rsantos2 wrote:does the slingbox and my router/modem have to be physically connected? or can it connect wirelessly to my wireless home network?

I believe you have to get a Slingbox wireless module in order to connect wirelessly...although one of those wall plug units might work. Anyone use those?

What is the difference between this "Classic" and an "AV"? (Besides the Classic being discontinued).

Also, I'm assuming that once I receive the Sling signal at my laptop, I could then run a cable (S-video, HDMI) to a bigger screen. I should expect a loss of quality in the picture from the original cable signal, no?

I really don't understand how an HD program would have a comparable picture on the receiving end. Can a high-speed line handle that job?

One more for tonight. Just noticed this poking around over at the SlingMedia website.

They have a Java-based speed test built right into their page. The speed test is actually a product offered by Visualware.
http://us.slingmedia.com/page/speedtest.html

On that page, they do state that the minimum suggested upload speed is 256k, but that 512k or greater is suggested for the full experience.

I'd mentioned shakey connections earlier, and I actually like using VisualWare because it'll show you if you're having trouble in that department. The Quality of Service score comes from 5 brief transfer tests, with the lowest result being divided by the highest. Higher QoS is better. I work with VoIP, where it's critical, and in that category, you really want to see 80%+. Slingbox is probably a bit more tolerant of speed dips, though.

Happy wooting people. Hope I at least helped a few people with questions.

P.S. -- Anybody else getting 404s when they try posting?

If there was a gadget that was capable of getting you laid, it would be the slingbox. This is the sexiest gadget ever.

I got it last time here. Works great on Sprint PPC-6700 Pocket PC phone. You must buy the "mobile" sling software (about $30 I think) for Pocket PC's, but well worth it. The receiving software for desktops and laptops is free.

No glitching or buffering. Nice! And the PPC-6700 lets you turn the phone screen and watch in wide screen mode. I watched Dallas TV in Las Vegas hotel room.

I pay $15/month unlimited Internet from Sprint and can watch my Time Warner cable box all I want.

It knew my cable box model and puts a "virtual" remote control on the screen that lets me change channels and add 10 "favorite" stations with color logos (CNN, ABC, CNBC, etc). It doesn't have the "virtual" button to see the list of shows previously recorded on my DVR, but there may be a way around that. I've only watched live TV.

It may work on other cell phones with their mobile software (slingbox.com would tell you), but I believe they have to be able to run Pocket PC apps. Few do.

This does much more than the new low-end Slingboxes. And few people should even try to sling HD. Are you sure you have the bandwidth for that? In another location, standard definition is just fine.

It is labeled "Refurbished". But looks new. I bet the manufacturer just did that so they wouldn't perturb retailers selling the new models. Looks like they've just chosen Woot to get rid of discontinued model.

Buck Mulligan wrote:What is the difference between this "Classic" and an "AV"? (Besides the Classic being discontinued).

Classic has co-ax and co-ax passthrough, composite and composite pass-through, and s-video with pass-through.

A/V appears to have composite and s-video, no pass-through.

At least, that's what I gathered from SlingMedia's site.
http://us.slingmedia.com/page/slingboxav.html
Chart on the right.

G'night for REAL this time!

rsantos2 wrote:does the slingbox and my router/modem have to be physically connected? or can it connect wirelessly to my wireless home network?

It does not have built in WiFi capabilities. I use a wireless bridge with it to connect to my router since it's in another room.

linoth wrote:One more for tonight. Just noticed this poking around over at the SlingMedia website.

They have a Java-based speed test built right into their page. The speed test is actually a product offered by Visualware.
http://us.slingmedia.com/page/speedtest.html

On that page, they do state that the minimum suggested upload speed is 256k, but that 512k or greater is suggested for the full experience.

I'd mentioned shakey connections earlier, and I actually like using VisualWare because it'll show you if you're having trouble in that department. The Quality of Service score comes from 5 brief transfer tests, with the lowest result being divided by the highest. Higher QoS is better. I work with VoIP, where it's critical, and in that category, you really want to see 80%+. Slingbox is probably a bit more tolerant of speed dips, though.

Happy wooting people. Hope I at least helped a few people with questions.

P.S. -- Anybody else getting 404s when they try posting?

I have a 50k upload and it works great. Maxs out at 512k

I bought mine from Amazon 18 months ago for $179 and enjoy it. The New Pro is definitely better and the one announced in January sounds incredible, but I still don't feel bad about spending that much. If I had any need for a second one, I would jump on this price in a second.

When my DSL up speed was only 128k, it was quite jerky. When it went up to 256k it worked awesome. Remember, the rate limiting step is your upload. Any internet connection with a download of 768k or more is more than you need for it to look fine. I hooked it up to my Replay TV so I can see my cable plus recorded shows.

I use this with the DirecTV R15 DVR and it works like a charm. I use it both at work and on my Cingular 8125. I get a really good picture at both places. My upload speed at home is 512k and it is definitely sufficient.

