Sling Media Slingbox AV (SB240-100)

• 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 digital cable box, DVR, satellite receiver, DVD players, video/security camera, or any NTSC S-video or composite video source
• Includes free Slingbox Finder service to locate a Slingbox from any network location
• Watch and control your home TV, DVR, digital cable box, or satellite receiver anywhere around your home or around the globe

I have been considering the Slingbox for quite some time. I decided to go ahead and buy one when Sling Media came out with this new model.

Installation was an absolute breeze. It was so easy I was shocked! I was watching DirecTV/TIVO on my PC within 5 minutes of opening the box. I have broadband internet which is quite fast. Full screen viewing on my 20" 16:10 screen is somewhat grainy and blurry, but definitely viewable. I prefer to use about 1/3 of my screen for the viewer (SplingPlayer) and the other 2/3 for other applications. Nice sharp picture quality with this set-up! Surfing the web while watching TV is no problem. Web pages still load quickly and video is still sharp/smooth. Haven't tried to download a large file while viewing yet.

SlingPlayer is great! Choose full screen, left/right side, or adjust as you see fit. When you choose left or right side your internet browser (or whatever application you are running) will snap into place to cover the rest of your screen automatically. Very nice user interface and many skins to choose from.

No matter where you are, as long as you have an internet connection, you can watch your TV. I have Tivo which makes this device shine! I can watch my directv, watch anything that is recorded on TIVO, order pay-per-view, set up a program to record. Basically you can do anything that you can normally do with your DVR. The on screen remote control even looks identical to the real remote.

How is it different from the original Slingbox? I can't speak from actual experience since I don't own the original, but as far as the specs go there are some pros and cons.

The original Slingbox had a coax input. So you can hook up directly to analog cable or antennae. You can't do this with the SlingBox AV, but you can with the new SlingBox Tuner. The SlingBox Pro will do both analog and digital (and component HDTV).

The pros... The new SlingBox AV claims to have:

* SlingStream technology delivers up to a 400 percent video quality improvement over the original Slingbox

And the new SlingPlayer v1.4 for the Slingbox Tuner/AV/Pro provides:

* Improved video quality on the LAN: up to 4x the resolution of the previous SlingPlayer and over 200% speed improvement.*

* Adjust the SlingStream LAN video quality to match your particular computer and network conditions.

* Improved Setup Wizard: new screens are streamlined and easier to use.

* Improved Setup Wizard: direct access to customer support via real time chat. Relax and let our tech supports set up your router for you!

* AutoUpdate feature added to the Setup process ensuring users always install the latest software for their Slingbox.

* Users can rapidly cycle between Fullscreen (4:3), Widescreen (16:9), Letterbox, Windowbox and Pillarbox window modes to find the best fit for their video content.

* Full-screen improvements: If you put SlingPlayer in maximized mode it will stay there.

* Show/Hide player controls with one-click toggle. Just click once on the main player window to remove the controls when you aren't using them.

* Audio Visualizations added to Audio-Only mode. WinAmp AVS support means that users can add their own visualizations.

* Physical remote controls: SlingPlayer now works with remotes that support Microsoft Application keys. Now you can sit back and click on a real remote control to control SlingPlayer.

* SlingPlayer has a whole new look with the RedLine skin--just one more way to change the SlingPlayer to suit your tastes. With SlingCentral and other user contributed skins there are over 30 different skins available and more coming every month.

I won't miss the analog coax connection, I don't need it. If you need analog coax only then buy the SlingBox tuner. If you need both coax and digital devices then buy the SlingBox Pro (which will also give you component HDTV, but no HDMI).

On a final note, this unit is tiny. Much smaller than the original. It's about 1.5"(H) x 3.5"(D) x6.5 (W). Your gonna here some people call this thing ugly in appearance. It's not really that bad and it's so small that it can easily be hidden behind your other components or just pushed toward the back.

I'm a gadget freak and this is the coolest thing I've purchased in a long time!! Just buy one! This would make an awesome gift for anyone interested in computers and TV.

Buy Sling Media Slingbox AV (SB240-100) Now

There isn't, honestly, much I can add that you're not seeing in either (well written) spotlight reviews. The Slingbox is, in my opinion, every bit as impressive as its reputation led me to believe it was. There were, however, a few things I labeled as being pretty important though, that I didn't clearly understand going in. I was hoping to just clear those up for any potential customers.

1. The way this works is that Slingbox, basically, hijacks one of your cable boxes. For example, if I was to turn on the TV that my Slingbox was set up on, it's going to display whatever I'm watching. If I lived alone, this wouldn't be a big deal; but between everyone else in my house, I can't completely monopolize a TV. What I did was just attach the Slingbox to my basement TV, which they never use.

2. A connection to your home network is required. I had mistakenly thought it was optional, that you were hooking SlingBox directly to your PC (like other tuner models). Make sure you have some kind of an access point to connect to. If I was to wish for anything, I would have loved if this model came with some kind of a built-in wireless card. It would have been one less piece of equipment I had to buy.

3. Mac software is now available for download. I know a lot of us were waiting ... now the wait is over.

4. Streaming video is a monster on your internet hook-up's bandwidth, just be prepared for the slow-down if you have a lot of internet-ready devices (notebook, xBox live maybe, etc etc) running all the time. If your system has some mileage on the tires, this might be a good excuse to consider upgrading it a little bit.

Other then that, as I said, this is every bit as good as advertised. Enjoy it!

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Installation on a normal home network setup is very easy. My setup was a little more complex due to voip router, and 2nd wireless router. Sling has instructions on their web site but I still had to mess around with my settings in order to get it to work. To work on multiple routers you have to do port forwarding on both routers to port 5001. Once I worked this out everything is great.

Video quality is good in the house, haven't tried it from another location. I'm running the Sling AV with Netgear Ethernet power adaptors to my router and then watching TV via wireless to my laptop. Now we can watch TV in any room of the house. My wife loves being able to watch the news in the morning while in the kitchen. She also loves being able to surf while having a show running in a small window on the side.

Control of my Dish DVR is very good. We can manage any feature of our Satelite/DVR box. This will come in handy when we travel as we have our sons Seaseme Street shows on the DVR and now we can take those with us on the road.

Overall, I'm pleased with the Sling AV. It offers good performance at a great price point. Now Sling just needs to get the Mac version out so I can watch TV on my beautiful 15.4 inch Mac Book Pro.

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Bought the Slingbox AV last week, took about 15 minutes to get it working on my home network. Got good quality video even on wireless with WAP enabled. Works great from my office as well. Great product overall, the only thing you need to aware of is that the slingplayer mobile is not included. If you want to watch on your PDA device, it will need to be purchased separately.

Bought this so my stepson, a college student, could watch TV downstate without having to pay cable fees. Works nicely. We tested and used it while in Las Vegas and the box was in Maine -no problem. It took calling the company to get it set up properly. They were cordial, efficient and effective. Had it running after 10 minutes online with the service tech. Kind of wish I had bought the one that allows more than one user at a time. Be sure you are getting the one that you want relative to the number of people who can watch at a given time.