Sling Media Slingbox AV (SB240-100)

Product Features

• Redirects the TV signal to the computer of your choice--providing high quality video, no matter the distance
• SlingStream technology delivers up to a 400 percent video quality improvement over the original Slingbox
• Connects to digital cable box, DVR, satellite receiver, DVD players, video/security camera, or any NTSC S-video or composite video source
• Includes free Slingbox Finder service to locate a Slingbox from any network location
• Watch and control your home TV, DVR, digital cable box, or satellite receiver anywhere around your home or around the globe

Technical Details

• Model Number: SB240-100
• Minimum system requirements (PC): Windows Vista/XP/2000 with SP4; Pentium IV 1 GHz processor; 256 MB RAM; 100 MB free hard disk space; graphics card (24-bit color); sound card (16-bit); Ethernet network connectivity (wired, wireless, or power line)
• Minimum system requirements (Mac): PowerPC G3 600 MHz or Pentium 1 GHz processor; Mac OS X 10.4 or higher; 256 MB RAM (1 GB recommended); 1024 x 768, thousands of colors display (millions of colors recommended); 100 MB available disk space
• Minimum network requirements: Cable or DSL modem (for out-of-home viewing); 256 Kbps upstream network speed recommended (higher upstream network speeds yield higher quality video); home network router, wired or wireless (UPnP compatibility highly recommended)
• Video and audio source (any of the following): Digital cable set top box; digital video recorder such as TiVo, DIRECTV, Comcast, or DISH; satellite receiver; DVD players; video/security camera; any NTSC S-Video or Composite video source
• Widescreen (16:9) support: Supported
• High quality programmable video compression: Supported
• Watch and control any PC/Mac/Laptop: Supported
• Watch and control from mobile phones: Supported
• TV/analog cable tuner: Not supported
• Pass-through connections for seamless integration into current A/V configurations: Not supported
• Connect to set-top box (digital cable, satellite, DVR): Supported
• Remote control of A/V devices: Supported
• Connect HD component devices: Not supported
• Connect and control up to four A/V sources: Not supported
• Connectors: S-video/composite connection with L/R stereo audio, IR blaster connection, RJ-45 Ethernet
• Power supply: AC adapter, 100 to 240 V, 50 to 60 Hz (included)
• Dimensions: 7.25 x 4.5 x 1.5 inches (W x H x D)
• What's in the Box: Slingbox AV, SlingPlayer CD-ROM, AC adapter, Ethernet cable, composite AV cable, S-video cable, remote control IR cable, quick start guide

Price:	$107.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
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I've finally gotten the Slingbox working reliably. My frustrations setting it up had zero to do with Sling and 100% to do with getting a reliable and fast Internet connection to my living room.

Like many homes, the living room in my condo only has a cable outlet and no place for an Internet connection.

My first foray was the Linksys WET54G wireless Ethernet Bridge. What a bridge does is bring an Internet outlet into your living room without having to drag a cable. It relies upon you already having a wifi signal in your house. What they don't tell you (but I've learned) is that it can be very tricky getting a FAST connect (required for Sling to play reliably) from your living room to another room in the house.

I think this trickiness is due to signal interruptions, etc. Also if you browse the local office stores, there is usually only one style of bridge which to me says the demand either isn't great enough or they don't work reliably enough to stock a lot of them.

When I first setup the WET54G I had a lot of trouble connecting and my best speed was maybe 200k.

Out went the WET54G and in came the WGA54G wireless gaming adapter. Different model but same concept as the bridge above. This worked ok and got my speeds up to about 400 to 600k sporadically. Enough to watch some Slingbox but I still had very frequent stalls and freezes.

As a curiousity I resorted to the tried and true "drag 40 or 50 feet of cable into the living room" and my Slingbox few. Once I was hardwired into the wireless router, my speeds flew up into the 4,500 to 5,500 k range (which btw is needed if you are going to stream this remotely).

So you once overcome the issue of getting a fast connection from the remote area, the Slingbox is a real dream.

I'm streaming wirelessly to my office and home. All you need to do to set this up is download the free sling viewer from their site, obtain a "Finder ID" (sort of like a serial number for your slingbox) and the password of the box. With those two pieces of information you an watch your TV from any fast Internet connected PC.

As an added bonus, I took my new Sprint Motorola Q cell phone/Window Mobile 5 device and loaded the remote slingplayer onto it (note: If you want to do this remotely via cell phone, at the present time Windows Mobile devices are your only option as Palm is just entering beta -- you should also have an unlimited fast data plan or you'll pay through the nose -- Sprint SERO plans are great for using this device as they start at $30 and allow unlimited EVDO fast Internet). I can reliably stream TV (once I had the fast connection) with no drop outs. This lets me get all my cable channels and completely bypass the limited offerings of the cell carriers.

The whole slingbox setup is extremely easy once you have that fast Internt connection. It's wizard driven and will automatically configure most of the options. There is also a very active slingcommunity forum which provides helpful assistance from volunteers.

A really great product. It would be absolutely great if they could build wifi into these things as the only pain I experiences was bringing fast Internet to the box.