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Sling Media - SlingBox Solo
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| Price: | £94.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk
4 new or used available from £94.99
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1946 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Sling Media
- Model: SB260-110
- Released on: 2007-09-17
- Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 2.91 pounds
Features
- Slingbox SOLO
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer's Description
You no longer have to be stuck to the sofa to watch TV. With Slingbox SOLO you can watch your favourite TV programmes, films and sporting events wherever you are. The Slingbox SOLO allows you to watch and control your favourite TV source, including HD programmes, from anywhere in the world via your laptop or mobile phone (additional software required for mobile phones). Slingbox SOLO is compatable with all sorts of devices meaning you can choose to watch your set-top box (Freeview, cable or satellite receiver), digital video recorder (DVR), or even your DVD player. There are no monthly fees, just connect the device, plug it in, download the software and you are ready to go.
 Multiple connection options enable you to connect a wide variety of devices |
Connect it all
The Slingbox SOLO is designed to make it as easy as possible to set-up and enjoy. Simply connect the device you wish to control, plug in your ethernet cable (from your broadband router) and turn it on. Then all you need to do is download the SlingPlayer software onto your computer and follow the instructions. In minutes you will be ready to watch your home TV via your computer. A quick start guide is included to make setting up your Slingbox a piece of cake.
When connecting your device you should choose the best availble connection type for the best possible picture quality. The yellow composite video connection offers good quality, S-Video better and component leads the best.
You can control most devices that would sit under and connect to your TV. Whether it is a simple set-top box (cable, satellite or Freeview), or a DVR such as Freeview+, Sky+ or Virgin V+, you will be able to view or control everything as if you were sat on your sofa.
 Take your home TV with you wherever you go |
Take your TV with you
It is always frustrating if you are going away and you miss the big match or your favourite show, especially if you have paid to watch it. Sometimes watching a recorded version when you get back home is just not the same. With the Slingbox SOLO you won't have to spend the rest of your trip avoiding all media coverage, just so that when you get home you can watch the match as if it were live. Simply take your laptop with you and watch it live as if you were at home. Whether you go away on business trips, like to take a holiday or simply want to be able to watch your TV in another room in your house, Slingbox SOLO will let you take control.
If you have connected a DVR to your Slingbox SOLO, then you can control everything as if you were sat on your sofa with your remote control. If you have forgotten to record a programme, or want to watch something that you have previously recorded, no problem. If you can do it when you are at home, you can do it through your Slingbox.
SlingPlayer - The lap of luxurySlingPlayer is the software that works hand-in-hand with the hardware inside the Slingbox to bring your entire living room TV viewing experience to your laptop, desktop or mobile device. SlingPlayer comes as standard with all Sling Media Slingboxes.
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Every function that you can use on your remote control when sitting in your lounge, you can use when you use SlingPlayer
SlingBar™ docks the SlingPlayer (the TV screen) on either the right or left of the desktop, letting you watch television and work with other applications simultaneously. Or, if you want the big picture, you can watch TV in full-screen mode. Whichever mode you choose, you will have the remote control that you are familiar with will be viewable on the screen.
The Slingbox directory is where you can easily view all the available Slingbox connections in your network and add additional Slingboxes.
Also included with your SlingPlayer software is our groundbreaking streaming technology designed to address varying network conditions to optimise your viewing experience.
Other Sling Media products
 | Slingbox PRO See more |  | More Sling Media products SlingCatcher - Want to stream content from your computer to your TV? |
Box Contains
Customer Reviews
It Even Works on Virgin Cable!
I bought one of these just before Christmas as we were off to the in-laws in Spain for New Year, and I wanted to be able to watch our TV there (they only have basic Sky and I didn't want to miss the football!)
I spent a while playing about with Orb (a piece of freeware software that does the same thing) on my Media Cente PC, but I couldn't get it to work properly with my tuner card and Virgin V+ box. My brother in law (who works for a company that installs expensive AV kit in expensive houses), recommended Slingbox as they had one.
I decided to bite the bullet and got one, and, I have to say, I wish I had done before.
It litterally took 10 minutes to get working and it was very easy. You connect the Slingbox video input to the SCART output of the cable box - it comes with all the cables included. You can then connect your TV to the Slingbox video output sockets or to the thru SCART connector on the cable they supply.
It also has inputs (and outputs) on the Pro box for component video and I hear HDMI is coming too (but wasn't on mine).
