Help me figure out what I want.... slingox, xbox360, appletv

September 14, 2009 9:36 AM

Currently I don't have internet/cable/Sat etc... We borrow my neighbors internet and watch a lot of hulu on a laptop in the bedroom. We're looking to get Cable, DVR, and cable internet, but the TV is in the Basement. Is there a DVR that is available to stream to the laptop in the bedroom? I've looked at the Slingbox, AppleTV, and XBox360, but can't decide if any of these things will do what I'm wanting.
posted by TuxHeDoh to technology (6 answers total)

the slingbox will stream to the bedroom.
posted by majortom1981 at 9:51 AM on September 14, 2009

Yup, the slingbox will let you watch TV anywhere (I think even on a smartphone). My boss uses it to stream sports from his home TV to our conference room projector screen; I'm sure it's no problem within one house.
posted by oinopaponton at 9:54 AM on September 14, 2009

Previously.

It looks like you can use TivoToGo to get the files off of a Tivo.

A slingbox wouldn't function as a DVR, it will just allow you to watch and control your DVR over the network. It does work quite well for that, but requires a DVR in addition to it.

The 360 and AppleTV don't function as DVRs.
posted by zabuni at 9:54 AM on September 14, 2009

I should say, requires a DVR if you want record and playback shows. The slingbox will take any video source and stream it across the network, and allow you to send IR remote commands back through.
posted by zabuni at 9:56 AM on September 14, 2009

Would the Slingbox allow me to watch a recorded program in the bedroom, while something else was being watched in the basement on the TV?
posted by TuxHeDoh at 10:35 AM on September 14, 2009

Not in the typical configuration. The Slingbox basically takes whatever is being fed to it and broadcasts it over the internet to your laptop/pc/smartphone.

Usually, a DVR/Cable Box has multiple sets of outputs for whatever it's showing (S-Video, Component, Composite, HDMI) to make sure it can support any TV you plug into it. You would connect your TV to (for example) the HDMI output on the DVR/Cable Box and the Slingbox into the Composite (yellow video + red and white audio) output. The DVR/Cable Box outputs the same signal on all of these, so whatever you'd see on your TV is the same thing you'd see on your Slingbox.

I think @zabuni's got the right idea. If you can use a TiVo with your cable service, you can use the TiVo To Go application to copy shows from your TiVo to your laptop and watch them any time. You can't do live television with TiVo to go, so maybe you would want a combination of both - TiVo/TiVo To Go AND the Slingbox.

Now you could get fancy by getting two tuners (IE - two DVRs, two cable boxes, or a DVR/Cable Box and use the tuner in your TV if it can support your cable service) and connect the Slingbox to one and the TV to the other. But that could get pricy if you wanted to be able to watch different recorded things on the TV and Slingbox at the same time.
posted by StickyC at 10:52 AM on September 14, 2009