the expense and the set-up hassles?


Slingbox, unfortunately, looks like one of those solutions looking for a problem, like all too many tech products that seemed interesting when introduced, only to fade into obscurity.

*Like record players for cars.* Seriously â€” in 1955__*, Chrysler began offering the "Highway Hi-Fi" record turntable as an accessory.(Check it out at http://www.ookworld.com/hiwayhifi.html ) It died even before the advent of audio cartridges and cassettes.

*Remember the satellite telephone?* There's another gee-whiz device that never scored big.


And just last year came *Microsoft Corp.'s much-hyped SPOT technology*, which uses FM signals across the country to send news, sports and stock updates to specially equipped digital wristwatches. I've never spotted anyone actually wearing one, outside a trade show.


Maybe the clever Slingbox won't join this group. Maybe it is the future of television.


But if not, you could always keep it as a collector's item, a token of a bygone tech era.

*I'm already scouring eBay for a Highway Hi-Fi for my Honda Civic.*_


*according to a patent book I was rumaging through yesterday, 1955, was also the year the nuclear reactor and velcro were patented. I also discovered that the Rocket, and Bra--oddly--were patented in the same year (1916). A moment of ackwardness followed learning the camera was patent 80ish years(~1840) before the bra. Most confronting I learned that the Drive-In Theator was patent in May of 1933; my mom was born in April of 1934.


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rplenty*
Rob, I would like to control my XM radio as well as the replay, can you help me out? roady2 is the model
I probably could let you control the Roady, but the current version of the Slingbox software doesn't allow for controlling 2 devices at once. Though they tell me that is in the works.


----------



## The Robman

Just FYI, I have merged the other Slingbox thread with this one.


----------



## Clay Schneider

Rob - when I set it up, it gave me a choice for 'replay' [don't remember the exact wording], along with replay1 and replay2 [again, don't remember the exact wording] -- and I assumed they meant machine-id1 and machine-id2.


Great, I thought, so I selected #1 -- only it said it wasn't available. Any idea why they list configurations that aren't available??? [I wound up with just the default replay, and put a simple piece of cardboard between the two machines which seems to be quite enough to block the local ir blinker from the second machine while still allowing me to control both from across the room -- but it would be nice to have true '#1' at some time...]


[And for the record, I'm surprised that it is quite usable -- not great, but usable -- with dsl upload speeds -- and that it gets through my firewall at work (which seems to block most video streams by default) -- though I don't know how long that will last...].


----------



## carpathia16

Quote:

Originally Posted by *slprp1*
The only function that I really need is to be able to access my replay 5000 unit from a PC in a different location (i.e the library or on while on vacation) and program a show that I may have forgotten to do or that popped up suddenly. I am not concerned about watching shows I have recorded from a remote location but I would love to be able to control the replay (delete shows, check to see if a show recorded ok, etc.). Do I need "slingbox" for this? Are there other options? Cheaper options? Software options? etc.
Why not try myreplaytv? It's free and seems to be the answer to your problem, so long as you remember to record the program the day before you need it recorded.


HTH,


Carolyn


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
Rob - when I set it up, it gave me a choice for 'replay' [don't remember the exact wording], along with replay1 and replay2 [again, don't remember the exact wording] -- and I assumed they meant machine-id1 and machine-id2.
I don't have mine setup right now (had some network problems) so I can't verify exactly what codes are offered for ReplayTV, but when I look in the SBAV.cfg file, it just shows the one VCR/0616 code. This is the Panasonic version of the code that doesn't support unit codes. Having said that, I do see three other files in the SBAV folder for the version of the Slingbox that has the PL chip installed called VCR/0614, 1614 and 1615. My guess is that the 1614 and 1615 codes are for unit codes 1 and 2 (though I haven't checked yet).


I need to check with the Sling guys whether there's a way to tell which version you have (ie, JU or PL) from the serial number or something.


----------



## rplenty

Quote:

Originally Posted by *The Robman*
I probably could let you control the Roady, but the current version of the Slingbox software doesn't allow for controlling 2 devices at once. Though they tell me that is in the works.
No problem for me because I have a slingbox I want to dedicate to the roady2. I want to listen to some channels not available on XM on line. I have several others who have requested it also see XMfan.com


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rplenty*
No problem for me because I have a slingbox I want to dedicate to the roady2. I want to listen to some channels not available on XM on line. I have several others who have requested it also see XMfan.com
OK then, could you remind me in about a week (by posting here) and I'll create an upgrade for you. (By then hopefully our JP1 software will be updated to help me make the upgrade).


I'd like to know whether you have a JU or PL version of the chip. To find out which version you have, check the serial number.


If it starts with...

505 it's a JU

507 it's a PL


for 506...


a. View > Slingbox Directory

b. Edit Properties

c. Select the Information tab

d. Scroll down to find IR blaster version

i. 2.0 = JU

ii. 2.1 = PL


----------



## rplenty

ok, by the way I will be in chitown next week. Hope the weather is good! I have a 507


----------



## carpathia16

Need help.


Slingbox is hooked up to the ReplayTV (5040 upgraded to 200 hrs) via S-video and a/v cables and to the router via Ethernet cable. Via the computer the Slingbox changes channels and turns the RTV on and off but there's no watchable picture.


Do I need to change any settings on the RTV so that the RTV will output to the Slingbox? Pehaps in Menu, Setup?


TIA,


Carolyn


----------



## mhargr03

I assume you are using S-Video for the video from the RTV to the SB, and then only the red and white (audio only) cables for the audio? Make sure you don't have the yellow cable plugged in. Also, make sure the Replay is 'on' (blue light on).


In the initial Slingbox setup did you indicate that you were using the SVideo for video?


----------



## carpathia16

Quote:

Originally Posted by *mhargr03*
I assume you are using S-Video for the video from the RTV to the SB, and then only the red and white (audio only) cables for the audio? Make sure you don't have the yellow cable plugged in. Also, make sure the Replay is 'on' (blue light on).


In the initial Slingbox setup did you indicate that you were using the SVideo for video?
________________________________________________________


Correct, the s-video is from the RTV to SB and only the red and white are plugged in. The RTV is on and I did indicated that I was using s-video in SB setup.


The buffer is only at 90 kbps, which makes me think that's the problem. I'm only using the SB inside the home and my network is transmitting at 100 mps. I switched to using a/v cables only (no s-video) and the buffer increased to about 98 kbps.


Carolyn


----------



## DTSfan

carpathia16, Did you get a picture with the composite video connection? The buffer amount doesn't mean much if you still aren't getting a picture. Make sure the A/V miniplug is fully plugged into the Slingbox by unplugging it and then plugging it in again. Inspect it to make sure you have it all of the way in. How is the Replay connected to your TV?


----------



## carpathia16

I got the SB working by just using the a/v cables instead of the s-video. For some reason the s-video reduced the buffer, but with the a/v I was up to 1000kbps. The reception is great. It's a lot of fun.


DTSFan, to answer your question, I have the RTV connected to the tv with a coaxial, so maybe that's an issue.


My next trick will be to try to use the SB over the internet. Right now it's working, but just on my home network. I think I'll revel in success for a little while before tackling the SB internet project.


Thanks to all for your help and support.


Carolyn


----------



## Jeff D

Just saw one at Compusa and thought about getting it... good thing a move is in the near future and I can force myself to hold off on that.... at least until football season starts. Oh crap that will happen BEFORE the move. Well, the folks don't have broadband yet so it really doesn't matter.


I wonder how long it will take for some tivo nut to figure out how to capture the broadcasts and display them on the tivo, so you can watch TV on TV from a remote location!


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rplenty*
No problem for me because I have a slingbox I want to dedicate to the roady2. I want to listen to some channels not available on XM on line. I have several others who have requested it also see XMfan.com
OK, I've created an upgrade for you which is attached. Unzip the file into the SBAV folder:


C:\\Program Files\\Sling Media\\SlingPlayer\\SBAV


Then edit the SBAV.cfg file using a text editor (like Notepad). Look for the [SATELLITE.Codes] section and then add an entry like this...


Delphi SkyFi2 XM Radio=S0730


Then save it and see if you can load the code into your Slingbox.


NOTE: This upgrade is for the PL version of the box (ie, serials starting with 507), it won't work for people using the JU version.

 

S0730_PL.zip 0.166015625k . file


----------



## bentl1

After reading some of the negative posts here, I recommend talking to an owner.

It's an astoundingly good product if you understand what it's purpose is ...... providing a streaming signal of your home-based video. You want HD? Well maybe in the future. But bear in mind that this is the first really and truly bug-free device of its type available. It works far better than it should and seems to work on a slower connection than they advertise. As for those with really old PC's complaining about minimum requirements, bear in mind a high performance PC is so cheap now as to be laughable. I saw a brand new Dell a couple of months ago for $200, shipped free with registered RAM no less!! And you can't afford two bills for an upgraded PC? Why would you be a customer of the Slingbox for $250.00 when you can't even afford a decent PC for $200?

I've heard of people actually getting the thing to run on dialup ..... Personally I donâ€™t see that as being conducive to play back quality, but heck .... It runs.

As to ugly, it's concealed in a cabinet, not displayed like a DVR or tuner.

It's not a device that would be used to pirate anything, so I can't imagine that even being an issue. Its sole purpose is to give you a decent picture though the web and it does that extremely well. Its flawless stability is a big plus. Although there are a couple of other competing companies, they are so flawed in my experience (and that's over thirty years worth in the electronics, technical and service biz) as to be worthless. Why they won't give the Slingbox its own forum is baffling. It freaks out the small number of users of competing products begging for help in the streaming forum with their problem units. Is it because they don't advertise here? You're dealing with the first major (working) item of its type .... a' la Tivo. Checkout the streaming media area of AVS should you have any interest.



P.S. It would be a great device for soldiers heading overseas that want to keep up with stuff at home. I know that some are already using it for that very use!

Since it's so stable, they don't have to worry about it being thousands of miles away and no way to get physical access to it to fix it. It runs really well on a cheap laptop too. The soldiers in many parts of the world have access to broadband and they can even hook the thing up to a camera for live images on demand from their home. A couple of Marines have told me that it really helps with homesickness. I have mine attached to a ReplayTV 5040 and have a ten dollar camera plugged into one of the inputs on the back .... so not only can I control the 5040 as though I were sitting there in my living room, I have live images _and_ sound of the front of my home for security (and I didn't have to buy special software or a network camera). Now that's so cooooollll !!!


