Slingbox 500

Due to having Amazon Prime and Amazon's great return policy, I took a chance and bought this Sling Box 500 to see if I could maybe use it to watch TV on my 27" iMac. If successful, it would save me having to buy a 32" television for my office; if not, I could always return it and keep searching.Well, I'm happy to report that it worked great. Setup is not too bad. Basically, you buy the sling box and it plugs in via HDMI cables between your Dish (or other) receiver and your TV. When not in use, it basically works in a pass through sort of setup; you don't even know it's there. You can watch TV like normal and simply continue your receiver as normal.If you want to watch TV via the Sling box (for example, in my case, on my iMac in the next room), then you just use your web browser (i.e. safari) to visit the Sling box website where you can log in and watch TV via their website). I have it configured to pop open a little browser window, which has the TV inside it. This can be re-sized on your desk top and/or made full screen. There is also a little icon which, when clicked, displays a life like remote control on your desktop. You can then operate the virtual remote control almost like normal pretty much. There is also (at least for Dish) a pretty cool link which takes you to a program guide that is very easy to search and navigate. Once you find the program you are looking for, you just click it and it flips the TV over to that channel for you.There is a slight lag as compared to a normal TV experience, but not overly so. In my particular case, I'm usually switching from watching a program in the living room to on my computer, so I already know which channel I wanna watch. That cuts down on the amount of channel surfing I have to do, which tends to limit the amount of lag I have to deal with. Also, using the program guide (as opposed to just flipping through the guide on Dish itself) helps avoid any situations that might involve the perhaps 1 or 2 second lag you do experience. But for running the whole thing via wifi, I'm pretty impressed with how it all comes together. It provides a very nice viewing experience on the Mac, without having to load a lot of software, etc.My understanding is there is also an app for the iPad, but I have not purchased it, nor tested it. It's also possible to access your TV from pretty much any place you have an internet connection, but that is also something I have yet to test out.But to simply allow you to watch TV in the house on a computer, it's plenty good. Having a resizable window on the Mac is nice and being able to watch TV via our Dish Satellite box is fun.Keep in mind, however, when you watch via the Sling box, it does cut out the ability to watch the receiver where the sling box is connected up. In other words, if you have the sling box in the bedroom and you suddenly start watching TV on your computer, nobody can watch TV in the bedroom via that receiver where the sling box is attached - it's an either or situation.All in all, if you are seeking a means to watch TV on your computer, this is one options - especially for Apple, which may not support some of the other USB type tuners out there on the market.

I came from Dish Network and They had a Sling Adapter (free) that hooked to the back of main cable box via USB and worked flawlessly. This gives hurky jerky movement when played on my Mac book and I have blazing internet speeds. Takes over the TV it's hooked too, Dish's would use any open receiver that you have on the account so someone could watch the TV the Slingbox was hooked up too. VERY big compared to last Sling device and doesn't perform as well. Don't waste your money, get dish and Sling adapter and watch all channels without any lag or jerkyness on any device. I hope dish gets the Roots SW channels soon I will go back if so. Works ok on my Note III, just hate that I will have to wait to watch TV untl my wife goes to bed. You would think Slingbox could have more technology in such a big package and large price tag. Does not work with wireless boxes with Direct TV, if you only have the HDMI hooked to Slingbox its says channels are protected on EVERY damn channel. SO DISAPPOINTED!! I've added a pic of last Sling player I was using and you can really see the difference in size, but I wish you could see the performance difference its night and day.5/20/15 Updatewhen you watch TV on cell or tablet away from the house it turns the TV on. I was working nights and wanted to watch a show. My wife is awaked by a blaring TV at 3am. WOW such a disappointment.

We have two small condominiums in different cities and a summer home at the beach. Imagine paying 3 full-service cable bills + internet for 3 locations. To lower costs we stripped all 3 down to basic cable, but it was not a very satisfying experience. After reading a review/answer to a question by Walter Mossberg of the WSJ, I investigated "Slingbox" and its competitors. After reading and thinking about it for 6 months, I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and purchased a Slingbox 500. The setup was easy, but also somewhat complicated. However, I learned that one should not think too much - just follow the straightforward guidelines in the "easy set up guide" and then, importantly, the onscreen set up recommendations. I tried to be too smart and had to reinstall the box at least 5 times before I got it right. The critical point in the setup is the selection of input - whether to use HDMI, components or video connections. This choice takes place on the screen entitled "VIDEO INPUT". I am still a bit mystified about why it is necessary to have 2 connections to the TV (HDMI and component [red, green, blue) or video (yellow)], but I can assure you it is absolutely necessary if you want to watch TV on both your table or computer and your home TV. The rest of the setup flows smoothly if you make the right initial "VIDEO INPUT" choice. The device works very well! The only minor irritant is the need to change the home TV to "component" or "video" when the slingbox application on the mobile device is activated. My wife was traveling when I activated the sling box and she immediately pulled up slingbox on her Macbook Pro. The challenging part was getting her to shut it off when she stopped watching. I used the sling boxapp on my iPad and it worked well. I am still exploring the interface between the DVR (newly rented from XFINITY) and the slingbox apps and other than to say one can play a DVR file on the slingbox app I cannot comment on how well it works and whether it is possible to program the DVR through the slingbox.Of course, the goal is to eliminate cable completely at our summer place and the small condo we visit for no more than once or twice a month. To make this possible we have purchased Apple TVs for both locations and will cancel our basic cable at those locations. In addition, we have upgraded our home cable to 220 channels in addition to the DVR, providing a much more satisfying experience than basic cable. So we will be able to program our DVR to record our favorite shows at home and then watch them when we are at one of the other locations (we travel with computers or iPads, necessary to access slingbox). A point that may be relevant for someone beginning to explore elimination of cable TV is that NETFLIX and Hulu Plus, while very good products with lots of wonderful content, do not provide access to recent shows unless you are willing to buy them (e.g., on the iTunes store and even then there is a 24h delay). Having a DVR and cable in one location makes it possible to record in real time and watch that same night.A downside of Slingbox is that it is necessary for the person on Slingbox app and the home tv to watch the same show. An interesting possibility to eliminate this would be to rent a second cable box solely for Slingbox so that for the cost of one additional cable box at home you could watch two different stations.Another feature that I find attractive is the ability to watch American TV abroad. I travel internationally several times a year and, because of time changes, not infrequently spend time awake at night (daytime in USA). Having access to US TV is provides a grounding experience.I look forward to further exploration and will try to update this post in the future.

Nous adorons, très satisfaitLa faire programmer et installer est préférable par une personne qui connais l’informatique ou la programmation de ce genre d’appareils.De notre côté,nous avons la même manette de notre tv /maison ( a programmer à l’installation GÉNIAL) qui apparaît sur notre iPad/ ou iPhone a distance partout à travers le monde ( il suffit d’un wifi de bonne qualité)

I just don't get the concept.You can only have 1 user connected at a time. My TV supplier now offers they're own streaming app and everyone in my family can view what they want. A product like this isn't that useful.And why are there Ads? My television supplier gives me enough of those now I have an ad before loading the Sling Media player and while watching TV in window mode.This product was purchased for use in my office and is not a good fit. The office subscribes to Cogeco and the cable receiver model isn't listed so it takes a bit of searching to find a compatible model. There's no way to block out the channels we're not subscribed to and so it's a bit of guess work as to what channels we can watch. Again only 1 user can watch at a time and so for an office setting its use is almost non-existent.It's just too much money with too few features.

Toujours un très bon produit, c’est mon deuxième et achetez en un vous serez plus que satisfait!

TV when i travel with the RV

Pour visionner la télé CDN lors de mes voyages...