SlingPlayer Comes to the Mac! (Page 3 of 4)
Categories: Mac Computers / Laptops / Netbooks
Menu Commands:
The menu commands are now more intelligently laid out, and the keyboard equivalents are what they should be – command keys (with the exception of commands for the remotes). Changing window size or aspect ratio is very similar to other Mac programs like QuickTime Player, with command-F being full screen, etc. There’s no need to go into the details of all the commands as everything is pretty much the same as the previous public beta versions. A few critical menu commands do not yet have keyboard shortcuts. Among them is control mode. Those of us with DVRs such as ReplayTVs or TiVos really need and want a way to easily get in and out of control mode.
Performance:
Performance on both of my current active Macs (1.83 GHz MacBookPro and 2.66 GHz MacPro) is very good. I get better picture quality with less CPU time than with the previous beta versions. The debate is still up in the air if the picture quality is as good as the Windows version, but as far as I am concerned the quality is excellent. When running on my LAN with an HD signal going into my HD-Connect on my Slingbox Pro, the picture quality in SlingPlayer Mac is simply stunning.
Unfortunately, I am not able to give any input on the performance of the software on PowerPC Macs. All of my Macs currently in use are Intel Macs. From what I understand, however, performance on the PPC platform is better than the previous beta versions.
One performance feature that needs to be fixed is that when optimizing, the audio from the player tends to be distorted and garbled somewhat. The audio improves to normal once optimization is complete. Additionally, optimization seems to take significantly longer than optimization under Windows.
The software is much more stable and does not crash like the public beta used to do when exiting from full screen mode. Additionally, the ability to update firmware in a user’s Slingbox should also be fixed. Previously this was a hit or miss thing – sometimes it would work and sometimes it would not.
Favorites:
One of the major headaches in the public beta that has been fixed were the issues with favorites being properly saved. Sometimes they would work and, sometimes they would not. This has been fixed and now favorites work well like they should. One must be aware, however, that it is still not possible to import favorites created with the Windows version of SlingPlayer.
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