Slingbox Classic

oneweb

You hook it up to your cable/satellite/etc at home and stream to any internetted computer...

In the bargain section at the moment, usually €184.99 inc vat ex del

http://www.expansys.ie/p.aspx?i=140331

currently €81.27 inc vat ex del

http://www.expansys.ie/p.aspx?i=170005

(it was €78.40 inc vat on Friday, having said that, delivery (DHL) was €18.90 on Friday, it's currently €15.90 so works out the same... bit odd tho!)


Yes, there are newer and more hifalutin versions available but at a price!

I really really really wanted to get one of these when they were €249 ages ago, I'm glad I held off! :-D

sweetie

mmmm, cheers.

anyone get one of these? Might be handy, especially at that price!

jaykay74

Looks good but don't think it supports wifi so means that source/ntl/sky box will need to be near router otherwise you will need more equipment.

good info on it below.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/slingbox.htm/printable

"If you have a wireless router, you can either use a pair of SlingLinks or a WiFi-to-Ethernet bridge to make the network connection. Slingbox doesn't have WiFi built in."

HarryD

I got one.. it works ok, but you need a good upload speed.
256kbps ain't good enough.. keeps pausing..
512 is recommended..

glineli

HarryD wrote: »

I got one.. it works ok, but you need a good upload speed.
256kbps ain't good enough.. keeps pausing..
512 is recommended..

So basically i could set one up here and my brother in New York could watch whatever i am watching, correct?

robinph

The classic one includes the regular analogue tuner as well which you don't get in the newer bottom of their range Slingbox Solo which will only work for controling a seperate source of tuner.

HarryD

glineli wrote: »

So basically i could set one up here and my brother in New York could watch whatever i am watching, correct?

correct..
He could watch different channels to you, depending on how you set it up.
The slingbox needs to be beside your router, and obviously needs a TV (antenna or cable) input.
ie: You need your router close to your TV or a cable between them

Tony

Thanks info guys just ordered one.

robinph

glineli wrote: »

So basically i could set one up here and my brother in New York could watch whatever i am watching, correct?

Yes.

If you have it setup with the Slingbox controlling your Sky box though for instance then when he connects to it he will take control of whatever you are watching as well on that Sky box.

Saruman

Tony wrote: »

Thanks info guys just ordered one.

Don't forget what Harry said... you need at least a 512kbs upload speed.
If you have Eircom, its going to be half that so will be very choppy.

Tony

Thanks for info, I have 1.5 meg upload so should be ok, just got this really to play with to see what its like.

Saruman wrote: »

Don't forget what Harry said... you need at least a 512kbs upload speed.
If you have Eircom, its going to be half that so will be very choppy.

HarryD

Saruman wrote: »

Don't forget what Harry said... you need at least a 512kbs upload speed.
If you have Eircom, its going to be half that so will be very choppy.

I got BT with 256kbps, and it is choppy, so don't use my slingbox too often.
Apparantly my area will be upgraded in Sept.. fingers crossed..
If anyone wants to see what 256kbps is like pm me.

glineli

My upload is always around 1.5mb with my bb provider so that would be ok.

also, i use the ethernet over the mains adapters so it would be just a case of plugging it in then, i think.

godtabh

price appears to have gone up

Anthony1

kearnsr wrote: »

price appears to have gone up

The "Classic" is still € 81.27 http://www.expansys.ie/p.aspx?i=170005

The other one is € 184.99 http://www.expansys.ie/p.aspx?i=140331

dingding

Mine works with 512K smart (upload).

Very good and you can get clients to view on mobiles and PDA's

drunkmonkey

Would that work with my 3 phone and Chorus or do you need sky & slingbox to watch tv on your mobile??

robinph

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Would that work with my 3 phone and Chorus

Yes.

Random

So if I've got basic NTL through the coax cable I can hook it up to this Slingbox, hook Slingbox up to router and access my TV from my phone without needing to use my PC or anything special? Provided I've got 512k or more upload?

J-blk

random wrote: »

So if I've got basic NTL through the coax cable I can hook it up to this Slingbox, hook Slingbox up to router and access my TV from my phone without needing to use my PC or anything special? Provided I've got 512k or more upload?

Almost. You need the Slingbox Mobile software installed on your phone and it is a separate purchase. It's available for Windows Mobile, Pocket PC and Symbian OS phones:

http://downloads.slingmedia.com/go/mobile-uk

Only the desktop software (which allows you to view on a Mac or PC) is a free download.

robinph

I have the classic Slingbox connected to the basic NTL and then into my router, the Slingbox setup will need to open a port on your router but it will usually be able to do that itself during the setup. You then need the Slingplayer app on whatever PC or phone that your trying to watch from. The PC and Mac version of the player application is free from their site, for Windows CE or Symbian you'll need to buy the mobile version of their software though. There is a free version of the player for Symbian that you can get from Three though, but that will not do the full screen mode on the phone which the paid for version does.

Edit: Must type quicker.

Random

J-blk wrote: »

Almost. You need the Slingbox Mobile software installed on your phone and it is a separate purchase. It's available for Windows Mobile, Pocket PC and Symbian OS phones:

http://downloads.slingmedia.com/go/mobile-uk

Only the desktop software (which allows you to view on a Mac or PC) is a free download.

robinph wrote: »

I have the classic Slingbox connected to the basic NTL and then into my router, the Slingbox setup will need to open a port on your router but it will usually be able to do that itself during the setup. You then need the Slingplayer app on whatever PC or phone that your trying to watch from. The PC and Mac version of the player application is free from their site, for Windows CE or Symbian you'll need to buy the mobile version of their software though. There is a free version of the player for Symbian that you can get from Three though, but that will not do the full screen mode on the phone which the paid for version does.