----------



## scootss

Very excited about the slingbox...We bought one for my dad since he is a huge yankee fan and travels about 50% for work.


One quick question...

So if the slingbox plugs into the output on my RTV; a:does it have a passthrough to head onto the TV and b:whatever the remote sling user or couch user selects,both users would have to see, right? Any suggestions for the best way of setting that up?


I don't forsee it being a huge issue, but I was just curious...


Thanks!

-Scott


----------



## avsjja

Anyone watch a fast moving spots event like basketball? Wondering if there will be a blur (on the ball) similiar to the slow resolutions of a cheap LCD TV.


----------



## avsjja

Anyone watch a fast moving spots event like basketball? Wondering if there will be a blur (on the ball) similiar to the slow resolutions of a cheap LCD TV.


----------



## avsjja

Anyone watch a fast moving sports event like basketball? Wondering if there will be a blur (on the ball) similiar to the slow resolutions of a cheap LCD TV.


----------



## DTSfan

Quote:

Originally Posted by *scootss*
One quick question...

So if the slingbox plugs into the output on my RTV; a:does it have a passthrough to head onto the TV and b:whatever the remote sling user or couch user selects,both users would have to see, right? Any suggestions for the best way of setting that up?
Yes. The Slingbox AV cable that you plug into the output of your Replay provides a connection to send the signal on to whatever used to be plugged into that output. (composite or s-video is supported) I had an unused s-video output available on my 45xx so I didn't even touch the s-video connection to the TV.


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *scootss*
If the slingbox plugs into the output on my RTV (a) does it have a passthrough to head onto the TV and (b) whatever the remote sling user or couch user selects,both users would have to see, right? Any suggestions for the best way of setting that up?
(a) There's no pass-thru. Most (if not all) RTV units have multiple outputs, so you would connect one of them to the TV and the other to the Slingbox. If you're hooking up a device that only has one set of outputs, you would use "Y"-cables to split them so you could have one set going to the TV and the other to the Slingbox.


(b)Yes, if the remote user selects a different program, that's what the folks at home will have to watch (and vice versa).


----------



## scootss

Robman - thanks for the great response. Now I'll just have to see how he likes. I think it took months before he started loving Replay...


----------



## tlally

Just for fun, I plugged in a camcorder to the Slingbox input and used it as a monitor in my living room to see the kids while I was at work. When I was setting it up and testing it at home, I noticed there is about a 7 or 8 second delay from when something is viewed on the camera and when it shows up on the computer. I then set the encoding to around 96 kbps to see if I could get a more real time picture (thinking it might be cool to communicate this way instead of the poor luck I've had so far with msn messenger). There is still about a 7 second delay. I guess there is a lot of encoding that takes a long time before the video gets sent out. Even though it appears "real time" communication doesn't seem possible, the audio and video was still way better than with my msn messenger conversations. I suppose I could still use the Slingbox method and tell my kids that I'm working on the moon and that's why there is such a long delay.


----------



## jtoeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *The Robman*
(a) There's no pass-thru. Most (if not all) RTV units have multiple outputs, so you would connect one of them to the TV and the other to the Slingbox. If you're hooking up a device that only has one set of outputs, you would use "Y"-cables to split them so you could have one set going to the TV and the other to the Slingbox.


(b)Yes, if the remote user selects a different program, that's what the folks at home will have to watch (and vice versa).
I hate to contradict my friend Rob (who is a rock-star in my book!), but the Slingbox definitely has pass-throughs! It doesn't do any switching, so if you plug in S-Video, you get out S-Video, and same for RCA/Composite video. However, there is no pass-through for the RF/Coaxial input, which may be the point which misled Rob...


Best,

Jeremy


----------



## jtoeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *tlally*
Just for fun, I plugged in a camcorder to the Slingbox input and used it as a monitor in my living room to see the kids while I was at work. When I was setting it up and testing it at home, I noticed there is about a 7 or 8 second delay from when something is viewed on the camera and when it shows up on the computer. I then set the encoding to around 96 kbps to see if I could get a more real time picture (thinking it might be cool to communicate this way instead of the poor luck I've had so far with msn messenger). There is still about a 7 second delay. I guess there is a lot of encoding that takes a long time before the video gets sent out. Even though it appears "real time" communication doesn't seem possible, the audio and video was still way better than with my msn messenger conversations. I suppose I could still use the Slingbox method and tell my kids that I'm working on the moon and that's why there is such a long delay.
The default buffer setting is 7 seconds, and the automatic mode tends to hover around there. If you want a very low buffer, try these steps:

1) Player > SlingPlayer Options (or Alt-O)

2) in the Player tab, change Buffer settings from Automatic to Manual

3) lower the number to 1 or 2 seconds


Let us know if this helps out!


Best,

Jeremy


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jtoeman*
However, there is no pass-through for the RF/Coaxial input, which may be the point which misled Rob...
Yup, that's what it was. As I was answering from work, I went to the Sling Media web site and took a quick peek at the back of the unit and as I could just see 1 coax I assumed there was no pass thru. Thanks for setting us straight Jeremy!


----------



## avsjja

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Jeff D*
Just saw one at Compusa and thought about getting it... good thing a move is in the near future and I can force myself to hold off on that.... at least until football season starts. Oh crap that will happen BEFORE the move. Well, the folks don't have broadband yet so it really doesn't matter.


I wonder how long it will take for some tivo nut to figure out how to capture the broadcasts and display them on the tivo, so you can watch TV on TV from a remote location!
Plug the output of your laptop into the input of the TV and you got it.


----------



## Roadrunner-1

Rob,


That's great - I am trying to figure out how to create my own bin file for the SBAV directory as my satellite receiver is currently NOT supported in the current version of Slingplayer (probably because I live in Europe and we have different equipment on the market here):


I have the @Sat 9500 satellite receiver (ECI 9500). I tried ALL possible IR codes - currently included in Slingplayer but no luck yet (gotta call my wife if I wanna change the channels remotely - wanna change that urgently! ;-) The @sat receiver is manufactured by KAON Media and is popular in Europe (also sold/OEM'ed as the Xtreme UCI6400, Digix DSC911U, MagicBox MSC-9000U, Sunny AT 1020 DCI or EchosatX-7CIM; original is the Kaon KSC520U).


I have the remote and could for example capture the IR codes with Lirc - but have no idea what format the bin files included in the Slingplayer application are - need help here. You seem to be able to generate new ones and I'd love to find out how.


Thanks in advance from an almost perfectly happy Slingbox user in Europe!


----------



## The Robman

Hi Roadrunner,

I don't have any info on this SAT box at all, so I have no idea what RC signals it uses. I've just sent an email to one of my contacts at UEI to see if he's ever heard of it.


If it turns out that he doesn't know it either, I would need you to capture the signals for me. I don't know if we've ever bothered to decode the Lirc format, so that wouldn't be an use to me. I would really need you to capture the signals using either a Philips Pronto or a "One For All" learning remote, such as the URC-7562. If you capture them using an OFA remote, you would also need a JP1 cable to be able to download the contents and send them to me.


Are you willing to go to that much effort to get this sorted out?


----------



## The Robman

UPDATE: it turns out that UEI does have an upgrade for this SAT box, so I will be able to create an upgrade for you. Stay tuned!


----------



## Ed Rempalski

Used the Slingbox while on vacation in Hawaii. Was able to watch a few Replay shows from the hotel one evening and the video was just fine. At one hotel the stream was down to 50k which didn't do well, but most of the time it was around 170-200 which worked OK


I also have a couple of cameras modulated on the tv channels and could "look around" the house while away. I happened to catch my sister pulling up and called her on her cell which suprised her (as she had no idea that this was set up).


All in all it's a great little product!


----------



## avsjja

Quote:

Originally Posted by *avsjja*
Anyone watch a fast moving spots event like basketball? Wondering if there will be a blur (on the ball) similiar to the slow resolutions of a cheap LCD TV.
Installed mine yesterday. Had a problem with the router but tech support (no hold time, did not need to know another language, worked with me for over an hour) got me connected.


Now I will be able to watch my UConn basketball televised on Hartford local channels in Sarasota. How freaking wonderful is that?


I connected my laptop to my 27" LCD Samsung via USB and still get a great, large picture. My main feed is a series 1 TIVO. All remote functions work. Tried it with Comcast cable and SBC DLS. No noticable difference. Went to DSL for the $14.95 deal.


Boy, am I glad I've lived to be 69 and try out all this techie stuff.


----------



## rplenty

thanks robman for the xm remote codes!!!!!


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rplenty*
thanks robman for the xm remote codes!!!!!
You're welcome. Did you try them yet and do they work?


----------



## rplenty

I am told it works, just getting back from Vacation will have mine up soon.


----------



## Jeff D

My folks just got DSL! After months and months and months of pestering them it pays off!

You can bet I'm sending them one of these boxes as soon as I get moved! Just in time for baseball playoffs!


----------



## steam

Forgive me if this has been posted before, but I found no references to it in any forums: does anyone know of an SBAV for the Moxi BMC9012?


I bought a Slingbox several weekes ago from Best Buy, under the delusion from a salesperson there that it would work with Charter's Moxi dvr, but no dice. It does, however, work very well with the standard Charter cable box (RCA, I think.)


I also ran through ALL the codes in the Slingbox setup, in the hopes that one would accidentally work, but none did. Slingmedia have been unable to give me any time frame for supporting the Moxi.


Thanks for any info.


----------



## icecow

Slingbox's own 'blake_k' hangs out on AVSForums in this area:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=39 


Step it up a notch and ask him directly.


Tell him cow sent you. When he says 'who?' say 'not owl,. cow'. That is the password to the underworld.


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *steam*
Forgive me if this has been posted before, but I found no references to it in any forums: does anyone know of an SBAV for the Moxi BMC9012?
I have been helping Sling create an upgrade file for the Moxi, but you will need a unit running version 2.1 of the Blaster software.


----------



## Doctor

I can't find anyone that discusses the video quality of the slingbox. If it's being uploaded from a 384k account, is it little more than a crappy realplayer type video quality? Also, what video standard does it use and what program does one use to access it from the internet?


----------



## Ed Rempalski

It uses a Player App and special codecs to get the best possible video out of the stream it gets. Can't just use IE unfortunately.


At home it up to 1.5mps from outside internet I've seen 50k to 300k and it looks bad at 50k and pretty good at 300.


----------



## Ed Rempalski

It uses a Player App and special codecs to get the best possible video out of the stream it gets. Can't just use IE unfortunately.


At home it up to 1.5mps from outside internet I've seen 50k to 300k and it looks bad at 50k and pretty good at 300.


----------



## Rudy

Just installed my Sling this weekend and have played around with it a little from outside the house. So far, it's pretty nice. I'll be travelling later this week so hopefully I'll have a chance to play some more.


Since I have Verizon FiOS, my biggest problem seems to be the download speed of the remote site...


----------



## DTSfan

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Doctor*
I can't find anyone that discusses the video quality of the slingbox. If it's being uploaded from a 384k account, is it little more than a crappy realplayer type video quality? Also, what video standard does it use and what program does one use to access it from the internet?
The video quality is very acceptable if you have a 384K upstream connection. You must use the SlingPlayer software to play the streams. The SlingBox and the player do a great job of automatically adjusting the stream for changes in the content, bandwidth, etc. to optimize the streaming quality. You shouldn't expect a stream that you can turn into a full-screen image but it is definitely better than the average realplayer stream. The Kbps achieved will vary depending on all of the factors - content, quality of source, upstream, PC's resources, etc. They are often as high as 1400-1450 Kbps but will drop down as determined by the SlingStream process.


In addition to showing Kbps you can toggle the speed to show Frames per Second (FPS). I almost always achieve 30 (FPS) streaming to my PC on the local network or when I'm streaming over the Internet. At that frame rate the video stream is seamless and very watchable.


----------



## Jeff D

Anyone know of any current promotions or deals for this box? I wanted to get something extra for the $250 price tag...

I'm about to pull the trigger on this purchase. =)


----------



## astro237

I don't know where you are located but last Saturday the Sunnyvale, California Best Buy store employees were giving out 10% off friends and family coupons. The coupons were only good for Saturday and they were out of Slingboxes at the time.


Well to make a long story even longer the guy said they would give out 10% off coupons again on Saturday the 29th. He also said they would have more Slingboxes by then. Well I did not trust that they would have more by then and I was in a hurry so I took the coupon to another Best Buy that had some Slingboxes in stock and bought it there.


So if you are in the Sunnyvale, California area you should be able to slice 10% off the price this Saturday.


----------



## Jeff D

And I'm just moving from Mt View to the east coast, currently back in western MA heading down to NC on monday night after the little ones get stocked up on candy. I want to be able to hook this up before I leave and would have loved to have one of those coupons. I may just as a BB employee if they have any, can't hurt, right?


Do you know if this promotion was because it's a new store, or if this was a BB chain wide promo? I'm guessing becuase the other store didn't have an issue it's national or at least regional. Whaddya hit EPA? That's the one store that seems to have things when all other stores sell out...


Thanks for the heads up!


----------



## astro237

I ended up getting it at the Santana Row BB. It would be worth it to hit up a random BB employee because Santana Row took the coupon without any questions.


----------



## Jeff D

I did buy one,but it didn't work well, so I have to return it, I was thinking of swapping it and then I discovered a coupon...


The USPS movers packet included a $40 off $200 purchase at CircutCity. Now if I could just figure out how to use the coupon with a web based purchase and double dip with the $20 GC deal they have thru ebates...


----------



## rickster

Just bought one today - an impulse purchase; couldn't wait.


My son plays college football here on the west coast, and the family back east often can't watch his games because many times they are telecast regionally on the west coast, or on the local Fox Sports or CSTV.


I think this should fix that problem.


But I haven't been able to find an answer online to one question: can more than one remote person view it simultaneously? And if so, does it split the available bandwidth among the viewers (thus presumably decreasing video quality) or is it a multicast-type technology?


For instance can my Dad in Florida watch it the same time as my brother in Connecticut and my daughter in North Carolina?


Also... not holding my breath that Sony will allow it to happen, but would it be sweet to have a PSP Slingbox client.


Rick


----------



## replayrob

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rickster*
Can more than one remote person view it simultaneously?
Only if they're watching over your shoulder.  

In the context of your question- Nope, sorry.


----------



## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *replayrob*
In the context of your question- Nope, sorry.
Crud. I suspected as much (even though the BestBuy sales rep said it could do it)


Also, it's beginning to appear that the slingplayer software can only be installed on a computer that is on a network with a slingbox attached. Am I wrong about that? That's a major problem if you ask me. If so, my remote family members won't be able to make use of it unless they first visit with their laptops (or we set up a VPN or something). Not to mention that I can't go to a remote location, download the slingplayer and connect home. Ridiculous if true.


Finally, for a little comedic relief, from the slingbox support site:

Quote:

article #149886
*PAL, NTSC and other TV standards*

We will definitely have an international footprint. We have designed the Slingbox to be compatible with all geographies, to support various TV and video standards. Sling Media will not however introduce products for outside North America before Q1 2006.
Uh oh... 


Rick


----------



## rickster

Just called them and answered my own question: yes it is possible to install on a remote machine, you just have to tell it that you're not intalling the slingbox for the first time.


And he confirmed that there is no multicast capability - it seems they don't want to get sued by the recording industry...


Their phone tech support was fast, friendly and knowledgeable.


Rick


----------



## Jeff D

My TS experience wasn't so excellent. Basically came down to the "you got a bad unit" response. No ideas that I hadn't tried already several times.


I'm actually very happy they've got some win2k support so quickly after releasing as XP only.


----------



## Bigjohns

anyone know what encoder it uses? mpeg4? wmv9?


----------



## jimmcq

How does the Slingbox compare to Sony's 'LocationFree' box? I'd really like to get one or the other...


The PSP LocationFree client makes the Sony solution very tempting, but I'm curious about what the Slingbox offers that may outweigh that.


----------



## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jimmcq*
How does the Slingbox compare to Sony's 'LocationFree' box?
I considered the Location Free as well. Ended up with the Slingbox. Some of the differences I was able to find:

Sony is $100 more than Slingbox
Info about Sony is difficult to find - documentation is hard to track down and doesn't provide answers I'm looking for
For instance: I wasn't able to find out whether it supports ReplayTV. That's an absolute requirement.
Sony supports PSP - a pretty big plus, but most of the time I have a connection, I'll also have a laptop.
Sony seems to be setting up to charge for each player. They include a PC player and PSP player with the base station, but their direction seems clear. Slingbox on the other hand lets you download the player from their web site.
The Slingbox was a bit of an impulse purchase, and they seem to have gotten some pretty good retail distribution.


That's it for my list.


Rick


----------



## Ed Rempalski

The slingbox works with many more a/v devices


The slingbox, at some point will allow control of more than one device, easily.


----------



## tselling

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jimmcq*
How does the Slingbox compare to Sony's 'LocationFree' box? I'd really like to get one or the other...


The PSP LocationFree client makes the Sony solution very tempting, but I'm curious about what the Slingbox offers that may outweigh that.
I have both the Sony and the Slingmedia products. They are both nice products.


Sony has released a standalone box for $350 (minus the LCD TV) that works with your PC called the LF-PK1. I like the sony product. Works nicely with the PSP. You must have the newer generation version to work with the PSP (LF-PK1 or LF-X11). The original LF-X1 and LF-X5 TV basestations will not work with the PSP.


The Sony LF-PK1 comes with one license for 1 PC. Have to purchase more licenses for more PC's (I think around $50 per extra license). No license required for the PSP, just have to upgrade the firmware. The sony can only register 4 or 5 clients.


The Slingbox software is downloadable from their site. No multiple licenses required, and no limit on number of PCs that can be registered.


You can only connect one PC to the Sony and the Slingbox at a time.


Used to be you could not switch between TV and other input on the Slingbox easily but latest software release has fixed that.


Both have ReplayTV controller. I like the Slingmedia control better. Looks just like the ReplayTV remote.


If you don't have the PSP, I would say go with the slingbox. But connecting the PSP to the LocationFree basestation is pretty cool so wouldn't rule that out.


----------



## jtoeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Bigjohns*
anyone know what encoder it uses? mpeg4? wmv9?
The Slingbox encodes video in WMV format, although it comes with its own SlingPlayer software, so most users don't have to have any special familiarity with codecs and such...


Best,

Jeremy


----------



## rickster

Interesting - so does that mean it's possible to stream it with (for instance) Windows Media Player?


Hmmm... let me try.


OK, I've got a dynamic dns domain, but not sure what URL to use. No joy.


----------



## Jeff D

rickster, can't you just use a packet sniffer to see how the app normally communicates and work back from there? Ethereal is a good place to start.


----------



## Bigjohns

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jtoeman*
The Slingbox encodes video in WMV format, although it comes with its own SlingPlayer software, so most users don't have to have any special familiarity with codecs and such...


Best,

Jeremy
Hmmm...now, is it a multicast or unicast stream? anyone?


----------



## The Robman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Bigjohns*
Hmmm...now, is it a multicast or unicast stream? anyone?
The Slingbox can only broadcast one-to-one, the Sling guys did that on purpose to try and avoid the kind of legal mess that SonicBlue found themselves in, but that doesn't mean some clever hackers won't change that in the future. DVBroadcast anyone???


----------



## Roymus

Great thread. Slingbox sounds like a must have to me, if for no other reason than to kill down time at work by watching a "Simpsons" rerun on my work PC. I'm always looking for new ways to get fired.


Question regarding network connectivity: My 5080 connects to my router via a Netgear wireless-G Ethernet bridge. Has anybody connected the Slingbox to their network using an Ethernet bridge? Is there any signficant degradation in quality connecting wirelessly vs. a wired Ethernet connection the router? Any other issues I would need to know about (other than the fact that purchasing another wireless bridge sets me back an additional $100)?


----------



## The Robman

If there isn't enough expertize to answer your question here, you could try asking it over in the Sling Community...

http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/topic/6/


----------



## Clay Schneider

Available till oct 31 for around $207:

http://dealnews.com/deals/100199.html


----------



## nobbie

I just ordered one from Amazon. They have it for $229 delivered. It's the best deal I could find. I hope it works through my firewall at work! Would be sweet to catch up on recorded shows during...ahem...my lunch breaks!

Here's a link to the $229 Slingbox. I think you have to click "Add to cart" to see the price. You can always delete it if you don't want it. Weird, it was $10 more just yesterday! I wonder what that means. Is there a Slingbox 2.0 coming out for the holiday season? Hmmmm....


