The Slingbox comes in a variety of different models, each built for different types of cable signals. Depending on whether you use digital cable or satellite, Sling Media makes a model compatible with all cable signals, and even models that can be synched to transmit DVR, TiVo, and DVD. Basically, a Slingbox can allow you to watch TV and control your entire home theatre from most any device that can connect to the Internet.
What’s more, you don’t have to be a tech genius or have a degree in computer programming to set it up. If you can hook up a DVD player, you can hook up a Slingbox.
For expats, people who spend lots of time out of the country, or just for TV and movie addicts who can’t be away from the TV for very long, the Slingbox is a miracle. The quality varies between average and good—certainly not television quality—but most shows, newscasts, movies, cartoons, and broadcasts of things which don’t have fast camera movement come through very well. Sports are the most problematic, since detail is key, and often the camera moves quickly to keep up with the action, but sporting events are very watchable and certainly better than listening to a radio broadcast.
What’s really amazing about this product is that you don’t even have to have a blazing fast internet connection, although the faster, the better. Anything over 256k will be acceptable and even 128k might be worth thinking about. What else is amazing about it? It works, and for the most part, works with hardly any bugs and almost no maintenance. Also, the company offers a good tech support system, with staff available to chat with, and an enormous amount of online information from the Sling community.
Even better news for people who own a Slingbox or are thinking about getting one, is that Sling Media keeps upgrading their services and products. The company has recently upgraded the Slingbox PRO to make it compatible with HD sources. When the company introduced the first Slingbox, the software was not available to be able to control the signal from the computer, so users were not able to change the channel from the computer. Basically you had to watch whatever was on the original television, and the channel had to be changed manually.
The newer versions have been upgraded to where the Slingbox doesn’t even have to be connected to a television anymore. If you only want to watch TV, you can hook up a Slingbox to any cable outlet in the house, and broadcast to your PC wherever you are. The new technology also allows users to change channels from their PCs. For users who have the PRO version, and are connected to their DVD and DVRs, they can control their entire home theatre system from their PC and watch recorded programming when they like.
Basically, the Slingbox is a must have for TV junkies, and especially those who want to see regional programming when they are away from the house. It’s a great invention and one that is worth the extremely reasonable price—between $130 for the basic version, and about $250 for the PRO version that connects to the home theater.
26.10.2007. 13:31
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