You need to connect the Slingbox to your home network using a RJ45 cable - be careful because even though the spiel on the box implies the Slingbox is wireless, it's not unless you buy the additional wireless bit.
There is a little remote control sender thing that you need to put near the remote receiver of your cable / satelite box - this is how you change the channels from the PC.
You then download the software from their website onto your PC or laptop, it finds the Slingbox on your network and configures it - mine required a firmware update which it did itself. You need to tell it what type of satelite or cable TV receiver you have and make sure it emulates the remote control properly - it's all a breeze.
Then you just start watching - it fully supports all the NTL, Telewest and Virgin cable TV boxes so as long as you tell it the correct set top box, you get the correct virtual remote control on the PC screen (for the black V+ box you need to choose Telewest TVDrive).
The picture quality on my home network is amazing - I can't wait for the new Slingcatcher box to come out so I can connect my bedroom TV to one and watch all my cable channels upstairs (and more).
The best bit is watching over the net. Even out in Spain, on a 512MB ADSL connection being used by other people, the picture was very watchable, but on a small screen like a mobile or PDA, it looks crystal clear (the mobile / PDA software is an extra cost download from their website).
Personally, I can't recommend this highly enough - from what I have seen of Sonys Location Free Player (which I did fancy because I'm a bit of a Sony fan), this wipes the floor with it.
My only gripe is that, because Virgin disable the SCART sockets on the V+ box when you use HDMI to your TV (like we normally do), it means I have to manually switch the Virgin box back to SCART everytime I want to use the Slingbox. I'm told Virgin will be fixing this in the next release of the V+ software due any day now.
Works out of the box - brilliant - buy it!
I had a Sony LocationFree system which, like the SlingBox, is supposed to wirelessly stream video form your TV or Sky box around the house so you can watch TV anywhere as long as you have a spare laptop. Further, and, more importantly to me, the system allows access to your TV to laptops or portable devices around the world using your broadband connection.
The LocationFree was a complete disaster. After much fiddling I got it to work at home but away from home only a couple of times and I gave up on it completely after a time. Sony support were also useless.
Hence I was reluctant to buy the SlingBox but the reviews were good and it's half the price of the Sony system. Out of the box within 10 minutes it was streaming video from my Sky box around the house. Setting the SlingBox to work remotely away from the home was a little more complex but the online instructions sorted this after a couple of hours.
So now I can watch my Sky+ system anywhere in the world where I have a broadband or 3G phone connection. It's completely reliable and works with Mac machines as well - good as I have one. Picture quality at home - on a PC for example, is excellent as it's not really limited by bandwidth there. When you're away you rely on the broadband suppliers UPLOAD speed. Whereas downloads are the figures normally quoted by internet providers - simply because you mostly download information over the internet - the SlingBox uploads TV pictures over the net. The figures are upload are much slower - about 350kbs. This impacts on the picture quality but it's still certainly good enough to watch. Also over time upload speeds will improve and so will the picture. Further, a well developed remote control already allows you complete functional control over our TV or Sky system.
The downside of the product is that you have to pay extra for software which will stream pictures to your mobile phone and the SlingBox needs to be physically cabled to a broadband modem. You can't establish a wireless link to the SlingBox to your broadband modem. Your SlingBox also needs to be next to your TV and/or Sky system. The lack of wireless links must be due to a tech problem. However, SlingMedia do sell a system to use your house electric cables to link from a modem plugged in to the SlingBox plugged in. I didn't need to do this as my broadband modem is by the TV.
Overall this is an excellent product. If you travel on business or go on holiday and want to watch TV from home you can do it. It's a bit strange sitting in sydney at 8pm at night watching the BBC morning news though!
Slingbox Solo makes streaming Sky Plus simple
My Sony all-in-one Desktop had built in analog TV tuner and I could watch Sky Plus on it using Sky Link. When it broke beyond repair I bought one of the latest iMacs and I wanted to be able to watch Sky Plus on it but the USB tuner that supported Sky Plus was really expensive. I decided to buy a Slingbox Solo and connected it to my Sky Plus box and my Netgear Router and within half an hour I was able to stream everything on my Sky Plus to my iMac and to my Laptop. It is very simple to set up and means I can control my Sky Plus box and watch Sky or any recordings wherever I have a 3G / Broadband connection.
The only difference between the Slingbox Pro and the Slingbox Solo appears to be the number of inputs it supports and I can't see the point of being able to control more than Sky Plus.