----------



## nobbie

Oh yes, and this would be great for when I travel. Which I do a lot of for work. The last time I was on a biz trip I was out for a week. It took me another three weeks to catch up on my shows! It would have been so nice to watch my normal shows late at night in the hotel rooms!


Oh, please work with my company-issued HP TC1100 tablet PC, please, oh please, oh please, work!


----------



## tselling

You might be able to get away with hooking the wireless bridge to a switch which wouldn't set you back more than $20 bucks or so. The wireless-G should be fast enough. I currently have all my 5508s, slingbox and locationfree TV basestations wired courtesy of the builders using cat5e for the phone cables (I did have to run wire for one of them). And I use a little 5-port switch to allow both the 5508 and the slingbox to use the same wired connection. I am using serveral linkskey switches I picked up from newegg inexpensively and they work nicely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Roymus*
Great thread. Slingbox sounds like a must have to me, if for no other reason than to kill down time at work by watching a "Simpsons" rerun on my work PC. I'm always looking for new ways to get fired.


Question regarding network connectivity: My 5080 connects to my router via a Netgear wireless-G Ethernet bridge. Has anybody connected the Slingbox to their network using an Ethernet bridge? Is there any signficant degradation in quality connecting wirelessly vs. a wired Ethernet connection the router? Any other issues I would need to know about (other than the fact that purchasing another wireless bridge sets me back an additional $100)?


----------



## Jim1348

I have a couple of DISH 811s now at home as well as DSL service for internet. I would like to be able to watch my DISH service on my laptop computer via a wireless aircard that I use. If I understand this correctly I cannot do this because my Sprint aircard will not be fast enough. I get about 100 kbps speed on average. If this is upgraded to Sprint EVDO will that be fast enough? I have looked on the Slingbox website and the support forums for them, but it is unclear to me so far. Also, if Slingbox will not do that for me, do I understand correctly that Orb might work on slower connections? Can I send DISH signal to my laptop this way or is it still just going to be too slow?


----------



## themosh1

I have both products as well, and I can tell you that if you are looking for the product that is adaptive to your bandwidth speed, will constantly maximize your picture based on how much bandwidth is available, and will be responsive to sending IR codes to your home DVR or multi-media player almost immediately, the Slingbox is the way to go.


Like it has been said, there are no extra fees for putting the client on multiple PC's and they are making awesome enhancements to it almost by-monthly. They are commited to an awesome community that helps create the next big enhancement. For example, within 3 months of launch, they went from supporting one connection via the Slingbox to supporting I believe up to three. While Location Free can do this too, their compression scheme, buffer sizing, and responsiveness to IR codes being sent over the net make it not #1. I like it, but I would love the Sony more if it had a better buffering technique like the SlingBox and did not hiccup when on the high bandwidth stream setting every 10 seconds.


Let me know if you have any questions.


Steve

______________


Slingbox

SA 8300DVR

Dish 610DVR

Sony LF-X1

Sony KDF-E50A10

SonyDVPCX995VKIT 400 DVD-HDMI Upscaling

D-Link DSM-320RD DVD/Wirless Media Player

Netgear MP101

Netgear WGT634U

Netgear SC101

Netgear WGX101

Netgear WGM124

Netgear WPN802

SMCWMR-AG Media Streamer

SMCWAA-B Wireless Audio Adapter

Apple IPOD Mini 4.0g

Toshiba PDA-1032


----------



## Mandingo

I ordered a Slingbox and set it up yesteday. Seemed to go very smoothly, I am now streaming one of my ReplayTVs over my wireless network at 1.4mbit/s (seems to be the max speed/quality) and the picture is reasonable.


I think "reasonable" is the right description - it's clearly not the quality of the original but it is perfectly servicable.


Connections were easy to set up and the software seems reasonably robust - it configured my UPNP router correctly and the automatic image quality optimization code works as advertised. The Replay remote control is a little clunky but it gets the job done and it's nice to have Replay support out of the box.


The real test is going to be watching over the internet - I travel to India next week with my family and a laptop and I hope to be able to provide home TV access for my kids while staying in various hotels.


I just upgraded my Comcast to 384kbit upstream (extra $10/month) to improve the quality but I know it's still going to be borderline.


Fortunately the kids watch mostly animated stuff which compresses/streams the best and they are not too hung up on quality so I hope the solution is acceptable for them.


Ultimately I am relying on decent broadband connection in the hotels (we're staying in some nice hotels so I hope they have decent connectivity) and that 384kbit upstream will be sufficient for cartoons.


I'll let you know how it turns out, fingers crossed.


----------



## Roymus

I purchased the Slingbox and set it up yesterday. I can't recall if I've ever seen a slicker setup program...not only did it walk me through the process, it automatically opened up a port on my router and configured itself for remote access via UPnP, and ran a self-test to verify connectivity (note: you can choose to set up port forwarding manually if you're anal about security). The documentation and on-line help is excellent if you have any questions about configuration. Most impressive is that during the setup process, your unique Slingbox ID is (apparently) captured by Slingmedia along with your Slingbox's IP address and port info. This way, all you need to do from any remote PC is download and install the free Slingplayer software, and enter your Slingbox ID at the prompt for the Slingplayer to "find" your Slingbox...you don't have to enter your IP address or other info (this is great if you don't have a static IP address at home). I was also impressed with the built-in Replay graphical remote that is loaded when you specify you are using a RTV...pretty slick. This is the way all setup wizards should work...truly impressive!


I tried the remote Slingplayer at work. Our Internet connection is shared by 200 people and contention is high, but I was able to watch live TV and a recorded "Simpsons" during lunch very comfortably on my work PC. The video compression algorithm is pretty impressive, once the software has "optimized" your signal (takes a few seconds) there's hardly any jittering and playblack is smooth. The Slingplayer lets you set up favorite channels with logos that you can access with a single click, and is dockable (handy for keeping the ballgame on mute on the side, although you need a widescreen monitor to be effective).


There are very few products that gave me such a satisfying out-of-box experience as the Slingbox (and that includes Replay). I'm very happy with this product, and I can't wait for NCAA tournament time to schedule some closed door meetings that first week!


----------



## flabingo

I bought the Slingbox instead of another Replay unit and it works flawlessly connected to the replay unit to a computer on a linksys network. The customer service is much better than average. Most every person was very qualified and helpful. My problem was getting to work "remotely" ie not on my network. My modem is a westell and it has router capabilities and they suggest that you "bridge the connection", which I did and it solved the problem with the slingbox but caused me another problem with a more important program. Today I spoke with a linksys tech who solved my problem without bridging the westell modem. Now it works on a remote network and while the wireless signal is not as good as a wired connection, it works fine. I recommend this product because of the hardware and the customer service, particularly with a replay or tivo unit.


----------



## mikek

Is slingbox to PSP possible?


-mk


----------



## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *mikek*
Is slingbox to PSP possible?


-mk
It appears not .


And I'm guessing that Sony won't be in any hurry to facilitate it, being as it's competitive with their own location-free product.


----------



## icecow

Sony has been going down hill for years and recently they've gotten uglier then ever.


For years they've been walking in the coat tails of their own good name. It took me a few years just to figure out that much of their stuff _actually_ was as subpar as it seemed because I was a huge fan of the original walkman, and other stuff they made 10-15 years ago in their prime. Most noticably are the HD TVs they've been putting out over the last five-ish years. Their picture seemed slightly crappy for years--everytime I checked one out, but I didn't really believe it because of the sticker price and because it was Sony. I finally accepted the reality after reading an article on how many Silicon Valley equivlants (all over the globe) were the ones really doing all the HD TV innovation leaving Sony in the dust as a second rate player. There are many current articles about Sony's ailing profits, particulary HD TVs. S. Korea meanwhile has been gaining market share, particularly LG's Electronics branch in the US. S. Korean and Japan are in fierce competion, and largely hate each other on a personal level for historical reasons (Japan invaded S. Korea and treated them like $hit). Anyway, I've seen many crappy products put out by Sony, but--again-- resisted believing it. They also put out good products like the PS2 so the realization was slow and foggy. Fucckers.


The downhill path steepened when they started trying to cordinate thier hardware branch with their music branch. There was a lot of internal fighting. The music branch wanted to lock everything down with DRM, and proprietory memory, and crap like that. The hardware branch didn't like it. The music branch--with all their crappy lawyers--won that fight.


Thats why sony uses their selfish proprietory flash memory chips, and why their failing mp3 players were caulk stuffed full with DRM..so full they were useless and failed in the marketplace. I believe their latest mp3 players will actually play the MP3 format, though.


Sony is turning into the hardware industry equivlant to the RIAA. Wait, Sony Music always has been a member of the RIAA.


On october 31, 2005 Sony started selling music CDs with black-hat rootkits which install on to MS OS PCs supposively to prevent people from ripping the CD to their computer. If anyone tries to remove the rootkit the Windows-install becomes corrupt. That's control freaky enough, but just the beginning.. Sony's behavior was discovered to be much much worse.. before long.. hell broke loose.


The CDs also contained a new EULA to protect themselves from any rootkit mishaps and to flagship their new philosophy on terms of agreement.

The EULA says:


Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.


You must install all rootkit updates if playing CD from your computer


Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00 damages

No longer the music if you don't possess the original CD


You can only the play CD in audioplayer, or in a rootkit infected PC at home that you personally own


You no longer own music (must despose) if you move to a different country


If you file for bankruptcy, you must delete music from your computer


You have no right to transfer the music on your computer, even along with the original CD.

(note: doesn't that contratict the one above it?)


Lastly, the EULA suggests you have no fair-use rights



In print Sony assured that no information would be sent back to Sony. Sadly, some programmers found the rootkit does send back information. Another programmer discovered the rootkit illegally utilizes the LAME encoder, which is under a GPL licience. Just one more incident that suggests infringing is a matter of perspective and perogative.


Events progressively got weirder. Players started cheating in the game 'World of Warcraft' by using Sony's rootkit to hide their cheat files.


In an NPR interview Sony BMG Global Digital Business President Thomas Hesse was quoted saying ''Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"


News started spreading about the rootkit and people started getting really really pissed off. Sony downplayed the significance of the whole thing and made availible a 'service-pack' that supposively removed the rootkit. A DRM Researcher at Princeton analyzed it and found it didn't remove the rootkit, instead Sony was adding code and not disclosing what they were adding.


Anger continued to rise and Sony stopped shipping CDs yet didn't issue a recall.


It was discovered that the CDs infected Macs too.


