Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100
by Sling Media
|
List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100
Customer Review: Once you get it working it's fine; I think Amazon shipped me a returned unit
Summary: 5 Stars
I first suspected that the "new" unit I purchased from Amazon was not new (probably a return), when I saw that the tape seals around the Slingbox carton had been cut. When I opened the box, there were bulges under the flaps where the cables are stored, and I discovered several cables were missing the tie-wraps and had been merely re-folded and "stuffed" back under the flaps. The most telling evidence was that when I tried to install the unit, it could not be "located" by the Sling software on my network. This takes you into a long and time-consuming routine where you have to make sure your network is correctly set up, and that your firewall and anti-virus are not blocking the Slingbox. After a lot of checking, I decided to press the reset button on the Slingbox, and it immediately -- almost instantaneously -- was recognized by the Sling setup software. Obviously this Slingbox had previously been installed somewhere else, and the network settings in the memory were for a different network than mine. As soon as these were wiped by the reset button, the unit went back to it's factory condition and installation then proceeded smoothly.
There was absolutely no indication from Amazon when I purchased the unit that I was going to receive a unit that was not really brand new. Having been a loyal and satisfied customer of Amazon for many years, I am frankly disappointed.
Once you get it working, the product is really good. For remote viewing over the Internet, you really need a high-speed broadband connection. The higher, the better the resolution. We have this, and it works fine, with high-definition viewing possible between our St Louis MO home and France. Only occasionally does the sound skip. You can play around with the manual "encoding" settings to minimize this.
Customer Review: Great, with minor issues
Summary: 4 Stars
Was easy to set up when I read the directions. My router is in another room upstairs, so I purchase the Turbo Link that plugs into your electrical outlet. Connection was flawless. Picture and sound quality is great, even when I connect at work throughthe internet. I have Verizon Fios at home and Verizon DSL at work. My laptop WiFi conects to my DSL router and picture feed speed is fine. I could cotrol my DVR and watch any channel. However, I bought this model as it was advertised to have a second tuner that allows me to watch one channel while at work, while my wife watches something else at home. That is correct, but only applies if I watch the basic cable broadcast channels. None of the cable channels (CNBC, FOX News, etc,) can be watched seperately at the same time. Had to call Slingbox customer support (who was quick and helpful) to find this out. My only solution was to hook up the SlingBox to the rarely used cable box in our bedroom. Slingbox reconnected without issue and set up was easy to the other, different model, cable box. Now I can watch all the channels while wife watches something else downstairs. However, I now no longer can control the DVR or watch HD channels remotely. The reason I spent extra cash to buy this model. For the $100 difference in price I'll just keep this model as I'm too lazy to tear it all apart, ship back to Amazon and get a different model. I also have an IPhone and downloaded the Slingmedia application from the ITunes store ($30). When I turn in WiFi on the IPhone then connect to my Verizon Wireless "MiFi" personal router, I'm able to watch all my TV channels anywere there is a Verizon signal. No extra monthly fees apart from the Verizon Data plan I already had for my laptop. Cool product, just make the dual tuner a "real" dual tuner.Customer Review: Something you should know if you use the SlingLink Turbo.....
Summary: 5 Stars
I have both a Slingbox PRO-HD and a Slingbox Solo in use on my system at home, both working flawlessly. I'd had the Solo for about 3 years - it's attached to the DirecTV box in my den, where my cable modem & wireless router are located. I access it from a netbook I keep at my office, and take along when I travel.
I added the PRO-HD about 6 months ago, for my son, who moved out-of-state, but is still an avid fan of his hometown sport teams. It is attached to the HD box in the master bedroom - far removed from the router, so I purchased Slinglink Turbo 1PORT Enet Connection Bridge (SL 150-100) to provide internet access.
Upon initial installation, I lost wireless internet access on my network. I was using another brand of wall-plug ethernet bridges to connect my family room DVR to the internet. When I unplugged those, everything worked beautifully. I replaced them with another set of SlingLinks, and I was in business. There was nothing in the documentation for any of the Sling products which indicated there might be compatibility problems, but it was definitely an issue.
Another tip: overheating can affect performance, so take care about installations in a closed cabinet, or about stacking components atop one another. Picture is much improved when you assure air flow/cooling of the SlingBox unit.
If I were contemplating purchase, I know I would probably be deterred by the reviews of poor customer service listed here. I was totally ignorant of them at the time I bought my first SlingBox, and I have been fortunate in my experience thus far. I love my SlingBox! It does exactly what I want, great picture, great sound anywhere I go.
Customer Review: So far so good...wider use planned!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was turned onto this by a friend who's a true video tech junkie. He really knows his stuff. I resisted for a while, thinking "Would I really use this?". Not too long after, a situation arose where TV would be nice to have in a room in the house where there's no cable line. Run the line, pay for another box...UGGG! There's got to be a better way right?
While streaming video over wireless can be a tricky thing, our model Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100 does (over all) a great job. Depending on your situation, this unit could pay for itself in short order. Savings on additional cable box fees, and cable TV service itself adds up quickly! We've now used this at home in rooms with no cable and also a couple of different addresses where we had no cable television available, but decent wireless access. Bingo...it's like you're at home watching your own set.
Features I like: The online guide is great! Better in some ways than the onscreen guide from Comcast. It's nice taking advantage of the buffering to sometimes zip past commercials. Fun too is changing the channel on an unsuspecting at home viewer ;-) !
Your success with this unit strongly depends on a GOOD wireless router, or connection wherever you are. The better the connection, and your device (the iPad works very well) the more you'll like the Slingbox. Any issue we've had so far are related to the connection and NOT Slingbox itself. For in home use, if you're able to get a hardwired ethernet to each desired location, with a good laptop and a couple of cables to feed out to a flat screen.... you'd could have the ideal HD set up.
Future plans we're considering is to use the other input for a security camera at the front door.
Cheers, Scott & Chris in JP MA
Customer Review: Not great but it works
Summary: 3 Stars
I may have a different entertainment setup than most people as I have two identical DirecTV HD-DVRs (HR20) that I was hoping to use the Slingbox for. DirecTV handles the remote conflict by allowing set up of a different remote code 3 for one DVR. I was thinking that Sling Media would be able to handle the same setup since these DVRs have been out for much over a year, but after going through their support multiple times and being told by Sling Media that it wasn't their problem to support remote codes on hardware, I was ready to return it. Users of previous non-HD Slingboxes had a workaround by getting an extra non-Sling Media file to handle the remote. This workaround broke with the HD version. Fortunately DirecTV came through with a workaround with a firmware release that allowed up to 8 remotes to be programmed. I could now use remote code 2 but that meant I needed to tell the Slingbox that my DVR was an old DVR that had remote code 2.
Another issue that was confusing is that it states it has four multiple inputs to control four devices. The only problem means that is four different types of inputs, not four HD connections. So in my case one DVR is connected with componenent cables (yes, there's no HDMI connection available on the Slingbox) and the other DVR with S-Video.
In order to effectively watch HD over the Internet, you need a high upload speed on your Internet from the Sling box otherwise you will get a lot of video/audio stutter. The quality of the video though is very good. The quality from the S-video connection is less but is watchable.
Even with the limitations, I decided to keep the Slingbox because it does come in handy for watching over the Internet when you are not at home.