Does anyone know if software exists to set your PC to record programs at a certain time like a DVR? If so Im all over this.. if not its just another gadget that Id love to have but have no real use for!

BJNK wrote:Does anyone know if software exists to set your PC to record programs at a certain time like a DVR? If so Im all over this.. if not its just another gadget that Id love to have but have no real us
e for!

not anymore they disabled the it in the latest firmware.. but if you have this you wont miss anything and therefor wont need to record it otherwise just hook the slingbox into a tivo or dvr set top and then you have direct control and can record.

BJNK wrote:Does anyone know if software exists to set your PC to record programs at a certain time like a DVR? If so Im all over this.. if not its just another gadget that Id love to have but have no real use for!

There is a program to record if the box has older firmware, but that's not what this is made for. Newer firmware has security that blocks recording. That's why you only use Sling Software to watch the streams.

This thing looks awesome! I bought it!

I got one of these about a year ago and love it. My baseball team goes with me whenever I travel. I have a TV window on my PC when I WOOT. The best part about the Classic is that the old firmware sent out the video on an IP stream that could be captured by other PC applicatons -- Allowing for DVR functionality on your PC, too. They had to encrypt the signal on the new boxes and the newer firmware. I loaded the old firmware on my Slingbox Classic to keep the DVR feature. This could be why these are all Refirb--they loaded firmware that encrypts the IP stream. You''d have to load the old firmware to make this feature work. On mine, the old firmware was on the installl CD, I just had to look for it. Check out the DVR software at: http://applian.com/at-large-recorder/index.php. The quality is about as good as a 13" TV. Not perfect for everything, but great if that size screen's good enough.

Does a wireless bridge come with it? If not, where do I get one?

can anyone give a list of the phones that work good with this sling thing? I have tmobile for cell service...also i was wondering...if i jsut get baisic internet for my cell phone it is usally pretty slow..will the shows still be pretty smoothon my cell? or should i pay the extra $10 a month to get the edge internet...which is supposed to be around 200k download...?? I want the cell phone with the best picture...

miken2 wrote:I got one of these about a year ago and love it. My baseball team goes with me whenever I travel. I have a TV window on my PC when I WOOT. The best part about the Classic is that the old firmware sent out the video on an IP stream that could be captured by other PC applicatons -- Allowing for DVR functionality on your PC, too. They had to encrypt the signal on the new boxes and the newer firmware. I loaded the old firmware on my Slingbox Classic to keep the DVR feature. This could be why these are all Refirb--they loaded firmware that encrypts the IP stream. You''d have to load the old firmware to make this feature work. On mine, the old firmware was on the installl CD, I just had to look for it. Check out the DVR software at: http://applian.com/at-large-recorder/index.php. The quality is about as good as a 13" TV. Not perfect for everything, but great if that size screen's good enough.

So are you saying that it IS possible to load the older firmware and it exists on the intertubes?

bama1221 wrote:Does a wireless bridge come with it? If not, where do I get one?

No it does not. You can get one wherever you buy most PC accessories probably.

DeadpoolSA wrote:

No it does not. You can get one wherever you buy most PC accessories probably.

Thank you, sir!

kefin11 wrote:can anyone give a list of the phones that work good with this sling thing? I have tmobile for cell service...also i was wondering...if i jsut get baisic internet for my cell phone it is usally pretty slow..will the shows still be pretty smoothon my cell? or should i pay the extra $10 a month to get the edge internet...which is supposed to be around 200k download...?? I want the cell phone with the best picture...

My phone is on the older Edge network from Cingular which is pretty slow and it plays fine. The thing about Sling Box is that it adjusts to whatever your up/down speed is on the fly to give you the best picture.

CRWJumper wrote:I just don't get the point of these things.
If I want to watch TV, I'll find a TV to watch.
I don't want to have to go through all of the trouble of hooking one of these up, and setting up my computer so I can view another infomercial while I'm supposed to be working.

Yes, but what if you want to watch hometown TV while away? How about watching the home baseball/hockey/football(soccer) team when on business in China?

Have a couple and love them. One at a friend's place in the US with an FTA sat receiver, the other on cable in Canada.

juicius wrote:

It basically let you be an internet broadcaster, with audience of one.

I've heard of people using it to get by regional blackouts and such. Put one at your brother's place in the Michigan and you can catch Wolverines football on Saturdays that are not shown in Georgia, etc.

Just what I need to watch the USC thump the wolverines

BJNK wrote:

So are you saying that it IS possible to load the older firmware and it exists on the intertubes?

The Slingbox software allows you to load "new" firmware. The CD I got with my Slingbox had several versions of Firmware on the CD. I was able to load the old firmware on my Slingbox. If they took the old Firmware off the CD that could be a problem.

leighmcd wrote:Questions: Does it work with satellite TV? Does it work with a satellite internet connection?