I can live with that! Assuming then once I've got a 3G connection on my phone I'll be ok to watch it? Or is it HSDPA / Wifi ?

drunkmonkey

If was to watch an hour of TV a day through the sling box on my laptop or phone, how much data would I use in 30 days at both ends?

Can you also set the sling box up on a home network to sling tv to a pc/mac in a different room or multiple rooms.....

robinph

Works fine over a 3G connection for viewing on the phone and get a surprisingly good picture on it, it will also work of other connections though if they are available and the phone does them..

I'm not certain how much data usage I've got through using it on the phone though but with watching almost an hour 4 or 5 days a week, as well as a good bit of other data usage I've not gone much over a gig in a month. By the time my bill comes through with the data usage listed on it I've forgotten what I was actually using the phone for each day though so cannot be much more accurate.

The Slingplayer will also work internally on your home network as well and you'll get a much better picture then as well.

Edit: The Slingbox will not work for viewing on multiple devices at the same time, only one Slingplayer can be connected to it at a time, and the TV that is physically connected to it if you have it setup like that.

Random

So if I have my COAX NTL cable coming in then I can get a splitter and send one to my TV and one to my Slingbox and both can then watch different channels .. much like using 2 TVs in different rooms, right ?

drunkmonkey

robinph wrote: »

The Slingplayer will also work internally on your home network as well and you'll get a much better picture then as well.

Would the €80 sling box do fine for a home network, what do I need just a good wireless router & the software?

Haven't got 512k upload so i'll have to forget about slinging it outside the house for another while...:(

Robin thanks for the all the info, much appreciated....

Davy

random wrote: »

So if I have my COAX NTL cable coming in then I can get a splitter and send one to my TV and one to my Slingbox and both can then watch different channels .. much like using 2 TVs in different rooms, right ?

Yes, because it has the built in tuner to handle this.

Tony

If the slingbox has a tuner then yes, if you are using a splitter you can also just run a coax to the other tv

random wrote: »

So if I have my COAX NTL cable coming in then I can get a splitter and send one to my TV and one to my Slingbox and both can then watch different channels .. much like using 2 TVs in different rooms, right ?

robinph

random wrote: »

So if I have my COAX NTL cable coming in then I can get a splitter and send one to my TV and one to my Slingbox and both can then watch different channels .. much like using 2 TVs in different rooms, right ?

Yes, that is exactly what I have setup.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Would the €80 sling box do fine for a home network, what do I need just a good wireless router & the software?

Haven't got 512k upload so i'll have to forget about slinging it outside the house for another while...:(

Robin thanks for the all the info, much appreciated....

The Slingboxes only have ethernet connections so you'd need to be able to cable between the location of it and where ever you have your router, or some other ethernet to wireless adapter. You then just need the player software on a PC or Mac and your good to go.

I think you'll actually be OK with less than 512k upload, as long as your not trying to view on a massive wide screen monitor it's fine with less. I've been watching the interactive BBC feeds for the Olympics all week on my 7" eeepc in work from a Slingbox that only has a 256k upload, the picture can get a bit blocky at times when they are swimming too fast across the screen but it's as good a picture as you'd see on any Youtube videos so far better than nothing.

Random

Thanks for all the info lads, definitly gonna buy one

Random

Assuming I'm reading the Meteor website right (it says I've used 4:57:44 in data) then in 10 mins I used approx 18MB on Meteor 3G on a Nokia 6220 Classic.

Hope this helps others !

++ edit - oh yah .. how'd I work that out if I don't have one? Someone (thanks!! )was kind enough to let me connect to theirs to try it out and I got this info from that !

TVDX

How would 384 up work out?.

robinph

TVDX wrote: »

How would 384 up work out?.

Until this weekend with the eircom upgrades that was the fastest upload that I have been using with it and it's been grand.

HarryD

TVDX wrote: »

How would 384 up work out?.

I think it should be good.
I'm using a 256 link.
I get 180 incoming from it in eastern Europe and it's borderline watchable.

kazzer

Have to say its quite poor over the internet, with an upload speed of 256k. I really couldnt enjoy it at all. Its fantastic on the home network @ 2Mbit, really good. I would say if you have 1Mbit upload it should be 'ok', anything less its not worth it in my opinion. But if you just want to use it on your home network its super

jimmycrackcorm

i'm using orb to stream my tv to my phone. The speed is set at 100kb/s and an hour of tv takes 50 - 70mb.
Having 1.5 mb ntl upload and no stream resurgetino, watching on a laptop over the internet is perfect.

drunkmonkey

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

i'm using orb to stream my tv to my phone. The speed is set at 100kb/s and an hour of tv takes 50 - 70mb

Are you using the sling box in conjuction with orb? I have obr on my phone but never really used it....

jimmycrackcorm

i'm using orb instead of a slingbox. The advantage is that it is free and all you need is a cheap tv card. I'm using it with media center so that I can watch recorded programs instead of live.

dingding

3 might have the sling box blocked unless you get the 20 euro data package. The 3 version already installed in the phone won't connect over wifi, if your phone is wifi enabled.

BNC

Looks like the price has dropped further (€77.52 inc vat). Just bought one now.

Thanks OP.

drunkmonkey

BNC wrote: »

Looks like the price has dropped further (€77.52 inc vat). Just bought one now.

Thanks OP.

Thanks BNC, just got mine......

podgeandrodge

What "site" do you visit to view the slingbox output? Is it an IP address you go to?



Ta.

BNC

No website to visit. You use the slingplayer software to view the media stream.

The Slingbox has a specific ID thats used on the slingbox network. Your slingplayer software finds this ID for you.