Vaguely OT: Slingbox??

by MillsChC on Jun 10, 2008 2:14 AM CDT Comment 5 comments

Been looking into getting a Slingbox PRO to watch Cubs games from work.... so my questions to those who have it:

1) Do you have any difficulty logging into whatever account it is on the internet that you log into to view your home TV? Do you get what would be the equivalent of "Server busy" messages often, sometimes, rarely, or never?

2) What is the video/audio quality like? YouTube quality, MLB.TV 400K, 800K, or 1.2 (whenever 1.2 is working like it should)?

3) Do you really have full DVR function capability over the internet (like promised in all the advertisements)? In other words, if I'm at work (which has full broadband access) and record a Cubs game at 7pm on my home DVR..... will I be really be able to access and watch the game from my DVR via Slingbox over the Internet at work at say 12 or 1 am later that night?

Big thanks to any answers you guys can provide....

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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A friend of mine had slingbox

And was pretty disappointed with the quality. He was trying to watch TV from the U.S. in China; it might have been a problem with slow servers in China.

by Shanghai Badger on Jun 10, 2008 6:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

got it this year

i got it for a trip to spain in april and liked it a lot. i think it depends on where you’re going to use it and what kind of connection there is. when i had it hard wired i would say it was youtube quality. i’ve used it at home with a strong wireless connection and it worked great, but when i had a weaker connection abroad it went in and out at times.

there isn’t any logging in… as long as you have internet connection at home and where you are it connects. also setup was very easy, took about 5-10 minutes.

there’s a remote for all cable boxes so you have full dvr function

by bsm9 on Jun 10, 2008 8:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I use ORB

I have it set up at my grandparents condo in Skokie. It isnt the best quality (especially on my 56” tv), but I can at least watch the games. Plus it is free software.

by KZ Cubs Fan on Jun 10, 2008 9:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I bought it about 2 years ago prior to football season.

I had a feeling the Bears we’re gonna be special (‘06), and I didn’t want to miss ANYTHING, as I travel for work quite a bit. I also gave my slingbox info to my dad, who lives in Florida, so he could watch “my tv” and see the Bears and Cubs when they’re not broadcast in Florida. He simply downloaded the slingbox player app, entered the code… and boom.

I used to have it hooked up to my DVR. It worked pretty well, except that the remote control didn’t have all the buttons working. I had bought a Toshiba DVR instead of using the cable company’s. I could set it to record the Bears game prior to traveling for work, then if I missed the game, I could watch the recording of it on the slingbox through the DVR.

I’ve only had one problem, when my cable service recently changed to all digital. They made me add this little cable box, and I had to re-configure the whole connection. Because of the new digital cable box, my DVR is no longer communicating properly. But, the slingbox is working fine.

As for the quality of the picture… well, it’s basically streaming video. The faster the connection, the better it will look. However, the lesser quality doesn’t really bother me, as I just wanna be able to see the game! If you happen to be somewhere watching it (sometimes I’m at a hotel with a slow connection), and it’s a little choppy… you can change the settings so it plays smoother at a lesser quality.

I gotta say… GET THE SLINGBOX! It’s been a savior to me many, many times.
And no… I haven’t gotten any connection errors, or server errors. As long as you have it set-up properly for remote viewing, and it’s not being blocked by some corporate firewall for any reason, you should be OK.

I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008

by SackMan on Jun 10, 2008 10:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs