Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)
Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)
- Watch and control your live and recorded TV in standard definition on your laptop or desktop – supports Windows XP/Vista and Mac
- Watch and control on your mobile phone – compatible with Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian or Palm OS-based mobile devices
- Connects to one high-definition or standard-definition A/V device, such as a DVR, cable set top box, satellite receiver or DVD player
- No monthly fees
The Slingbox SOLO incorporates high-definition component, S-Video and composite video inputs as well as outputs, making it compatible with just about every HD or standard-definition satellite receiver or set-top boxes and DVRs on the market. The Slingbox SOLO is the perfect companion for your DVR, cable box, satellite receiver or DVD player. With the ability to watch and control your favorite TV source, the Slingbox SOLO ensures that you can enjoy your TV entertainment anywhere.
List Price: $ 179.99
Price: $ 179.99
Waterproof HD Color Watch Video Camera/DVR Underwater Camcorder MiniDV Spy Cam
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Verizon readying FiOS TV Media Streamer for late 2012
The new push in DVR tech for your home is the whole home DVR system and they are grand. It's so great to have content you can record on any TV and then playback on any TV. Verizon has a new device that it is working on for late 2012 launch that is a …
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slingbox is a great concept but the company is terrible,
first – AMAZON IS AMAZING. when slingmedia would not help me, amazon totally stepped up and took care of a problem for me that they did not need to. thanks amazon and i didn’t know you could make me a bigger fan than i already was but you have.
second – i have had the same problem with slingbox solo that other one star reviewers have had. i too just had my unit for under a year and was still under warranty but like others, technical support gave me a total run around and would not give me an RMA and my options were to pay for a tech support consult or buy an extended warranty… but wtf, i was STILL UNDER WARRANTY – why would i want to purchase an EXTENDED WARRANTY when i’m still under warranty now when the unit has failed?!
these are bad, disingenuous and sneaky people who want to nickel and dime you for every little thing. they don’t care about customer satisfaction or their own commitments and you will notice that their culture is one that is absolutely closed and stonewalled.
in every way that amazon shines for their dedication to their customers, slingbox radiates bad faith.
this technology is not worthy of these guys and it is my fondest wish that they fail so that someone bigger, better and more committed to their customers becomes the standard bearer.
i loved my slingbox and i loved the technology. they had a die hard fan in me. but with one phone call to a tech support person far more concerned with selling an extended warranty for a product that was already under warranty when it failed… man, they have earned my enmity.
as for a recommendation, it’s a tough call – if it works and never fails, it’s great. but if you need to have ANY kind of backup from slingmedia, you are completely out of luck.
UPDATE – for me, it WAS bad capacitors: [...]
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|Total Junk – do not buy – unit fails approximately 1 year after purchase (practically to the day of warranty expiration),
One (hopefully last) review of this piece of junk. Indeed – I did open up the Sling SOLO and in the process voiding my “warranty” (if we can call it that with a straight face) and found that the capacitors had failed, as everyone else eventually discovers. Replacing them at my cost of about $12 and two hours worth of my time (and I am not an electronics geek by any means), solved the problem. Here are some image links of the SOLO:
picasaweb . google . com / cesinco / SlingBoxSux#5547257092994979890
picasaweb . google . com / cesinco / SlingBoxSux#5547257105670666994
picasaweb . google . com / cesinco / SlingBoxSux#5547257110680945410
I have come back to edit my original review of the SOLO. I cannot stress enough how poor the product and customer service is. You are better off to take your wife out to a nice dinner than to hand your money over to this bunch. If you do, you might as well have set fire to the money you paid for the SOLO. Anyway, back to the original review…
If you are thinking of buying this product, I highly recommend you first go to this discussion thread on Sling’s site
answers . slingbox . com / message / 24401
to see what nearly 500 postings have to say about the SOLO and Sling’s customer support in general. If you don’t wish to go through all of that, here’s the condensed version:
Many people have discovered that the capacitors installed on the SOLO bulge up about 1 year after purchase, rendering them and the SOLO useless. Many of those who have tried, said that replacing the capacitors with new ones corrected the problem. Sling refuses to acknowledge that this is a problem of their making (despite the numerous posts and the thread having started about 6 months ago). Apparently, they don’t “wish to leap to conclusions” as to the source of the problem until it is properly diagnosed. In the meantime, until such time as it is “properly diagnosed”, Sling charges customers who are out of warranty (that means practically everyone since the problem typically occurs AFTER the warranty expires) just to talk to you. As I understand from other contributors to the thread, if it can be determined that the problem is indeed with hardware, Sling will credit this $30 towards replacement hardware which will cost you $100. So you end up paying $70 if it’s a hardware problem to get a working SOLO or paying $30 to remain stuck with a non-working SOLO. Wonderful choice.
Apparently, the customer service reps are rude too.
Anyway, this is not me saying this – it’s the condensed version of what is on the discussion thread.
I leave it to you to make up your own mind on whether you want to deal with such a company. Myself, I will go the “replace my own capacitor” route as others have and if it fails, I will be no worse off (except for the cost of a few caps) than I am now. But I will not fall for their tricks agan.
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|SlingBox Rocks,
The Good
—————
The technology works! Using a Sprint Air card I was able to keep tuned into my TV while driving in the country. This is probably the worst case scenario for remote reception. I was only getting about 100K download speed with occasional dropouts. No other streamer that I have tested would work under these conditions.
I was running 320-240 res under these conditions. With faster more stable connection you can run higher.
At home on my home network I run 640×480 resolution with a maximum stream rate of 6000Kbps with Near CD quality Audio.
It works! It works! It Works!!
The Bad
———
This box did not come with a software CD or SVid cable. So I had to dig one up. I had the player software from SlingBox AV that I had tested. In any case you will need to download the latest software from the SlingMedia website. I had to dig up an aditional Svid cable.
The Ugly
———
Couple things that I realy hate about the SlingBox technology.
-Max Res 640×480 res
-Only one connection allowed at a time. If you try to connect and someone else is watching the slingbox you will get a Buisy indication. Thats why it is called a Personal TV Viewer.
-No Recording Option available. There are some third party venders offering this at a cost of $49.
-Mobile Player software is not free. You must pay $29 for wach mobile device you want to install the player software on.
Final Thoughts
——————
All this said, I still love the SlingBox. I had originaly purchased the Slingbox AV but found its connection options limited with out a pass through connection. I now have two devices set up. Dish Sat box and Panasonic E55 DVD recorder/player. I can remotely change the channel and start my recorder from anywhere in the world that I have an internet connection.
BTW this box retails for $179 and I picked mine up for $159. Thats only $30 more than I paid for the AV.
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