We're rocking a SlingBox
We love our tech toys, especially when they make working in our studio more exciting. We decided to try out the infamous SlingBox as a cable television source solution. We don’t have cable running in the studio currently — we thought it would be a distracting expense that wasn’t really necessary or would even be used much. But, if you’re going to host a New Years party and want to watch the ball drop, what are you to do?
“The Slingbox turns any Internet-connected PC or laptop, Mac, or smartphone into your home television. That means you can watch TV virtually anywhere in the world.” It essentially taps into your cable TV at home and allows you to watch it over the internet; even on the mobile web! At about $120.00 USD, this little black box of joy was worth checking out; and did we mention, no monthly subscription fee.
The hype is legit — this bad boy is truly amazing. Granted the picture quality is only as good as compressed streaming video can be (hence we won’t be using it to throw any super-bowl parties). But, hook-up to a 50”, grab some champagne, take a couple steps back and Dick Clark is still doing his thing.
We haven’t played with the mobile version yet (I just assume it has to be a battery killer) or upgraded to PRO/HD Connect (which promises up to 1080i resolution) — but it sounds promising. You can only use your SlingBox on one computer at a time and if you are going to be using the SlingBox, remember, the person at home with the remote ultimately has total control (however, I solved for that by paying Comcast and extra $5/month for an additional cable box).
If you want your TV to go with you anywhere or are just looking for a cheap way to get TV from an existing cable source — SlingBox is amazing! For a $120, it is definitely a toy worth having around! Check it out at slingbox.com.
Posted by Martin Ringlein on January 2, 2008 | Permanent Link |
