Performance

The Slingbox AV streams over LAN at 640x480, capturing every nuance of the original source while streaming over your home network. This resolution is double that of the original Slingbox, which was capped at 640x240 in-network, and 320x 240 when viewing remotely. When connecting from a remote location, the AV streaming resolution falls back to a more conservative 320 x 240, which requires less upstream bandwidth. You can manually set your encoding parameters to stream remotely at full resolution, but you'll need to disable SlingStream to do it. If you don't have a significant amount of bandwidth both upstream and down, disabling SlingStream is not recommended.

Remote performance isn’t much different than the original Slingbox with SlingStream enabled. For most, the performance bottleneck hasn’t really been the hardware, but the upload bandwidth of your internet connection and current network conditions. If you’re slinging from a busy hotspot, or you only have 256K of upstream bandwidth at home, the end result won’t be as good.

In network performance is where the new Slingboxes really shine. The increase in resolution certainly makes for a better quality experience. Considering most AV owners will be connecting a digital cable or satellite box, the image quality will greatly exceed that of the original.

Read "Slingbox PRO, Slingbox A/V, & Slingbox Tuner Performance Review" for more about performance.

Final Thoughts

The Slingbox AV’s lack of an integrated tuner should certainly appeal to a wide variety of pay-TV subscribers, particularly satellite users who normally wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the integrated tuner anyway. These folks typically have more than one satellite box, allowing the owner to connect the Slingbox to secondary TV in the house. However, many digital cable subscribers only have one box on the household’s primary TV, and one advantage the original Slingbox held was that the user could connect a digital cable box and analog cable line simultaneously. This allowed the user to watch basic cable if the box was being used be a family member. No doubt the remote control wars will become a little more heated in AV households.

Since most folks don’t have their network router near their home theater, I would have liked to see Wi-Fi support integrated into theSlingbox AV. Yet, I understand the reasons for leaving it out. Integrating Wi-Fi would add additional cost to those consumers who didn’t need it, and would add additional complexity to installation. Just think how the noob would react to a line in the manual that read, “Connect Slingbox AV to router or network switch for preliminary setup, prior to main setup, or temporarily disable any network security like WEP, WPA, or Mac address filtering prior to starting the installation wizard.” Yikes!

If there’s any specific hardware complaint I have about the Slingbox AV, it would be the lack of an A/V pass-thru feature. Most folks don’t know how to split A/V connections, and it’s doubtful they have the cables around to do it. Having a pass-thru would ensure that all customers could easily connect any device they wanted without having to run to RadioShack. The Tuner and PRO models have it... why not the AV?

At $179 MSRP, I see a lot of value in the Slingbox AV. Many folks only have one device they’d like to access on their computer or handheld, and they can do that with the Slingbox AV for $70 less than the PRO. The upgrade path is limited, but if you want to ditch cable and head to satellite, the AV can make the switch with you… something the Tuner can’t do. Just keep in mind that if you want to Sling a second device, that means dropping $179 for another Slingbox. But on the bright side, two Slingboxes would mean less fighting family members for control.

More Slingbox Family Articles

The Slingbox Family - Slingbox Tuner, Slingbox AV, & Slingbox PRO - The new Slingboxes are here, and SlingCommunity's got them all! Join SlingCommunity Editor Matt Whitlock as he takes an in-depth look at Sling Media's newest line of Slingbox products.

The Slingbox Tuner Review - An in-depth look at Sling Media's newest little Slingbox for those who have the most "basic" needs.

The Slingbox PRO Review - The kitchen sink of Slingboxes. Accepts HD sources, multiple inputs, pass-thru for everything... the PRO has it all.

Slingbox PRO, Slingbox AV, and Slingbox Tuner Performance Review - Just exactly how does the new family of Slingboxes stack up to the original. Are they really better? Find out here.

First Look: Slingbox PRO HD Performance Review - Come get a sneak peak at the PRO's HD performance when used with Sling Media's upcoming HD adapter!

Which Slingbox is Right For Me?- In days past, picking out a Slingbox was easy. Did you want the Slingbox behind door number 1, door number 1, or door number 1? Now there's choice... come see which Slingbox is right for you!

Page « Previous 1 2 3 4