Sling Media Slingbox

Editors' note: The Slingbox model reviewed here (model SB100-100, aka "Slingbox Classic") is no longer produced. It has since been replaced by the Slingbox Solo and the Slingbox Pro-HD.

Despite all the advances of the past couple of years, watching your favorite TV show can still be a challenge if you're constantly on the road. Digital video recorders and the iTunes video store--not to mention BitTorrent--have all helped transient couch potatoes keep up with the latest episodes, but it's the Slingbox that's really changed the game for media on the go. The $200 device--introduced in 2005 from start-up Sling Media--lets you access your cable or satellite box or any other video source from virtually any Windows PC with broadband Internet access, whether it's in your home or halfway around the world. But putting the boob tube on your PC wasn't good enough; Sling Media has added mobile software to its repertoire, letting users stream their home TV programming to any Web-enabled, Windows Mobile-powered handheld or cell phone.

The process all begins at home, where you set up the Slingbox hardware. The device itself is a modest-size, tapered silver brick, measuring 1.75 inches high by 10.75 wide by 3.75 deep. It actually looks a bit goofy, due mainly to the pointillist marketing inscriptions on the top: My Cable, My DVD, My Music Anywhere, and so forth. Fortunately, once you connect the Slingbox to your home A/V system, you never have to see it again; the always-on device can be tucked away in the depths of your TV stand where it will toil away indefinitely. The physical setup is quick and logical. Simply hook up the video source, be it cable box, satellite box, DVR, and the like, to the Slingbox's composite, S-Video, or RF cable inputs; place the IR blaster; and connect the device to your home network's router with an Ethernet cable--you're good to go. You can connect as many as three devices to each 'box, but the dual-headed IR blaster will control only two external devices. You can, however, change channels on the built-in analog tuner if an unscrambled RF source such as an analog cable feed or an antenna is connected. The Slingbox also has pass-through S-Video and composite-A/V outputs, and it provides the necessary cable interconnects, so it integrates seamlessly into your system without the need for any major rewiring.

Once you have the Slingbox base station wired up and ready to go, you'll need to install the viewing software on a PC; the initial setup must be done within your home's local network. The software follows a bulletproof, wizard-style install path; if you have a plug-and-play (UPnP) router, the whole process should take just a few minutes. Once it's up and running, the SlingPlayer software gives you a video window not unlike that of QuickTime or Windows Media Player but with channel-changing controls. If you've connected the Slingbox to a TiVo, ReplayTV, a cable or satellite box with a built-in DVR, or even a DVD recorder, you'll also get video-transport controls: pause, rewind, fast-forward, and so on.

Right off the bat, the Slingbox's basic functions worked as advertised. We were watching our living room TV on the bedroom PC, able to flip channels at will. The SlingPlayer software automatically optimizes viewing quality, but keep in mind that this is Web video; when broadcasting to the outside world, it's also limited by the upstream bandwidth of your home's broadband connection, which is often significantly less than your downstream speed. Thanks to the indicator on the bottom right of the screen, we were able to track the bit rate of the stream in different situations. At home via a D-Link DI-624 router, we maxed out at around 1,400Kbps for wired streaming and close to 900Kbps when streaming to our wireless laptop PC. At work and even from a hotel room halfway across the country, streaming remotely from our home cable Internet connection, we achieved speeds of as much as 365Kbps, which comes close to our connection's maximum upload speed of 384Kbps.

While the blocky video quality was nothing to write home about--especially when expanded from the small 320x240 window to full screen--it maintained an impressively smooth frame rate. Naturally, quality improved immensely at higher bit rates, but even from remote locations at 350Kbps, the video was perfectly watchable. We could easily make out CNN's news crawl, for example, but the fine print in a home loan ad was unreadable. Audio quality seemed to remain constantly decent and uninterrupted, regardless of bit rate. Keep in mind that the Slingbox isn't designed for aimless channel surfing; you'll experience a delay of a second or two when sending any commands, but it handles live TV with aplomb.

We also tried it with a DVR, and the results were similarly satisfying, although we had to practice to get the timing right when fast-forwarding through commercials. With the delay, we'd often resume playback too late and have to rewind back to catch the first few seconds after the commercial break. Since you get essentially full control of the device, having a Slingbox means you can program your DVR remotely. On numerous occasions at work, we'd remember we wanted to program a show to begin taping before we could get home. Firing up the Slingbox software from a work PC and scheduling the recording took about a minute. In another thoughtful design touch, repeated commands queue up to transmit more quickly, so we could repeatedly press the page-down command to quickly scan the DVR's EPG, for example.