Yes for sat TV.
Yes, but with a caveat on sat Internet. it needs at least 300K up to give you decent quality, on sat Internet that would eat your daily allowance quite quick.

Bosko wrote:

I do. It's totally great if you understand it's capabilities. It isn't hi-def. But you can plug in your cable, a dvd player, even a cable box and watch any of the inputs on your laptop while your wife watches 'Beaches' instead of the ball game. The picture is standard TV definition so if your computer screen has higher res than 720x480 the optimum picture will be smaller. You can watch it full screen, but it will be a little fuzzy. You can change channels and control the DVD or cable box remotely. I only wish I could install the free player software on my work PC so I could - ahem - work. Well worth the $75 if you want to watch YOUR video away from home.

Umm, no, that's not what it appears to do. If you have a cable box or a SAT tuner that you are watching, it literally controls the channel of that unit, whoever is sitting there has to watch that channel too, unless they want to flip around on the locals.

I dont buy the idea if you can hook up a VCR you can hook up this thing since you have to setup your router to forward and port trigger on an internal static IP. What I would like to know is if this can be setup to run the web interface on ports OTHER THAN 80 or 8080 since I have additional things running.

Petroglyph wrote:

I believe you have to get a Slingbox wireless module in order to connect wirelessly...although one of those wall plug units might work. Anyone use those?

ah so i'll need a wireless bridge or a power-line adapter to get this to work. both are more expensive than the slingbox itself. bummer.

2005vette wrote:I have had this for about 1.5 years now. ANd I love it. The quality is great. The only problem I have with the unit is it will not eaisly work with Linux. There are sites that say they have gotten it work work with Ubuntu and wine. But quality was not great. And yes it does now work with MAC.....

lean mean win2k install in a vmware container is your sling's linux friend. For now...

Torch wrote:
What I would like to know is if this can be setup to run the web interface on ports OTHER THAN 80 or 8080 since I have additional things running.

You can put it on whatever port you want. The default it 5001, but I put it on Port 80 because I knew for a fact that port is not blocked at work.

bama1221 wrote:Does a wireless bridge come with it? If not, where do I get one?

I bought one last time it was offered on woot and this is a good question. It doesn't come with a wireless bridge and this is why i haven't used it yet.

If your cable box is far away from your internet, you will need a solution not offered as part of this package. A slinglink, the solution offered by Slingbox will cost you 99 bucks . Keep in mind that you need to consider the wiring of your house with this solution...

but there are other ways too...

rsantos2 wrote:
ah so i'll need a wireless bridge or a power-line adapter to get this to work. both are more expensive than the slingbox itself. bummer.

I saw one of those power-line sets for $29 the other day on another deal site. They're not expensive. Use Google.

BJNK wrote:

So are you saying that it IS possible to load the older firmware and it exists on the intertubes?

Use the latest firmware, with the latest software, just need to replace one DLL with one from an older player.

Torch wrote:

Umm, no, that's not what it appears to do. If you have a cable box or a SAT tuner that you are watching, it literally controls the channel of that unit, whoever is sitting there has to watch that channel too, unless they want to flip around on the locals.

I dont buy the idea if you can hook up a VCR you can hook up this thing since you have to setup your router to forward and port trigger on an internal static IP. What I would like to know is if this can be setup to run the web interface on ports OTHER THAN 80 or 8080 since I have additional things running.

You can connect it directly to the cable AND your DVR/STB/etc. Swithch at will.

It uses port 5001 by default, but you can change that to whatever makes you happy - or turn on UPNP on your router and it's all automajik.

BJNK wrote:Does anyone know if software exists to set your PC to record programs at a certain time like a DVR? If so Im all over this.. if not its just another gadget that Id love to have but have no real use for!

http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/

brchickery wrote:If there was a gadget that was capable of getting you laid, it would be the slingbox. This is the sexiest gadget ever.

the peanut butter and jelly sammich ain't bad either...

Mnemonic wrote:


http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/

That won't work with a Sling Box.

Looks pretty handy; sling the video from the Tivo to the laptop, use the GameBridge to capture the video and save it as a VCD. Burn and enjoy; no copy protection hassles, and no downloading video from questionable web sites.

What a deal!

I have one of these. I don't use it as often as I though I would (turns out I'm tired when I get to my hotel) but when I do use it - like watching Liverpool win the European cup semi-final whilst waiting for a plane - it's absolutely worth every penny of the $150 I paid for it. This is a good deal for people that travel with a laptop.

Whuffo wrote:Looks pretty handy; sling the video from the Tivo to the laptop, use the GameBridge to capture the video and save it as a VCD. Burn and enjoy; no copy protection hassles, and no downloading video from questionable web sites.

What a deal!

Except that GameBridge will not work with it.

How does this compare to the slingbox AV?

I heard that the AV model has a newer chipset, so you get higher quality out of the video then you did with the original.