Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)

Comment: I have to say I have not used this product very much yet, but so far it does perform fairly well and as advertised.

HOOKING UP: I will tell all of you that I was a little fearfull of hooking it up AFTER I purchased it and started reading reviews on all the trouble people seemed to have had. However, I found that after receiving it and going to the Slingbox web site and following the easy hook up link, it walked me right through it and I had it functioning within 20 minutes. it is very helpful to have your computer, slingbox, cable box or dvd recorder & router all located close together.

WORKING IT: It works pretty well and as advertised. HOWEVER, I have basic cable that connects directly to my tv or my DVD recorder via analog cable connection. I was able to hook up the slingbox through my DVD recorder using a S-video cabel and audio composite connection. BUT...FINDING A COMPATIBLE ONLINE REMOTE IS CHALLENGING. I wasn't aware of how troublesome it seems to be trying to get it to work correctly while online with the online remote because it did not have my model number for my DVD recorder. Therefore, I didn't have the ability to turn on my DVD recorder and changing channels remotely over the internet like you expect to or should be able to. I found the Slingbox ONLINE CHAT to be quickly responsive but not very knowledgable on how I could solve this problem. I thought I needed to buy a new DVD player or DVD recorder that was on their list of compatible players so I could use the online remote and be able to turn my home DVD player/recorder on and off and change the channels remotely over the internet as it should work. However, all the slingbox chat help teck could offer me was a link to a compatibility tool where you plug in various model numbers for various brands to see if they are compatible. I spent hours searching availble players online in my proice range but NOTHING SEEMED to be compatible to be able to use an online remote for it. THANKS TO AN ONLINE HELP SITE MY PROBLEM GOT SOLVED! A man gave me a link, which is to a link on the actual slingbox site, which allows you to PROGRAM YOUR REMOTE TO WORK WITH YOUR SLINGBIOX. Basically, you go to this link and it starts a tutorial which walks you through the process. You need to have your computer, slingbox and remote with you and riught next to each other. You pick and generic remote for your brand. nad then you start a process of training your slingbox to recognixe your remote's buttons. For instance, you select the on/off button on the online remote. It then has you aim your remote at the slingbox's sensor and then when ready click the train button and then you point your remote at the slingbox and press and hold your on/off button and after a few seconds it tells you if it successful learned that button. You then can train all your main buttons like on/off, channel up/down, each number, and any of the other buttons that may be applicable.

RECORDING: This problem was my fault for not doing my die dilligence. I was under the impression that I could use the slingbox to basically turn my laptop into a DVR. Perhaps this is true with other slingbox models, but with the SLINGBOX SOLO I have so far been unable to record programs to my computer as I watch them. I mistakingly thought I would be able to do this. So, be aware of this if u r looking to purchase and hoping to record programs on your computer through your slingbox.

Sorry for the lengthy review and any typos. Hope it makes sense and you find it helpful. Overall, the product is so far working as advertised and seems pretty cool.

Comment: Product sounds like a good thing and I know others who own and love it but this particular product DOES NOT work! It's been nothing but trouble.

Comment: Pros: Excellent product. Set-up in BR with Direct TV receiver so that I can watch ballgames when I travel while wife watches whatever women watch on the GR Big Screen Direct TV DVR when I am out of town. If you have a second TV source definitely the way to go since you and your spouse/family can watch different programming at same time. Setup was relatively easy with only one or two glitches requiring call to Slingbox support. Once set-up SOLO very easy to use. Video quality (SD) is great considering my IP only gives me .6 MB upload speed. If IP upload speed was higher (over 1 GB) I could probably get HD, but since I am watching slingbox on laptop and mobile phone (which have limited resolution-below that for HD), HD is meaningless (for me at least) anyway. If HD is a must, buy Slingbox Pro. If you pay for satellite ot cable TV, and travel away from home (even locally) and want to watch your own TV, SOLO is a must buy.
Cons: Would be nice if customer service phone support leanred how to speak English (at least the English I speak) a bit better.

Comment: I received this unit recently, and it took awhile to get it right. The sound is the problem that I had with this unit. It had an annoying hissing sound that is caused by the contection of too many audio wires. If you have an annoying sound coming from your computer after you have everything setup, discontect one of the audio setup contections. Your computer may only need one of these contections for the audio. Everything else worked right out the box.
I have not used the system out of the home network area to state that the travel worthiness of the unit is up to snuff, but so far so good.

Comment: What an awesome device. Easier to set up than most reviews I read. Being somewhat tech savvy I was a little worried I'd be the one with "we never heard of that problem before" issue. But anyway after taking the unit out of the box and seeing a small setup book I was a little worried. But I followed the directions and was up and running in 40 minutes. The only problem I had was actually finding my directv dvr in the setup menu of my account on the slingbox web site. It is an HR23-700 and I believe it is the latest dvr from directv. But was able to use the next closest model the HR22 and the remote worked. I was so thrilled with the ease and quality I actually went on my Iphone and paid $29.99 for the iphone app. It was quick and easy also. There is a two second delay from live tv to streaming but no lock up or delays as of yet. Being I just set this up 2 hours ago I will update this review if need be. But as of now I am thrilled with its ease of setup and quality overall. I gave customer service 5 stars but actually haven't had a reason as of yet to call customer service. I also checked the Sony LF-V30 version with wifi and the Hava before purchasing the slingbox. I feel overall my research proved the slingbox to be superior to the Sony and Hava. I am running my system on cat 6e ethernet cable. I paid $15.00 for 75 feet and have found my ps3, my directv dvr all work best wired direct. So the Sony and its wifi issues kept me out of that market leaving me to decide between slingbox and hava. If you travel and are on the fence about the slingbox, forget it go out and get it while it's on sale. I paid $157.00 on Amazon with free 2 day shipping and couldn't be happier.