Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)
by Sling Media
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List Price: Our Price: Calculated in a shopping cart Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $129.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)
Customer Review: Slingbox Hell
Summary: 1 Stars
On Jan. 14, 2010 I received my new Slingbox that I had ordered from Amazon.com. Because I was away this last weekend I began installation last night Jan. 19, 2010. I then spent the next 5 hours in Slingbox Tech Support hell.
The installation proceeded fine until I went to the download page to setup the installation. Even that proceeded well at first. After the software was downloaded it recognized the Slingbox Solo on my network, this is where the breakdown occurred. The software then requested an administer password. No where in the limited literature did it mention or even hint at this password. I decided to try to contact Slingbox Technical support.
Tried to call and was disconnected 4 times on your telephone tech support before I could speak to anyone. Next tried to use the Chat feature online at your website. Spent a large amount of time trying to explain the problem to your tech support person. Finally I allowed her access to my computer and she reloaded the Slingbox software and arrived at the same problem I was having. Then she told me it was my security software preventing the download (remember the software has already downloaded and recognizes the slingbox). Told me there was nothing else she could do for me and I needed to contact Trend Micro and find out how to get the software loaded.
Next I actually spoke to Trend Micro tech support person that led me through shutting the software down to allow the upload. It did not work either and the Trend Micro rep told me they have actually never had any occurrence like this since they have been selling their software.
Tried to call your tech support again and got disconnected again. Went back to online Chat and the next Slingbox Representative told me that Amazon.com had sent me a used slingbox and it had already been registered in 2008. That beside the fact that the box was sealed, all wires in their original packing, slingbox itself sealed and had protective cover on it. He then informed me there was nothing else he could do for me because I was trying to cheat your tech support people by installing a used slingbox.
It was at this point that I decided I had wasted way too much time with this and I really had no desire to ever own a slingbox. I contacted Amazon.com and they have provided me a return in which I will get my money back.
I am unsure why Slingbox would outsource something as important as their tech support; or if they were not outsourced then why slingbox would hire idiots. I had extremely high hopes for your product but they have been dashed. In the end I will get my money back and will not recommend the product, so life goes on.
Customer Review: Works Exactly as Advertised
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a bit skeptical about the Slingbox solo - I was concerned that the set-up would be difficult and that the video quality would be poor. Well that simply is not the case, in fact it works a little better than I had hoped. There are a few things you need to consider.
1 - This is NOT a wireless device. You will need to have your TV/DVR/Cable Box hear your router or you will need to buy a device such as Slinglink Turbo 1PORT Enet Connection Bridge (SL 150-100) which can use your home's electrical wiring to extend your network (it really is a cool product!).
2- You can use Sling Media SlingCatcher SC100-100 Universal Media Player for TV to watch your Slingbox remotely on a separate TV. This is great for kids that are away at college and still want to watch their home team sporting events.
3- Will "Sling" to your Blackberry (Model Dependent) or your iPod/iPhone (Requires the purchase of a separate application).
4 - You can also just watch on any computer (Macs included!) once you remotely log into your Slingbox
5- Only 1 viewer at a time - meaning if you and your buddy want to watch the Slingbox remotely using two different devices (one of you using an iPhone while the other using a computer or any combination) you are out of luck. The Slingbox will deliver programing to ONE discrete viewing device.
6- The Slingbox "Hijacks" the TV/DVR/Cable box that it is attached to - meaning that if you are using the Slingbox to view channel 3 - then the person who owns the TV will also have to watch channel 3. It could create a dispute if the owner of the TV decides that they want to watch something different than the person using the Slingbox.
7- Need to keep an eye on your network settings - If your router is in Powersave mode your network connection may go to asleep which would make remote viewing impossible.
8 - Video quality - we vary depending on your network speed - ideally your network will be able to work at speeds greater than 1Mbps - but it is not necessary. at 1Mbps you can expect video quality to be slight less than what you get using a standard definition television.
Final Verdict - Works great - but you really ned to keep you expectation in check. This is not a HD Slingbox and does not deliver to the quality. However, for what I am using it for - it is an outstanding product.
5 Stars
Customer Review: Does what it's supposed to do
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the reviews on this item and had to discount most of them for lack of effort and research. I have a friend who has the unit so I saw it work before I purchased one. Everything in the box was packed well and complete. The quick setup guide is very easy to follow. I suggest reading all of the instructions first, map out your gameplan and then start the install as you have several options. Before you buy this item figure out how you will connect to the internet. My house is wired for internet in every room so it was no problem. I don't suggest wireless as I think it's not reliable enough to operate this unit...it's bandwidth hungry. My friend uses the plugin devices and they work great. I first setup the unit with composite cables but decided to switch to component video cables. I did get a better picture but the composite cables work just fine. When everything is setup you need to login to your computer and setup up the unit. I loaded the software on both a PC and a Mac with no issues. It takes a while to go through the process so give yourself about an hour. The hardest part was finding the virtual remote that looked like mine. I had to type in my cable provider as the maker and I was able to find it right away. I tested the remote buttons and everything works like a champ. The video was seamless....no chop at all. If you have a choppy video I would suggest upgrading your router. As I said, this machine requires major bandwidth so be prepared if you are using slow peripheral equipment. If you have a DVR I would definitely hook up to that since it gives you the most options for remote watching.