Aside from working as advertised, one of Slingbox's biggest strengths is its frequent firmware and software updates, which have added significant functionality to the product. The SlingPlayer software now supports Windows 2000 in addition to XP, and the beta Mac client is available for download from Sling Media's Web site. Sling has also pledged that its software will work on the forthcoming Origami Ultramobile PCs. Moreover, while the onscreen interface of the original SlingPlayer software included only basic remote controls, the iteration 1.0.5.140 and thereafter actually duplicate the remote layouts for popular set-top models. For instance, the video-transport control keys (A, B, C, List, Guide, Info, and so on) of our Scientific Atlanta 8300HD were all in their familiar locations, so playing back recorded shows and accessing the onscreen electronic programming guide was second nature. Similarly, you can now switch between the Slingbox's three video inputs--say, from a TiVo to a DVD player to the analog TV tuner--straight from the application's menu, whereas older versions required you to rerun the whole setup program.

The biggest upgrade to the Slingbox is the availability of a Windows Mobile software client. SlingPlayer Mobile brings the Slingbox experience to any touch-screen Windows Mobile handheld or smart phone (versions 4.0, 5.0, and even the older 2003 edition), so long as it has access to the Internet. We tested it on an old HP iPaq via Wi-Fi and a new Palm Treo 700w over a Verizon's EV-DO broadband cellular network, and it worked equally well in both instances. Except for the small screen size, the mobile version is a faithful re-creation of the same solid performance we've gotten on a PC. What's better, of course, is that you can use a handheld or cell phone much more often and in many more locations than you could from a desktop or laptop PC. Just be sure you have an all-you-can-eat data plan on that smart phone, or you'll have a nasty surprise at the end of the month when the bill arrives. To see the SlingPlayer Mobile software in action, check out CNET's exclusive First Look video. Sling has since released a second version of SlingPlayer Mobile, this time optimized for Windows Mobile Smartphone devices (those that lack a touch screen). The Smartphone version is still in beta, but once it's final, it will cost the same one-time $30 fee as the Pocket PC version. Both versions are available as a 30-day trial download from Sling's Web site, so you can try before you buy.

How does the Slingbox compare to the competition? While the "placeshifting" market is fairly tiny, there is a growing number of options for copying/syncing video media from your PC to a handheld--the most notable being Apple's video-enabled iPod and TiVo To Go. But that's just transferring previously recorded media to a portable playback device. If you want live, real-time video, your options are limited. Those with newer mobile phones can opt for live 3G streaming subscriptions such as MobiTV and V Cast but will be restricted to the few channels offered by each provider. Besides the Slingbox, there's Sony's LocationFree TV and the Orb software package. The Sony costs at least $300 and enables live video transmission to the PSP or a PC, while Orb is free and offers access to other media (photos, music, and so forth) but requires a host PC with a TV tuner card to stream television programs. If you're interested in viewing your TV remotely, we found the Slingbox to be the best combination of value, ease of use, and flexibility.

That's not to say the Slingbox is perfect. Among our gripes is the fact that it lacks any wireless networking component, so you'll need to hook up a wireless bridge or a pair of power-line adapters (such as Sling Media's own SlingLink module) if there's not an Ethernet connection in the vicinity. Furthermore, the Slingbox is only as good as its device support. And while it's improved considerably in the past few months, you'll be out of luck if it's missing remote codes for your primary video device; our Pioneer DVR-533H hard disk/DVD recorder is currently unsupported, for instance. We'd love if the Slingbox software could learn codes or allow modification of its virtual remote template, much as a PC-programmable remote. Meanwhile, the mobile client is hampered by some obvious limitations of the small screen: the miniaturized versions of your EPG, channel labels, or onscreen text, such as sports scores, news crawls, stock and quotes, may just be flat-out unreadable on many devices, as will the finer details of some quick-moving videos; for example, hockey pucks and baseballs will be hard to discern.

That said, the Slingbox is one of the few gadgets that adds value to all your other tech investments--including the cable/satellite service, DVR, home network, laptop PC, and handheld device. Toss in the ultra-affordable $200 price (it originally went for $250), the notable lack of monthly fees, and the improved PC software and mobile client, and it's not hard to see why one of our favorite gadgets of 2005 is still an easy recommendation for 2006.

Senior editors James Kim and David Katzmaier contributed to this review.