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Sling Media Slingbox Tuner ( SB220-100 ) | List Price: $129.99
Discount Price: $87.87
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Brand: Sling Media
Binding: Electronics
Features: - Redirects the TV signal to the computer of your choice--providing high quality video, no matter the distance
- SlingStream technology delivers up to a 400 percent video quality improvement over the original Slingbox
- Connects to basic cable TV or NTSC antenna sources
- Includes free Slingbox Finder service to locate a Slingbox from any network location
- Watch and control your basic cable TV anywhere around your home or around the globe
Great product if you have at least basic cable [Posted on 2008-02-19]
There are several varieties of Slingbox out there, and trying to figure out which one is right for you can be challenging. So I'll make this simple: if you're looking to save a little money, have at least basic cable (and anticipate having it for a while) then this is the product for you. In other words, if you can get basic cable to your TVs without a converter box then you can make good use of this. Most cable companies offer this, so check if you're not sure.
What are the disadvantages? The tuner is the old NTSC standard instead of the new ASTC, which means that you won't be able to use it for broadcast channels when they switch to digital broadcasting next year (unless you have the adapter). You also can't easily use it for your digital cable channels (for most companies, this means any channel 100 or higher) or for satellite channels.
Still, it works very well for what it does. The quality of the streamed video is excellent over both Wireless-N and Wireless-G connections. It looks as good as on our TVs. I haven't tried it from away from our home network, so I can't comment on that.
Setup for the box is pretty easy, especially if your router supports uPnP. The box itself can get a little hot, so you have to be careful about how you place it. I deducted a star because you have to use a proprietary video player that doesn't support recording. For that reason it's only a very good product and not an indispensible one.
Ok but crippled software [Posted on 2008-03-27]
Honestly I don't know why Slingbox has such a huge following. It's a decent product (works great on LAN, so-so away from the house unless you have a 4+ Mb connection), but the software is essentially crippleware. This is the only video product that I've ever had that doesn't support video recording. I used to own ATI and Matrox video cards...their software supported TV connections PLUS video recording. Why can't this product replace my Tivo... my computer is fast enough and has plenty of hard drive space?! Also, why can't you view it on more than one computer at a time? OR why can't you but a "deluxe" version with two tuners inside that will let you view on more than one computer at a time.
This has the potential to be a killer product but in my mind is only mediocre because of the limitations that they've built into the software.
Must Have [Posted on 2008-04-02]
Great Product! Love that I can watch my home team Mets anywhere. I also purchased the add on for my Motorola Q and can watch it anywhere my phone gets signal.
This is GREAT! [Posted on 2008-04-03]
I'm watching the baseball game on my laptop at work. Most of the games are on Fox Sports, so no broadcasting over the airwaves. The picture isn't A+, but it's certainly passable and better than I expected. And I can watch anything here that my cable box at home picks up, including local cable.
Drawbacks are 1. only one tv at a time. But, I only bought the basic unit; 2. No picture in picture; and 3. No recording. These shortcomings are probably addressed by the more expensive units. But, my needs are currently being met.
Indianapolis to Seattle [Posted on 2008-06-06]
My daughter moved from Indianapolis to Seattle. She is a huge Colts fan and told me about Slingbox. Now she can watch our games or Indy tv whenever she chooses. It's wonderful.
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