Kind of a geek

Nitwitboy's Avatar
I asked this question in Dallas yesterday with no response. Does anyone own a sling box and if so, pros and cons? I consult for a plethora of companies so I am on my laptop quite a bit and sometimes out of town. Watching documentaries and discovery channel is pretty much what I live for. Well, that and UCLA sports. Sorry, Dodger baseball as well. Nevertheless. I am told slingbox will allow me to view whatever Direct TV has and I have the Fox Sports package for my Los Angeles teams and I have the MLB package.

Please let me know it is as nice as the ad claims?

Thank You.
Torito's Avatar
If you would like one more thing to live for, I could tell you about a nice hobby.

Torito
chipper's Avatar
It is really ego crushing when someone with the handle Nitwitboy asks a technical question and I have no idea what he is talking about. Maybe we should exchange handles. Obviously I am the Nitwit!

Chipper
Mokoa's Avatar
  • Mokoa
  • 08-05-2010, 01:05 PM
No, I do not have a Slingbox. Perhaps someone who does and who is familiar with them will respond.

Good luck to you.
It seems to work, here's a review from Cnet

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-player...-31423815.html
Nitwitboy's Avatar
Chipper, we are all nitwits at one time or another. Thanks for the link DaDude.
how well to work will depend on the speed of you output at site of box and download speed of the place your at. poor speed = poor/choppy video
Suite270's Avatar
I have one of the earlier versions, and it works great. You will need a decent connection at the Slingbox, some firewall management, and (most importantly) a DVR at your location. Watching Live TV certainly works, however, something you recorded plays much better on the receiving end. Of course, you need good connectivity on your laptop to view Slingbox media..

I travel (extensively) and primarily use my Sling when International. Otherwise, I am stuck with CNN (English channel) and that gets old after 60-minutes (same news all day).

Is it worth it? Yes if you travel often enough. The new ones look really nice and some have built-in recording (at least, I think they do).
Mokoa's Avatar
  • Mokoa
  • 08-07-2010, 12:58 PM
Here is the site for the Slingbox...

Slingbox
Chica Chaser's Avatar
It is absolutely amazing to me where technology has taken us so far! I remember first getting cable TV around 1982 in Dallas and going from 4-5 channels to around 40, that was the best I thought it would ever get! I also remember getting my very first cell phone around 1987....a monstrous Motorola in a bag that plugged into the car lighter, with cables and wires to the antenna, $.32 cents a minute as long as you were not roaming outside your home area.
will_61's Avatar
I remember that bag phone it was 5 watts and analog. too bad you can't get one with that kind of power now, there would be no more dropped calls otr at least a few less.
Nitwitboy's Avatar
Thanks guys
I have had a couple sling boxes over the years and it works great. Right now I can watch my sling box when Im at school on my ipad between classes and its killer. The resolution is alot better on a laptop than a ipad though. I currently have the HD-Pro and it has the best picture so far.
I asked this question in Dallas yesterday with no response. Does anyone own a sling box and if so, pros and cons? I consult for a plethora of companies so I am on my laptop quite a bit and sometimes out of town. Watching documentaries and discovery channel is pretty much what I live for. Well, that and UCLA sports. Sorry, Dodger baseball as well. Nevertheless. I am told slingbox will allow me to view whatever Direct TV has and I have the Fox Sports package for my Los Angeles teams and I have the MLB package.

Please let me know it is as nice as the ad claims?

Thank You. Originally Posted by Nitwitboy
I have a solution to your problem that doesn't involve buying equipment. I don't travel out of town for work, but I have a friend who is constantly out of town, but has a list of must watch shows he wants to be able to watch when stuck at the hotel. Personally, I don't even WATCH regular TV, cable, satellite anymore. They always have a ridiculous amount of commercials. I scope out my favorite shows or movies, and watch it commercial free till I pass out. PM me for details. I can assure you of one thing, if you try using MY method, you will love it compared to all other options.