A _second_ trojan was discovered on the CDs --by the same Princton DRM expert-- which spys on your computer and reports back info to Sony (not sure specifically what it reports)


At this point in the timeline--unrelated to this mess--Sony patented 'lockware' that binds a single purchased game to a single game console. This means you can't play it on a different console, sell a game when you are done, rent a game, and presumably upon any hardware glitch it is your burden to keep good records. The strategy is to destroy the after market and gain price leverage. In doing so they are circumventing the 'first sale doctorine'. That is a doctorine that says if you buy a book, you can sell that book(or step on the book if you want because it's your book). Sony claims this patent will not be implimented in the PS3. Guess we have to wait for the PS4.



Then it was found that the supposive rootkit 'uninstaller' opened up huge vulerabilities that allow any knowledgable hacker full access to systems. The uninstaller made things way worse then before. Specialists have already detected an incident of malicious code made by a hacker that exploits the vulerability. It appears the vulerabilities were left open so Sony would have access at a later date.


Lawsuits are now underway in the US and Italy.


Dan Goodin from Wired magazine has called for a boycott on Sony Products


Microsoft is including a Sony root-kit remover in their new anti spyware products


Various government agencies, companies, educational institutions are banning the use of Sony CDs on their computers


The Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team chimes in advising that you never install CD DRM: "Do not install software from sources that you do not expect to contain software, such as an audio CD." in response to Sony's rootkit.


The process of discovering Sony's rootkit leads to some significant advances in the art of cache snooping. When rootkits phone home they make a DNS request, which are cached. Over 500,000 computers including the government and military have been detected making phone home requests using Sony's rootkit. If I am reading the article right, the rootkit is also a worm.
http://www.doxpara.com/?q=/node/1129 


Sony issues a warning begins a recall taking no responsibility and instead blamed the threat on hackers exploiting the rootkit's vulerabilities.



Sony has stated lies, and been subversive throughout the whole ordeal, but pissed off digital rights advocates have been detecting every misdeed/lie and hanging Sony high every turn.


Considering all that Sony has become, I happen to be glad.


The above is a mashup of bunches of articles I've read, largely from boingboing, where Cory Doctorow is going nuts. He's like a crazed bulldog. I'm glad, but hey, it's notable.





Meanwhile SlingMedia has been really innovating a great product. Just buying a slingbox is like cutting a check to the EFF for $20 (made up figure). The slingbox is more then the sum of it's parts and functionality.



*p++


----------



## icecow

Sony has been going down hill for years and recently they've gotten uglier then ever.


For years they've been walking in the coat tails of their own good name. It took me a few years just to figure out that much of their stuff _actually_ was as subpar as it seemed because I was a huge fan of the original walkman, and other stuff they made 10-15 years ago in their prime. Most noticably are the HD TVs they've been putting out over the last five-ish years. Their picture seemed slightly crappy for years--everytime I checked one out, but I didn't really believe it because of the sticker price and because it was Sony. I finally accepted the reality after reading an article on how many Silicon Valley equivlants (all over the globe) were the ones really doing all the HD TV innovation leaving Sony in the dust as a second rate player. There are many current articles about Sony's ailing profits, particulary HD TVs. S. Korea meanwhile has been gaining market share, particularly LG's Electronics branch in the US. S. Korean and Japan are in fierce competion, and largely hate each other on a personal level for historical reasons (Japan invaded S. Korea and treated them like $hit). Anyway, I've seen many crappy products put out by Sony, but--again-- resisted believing it. They also put out good products like the PS2 so the realization was slow and foggy. Fucckers.


The downhill path steepened when they started trying to cordinate thier hardware branch with their music branch. There was a lot of internal fighting. The music branch wanted to lock everything down with DRM, and proprietory memory, and crap like that. The hardware branch didn't like it. The music branch--with all their crappy lawyers--won that fight.


Thats why sony uses their selfish proprietory flash memory chips, and why their older mp3 players were caulk stuffed full with DRM..so full they were useless and failed in the marketplace. I believe their latest mp3 players will actually play the MP3 format, though.


Sony is turning into the hardware industry equivlant to the RIAA. Wait, Sony Music always has been a member of the RIAA.


On october 31, 2005 Sony started selling music CDs with black-hat rootkits which install on to MS OS PCs supposively to prevent people from ripping the CD to their computer. If anyone tries to remove the rootkit the Windows-install becomes corrupt. That's control freaky enough, but just the beginning.. Sony's behavior was discovered to be much much worse.. before long.. hell broke loose.


The CDs also contained a new EULA to protect themselves from any rootkit mishaps and to flagship their new philosophy on terms of agreement.

The EULA says:


Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.


You must install all rootkit updates if playing CD from your computer


Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00 damages

No longer the music if you don't possess the original CD


You can only the play CD in audioplayer, or in a rootkit infected PC at home that you personally own


You no longer own music (must despose) if you move to a different country


If you file for bankruptcy, you must delete music from your computer


You have no right to transfer the music on your computer, even along with the original CD.

(note: doesn't that contratict the one above it?)


Lastly, the EULA suggests you have no fair-use rights



In print Sony assured that no information would be sent back to Sony. Sadly, some programmers found the rootkit does send back information. Another programmer discovered the rootkit illegally utilizes the LAME encoder, which is under a GPL licience. Just one more incident that suggests infringing is a matter of perspective and perogative.


Events progressively got weirder. Players started cheating in the game 'World of Warcraft' by using Sony's rootkit to hide their cheat files.


In an NPR interview Sony BMG Global Digital Business President Thomas Hesse was quoted saying ''Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"


News started spreading about the rootkit and people started getting really really pissed off. Sony downplayed the significance of the whole thing and made availible a 'service-pack' that supposively removed the rootkit. A DRM Researcher at Princeton analyzed it and found it didn't remove the rootkit, instead Sony was adding code and not disclosing what they were adding.


Anger continued to rise and Sony stopped shipping CDs yet didn't issue a recall.


It was discovered that the CDs infected Macs too.


A _second_ trojan was discovered on the CDs --by the same Princton DRM expert-- which spys on your computer and reports back info to Sony (not sure specifically what it reports)


At this point in the timeline--unrelated to this mess--Sony patented 'lockware' that binds a single purchased game to a single game console. This means you can't play it on a different console, sell a game when you are done, rent a game, and presumably upon any hardware glitch it is your burden to keep good records. The strategy is to destroy the after market and gain price leverage. In doing so they are circumventing the 'first sale doctorine'. That is a doctorine that says if you buy a book, you can sell that book(or step on the book if you want because it's your book). Sony claims this patent will not be implimented in the PS3. Guess we have to wait for the PS4.



Then it was found that the supposive rootkit 'uninstaller' opened up huge vulerabilities that allow any knowledgable hacker full access to systems. The uninstaller made things way worse then before. Specialists have already detected an incident of malicious code made by a hacker that exploits the vulerability. It appears the vulerabilities were left open so Sony would have access at a later date.


Lawsuits are now underway in the US and Italy.


Dan Goodin from Wired magazine has called for a boycott on Sony Products


Microsoft is including a Sony root-kit remover in their new anti spyware products


Various government agencies, companies, educational institutions are banning the use of Sony CDs on their computers


The Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team chimes in advising that you never install CD DRM: "Do not install software from sources that you do not expect to contain software, such as an audio CD." in response to Sony's rootkit.


The process of discovering Sony's rootkit leads to some significant advances in the art of cache snooping. When rootkits phone home they make a DNS request, which are cached. Over 500,000 computers including the government and military have been detected making phone home requests using Sony's rootkit. If I am reading the article right, the rootkit is also a worm.
http://www.doxpara.com/?q=/node/1129 


Sony issues a warning begins a recall taking no responsibility and instead blamed the threat on hackers exploiting the rootkit's vulerabilities.



Sony has stated lies, and been subversive throughout the whole ordeal, but pissed off digital rights advocates have been detecting every misdeed/lie and hanging Sony high every turn.


Considering all that Sony has become, I happen to be glad.


The above is a mashup of bunches of articles I've read, largely from boingboing, where Cory Doctorow is going nuts. He's like a crazed bulldog. I'm glad, but hey, it's notable.





Meanwhile SlingMedia has been really innovating a great product. Just buying a slingbox is like cutting a check to the EFF for $20 (made up figure). The slingbox is more then the sum of it's parts and functionality.



*p++


----------



## Wrecks

I've always found it ironic that Sony has squelled like a stuck pig that people are illegally copying their music, while at the same time selling recorders that allow consumers to do just that.


----------



## Jeff D

I think I ended up getting a sweet deal on this...


I ordered from CC on the website going through ebates to get a 2% cash back and there was a CC $20 GC with MIR. We have ended up in Raleigh the PO was nice enough to include a $40 off $200 purchase coupon for CC in the new address packet. The original purchase has a problem in it didn't work. So heading back to CC for an exchange with coupon in hand I asked if they could apply the coupon or if I'd have to return the original and repurchase. They applied the coupon to the original. I get $249-$40(coupon)-$20 (CC GC) so even after taxes my purcase was around $200.


I'm happy, now if I could just hook the thing up! That's on hold until I get to a place where I can do that.


----------



## bhummel2001

I've left messages about the slingboxes before. I have purchased 4 of them (3 as Christmas gifts).


They are spread all throughout the country, so all of us can watch whatever we want to ... region free!


The only limitation is uplink bandwidth. It's tough watching football games out of state. Too much movement. You can set the slingbox to HIGH MOTION but it looks like Vaseline is smeared all over the picture. News and soap operas are fine.


Still, it was good enough for me to cancel DTV and SundayTicket.


I am watching mine now from work. It controls my HD-Cable Tivo (Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000.) Slingmedia has the codes for nearly every device out there.


Bottom line. *WORKS GREAT !!!* So well, that I just heard that Tivo is going to jump into the fray.


----------



## nobbie

Got mine in today and tried setting it up. Appears to work fine, but I can't seem to get the software to automatically configure the Buffalo AirStation WRG54 to port forward. Anybody know if this is possible, or am I going to have to figure out how to do it manually?


----------



## parfour7th

I'm very interested in Slingbox. I'm hoping for a sale before pulling the trigger, however, it looks like the prices are remaining fairly close to Manufacturers Suggested Retail of ~$250 (even on eBay  ). Anybody know of a good place to buy this? Any Black Friday sales?


