Slingbox Deal

[picopir8]

Its not an incredible deal but Amazon has the Slingbox for only $220 and free shipping.  Most places sell for about $250+.  I personally was holding out for the next 10% off sale at BB, but this even beats that slighty.  Now I just a matter of waiting for the windows mobile client (Q1 release date).

[wireblsam]

If you do take the plunge can you post a review?

[picopir8]

Well, I went ahead and ordered on.  I have heard nothing but good things except I probably wont use it much on a PC so Im really looking forward for the windows mobile client.  If they attempt to charge for that Ill try to return it.  If its free, Ill post a review on both the PDA and PC performance.

[picopir8]

Well, I got it yesterday.  I pulled it out of the box, connected it to my SA8300 box using the included composite cable.    The slingbox also has s-video and cable inputs/outputs.  I connected the slingbox to my network using a Motorola 802.11G wireless bridge.  Installing the software is pretty painless.  It pretty much sets itself up.  Even though I have it connected to my SA8300, I told the slingbox that it is connected to a SA8000.  I did that because I like the remote layout for the SA8000 a bit better.  The installer also gives step by step instructions for configuring most routers to portforward to the slingbox.  Launching the app brings up a screen that lists all of your slingboxes (or you can have it autoconnect to the last one accessed).  The slingbox monitors the connection and uses more compression as bandwidth drops.  Even over a wireless connection, the slingbox has no problem getting its max bandwidth (1.5Mbps) .  Small text (ie fine print at end of commercials for automobiles) looks bad but who really reads that stuff anyway.  The one problem with the wireless connection though is that my notebook struggles to keep the connection to the slingbox.  Streaming between two wireless devices on the same network seems bad.  However, things are great when streaming to my desktop that has a wired connection to my router.  I did violate the EULA and gave my password to a friend so he could test out my slingbox over the internet so that I know it works before I go out and try it myself (I have since changed the password so Im no longer in violation).   Anyway, he checked it out and said that the picture quality was pretty good.  He was viwing using his notebook that connected to a broadband connection using my old 802.11b router that I gave him.  I have not tested the remote viewing myself but he said that it was very good and he could envision using it at a hotel, hotspot, etc.    He liked it enough that he is now planning on getting one.  As soon as the windows mobile client is released he will also test it on a W-CDMA smartphone and Ill test it on my Dell Axim.

Obviously, this is nowhere near HD, but when you are out and about the ability to view your AV equipment  is benefit enough for me.  I also doubt upload bandwidths will be good enough to support HD streaming anytime in the near future anyway.

As far as the EULA goes, you are not supposed to share you Slingbox with anyone outside of your household.  However, there are a number of people who are violating it and trading slingboxes with people in other regions.  A pretty cool concept if you are not from the area where you now live.  Though doing so may also be illegal if you share a satellite/cable connection with another person.  I would not use the slingbox to share a cable connection with your neighbor, but I dont see anything wrong with sharing a connection with someone overseas.  It opens up content that you not otherwise have access to.

[klwillis45]

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6474453.html?tag=cnetfd.sd

Very cool, now get crackin on the HD so you can gladly seperate me from my $$$.

[wireblsam]

I picked mine up a couple of weeks ago after the price dropped from $249 to $199.  Have used it traveling in airports and hotels and have been very happy with the performance.  Obviously the picture quality is going to vary depending on the speed of the internet connection you are using.

Yesterday Sling Media released the beta version of the SlingPlayer Mobile.  I was able to test it out on my Pocket PC and was able to connect in seconds using a Wi-Fi hotspot.  Again, I was pleased with the results and ease of use.

[picopir8]

For those interested the Windows Mobile player is free for everyone who registers before April 26th.  After that, new slingbox owners will have to pay $30.

The mobile player works great.  It defaults to 15fps and stereo audio, however I set it to 30fps and then set the audio to mono (since my PDA has only 1 speaker and I rarely use headphones) and it works great.  I can now watch TV at any hotspot and Im contemplating getting a cellular data plan so I can then connect to my phone over bluetooth and watch tv anywhere.

My only problem is that my slingbox is on a wireless bridge and I cant connect to it from other wireless devices on my network.  I can connect from wired computers or from remote sites.  Im not sure why Im having the problem because the slingbox uses far less bandwidth than is available on a wireless network.  Anyway, that appears to be a network issue and is not slings fault.

**UPDATE**
I found a workaround for the problem I was having with my networks wireless devices trying to access my slingbox.  I set up a free DDNS account at DynDNS and then point the slingbox clients to the DDNS address which points to my router which then portforwards to the slingbox.   This is the same thing that the free slingfinder service does and appears to work with all my wired connections but for some reason my wireless connections were not working.  So Im not quite sure why DDNS got things working but it did.