Slingbox Review: OUCH!
In an effort to be fair & balanced. Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post did a review of the Slingbox and he wasn’t too happy of a camper. Personally, I think he was a bit too critical of the set up, function, and the product. Perhaps he aspires to be the next Tom Shales?.
Rob found fault or should I say total deficiency in the entire concept of Slingbox. He had problems, or was intimidated the back of his TV.
Unfortunately, it still subjects users to three of the least pleasant tasks in the electronic realm: tinkering with a home network, rearranging the pasta bowl of wiring behind the TV set and programming an allegedly universal remote control.
When viewed remotely over the Internet — at home, the Slingbox was yoked to a digital subscriber line with an upload rate of about 350 kilobits per second, comfortably above Sling’s recommendation of 256 kbps– things looked and sounded still worse.
The often blocky, blotchy appearance of footage made Slingbox video look like a post-impressionist animated movie, as if Cezanne had signed up with Disney. Audio had the tinny, dull sound of a clock radio, with occasional slight but distracting slowdowns in tempo.
Rob, you’ve got issues. Not that there is anything wrong with Cezanne, but in fairness I haven’t seen one instance yet that couldn’t be worked out. Had you spoken to Tech Support? Had you checked the Slingbox411 Forum? We have a ton of people here in the world that are more than willing to help you. Dude, just ask.
When I tried watching TV via the Slingbox from work, I couldn’t even log in. Sling’s documentation suggests that some office firewalls will block remote viewing.
Most legitimate businesses HAVE to block most of the standard ports so the bad little hackers don’t get in and corrupt your files or steal your passwords. I have seen threads though that tell how you can sling through port 80, but I would venture to say your IT department wouldn’t be too happy opening up any ports for you to stream Puffy Ami Yumi. Out of the box, that’s no fault of Slingmedia.
Those would have been easy features to add, but Sling chose not to. Richard Buchanan, Sling Media’s vice president of marketing, said the company was leery of “legal issues” with copying video to a computer.
Sorry, but that’s nonsense. There is no law against storing a TV show on your hard drive, only threats of litigious thuggery from movie studios that see computers as a means to piracy. Sling may feel that it lacks the funds to fight any lawsuits, but that doesn’t mean we have to reward its groveling to Hollywood.
Rob, what’s your point here? You aren’t be happy enough to watch the Bold & the Beautiful …..live? Patience grasshopper.
Sling Media’s Web site offers its own suggestions of where you’ll want to tune in via a Slingbox, citing “your own backyard, your vacation home in the south of France, your local Starbucks, your three hour snow delay in Chicago, or on the beach in Mexico.”
Here’s a better idea: When you’re on vacation, try not to ruin it by wrestling with glitch-prone, deliberately hobbled, under-performing gadgets.
Meeeeeeeeow!
I have seen enough reviews to know that this is an aberration. (Just like the Minnesota Twins right Bud?!) Rob had some problems and I am sure he would tell us (as he has just done) that it is his responsiblity, duty, and desire to get paid that he inform the rest of the world.
You have.
But reviews from C|Net to PC World to the legendary Walter Mossbergand even the World reknown ( tongue firmly in cheek) expert.. SLINGBOX411!!!
Review @ Washington Post
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