----------



## Clay Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
I'm very interested in Slingbox. I'm hoping for a sale before pulling the trigger, however, it looks like the prices are remaining fairly close to Manufacturers Suggested Retail of ~$250 (even on eBay  ). Anybody know of a good place to buy this? Any Black Friday sales?
uh, mesage #164 in this thread maybe?


----------



## Roymus

Another great thing about Slingbox is the provided remote control software. This is a much better solution than DVArchive or RTVrc for this purpose...not that those are bad products, they're both excellent, but the Slingbox gives you the ability to access all Replay menu functions through the SlingPlayer just as if you were on the couch at home. I was able to request an IVS show and start the download from my work PC, and monitor the progress of the download throughout the day. I can also schedule new recordings and edit/remove existing ones or conflicts, something which can be tricky with DVArchive. This is just an awesome product!


----------



## jtoeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
Got mine in today and tried setting it up. Appears to work fine, but I can't seem to get the software to automatically configure the Buffalo AirStation WRG54 to port forward. Anybody know if this is possible, or am I going to have to figure out how to do it manually?
nobbie,


Hi - have you tried enabling UPnP on your AirStation? If you have, and it's still not working, you will have to do the manual steps. We are always adding routers to our help pages ( http://www.slingmedia.com/support/portforward.php ) but I don't see the Buffalo unit there yet. I've asked someone to make sure it's added by tomorrow.


In the meantime, you are welcome to contact our support department for step-by-step help, or shoot me an email personally if you'd like.


Best,

Jeremy


----------



## Mandingo

Well, we arrived in Delhi and I am (pleasantly) surprised to report that the Slingbox is coming over loud and clear across the 10,000 miles in between. Picture quality is obviously a compromise at ~300kbps but it is very watchable.


Had good results from London too on the way over - kids were watching their US shows while awake and jetlagged at 3am GMT. My wife is amazed and Slingbox has definitely passed her test - she didn't think it would work ("a combination of bleeding edge technology and a reliance on the Indian infrastructure = won't work when we need it").


I'd now put Slingbox up there with ReplayTV in terms of Wife Approval Factor.


Unfortunately something this good will no doubt get banned (think Commercial Skip) ... someone will decide it is "illegal rebroadcasting" or something.


Grab 'em while you still can!


Sample screengrabs below:-


----------



## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
uh, mesage #164 in this thread maybe?


Thanks Clay but the Target sale at $229+tax ($247.42 OTD here in Michigan) is not the deal I am looking for. I have passed up new Slingbox's for $220+no tax waiting for something ~$200. I'll let you know when I find it...


----------



## Jeff D

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
Thanks Clay but the Target sale at $229+tax ($247.42 OTD here in Michigan) is not the deal I am looking for. I have passed up new Slingbox's for $220+no tax waiting for something ~$200. I'll let you know when I find it...
In post #177 I outline a way, not sure about how easy it is to find those CC coupons, but I should be moving again and may stumble across another $40 off. You gotta be tricky and PM to target and then try to do the coupon, you'd get it for around $180. I wish I had seen that first!


----------



## jtoeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Mandingo*
Well, we arrived in Delhi and I am (pleasantly) surprised to report that the Slingbox is coming over loud and clear across the 10,000 miles in between. Picture quality is obviously a compromise at ~300kbps but it is very watchable.


Had good results from London too on the way over - kids were watching their US shows while awake and jetlagged at 3am GMT. My wife is amazed and Slingbox has definitely passed her test - she didn't think it would work ("a combination of bleeding edge technology and a reliance on the Indian infrastructure = won't work when we need it").
Mandingo,


Glad to hear its working so well for you! Don't forget to enter our "Who Slung the Furthest?" contest! http://www.slingmedia.com/community/contest.php 


Best,

Jeremy


----------



## Mandingo

Quote:

Don't forget to enter our "Who Slung the Furthest?" contest!
Love to Jeremy - how about me sitting outside the Taj Mahal watching the Seattle local traffic report?


However I need to register my Slingbox to win and I'm a bit far away from it right now to look underneath it for the serial number


----------



## grover517

One of CompUsa's giveaways:

Slingbox Giveaway


----------



## Refugee

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
Thanks Clay but the Target sale at $229+tax ($247.42 OTD here in Michigan) is not the deal I am looking for. I have passed up new Slingbox's for $220+no tax waiting for something ~$200. I'll let you know when I find it...
I just purchased this an hour ago from amazon for the price you are looking for.


----------



## icecow

Yup. Amazon has it for 199


----------



## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Refugee*
I just purchased this an hour ago from amazon for the price you are looking for.
Excellent! Thanks for the heads up Refugee!


----------



## indcoaster

How soon will it take the MPA, NFL, Networks... to put a stop to these type of devices and services just like the ReplayTV 5000 and earlier. The money greedy people will say just like the Replay TV that there is no way to prevent some one from sharing with someone who has not purchased NFL Sunday Ticket, HBO, Premium channels, Out of market blacked out games, Pay-per_View... and streaming them to someone else. They will put a halt to it before embracing the potential expanded audiences.


I better hurry up and get mine soon.


----------



## Jim1348

It looks like Tiger Direct also has them for $199 plus $10 shipping.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...P=OTC-CNETFEED


----------



## gjerdery

Wow!

Caught up with this thread late Friday afternoon... ordered one from Amazon, received it Monday morning (thanks, free Amazon Prime trial!!), set it up Monday night, and successfully streamed at work this morning! Very cool.


However, my main reason for posting was to confirm that the UPnP auto config for the Buffalo Airstation appears to be working, as Jeremy mentioned above! Very impressive service. Thanks!!


----------



## rplenty

After 3 months of use I would recommend this as a solid product which makes a great companion to your replay.


----------



## parfour7th

In case you missed the last Slingbox sale at Amazon (I did  ) they have them again for $199.99--AR this time with free super saver shipping.


That continues to be the best price I've seen although this time around you have to contend with a silly rebate.


----------



## flabingo

Just downloaded the update. I have it connected to my Replay and it works flawlessly. I took it to the other side of Florida and it also worked fine. Now we have to wait for component inputs. Great product and wonderful service. David. The pq seems better with the update.


----------



## shutrbug

Amazon price is now $205 after a $50 rebate, and Tiger Direct is $249. I was hoping to get one under $200.


----------



## web1b

I'm interested in streaming content from my DirecTV DVR or cable company DVR to my laptop on my home network. I probably don't need access from the internet.

Is a Slingbox the best solution for wireless TV within a home?


----------



## TazExprez

I've started to read about this product and am very interested. I wonder how this works? Do you have to log on to an Internet site that your Slingbox is transmitting to? Or do you connect your PC directly to the Slingbox over the Internet? Also, is it easy to change channels and could you record programs on your PC? Thanks for any help. Any additional comments will be greatly appreciated.


----------



## shutrbug

Quote:

Originally Posted by *web1b*
I'm interested in streaming content from my DirecTV DVR or cable company DVR to my laptop on my home network. I probably don't need access from the internet.

Is a Slingbox the best solution for wireless TV within a home?
I actually met the VP of Business Development at Sling earlier this week. That was the original application for which they designed the product, i.e., watching TV while working on their laptop.


----------



## web1b

Quote:

Originally Posted by *shutrbug*
I actually met the VP of Business Development at Sling earlier this week. That was the original application for which they designed the product, i.e., watching TV while working on their laptop.
Good, but I'm wondering of there is another product that will do a better picture over a LAN WIFI connection? I don't want to have to pay for the degraded internet streaming picture quality that I may not use.

I'm looking for the best possible picture at the remote monitor or laptop short of running new video or coaxial cable all over the house.


----------



## madSkeelz

Quote:

Originally Posted by *web1b*
Good, but I'm wondering of there is another product that will do a better picture over a LAN WIFI connection? I don't want to have to pay for the degraded internet streaming picture quality that I may not use.

I'm looking for the best possible picture at the remote monitor or laptop short of running new video or coaxial cable all over the house.
How about DVArchive?


----------



## gjerdery

Slingbox is now available from ebuyer.com for $199, with free shipping.



My experience has been that in home, wireless viewing has been just as good as wireless streaming between Replaytv & DVArchive...

_Edit: try the link again, should now point to the US site... the old link worked from work, but seemed to point to the UK from home, weird!_


----------



## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *gjerdery*
Slingbox is now available from ebuyer.com for $199, with free shipping.
I couldn't find it on the ebuyer site. Also, it appears that this ships from the U.K. (all prices in pounds)?


Decorah, IA....I've been there many times. Nice little town. More bars than I've ever seen per capita in my entire life!


----------



## gjerdery

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
Decorah, IA....I've been there many times. Nice little town. More bars than I've ever seen per capita in my entire life! 


In the past two years, a local bank has demolished two bars to build a new main building, bringing per capita numbers back to a reasonable level! 

For the best citizen to bar stool ratio, check out Iowa City.


----------



## nobbie

Quote:

Originally Posted by *gjerdery*
Wow!

However, my main reason for posting was to confirm that the UPnP auto config for the Buffalo Airstation appears to be working, as Jeremy mentioned above! Very impressive service. Thanks!!
Yes, I, too, was able to get UPnP to autoconfig on the Buffalo router. I just had to turn that feature on in the router's setup. Was able to stream to my hotel room in Minneanoplace from my RTV in LA. It was a little choppy, but I attirbute that to the 11mps wireless connection that was only available in-room.


Now for two questions:


1) How can I set it to work from behind my company's firewall? I seem to remember having to set AIM to use the web port instead of the usual 5190. Can Slingbox use such a port? I think it's 80?


2) Skins. Is there a darker GUI available? The white is so glaring and annoying. All black with gray lettering would be sweet.


Later,


Nobbie


----------



## jtoeman

Nobbie,


1) Repeat the Network setup (you must do this from home), and instead of Fully Automatic, select Semi-Automatic mode, and you'll be able to select a port manually.


2) We will have some new visuals available in an upcoming build. You can actually edit the current skin if you really want to, although it takes a lot of manual labor to do it. If you're interested, shoot me an email.


Best,

Jeremy


----------



## Clay Schneider

$199 at Best Buy, no rebates.


----------



## jweinel

$249.99 - $50 instant rebate = $199.99 at Radio Shack (ad in Sunday newspaper flyer and on-line). Free shipping for web order but state tax will apply. Their web site also lists a $50 Radio Shack mail-in rebate applicable to either store or web purchases Dec 11-24. The rebate form is a downloadable pdf. So the effective price should be $149.99 (plus applicable tax). I ordered one!


