franc111s

Didn't really need it but it's so cool Basically, turns my TV upstairs into a British TV

I can watch my UK SKY+ DVR without a PC. The typical looking TV remote control literally allows me to press 101 for BBC1, 103 for ITV and 110 for GOLD, pause live, TV guide etc.,., i.e. anyone can use it My slingplayer in the UK is picked up by the slingcatcher and really simply projects it to my US TV. If you didn't know it, other than a slight lag on remote control response times, you'd think it was local British TV - LOL

Watching Only fools last night on Gold whilst eating my Sunday dinner - classic

http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingcatcher-slingplayer

Bob

you able to do a time shift in the broadcast though? That would be handy

HoosierDaddy

So your SlingBox (classic or whatever) is back in blighty and the SlingCatcher is here in the States? How much does the Catcher cost?

caleyjag

This sounds intriguing.

One question though. If I have it set up in the UK at my folks house, and my dad changes channel, does that mean it will change channel for me in the US?

I don't want to be stuck on UK Gold all day.

bjohn

It does. I was watching the Ashes by the pool on laptop recently using the Slingbox. Unfortunately the Mrs was at home and put it on Neighbours. I had to phone in and explain the TV bedroom, free to air, was for watching Neighbours whilst the Ashes was on.

HoosierDaddy

Treat him to a dual tuner receiver.

ldobson

In most cases the tuners are internal only and theres no way a slingbox can capture a specific tuner, ie with Sky+ although there are two tuners, only the Sky+ box can use the second tuner, the Slingbox would have to use the first tuner.

ldobson

Yes, you need to add a dedicated Sky+ box for this purpose really, unless the one your using doesnt get a lot of use. Yes the sky+ box has multiple tuners, but the second tuner can only be used 'internally'.

Swisstony

hmmm

we have been using a slingbox classic from UK with a slincatcher here in US for last few months. All works v well and doesn't get screwed up with MIL changing channels, since slingbox incorporates a freeview tuner.

However, the time difference is a pain and hence I was wondering about buying a freeview DVR for the UK end to plug into the slingbox.

has anyone any experience of using one of these? Recommendations for a good one?

OR (Even Better!) - any insights into whether Slingmedia may bring our a slingbox incorporating a DVR?????

Thks!

Tony

ldobson

Yes thats the only caveant, if you have a slingbox with an internal tuner you can avoid this, however that only applies to freeview, not Sky+ or Digital cable as you probably are aware, therefore your limited to whats available on freeview. You could easily attach your own DVR at the end and playback the programming over the Slingbox.

Slingmedia have already stated that they are not interested in developing a DVR function, due to the legalities that would present.

franc111s

It was $180 for the catcher at Frys. - a little extravagant - but cool

Took 2 mins to plug in to my TV & Network and hey presto. You only need a sling box classic in the UK although most of the sling boxes are pretty cheap now.

You can get your own cheap/free freeview box in the UK to save the channel being turned by someone else "issue". However, I have a dedicated SKY+ DVR connected to my slingbox. It was pretty cheap < 100 quid a few years ago and because the SKY package my Niece has in the UK, there's no additional monthly fee for her (or me) They also have a 700k upload speed which helps.

The other neat thing is that you can use SKY's MYSKY website, to login and set your recordings on-line. The SKY+ DVR user Interface is pretty lame so using the web page from anywhere in the world to set your recordings is wicked.

BTW - Dish Brought Sling Media last year, as an FYI.

ldobson

To be fair a laptop plugged in to a big screen tv will give you the same effect, except for the convienience of the remote, the remote will add extra lag as the command has to be send via infra-red to the slingcatcher. the slingcatcher then has to send the command to the slingbox, and then the slingbox has to execute the command. Still a nice addition.

Personally though, I wouldnt want a Slingbox to be my primary source for my UK programming, a stream is dependant on network conditions. I have automated my own system to record, transcode and copy my programming in high quality DIVX/XVID formats and have it delivered automagially to my TiVo's on the US network side.

I use sling occasionally for mobile TV via iPhone or if I specifically dont want to wait the hour it will take to have the program automatically transcoded and copied to my US network.

Swisstony

Didn't know that - thanks for the info - shame!

franc111s

IDobson. Yes, a LAPTOP, if your TV isn't too old and your PC has the right quality outputs. My MAC can connect to my Plasma but not to the TV Upstairs (Component) without buying yet another connector. My wifes PC is in her office, too far away from the couch In addition, the slingcatcher is always ready to go and it's much simpler plug'n'play than the Laptop even. And if thru my laptop, then I'd have to kick my wife off to use the laptop. Over 3 years, $180 will work out cheap

Since I have the slingplayer in the UK connected to the SKY+ which is a DVR and have a 14MB download in the USA that rarely blips, nor does the UK upload with BT, I am good on the resilient front. Have been for about 2 years now. The network hasn't gone down yet and if anything, keeps getting faster both ends each year! If it does, it's on a DVR so not lost!

The TIVO is a neat trick, I used to do something similar with replay TV and a Haupauge card in the UK but needed a dedicated (mostly) UK PC. Then I went UKNova but my sling system suits us. It's just so clean and easy. I've got to believe, if you are transcoding any high quality stuff and then transferring it (upload from the UK) then you'd be pushed to load anything but a short program over that band-width and get much better quality. Unless you have very high upload ability in the UK, you are nearly just as bottlenecked as the sling to do much more in 60 minuites. Certainly not MUCH better than the Sling which pushes as fast as possible and keeps up with bandwidth to stay live. Locally, my sling will getup about 8MBs in my in-house network for real-time "HD" - ish..

I like the Slingplayer on the Iphone too.

ldobson

Yes, we do have a unbundled high speed DSL connection, but the programs are uploaded entirely (not streamed) and are in high quality Divx, so the quality is exactly the same when the file has completed transfer as it was when it was broadcasted on BBC1 let's say, during which time the transcoded file is named with the current title, date and episode data which is extracted from over-the-air listings and copied to the Tivo automagically, so literally when i get home my UK programming is sat there on the Tivo ready to be played along with any of my US programming. No logging in to Sling, no effort required, each programme is also archived on the local LAN, should i ever want to watch it again.