Posted by Jon Ross on 10/08/07 11:54

A.Xino wrote:
> On 5 Oct, 12:12, "Mike" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>> Don't see the point why anyone would use it in the home, I have a digisender
>> at a quarter of the cost to do that.
>
> Exactly. :)
>
>
> On 8 Oct, 09:40, Jon Ross <as...@forit.co.uk> wrote:
>> I'm not sure they promise to play MP3s at all.
>
> Do they not? I would have thought that that was the most basic of
> functionality.

The Slingbox doesn't access your computer storage area at all, it is
simply a box which converts an input video stream into a network stream
and allows you to connect with the bespoke software to view this stream.
There is also a remote transmitter so that you can send IR commands to
your Sky/Tivo/Freeview box. As I mentioned, mine is a preview box which
I got as part of the beta test in Europe and looking at the Slingmedia
website it looks like this particular model is the Slingbox Pro but
without the HD input - it has multiple inputs and a built-in Freeview
decoder. Orb is a software only solution which runs on a PC and allows
you to access all of your media - pics, mp3s, videos & live TV.

If I am honest, I wouldn't pay for another one if this one broke. I
would instead switch to using Orb or MythTV.

> Never tried one myself, but did consider getting one a
> month or two back - until I investigated through friends who have used
> them. Evidently you've had good experience though, so I guess it
> varies quite a bit. I think "the dog" definitely made a good point
> about upstream speed though. That's going to be the most crucial
> factor really.

I am on 20mb cable so I have a decent upstream which is important.

> Out of interest, presumably you still have to pay your mobile network
> for the data you're pulling down on the phone; how much is that?

I am on T-Mobile Web&Walk+ which gives me unlimited HSDPA access and so
no additional bills. I am sure if you ran it 24 hours a day then a
warning letter would soon arrive from T-Mobile but I have used the phone
as a modem lots of times to stream videos from home and not had any
problems.

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