Jim


----------



## Clay Schneider

Also $199 at comp-usa -- no rebates. I guess that's the 'new price'?


----------



## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
Also $199 at comp-usa -- no rebates. I guess that's the 'new price'?
Also, a guy on eBay is selling 30 units for $198.99 (each) out-the-door through Buy-it-Now.


----------



## l8er

I bought two Slingbox's and then decided I only need one. So I've got one for sale, like new with all accessories (accessories were not used at all) for $185 shipped. _*PM me if you're interested*_.


----------



## rplenty

Just as well as it does in my office in the US. Just watched the survivor finale as well as Punk'd and a few others during down time. Everything streamed perfect.


----------



## nobbie

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
I just ordered one from Amazon. They have it for $229 delivered. It's the best deal I could find. I hope it works through my firewall at work! Would be sweet to catch up on recorded shows during...ahem...my lunch breaks!

Here's a link to the $229 Slingbox. I think you have to click "Add to cart" to see the price. You can always delete it if you don't want it. Weird, it was $10 more just yesterday! I wonder what that means. Is there a Slingbox 2.0 coming out for the holiday season? Hmmmm....
Yep, the price at Amazon is set at $199.99. Free delivery and no sales tax makes this a no-brainer.


Life is good, yes!


----------



## shutrbug

Well, I picked up a Slingbox at Best Buy on Monday at $200 - 12% Reward Zone coupon and finally got around to installing it today. I must say that I think that this will be one of the best gadgets that I've bought, up there with ReplayTV, cell phones, and my iPod mini. The picture quality is remarkably good considering what it's doing while streaming within my home over wireless. I'm really curious to see what the picture quality is like when accessing it from work over my 1500/384 SBC Yahoo DSL connection.


----------



## nobbie

Hey has anyone else noticed the CA button is grayed out on the GUI remote? What's up with that? Also, my channel guide button is grayed out. The Replay Guide button is now the Channel Guide and in order to select my recorded shows, I have to click on the Menu button and scroll down to the "View Recorded Shows" selection. This is too bizarre. Did I set something up wrong?


Help!


----------



## BoblK

Has anyone tried receiving a show on their laptop from mainland China back to the Slingbox in the US? I am about to return to the US for the Holidays and am thinking of picking one up so I can see some college BB when I return.


----------



## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
Hey has anyone else noticed the CA button is grayed out on the GUI remote? Also, my channel guide button is grayed out. The Replay Guide button is now the Channel Guide and in order to select my recorded shows, I have to click on the Menu button and scroll down to the "View Recorded Shows" selection.
Sounds like the behavior of an older version of the slingplayer. Check to see if you have the current version: Help, About SlingPlayer - should show 1.0.4.107.

If not, download it: Help, Check for Updates (or go to the slingmedia website).


- Rick


----------



## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *BoblK*
Has anyone tried receiving a show on their laptop from mainland China back to the Slingbox in the US? I am about to return to the US for the Holidays and am thinking of picking one up so I can see some college BB when I return. 
I doubt you'll have any problem. Check out this thread over at SlingCommunity. 

You've got Vietnam, Malaysia, unspecified places in South America and Asia.

From personal experience I can say it works great from California to Singapore.


- Rick


----------



## icecow

Check the slingbox community specifically for China. The chinese government does a lot of funky ip blocking and search engine filtering, and maybe other stuff. I doubt it has anything to do with using a slingbox, but close scrutiny never hurts.


----------



## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *icecow*
Check the slingbox community specifically for China. The chinese government does a lot of funky ip blocking and search engine filtering, and maybe other stuff. I doubt it has anything to do with using a slingbox, but close scrutiny never hurts.
Good point - in setting up the connection to Singapore, we found the standard port (5001) blocked. Turned out to be a company firewall setting (not a government thing) but it's true the government could block it.


Rick


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## BoblK

Rick and icecow (don't know where you came up with that name and don't want too)


THANKS for the replies. I head back to the States Wednesday and I am stopping to get one before I get home. Even if it doesn't work real well here, it is better than CCTV9 and HBO - the only two English channels I get where I'm located. It looks like it is worth the try. It is great to see the people who develop the product be involved here at AVS, of which I'm a new member. I have been a member of the Hometheater forum for a few years, but AVS seems to have more of the information I'm looking for since I've taken this Expat assignment for the next few years....I don't think I can survive March without my college basketball 


Bob


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## rickster

Bob, you're welcome. Haven't been more excited about a product since I got my first ReplayTV 6 years ago. One more datapoint - my nephew, who is stationed in South Korea in the Army, connected to my SlingBox yesterday. He was blown away!


With American TV through the SlingBox/RTV combination, he's going to be the most popular guy in his outfit...


Good luck - let us know how it works out.


Rick


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## bob645

Quote:

Originally Posted by *icecow*
Check the slingbox community specifically for China. The chinese government does a lot of funky ip blocking and search engine filtering, and maybe other stuff. I doubt it has anything to do with using a slingbox, but close scrutiny never hurts.
I can confirm that the slingmedia player does work in Shanghai to my slingbox here in Arizona without any problems.

Works rather well.


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## web1b

Quote:

Originally Posted by *bob645*
I can confirm that the slingmedia player does work in Shanghai to my slingbox here in Arizona without any problems.

Works rather well.
I wonder how long it will be before the Chinese government cracks down on Slingbox users?

They have a great desire to control all information coming into China.


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## schwazche

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
Hey has anyone else noticed the CA button is grayed out on the GUI remote? What's up with that? Also, my channel guide button is grayed out. The Replay Guide button is now the Channel Guide and in order to select my recorded shows, I have to click on the Menu button and scroll down to the "View Recorded Shows" selection. This is too bizarre. Did I set something up wrong?


Help!
Nobbie,


Here's what I do to restore the lost Commercial Advance and also the Channel Guide when they come up greyed out. For some reason the viewer has mistakenly changed the remote control from "ReplayTV" to "Other". Here's the steps to repair it, although it seems to continue to happen periodically.


Go to Slingbox, Properties, Slingbox Configuration, Audio/Video Setup, Enter the Admin Password, Next, Next, DVR, ReplayTV.


Whew! Now change the Selection from "Other" to the first "ReplayTV", save it and you're all fixed! I think it's a bug in 1.0.4.107 as this has happened to me a number of times.


Killer Product! Can't wait until I can stream it to my Smartphone through WM5.


Good Luck!


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## rplenty

two enhancement questions: Why does the slingbox have to start over optimizing every time I hit the remote, can't it just resume the same data rate?

Is there a way that the slingbox could automatically send a command to the replay to rewind once optimized so I do not miss the beginning of a show?


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## jtoeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rplenty*
two enhancement questions: Why does the slingbox have to start over optimizing every time I hit the remote, can't it just resume the same data rate?
This is done to increase the rapidity of the response to the remote command you issued. So when you push, say PAUSE, you see the paused screen ASAP instead of waiting say 5 or 6 seconds. If you really don't want this to occur, try holding down the Control button on your keyboard as you click on a remote button...

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rplenty*
Is there a way that the slingbox could automatically send a command to the replay to rewind once optimized so I do not miss the beginning of a show?
It's a good idea, and we have some thoughts in-house for optimizing around specific devices and their user interfaces, but not something we can accomplish in the short-term. You could use my suggestion above and hold Control while pushing PLAY initially - this might solve your problem... Let me know if it helps!


Best,

Jeremy


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## Clay Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by *schwazche*
Nobbie,


Here's what I do to restore the lost Commercial Advance and also the Channel Guide when they come up greyed out. For some reason the viewer has mistakenly changed the remote control from "ReplayTV" to "Other". Here's the steps to repair it, although it seems to continue to happen periodically.


Go to Slingbox, Properties, Slingbox Configuration, Audio/Video Setup, Enter the Admin Password, Next, Next, DVR, ReplayTV.


Whew! Now change the Selection from "Other" to the first "ReplayTV", save it and you're all fixed! I think it's a bug in 1.0.4.107 as this has happened to me a number of times.


Killer Product! Can't wait until I can stream it to my Smartphone through WM5.


Good Luck!
Any news on when this bug might be fixed?


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## bob645

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jtoeman*
... try holding down the Control button on your keyboard as you click on a remote button...
Sweet!

This was my only complaint using this with replay. Thanks for the tip.


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## rplenty

I have had the same problem with my replay. All was set ok then it reverted back to the grayed out button without any action by me.


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## schwazche

I've yet to ascertain the reason for the problem. I know that I have the viewer software on three different computers and this has happened on all of them. Perhaps it occurs when you attach (and view/control) from different computers. Not sure. Just rambling...


schwazche


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## rplenty

Looks like slingbox has become one of the top products at CES! Congrads!


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## Mandingo

Quote:

Originally Posted by *schwazche*
I've yet to ascertain the reason for the problem. I know that I have the viewer software on three different computers and this has happened on all of them. Perhaps it occurs when you attach (and view/control) from different computers. Not sure. Just rambling...


schwazche


I have the same issue on two different systems.


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## madSkeelz

Sling really is working on MacOS support! Wheeeee!

http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/10/s...yer-mac-today/


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## Xayd

i picked up one of these yesterday after hearing about them. wow, very nice. it's a welcome change to get hardware and software that is intuitively designed and reliable, and "just works".


running mine from a motorola 6412 cable box over a cable internet connection. i have the bitrate capped targetted at 640 kbps, and the result is comparably as good as SDTV for video. audio isn't great but since i'm using this remotely with only a crappy internal PC speaker it doesn't really matter i suppose.


btw, for anyone who happens to be setting one up with a netgear wireless to ethernet bridge, the netgear configuration software is broken, you have to configure the bridge directly over its web interface.


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## rplenty

just noticed sling has new beta software, go to their sling community site for testers feedback.


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## parfour7th

Was holding out for a price below $200 but prices are staying pretty steady. Ended up getting a new one on Ebay for $205 OTD. Just arrived on my door step yesterday.


I briefly looked over the set up manual last eve but was pretty whipped from a long day so I didn't proceed further.


Is there anything special I should know about integrating the unit in my set up which includes:


Cable--->Comcast Moto Digital Cable Box--->5040--->TV


I had a couple of quick questions before setting it up tonight:


1. Does the IR blaster attach to the RTV? Is the IR receiver easy to find on the 5040?


2. Is S-Video the preferred connection between RTV and Slingbox?


3. Is there anyway that the Slingbox and RTV can "share" the same ethernet cable? If not, I'll have to pick up a longer dedicated cable for the Slingbox--probably better anyway.


