SlingBox Pro Review and Tips

When I am not on some adventure I have adventures in the home. I have been busy enjoying new software and taking advantage of some recent technological marvels lately. Slingbox Pro, PS3 Blue Ray disc player, DirecTV HD with TiVo, Battlefield 2142, Cyberlink Power Director and more. All this new Software and tech toys are keeping me occupied at home. Maybe a little too much. That’s ok partly due to the fact that there isn’t much on TV lately until the new fall shows start airing.

Gas prices are keeping us at home more as well. We passed on a trip to Lake Davis which turned out to be good fishing according to my dad. Gas alone would have cost 200.00 round trip which in hindsight isn’t too bad for a week of fun. Is my math wrong. Over 440 miles round trip at 11 MPG would require 40 gallons of Diesel. At close to 5 bucks per gallon not including oil and general wear and tear that would be $200.00. Prior to writing this blog I had it in my mind that it would cost more. I only drive into work once a week or less lately. When I do drive I try to drive the Honda Accord rather then the full size Dodge Dually. So the timing is right to enjoy some new technology at home.

As I write this from work during my lunch break I am watching the News being broadcast from my home using my new SlingBox Pro which is connected to my DirectTV HD Tivo receiver. I can pause and rewind, watch prerecorded programs, PPV, ESPN or whatever just like at home. The quality is not the same, but it looks good. I am not yet connected using HD connections so the picture quality may improve. The install was surprisingly simple. I already had a working internet connection avail. I just plugged in and ran the install. The firmware was automatically updated for me during this process. Once complete I was watching TV from my laptop wirelessly.

Here are some tips you should be aware of if you plan to buy a Sling Box.

1. If you plan to hook up to the SlingBox Pro using HD cable connections you will have to purchase the Sling Media - SlingBox Pro HD Connect Cable. Out of the box there is a sticker covering the HDMI connector on the back of the SlingBox stating that this cable is a must if you want to connect in HD. Bust buy sells them for 50.00 or only 40.00 with free shipping from Amazon. Question is do you really need this. I plan on buying it and will let you know if it helps the image quality. If you don’t have a fast network, it may not matter much. Even with this connect cable you will still be using Component Video cables rather then HDMI.
2. The Sling Box supports up to 4 devices, but it only comes with an IR cable designed to control up to two devices. If you want to control 4 devices you will need to purchase another cable.
3. You may want to wait to buy the SlingBox until Q3 2008 when the SlingBox Pro-HD is supposed to be avail. Read more about it here.

Issues I still need to resolve.
1. Recently I went from needing just one internet connection to 3 behind my TV. One for my DirecTV, Slingbox and the PS3. I have three different Linksys 4 port routers at home. I tried two of them with no luck, so I have some work cut out for me to try to combine them with my Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N Gaming Adapter. Can it be done, or do I have to buy more hardware. It’s either this or keep swapping Ethernet cables between devices.
2. What if you wanted to watch and control several HD sources. I think there may be a way to use my HD Denon A/V receiver as the HD Input. I think you can create separate profiles for each device so that you will have remote control over it. We shall see. Wish me luck.
3. It would be nice to use my Sling Player on my work laptop from home while connected to my work through VPN. So far no luck. It would be great if I could do this and print to my networked home printer and access shared folders on my home pc etc. VPN is very private. Nothing outside can get in and nothing inside can get out through VPN even if it is trusted from what I have found so far.

I have more information surround this and other items mentioned above. More about them later. Time to get on the road so I can get home and play.