Ever want something for a really long time? Well I did, and it was the Slingbox by Sling Media. If you don’t know what it does, here is the quick version. It let’s you watch your home TV from anywhere.
Anyway, I saved up enough Best Buy gift cards to splurge on a Slingbox Solo and the Slingbox Turbo 1 Port and dammit I was good to go.
After messing with my Cable Box and re-arranging some wires (hardest part of the job for me) I was ready to connect the Slingbox to my network. Not so fast! I needed a quick firmware patch for my OLD router, right after I was connected and watching TV on my PC in HD, Go Me!
Granted, you do need a decent internet connection to get the most out of the Slingbox. Various optimizations exist to help you find the right quality for your connection. I particularly enjoyed how you can set the Slingbox to the top right of the screen letting you work in a really comfortable way.
If you’re a sports fan, no more blacked out games or watching a corny flashcast of the game…Watch the game in all of its glory, from any internet enabled PC.
You need a 50MB software download to install the viewer on each machine you want to access your Slingbox.
Bottom Line – It works! I tested it thoroughly while I was in Germany. In my hotel room I was able to watch a DVR of the Superbowl on my Vaio. I also use my laptop to watch TV when I eat dinner at my kitchen table. I thought I liked TV before!