Thanks for your feedback!


Chris


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## JWPeters24

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
1. Does the IR blaster attach to the RTV? Is the IR receiver easy to find on the 5040?
It comes with two "L" type rubber mounts with double-sided tape to attach to the top and bottom of the RTV to point toward the IR port. I just used one of the blasters. The IR port is right next to the record light.

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
2. Is S-Video the preferred connection between RTV and Slingbox?
I hooked the RTV up to the slingbox using SVid. I don't think your going to much difference in quality however you hook it up, since it will be degraded anyway going over the internet. I also split the cable and hooked up the tuner on the slingbox also. That way if something is recording on my RTV, I can still watch something else. You can select what input you want to watch in the slingplayer software.

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
3. Is there anyway that the Slingbox and RTV can "share" the same ethernet cable? If not, I'll have to pick up a longer dedicated cable for the Slingbox--probably better anyway.
There is really no way to "share" a single ethernet cable. I attached the slingbox to my RTV in my bedroom. I had previously ran an ethernet cable to my bedroom (~75 feet) for my RTV when I got it a few years ago. I didn't want to do that again, so I just went and bought a cheap 10/100 four port switch (


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## nobbie

 The Slingbox has come down in price again. It's now at a low $219.99 with 5% off using the Code: CECUSTAPPRCT


The price is $208.99 With Free shipping, and no sales tax in most states, it's a Cool deal. 


Expires Feb 13.


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## madSkeelz

Man oh man. I can't wait for the Mac version of the player to be released.


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## parfour7th

I must say, I'm pretty impressed with Slingbox so far after using it for about a week. My only disappointment is that I cannot seem to get it to work from work--must be a firewall issue?  Anyway around this?


Otherwise, the unit has worked flawlessly. I'll be traveling next week throughout the country and look forward to seeing how it performs in different locations.


Belated thanks to the folks on this forum that helped me get it set up last week! It was a piece 'o cake once I knew what I was doing. 


Chris


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## Clay Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
I must say, I'm pretty impressed with Slingbox so far after using it for about a week. My only disappointment is that I cannot seem to get it to work from work--must be a firewall issue?  Anyway around this?


Otherwise, the unit has worked flawlessly. I'll be traveling next week throughout the country and look forward to seeing how it performs in different locations.


Belated thanks to the folks on this forum that helped me get it set up last week! It was a piece 'o cake once I knew what I was doing. 


Chris
Have you tried a direct ip address connect instead of the 'finder'? I can't get the finder to operate where I am, but using the direct address works fine.


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## nobbie

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
Have you tried a direct ip address connect instead of the 'finder'? I can't get the finder to operate where I am, but using the direct address works fine.
Clay,


This has always confused me. What IP address do you put in? The one of your slingbox? Or the one of your home's router? I, too, am having the same issue getting past my company's firewall.


Help!


Nobbie


FYI: Only a few more days to score the Slingbox for $209.

Here's the info: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...16#post7078016


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## Clay Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
Clay,


This has always confused me. What IP address do you put in? The one of your slingbox? Or the one of your home's router? I, too, am having the same issue getting past my company's firewall.


Help!


Nobbie


FYI: Only a few more days to score the Slingbox for $209.

Here's the info: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...16#post7078016
The ip address would be your 'wan' address, which is usually dynamically assigned, though, on many systems, doesn't change that often. You can determine your wan address as follows:


While on your home PC network, open the browser of your choice and go to www.whatsmyip.org [or any of the other wan ip reporting sites]. The number returned will be your 'wan' ip address. Assuming that ip address doesn't change very often [that's up to your isp], you can use that address in the 'direct connection' box on the remote slingbox viewer 'connection' tab.


If your ip address changes frequently, you may consider signing up with one or other of the free [or paid] dynamic dns tracking services [google for free dynamic dns]. Such a service will allow you to use their fixed address to access your home network by going to a known address that will always know your current home wan address. This is similar to what singfinder provides, though I believe that the port slingfinder uses may be blocked by some firewalls, while the dynamic dns services generally look like any other web site and are usually only blocked as much as ordinary sites are blocked.


Note that for either of these methods, you will still need to use the port number that you used to establish the virtual connection in your home router.


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## rickster

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
I, too, am having the same issue getting past my company's firewall.
It may be that your company is blocking the port used by the SlingBox. Try using a different port. Also, make sure your port forwarding is properly set up in your router (if it works from locations other than your company, then you know the port forwarding is ok).


Rick


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## Clay Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by *rickster*
It may be that your company is blocking the port used by the SlingBox. Try using a different port. Also, make sure your port forwarding is properly set up in your router (if it works from locations other than your company, then you know the port forwarding is ok).


Rick
Presumably, anyone who has setup their slingbox for remote access has used the built-in test on that setup page to test loop-back through your router already, and if that has been done, the second part of the above -- testing from other locations -- is unnecessary.


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## Mike Cornwell

I had to open a port on my office firewall to get the Slingbox working from work...


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## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Mike Cornwell*
I had to open a port on my office firewall to get the Slingbox working from work...
I work for a bigger company. I can't imagine going to my IT Dept and asking them to open up a port for me so that I can watch TV from work 


How did you pull that one off? You must work in IT at your company?


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## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
The ip address would be your 'wan' address, which is usually dynamically assigned, though, on many systems, doesn't change that often. You can determine your wan address as follows:


While on your home PC network, open the browser of your choice and go to www.whatsmyip.org [or any of the other wan ip reporting sites]. The number returned will be your 'wan' ip address. Assuming that ip address doesn't change very often [that's up to your isp], you can use that address in the 'direct connection' box on the remote slingbox viewer 'connection' tab.
Clay, I did NOT have my IP set as you instructed so I'm thankful you posted this. Unfortunately, after making the change to my WAN address, I'm still not able to get through from work. The firewall error message appears even faster now! 


I hope I have better luck from my hotel room next week.


Chris


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## Clay Schneider

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
Clay, I did NOT have my IP set as you instructed so I'm thankful you posted this. Unfortunately, after making the change to my WAN address, I'm still not able to get through from work. The firewall error message appears even faster now! 


I hope I have better luck from my hotel room next week.


Chris
The next thing to try [to get through from work] is different port addresses. Often you can find an open port different than the default sling port. 443 is often left open. 8080 is often left open. Obviously, changing port addresses is easier if you have someone at your home pc on the phone while you are trying from work, as they have to be changed in three places -- the slingbox, your home router, and the sling player.


And don't forget that 'from work', you may also have to specify a proxy server [if your web browser needs a proxy server at work to get out on the web, so will the sling player].


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## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
The next thing to try [to get through from work] is different port addresses. Often you can find an open port different than the default sling port. 443 is often left open. 8080 is often left open. Obviously, changing port addresses is easier if you have someone at your home pc on the phone while you are trying from work, as they have to be changed in three places -- the slingbox, your home router, and the sling player.].
Thanks, I'll try a new port # tomorrow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Clay Schneider*
And don't forget that 'from work', you may also have to specify a proxy server [if your web browser needs a proxy server at work to get out on the web, so will the sling player].
Uh oh! Now you're moving a bit out of my league. I do know this: I don't do anything special to my laptop either at work or on my home network to access the net if that means anything. Hopefully just the port change does the job.


Chris


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## parfour7th

Port 8080 didn't work (from work).  I'll try another tomorrow but, unfortunately, I think our IT group has this place buttoned up pretty good.


Chris


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## nobbie

Try port 80. That's the web browsing port. It usually is open.


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## rplenty

I would like to see a way to lockout certain tv channels from the slingbox, I have a business use where we have our own in house CATV system and there are certain channels we would like to remain only "in house." Would this be possible?


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## Mike Cornwell

Quote:

Originally Posted by *parfour7th*
I work for a bigger company. I can't imagine going to my IT Dept and asking them to open up a port for me so that I can watch TV from work 


How did you pull that one off? You must work in IT at your company?
Yes, I am the IT department...


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## Mike Cornwell

Quote:

Originally Posted by *nobbie*
Try port 80. That's the web browsing port. It usually is open.
Many ISP's block port 80 and 25 inbound traffic, so this may not be an option for all. Cableco ISP's are more likely to do this than DSL ISP's.


----------



## parfour7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Mike Cornwell*
Many ISP's block port 80 and 25 inbound traffic, so this may not be an option for all. Cableco ISP's are more likely to do this than DSL ISP's.
Just tried 80 from work here today....no dice.


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## l8er

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Mike Cornwell*
Yes, I am the IT department...
Prepare to be assimilated, resistance is futile?


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## Clay Schneider

There was a radio commercial for Slingbox today on KYW [Phila] -- a pretty long one -- advertising how you can watch on a pc or your 'windows mobile' device. Something special about Phila that I can't seem to find that download ???? Sigh....


----------



## rm -rf *.*

More like "Excuse me, Doctor Baltar..."


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## arb22

I got a $50 instant slingbox rebate in december ... hooked it up in 15 mins.. and its been working ever since ... not a single problem... can watch from the office, wireless at airports, the kids rooms, my in-laws across the country. again first device without a single problem. and NO recurrning monthly fees...


Just as great as poopli....


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## tannerjr

just got one, hooked it up, and the PS died  bleh! back to BB w/ it


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## nobbie

Well, it looks like the price has dropped again.

It's now down to $210 with free shipping! 


There's a TigerDirect link for $199, but I think they charge shipping.


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## broadwayblue

looks like amazon has it in stock again for $199. i'm considering picking one of these up but had a couple questions. first, i'm pretty sure it isn't HD compatible...but that being said how does it work if you connect it to a SA8300HD cable box? can you just not view the HD channels, but have it work ok otherwise? also, i've read that slingplayer will be available with select smartphones and pda's...will this simply require the latest software, or will we need to purchase new hardware? thanks.


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## Ed Rempalski

You connect it to any video source via Composite or S-Video. It has an I/R blaster that is used to control it remotely. If you use the S-Vid outputs from you box you should be able to see all of your channels.


The Mobile Sling Player software will work just fine with the current slingbox hardware, so you'd be all set for when it's released.


It's a great product.


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## nobbie

 Yep, it's now back down to $199 with free shipping! 


Gotta love free enterprise, no? If I wasn't getting into audio streaming, now, I'd be getting another one for the new Tivo. (Yeah, I know, but it came with the D* HD service!)


----------

