Slingbox experiences?

May 26, 2008 12:08 PM

How good is Slingbox's video?

I'm mostly interested in the possibility of using it as a 2nd TV around the apartment- how good is the picture on a LAN, using the Mac client (assume HD)? On a Macbook, is it comparable to watching TV directly? How good is the quality over the internet, served from a standard TWC cable modem? Also, can the Slingbox's on-screen remote control the TWC DVR?

posted by mkultra to technology (6 comments total)

It's not perfect. It'd decent (better than youtube, not as good as Cable.)...but watchable.

Inside your own network (on the same router) it's got a decent bitrate as well.

I don't know the TWC, but generally, it can control most dvrs, but it'll be a bit clunky.
posted by filmgeek at 12:35 PM on May 26, 2008

Not sure about the Mac version, but on a Windows box, watching the Sling feed over the LAN is quite good -- maybe not exactly HD level, but good. There are occasionally stutters and drops, especially when using the remote. Over the Internet, quality is watchable, but not even really up to Standard Definition quality. Before I upgraded to Comcast's increased upload speed (I'm at 1-2Mbps now) it was not watchable over the Internet -- almost constant video stuttering. The download speed at the location you are watching at does not seem to matter too much, but you really need upload speeds of better than 1Mbps, in my experience.

On Comcast DVR, at least, the onscreen remote is identical to the actual remote.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:33 PM on May 26, 2008

Hi - watching on my LAN is fine, I get around 2500Kbps. Video quality is fine but sound isn't great. Watching over the internet I usually get around 650Kbps but it is still watchable enough.
posted by kenchie at 1:49 PM on May 26, 2008

Don't plan on watching any sports, but otherwise it's pretty good.
posted by ajr at 1:52 PM on May 26, 2008

In my experience, the video quality on the Mac client is basically the same as the Windows client, so nothing to worry about there.
posted by zachlipton at 2:17 PM on May 26, 2008

I have one at work (200 miles away) and use it to watch cable TV, DirecTV and CCTV from the building. Watching DirecTV via the internet and connecting it up to my TV, the quality's better than Time Warner's analog cable. Work has a 3MB upstream pipe, so plenty of bandwidth to go around. No stuttering or anything.
posted by OTA at 3:38 AM on May 27, 2008