sling media cable box?

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Xeero

Gawd
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
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anyone heard or used the sling media cable box? how is it any different from a tv tuner card?

http://www.slingmedia.com/slingbox/

after checking out the site, i see that it connects to ur network and u bascially watch tv over ur home network and you can also stream it over internet.

is this solution better than a regular tv tuner card?
 
I’ve seed it demo’ed on one of those new gadgets TV shows.

Most other tuner cards (pvr-150 etc.) are used with software (sage, GB-PVR, etc) so that you can record programs just like a Tivo. This device won’t do that.

But it will play recordings from DVRs or any TV source though Svideo.
You must have internet access to use this and since many people have very slow upload speeds, the resulting picture is tiny!

Also important is that if you use this to see “Alias,” for example, on your downstairs TV every upstairs TV that has the player software will see the same show.

This is perfect if you must have your TV anywhere, like at work, but it isn’t high quality video.

It’s a good first effort and while it does stream video, it does not take the place of a PVR.

If you have multiple TVs in your house, you need multiple PCs (or laptops) to use the software player that this device comes with.

Although it has a NTSC tuner, the picture is tiny 320x240.

A MediaMVP device also uses your local network but does not use the internet and it has a better picture if you need to extend your PVR recordings to other TVs in your house or Apt.
 
wow the picture is that small? well that pretty pointless then. its like why watch tv if its that small
 
Yeah, it’s a small video picture. It’s really designed for people who just want to see TV right now, no matter where they are, using their PC.

For example, if you are in Japan on a trip you can see your favorite TV show all the way from California and even change the channels.

It’s a good idea but needs improvement. On the TV show where I saw this demonstrated, some guy was cooking in the kitchen and looking at TV via the slingbox software on his laptop. He thought it was great. :rolleyes:

Apparently the small picture looks good enough, but this thing is really not designed to be displayed on a TV.
 
i was going to go buy one today until i saw this post, but i did some research and i have an email to them right now, it seems to capture at 640X480, but im trying to get this confirmed by sling. but even if it doesnt capture at 640x480, standard tv is what 330 lines?

edit: think i answered my own question.......544 × 372 is tv resolution
 
A very good standard definition TV should be able to display up to 720x480, which is DVD quality.
That figure you have of 544 × 372 is the usable space displayed with something like WebTV.

But who still uses WebTV? :D

If they email you back that it can do 640x480, then that’s pretty good for TV.

Maybe if you have a fast upload speed, the picture quality will be better for viewing.

This is still a relatively new product so if they make some improvements this may wind up being the next Tivo.

I still have the PVR recording I made of the show. I cut out a little sample and converted it to Xvid.

It is only about 40secs of the show and it’s a big file (25mb) Check it out: Slingbox Demo.
 
Question i asked
"I am wanting some information about you device before i purchase one. If I it install on my local network, what resolution does it capture the video for streaming? is it 320x240? or higher?
"
responce i got from them
"Thank you for contacting Sling Media support.

In answer to your video resolution question, the Aspect ratio in the SlingPlayer is a constant 4X3, so the higher the resolution on your monitor, if you are running in Full window mode may be a bit blocky at higher video display settings.
"

If they cant answer a simple question, then im not interested.
 
Well, it sounds like it was a marketing rather than a technical person's response.
You can check out this massive thread on the AVS forum. It does look like a lot of people use this thing.

There seems to be a few issues, but a lot of people like it.

Whether it is right for you or not depends on how you plan on using it and what your connection speed is.

Did you download the file demo?
 
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