any of you heard of the slingbox???

I just bought this item today and am going to set it up for when I am on the road... It is a box that controls your cablebox tivo, DVR etc.. and you can watch your cable programming over the internet and incurs no mothly charges...So you can use your Pc to watch TV anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection, including wireless broadband and wifi...

here is the link to the website...

www.slingmedia.com

it is a very cool product and can't wait to use it!!!

 

I will definitely let you all know how it works, I have done a ton of research and it seems like all you need is

a pretty good high speed internet connection with at least 512KBPS upload speed at your house, I have 1MBPS so I have more then enough

A internet connection to your remote computer either a wireless broadband card, preferably a EVDO Rev A card or a WIFI hotspot that allows you better then 300KBPS download speed and doesn't limit your bandwidth...

I have the dell M2010 with a Sprint U720 USB broadband card w/ EVDO rev. A capabilities, the slingbox Pro w/ the HD connect dongle...

Oh yeah, if you do decide to go with a slingbox, you will want to go with Sprint because all the other carriers have a 5GB download limit and you will eat that up pretty quick with the slingbox, and sprint doesn't really have a limit on their bandwidth...

 

Well, I got it up and running Thursday night and have been checking it out on my computer... I love it!!!!!!

The quality is extremely good, like watching analog cable or a VHS tape when download speeds are as low as 250-300K...

when your download speed is better the picture quality gets better...I sit and watch this and it is not much different then watching TV on my Sony WEGA TV...And this is all using my wireless broadband card...I am getting anywhere from 250-1200kbps right now...

Audio to video syncing is perfect!!!!!!

When you get lower download speeds of 150-250KBPS it gets to be a little pixilated and a little choppy at times but you can set the video and buffering settings to smooth it out a bit but still is a pretty great picture...I am amazed at the technology and performance of this system...

Note:My advice if you want to see what the quality will be like at different download speeds is to go to yahoo.com and go to the news section and watch a news video, there is a video quality button above the screen and click that and change the speed of the video stream, that will give you an excellent representation of how the TV will look at different download speeds...

I did that before I bought the slingbox and it is almost spot on to what I have seen quality wise with the slingbox at the different speeds...

I love the fact that you have a virtual remote that looks just like your remote at home, has the same buttons and you can check out your guide, get on demand movies and if you have a TIVO or DVR cable box you can record, pause, FF and rewind live TV...And if you have HD signal with your cable company the quality gets even better...

Note: You can not record the slingbox to your computer, you can only record shows via the DVR or Tivo, there is no way to record the streaming to your computer at this time...

I am extremely pleased with my results, I now can watch my favorite shows without paying for a satillite dish and without having to worry about setting up the dish everytime I want to watch TV...I can bring my computer into the resturant and watch TV while eating if I so choose and instead of paying 100.00/mth for satillite, I am paying 60.00/mth for my broadband card that allows me to get onto the internet as well...

What you need for great slingobx experiance;

384kbps or better up-load speed from your home high speed internet, get the fastest your provider offers for best results...

a SPRINT EVDO rev. A wiresless broadband card...

I think the U720 is best as it allows you to get the modem away from the interference of your computer and allows you to use the included Y cable to pull power from 2 USB ports to strengthen the signal and you can use it on any computer you want that has a USB port instead of being limited to PCMCIA or express cards...

NOTE: Get a EVDO Rev. A card, if you don't, you will not be able to get the fastest speeds avail. Make sure to ask, as there are Rev. O cards still around...

NOTE: Only use Sprint as they DO NOT have a limit on their unlimited bandwidth plans, ALL the others have a 5GB bandwidth limit on their unlimited plans(why they call it unlimited is beyond me) and they will terminate your service if you go over it, where Sprint actually gives you unlimited bandwidth like their plan advertises...And using the slingbox does eat up bandwidth so either go with sprint or use the slingbox sparingly!!!!!

A spare cable box or at least a spare connection at home, if you connect it to the cable box on the TV your family uses, you will be having a channel war with your loved ones at home...LOL...The family will have to watch what you are watching or vice versa!!!!!

Note:You do not need a box, you can simply plug in your connection from your wall into the slingbox, but you will only be able to watch basic channels, no premium channels like HBO, the box is needed to see those channels...

A newer laptop computer, with decent components...There is a minimum requirements list for your computer on slings website...

Hope this helps you out and if you do decide to get a slingbox "happy slinging"...

 

Why thank you steve,

I think that if you got one you would be quite satisfied and plesently surprised with it...as long as you have the high speed internet at home and get a Sprint U720 card and have a decent newer laptop, you will love it...

I mean i am about 300 feet from a signal tower and I still get lows on signal and get 300kbps and other times I get 1200+ and either of them is great quality...Of course
better signal= better picture

I am watching NASCAR right now while typing this message...LOL...

I have not run anywhere yet...LOL...I am starting up school in Salt Lake City with Central Refrigerated On Monday, I leave tomorrow...I figured I would get all my toys now so I had something to do while in school and something to watch while with a trainer so if he is a reader I still can watch my shows...I am a TV junkie...

I will keep you all informed about this as I get out on the road and see what kind of signal issues I have if any, but I have looked at the Sprint EVDO coverage map and done alot of research about EVDO & it pretty much covers most metro areas and alot of smaller areas and from my understanding the map doesn't list half of the places that actually have high speed wiresless broadband so I do not expect many issues...

And once I get my own truck there are external antennas that help with signal that I will be grabbing, so I do not have to be without my TV...

But on the off chance I can't get signal, I have 216 DVDs that I will be able to watch and a few computer games to pass the time in low/no signal areas...

Yeah the computer is pretty sweet, I have been researching it for over a year and decided to take the plunge, I got the computer at a sweet price (I got dell to lower the price 400.00) and got 12 months interest free financing so I had to do it...I love the fact that it has a removable full size bluetooth keyboard, and the remote control that comes with it acts as a mouse and makes playing DVDs quite easy...and the 20" screen is just awesome... makes my home 17" flat panel look like dog poo...It is kind of spendy, but not unreasonably so considering the Sony Viao of similar quality is just as much but without all the extra features and without Dells complete care coverage and warranty...


Yeah I am a tech/gadget freak myself...But that is for another thread...LOL...