Sling Media Slingbox Pro-HD

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/accessories/0,39100116,49299137,00.htm

Reviewed 30 September 2008

Reviewed by John P. Falcone

When Sling Media released a trio of second-generation models in the autumn of 2006, the Slingbox Pro was at the top of the line. Unfortunately, it also came with a handful of caveats and was an ugly maroon colour. The third-generation Slingbox Solo appeared the following year, co-opting nearly all of the Pro's key features, making the need for an upgrade to the Pro even more apparent. Almost two years to the day since the Pro was released, its replacement is here: the Slingbox Pro-HD, which will be available in the UK soon for around £200.

Design
The Slingbox Pro-HD looks like an elongated version of the older Slingbox Solo, with the extra space needed to house the myriad AV jacks found on its backside. It sports the familiar Slingbox trapezoidal design, but the Pro-HD's metallic black and gray housing looks far more attractive than its inexplicably red-coloured predecessor. Except for the three red indicator lights on the front face, all the action is around back. There's no power switch, either -- once plugged in, the Slingbox is designed to be on always, just like a cable modem or router.

The Pro-HD's rear panel boasts multiple sets of inputs and outputs, so it can sit innocuously between your cable or satellite box (or DVR) and your TV, and soak up signals from three sources: one for a standard definition (composite or S-Video plus stereo analogue audio); one dedicated high-definition source (component video plus analogue stereo or digital coaxial audio); and one RF coaxial video source.

The RF source can be either analogue or digital. Using the SlingPlayer software, you can toggle between the inputs at the touch of a button. In fact, you can really have two analogue AV sources -- one on composite, one on S-Video -- for a total of four video sources. They'll either need to share an audio input, however, or one will have to be sans audio, such as a security camera.

The component video connections of the Slingbox Pro-HD have no trouble processing HD video (720p and 1080i, but not 1080p). An HDMI connector would've been nice, but that would introduce pesky copyright protection and digital-rights management issues. Nevertheless, be aware that some cable boxes can't support parallel HD video output.

Also, don't expect to share a Slingbox key with friends and family to use simultaneously. By design, the Slingbox only supports streaming to one client at a time.

Features
The new model fixes nearly all the annoyances of the older version, and brings it up to date for the upcoming DTV transition. Specifically, component inputs and outputs are onboard; the unit can now stream 'HD' video (or, at least, better than 640x480-pixel resolution) to remote PCs; the enclosure sports a much improved look and feel; and the unit even boasts a built-in digital TV tuner.

The Slingbox lets you stream your home TV programming to your broadband-enabled Mac, PC, smart phone, or to a SlingCatcher receiver that's hooked up to another TV. Both the Slingbox (source) and the device running the SlingPlayer software (receiver) need to be connected to high-speed broadband networks, but the distance between the two isn't a factor. As long as you're getting normal broadband access speeds, you can watch your Slingbox playback anywhere -- be it in another room of the house or halfway around the world, literally.

We ran our HD DVR through the Slingbox's inputs using the component video cables and the digital audio cable; then we connected the Slingbox outputs to our TV. We also connected an RF cable to the Slingbox and ran it to an antenna. We left the standard-definition inputs open, but serious gearheads could add one or two more. It's worth noting that Sling includes pretty much every cable you'd need: component, composite AV, stereo audio, RF, S-Video and Ethernet.

In addition to connecting the Slingbox between the cable/satellite box and the TV, you'll also need to connect it to your home network. With no built-in Wi-Fi, the only choice is the wired Ethernet connection. If you don't have a network cable in the vicinity, you'll need to opt for a wireless bridge or power-line networking interface. We've had much better luck with the latter, which sends network traffic over your home power lines.

Once you have the Slingbox base station wired up and ready to go, you'll need to install the viewing software on a PC (Windows or Mac). 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 router, the whole process should take just a few minutes. While home networking products always introduce some level of complexity to the setup process, the Sling software is about as good as it gets for guiding even newbie users through the gauntlet.

Like all previous models, however, the lack of integrated Wi-Fi will be a sticking point for some users (the power-line adapters work perfectly, but they require an extra expense). Furthermore, the Slingbox is only as good as its device support. And while its catalog of supported devices is excellent overall, you'll be out of luck if it's missing the remote codes for your primary video device.

Performance
Once it's up and running, the software gives you a video window not unlike that of QuickTime or Windows Media Player, just with channel-changing controls. If you've connected the Slingbox to a TiVo, 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. Version 2.0 of the SlingPlayer (Windows only, so far) is far improved from earlier versions. It includes a 60-minute buffer, a built-in onscreen programming guide and compatibility with online Sling.com accounts.

The best thing about the software is the on-screen remote control. Essentially, you're getting a nearly identical version of the handheld remote of the set-top box your Slingbox is connected to. When using an over-the-air antenna or QAM digital cable, you get a generic remote for changing channels. The SlingPlayer pulled in a current programme guide for the over-the-air channels, but not for the QAM channels (the ones you get when just plugging your cable line into the Slingbox's RF jack). When using both configurations, however, we were still able to have access to plenty of digital and HD channels.

The SlingPlayer software automatically optimises viewing quality, though the quality is largely dependent on the available network bandwidth. To see the SlingPlayer Pro-HD deliver true HD video you'll need to be on a home network. While on a LAN, we were able to get a stunning picture with the player streaming at speeds of up to 8,100Kbps.

While it didn't quite deliver Blu-ray levels of detail, it was the first streaming experience we've seen that really outshined DVD. Watching a Discovery documentary in HD revealed excellent resolution with few instances of stair stepping or jagged lines. The same was true for a recorded HD episode of Arrested Development.

Motion was mostly smooth, but there were a few hiccups. It's important to note that your viewing device (laptop or desktop) will need better-than-average horsepower and video processing to keep up with these HD streams. But the experience was far better than what we got from the earlier Slingbox Pro, which had its output limited to 640x480. The Pro-HD can theoretically push out a full 1080i HD signal.

Unfortunately, it's a different story if you remove your laptop from the home network and then access your Slingbox on the Internet. Because the Slingbox is limited by your home's upstream bandwidth, you'll get far reduced picture quality -- assuming you've got the normal, less-than-spectacular broadband speeds available in most areas. (We usually got around 400Kbps to 500Kbps from our cable modem.) Don't get us wrong, it's still usually a very watchable picture, but it skews more towards YouTube than DVD.

When watching on a mobile phone or handheld device, the same bandwidth concerns apply. But because those devices have such small screens, the resulting image looked even better. Still, miniaturised versions of channel labels or on-screen text may be unreadable on many devices, so keep this in mind when using it on a mobile device.

Conclusion
All in all, though, none of the competing products we've seen delivers as good an experience as the Slingbox. It's one of the few gadgets that add value to all of your other tech investments -- including your cable/satellite service, your DVR, your home network, your laptop and your handheld device.

The Pro-HD is the new cream of the crop, and is recommended for power users who want the best video quality when streaming to other rooms of the house, or for those who need access to multiple devices or antenna feeds. But if you just want to watch your TV over the Internet, you're probably better off going with the Slingbox Solo instead. It delivers much of the same functionality, but at half the price.

Edited by Marian Smith