IPhone setup: I did purchase the Slingmedia app for my IPhone 3GS. It's pricey at $29.99. It installed very easily as well, sound is very good and the picture surprisingly good. It took a bit of work to get used to the remote buttons. Many are hidden and you slide your finger left or right to see the rest. All of the remote buttons are there and they work fine. The app works great if you have a decent signal and are not moving. It works OK if you are in a car or moving about but you may have some signal loss. A window will pop up and it's very easy to reconnect. Overall very pleased with the app.
I did not call customer service so I can't tell you how bad or good they are. I tend to not call customer service unless I am at a total loss. Probably all the answers you need are on the forum or somewhere on the internet. You don't need to be overly techie to set this thing up but you do need to take your time and follow directions.
Customer Review: One of those things you don't know your missing.....
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first SlingBox product. I was on the fence about buying one, wasn't sure how much I would use it to justify it's expense. But Amazon as always had a pretty attractive price, so I bought it, and I am very happy that I did. First lets talk about set up. I have a fair amount of PC/Tech knowledge, but I am not a professional. I found the sling box set up very easy and straight forward, but then again this is not the first time I had to log into my router and do some port forwarding either. If you know what I just said, then this will be a cake walk to set up for you. If you have no idea what that meant, don't worry because I noticed the Slingbox tutorial is quite good with lots of pictures. I had no idea how the Sling box worked when accessing it remotely, I was happy to find out that no extra steps were required to connect to my slingbox on the road, that truly is convenient. So, I had zero issues setting this up, it was up and running in minutes.
Now lets talk image quality. I have yet to use this on an HD set top box, so I don't know how that looks, but Standard Definition looks pretty good over my local network. Now you can't expect this thing to output miracles, but once the slingbox finishes its little optimizing routine after connecting, the stream is fluid, with very little compression artifacts. I am completely happy with the image quality, but I won't be throwing away my Blu-Ray player just yet......
Now remote Slingbox viewing is a whole different ball game, the image quality is cut in half (at least for me it is, I have crap upload speeds). First time viewing it remotely it was extremely noticeable that the sling box did not look as good as at home. That bothered me a little while, BUT after I saw how pleased my wife was watching the slingbox on my laptop while we waited at the car dealership, I realized the advantage of just having a lower resolution television anywhere I could get internet access outweighed the drop in resolution. I hate waiting, but the slingbox can help pass the time. Plus my wife likes it, which counts for alot too.
So I really like it, but its not perfection. Perfection would be being able to record these video streams (without buying some third party software) so I could watch them later like a D/PVR. Also while the image quality is good, I would like them to keep pushing the envelope, go AVC instead of WMV. That said, I use this thing all the time, I never realized what a bonus it is to have a portable computer and television in a laptop. I had no idea what I was missing.
Customer Review: Very cool product - Works well with iPhone and Touch!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I wasn't going to write a review for this product since so many others already have. However, I changed my mind when Sling recently released the software for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
First of all, the device works as expected. The only frustrating thing is the initial setup. CHECK ONLINE FIRST!!! Before you begin to setup the Slingbox for your TV/DVR/Satellite/MCE box, be sure to check that the remote control codes are supported. I have run into issues with my new DirecTV DVR model R22-200. After more then an hour of trying to figure out the correct model, I learned that it's not yet supported. This is/was a big bummer, but I've sinced moved the Slingbox to a different TV/DVR and it's working like it should
The SlingPlayer interface is real straightforward on both PC and Mac. It's much more responsive (on a local network) then I thought. However, I tried to use with my Verizon DSL and it's not so good. I figured as much, since my DSL server is S L O W.
Now to the coolest part of all. I recently (last night, but it depends on when you're reading this) downloaded the SlingPlayer mobile for iPhone and iPod Touch (i have the iPod Touch). This is one of the best applications you can get for the Touch. It works similar to the PC/Mac version, but it has to be compact, since it's on a much smaller screen. It works amazing. You can control the video performance if you don't have a good wireless connection. Oh yeah, it currently only supports Wi-Fi, so no luck for the 3G iPhone users. The only downside is the $30 cost for the application. That does seem a little steep, but possibly not a barrier for those folks that already have a SlingBox and iPhone/iPod.
Anyway, I'll likely be using this when I wake up in the middle of the night and I can't go back to sleep. Now, I can just flip on the Touch, go to my favorite channel or review previous recorded shows and watch TV (with headphones, of course) and not worry about waking anyone up with a glaring screen or loud commercials.
I now highly recommend this for anyone who can't get enough TV and to any of you who is really interested in watching live/recorded TV on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Pros
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- Works as expected
- Great performance over LAN connection
- Easy to setup
- Perfect solution for watching TV remotely
Cons
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- Lack of some remote control codes
- The SlngPlayer Mobile for iPhone/iPod is expensive