Loading then connecting a small-ish FAT32 USB drive, then reloading with the next show to watch, etc, is a non-starter.
The ability to do this is useful for techie testing of what the device can run (itself a can of worms). But making it this clumsy, limited and complex means ordinary TV watchers will never do it -- zero value at best, but potentially harmful to the device's early reputation.
Sling needs to either call this an alpha preview, OR make absolutely clear how and when the device will be upgradable to support connecting to shared PCs/drives on a network. Or be honest if that will only be possible in a future generation device.
But it's a bad start that the marketing pitch says "standard USB hard drive" since FAT-32 these days is NOT standard for users of any version of Windows since 2000. (It's there, but most USB hard drives determine the version of Windows then self-format as NTSF.) So customers are already being deceived...
The trouble is, Sling keeps doing almost-right things. After so many generations, why does Slinbox not provide multiple audio inputs to match the video inputs -- for instance????
SlingCatcher Hands on Review - MyMedia (Page 3 of 3)
Categories: SlingCatcher
Playing Back Other Media Files
Playback of other file types is very similar to that of DVD. But since MPEG or WMV files don't generally have chapters associated with them, the Skip Ahead and Skip Back buttons jump you ahead 30 seconds, or back 5 seconds or so in the video. All other "trickplay" (FF, RW, etc) options remain the same.
Here, we're taking a look at other media items of interest. As can be seen in the picture, you have the following options available to you: Play, Info, Add and Delete. Play is self-explanatory and has been discussed above. Add adds the file to your Favorites list and Delete deletes the file from your drive.
Selecting Info brings up a menu with specific information about the file, including the time it was modified, duration, resolution, size, file type, etc. At this time, I do not know what the "Flag This" feature is for.
MyMedia does a pretty good job playing Windows Media file types (it should, since it's running a Windows OS) such as .WMV, .ASF, etc. It also does a pretty decent job playing MPEG-2 media. However, it beings to have problems with more complex formats such as .AVI, MPEG-4 and H.264.
As of the time of this writing, the MyMedia function of the SlingCatcher supports playback of .MP4, .MOV and .M4V files with a resolution of 480x320 at 2 Mbps bit rate. 480x320 is less than standard definition! XviD/DIVX files can be played at 720x480@ 4Mbps. The only HD format capable of playback at this time on the SlingCatcher is WMV, on which it can handle up to 1280x720@30 fps and 5.5 Mbps data rate.
The SlingCatcher will also play back MP3 audio files, but I have not spent any time experimenting with this capability of the Catcher.
The worst part about the current playback compatibility situation is that it is going to be very confusing for consumers to determine what will and what won't work. I've still not been able to play some of the files that seem to fit within the parameters. For example, I have some .mov files shot with Cycorder on my iPhone. These files are certainly less than 480x320, and are at most 15fps (fastest you can record video on the iPhone.) Yet, I cannot play them. I've also seen issues with playing .AVI files shot with digital cameras. Some will play, and others will not. If you attempt to play a file that is in a format not supported, the following error shows up:
In the long run, I hope SlingMedia will solve these playback problems and provide users with a firmware update, as this will simply make the product much more useful and capable. There is not a media player in existence today that does a good job with every different media file. Some play one type very well, others play different types very well. To me, the "Holy Grail" of digital media is a device that can play whatever I throw at it. I was hoping that the SlingCatcher would be that device, but as of right now, it is not. Fortunately, the box has the capability of being upgraded. Since we are living in the HD era, I cannot imagine that Sling is going to finalize on file formats that are not even in standard definition.
It is possible that another option that will help with unplayable files is the upcoming SlingSync software. To date, this software has not been released. It is hoped that this will provide an ability to easily move files between your computer and your SlingCatcher over a network. It is also rumored that SlingSync will support conversion of unplayable files to a playable type. Mac users, however, are left out again as there is not a SlingSync for Mac OS in development at this time... or at least, not that I know of. My hope is that SlingMedia fixes the issues with file types and will not rely on the "SlingSync" software alone to handle it.
Conclusions and Wishlist
If you are looking to get the SlingCatcher as just a digital media playback device, I would not recommend it at this time. It's too rough around the edges, and the headache of unsupported file types may be too much for some to bear. It's also inconvenient to be limited in file size and storage locations. As of yet, this device has not become my "Holy Grail" of digital media players.
However, if your main purpose for the SlingCatcher is to catch Slingbox streams, the ability to play digital media files is merely a "cherry on top" for you!
I would like to see other features added to the SlingCatcher over time. Here's some of what I would like to see in the next release:
- Ability to enter a URL to play audio or video streams from the Internet
- Ability to connect to the upcoming Sling.com Internet portal
- Full support for Mac OS X
If SlingMedia can continue to regularly update and improve the features and capabilities of the SlingCatcher, it could be a game-changing product. However, they choose to make minor improvements only, it is likely this will become a niche product that will be attractive mainly to those looking to connect to their Slingboxes.
Learn More About the SlingCatcher
SlingCatcher Hands on Review - SlingPlayer for TV
SlingCatcher Hands on Review - Sling Projector
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mymediaslingcatcher
Hello all - its a shame when you compare to what sling catcher can do v/s what and modded XBOX can do - i really dont understand why designers dont do their research before brainstorming - XBOX media center is a simple install and that kind of functionality added to what sling can do ( esp when you think of its cost ) would have added so much value - Xbox has 64 mb ram - no skips - no freezes - xbox modded OS should have been modified (GNU) and put onto sling catcher and make is open for modders and hackers to mod it - i.e. sony did to see how hackers etc would mod it - learning -
sad - i am NOT buying this hopeless product - 30 gb flash dish is out - sling can only do FAT32 ????
wth ???
Finally, someone is speaking out on the fact that you can't connect to your media over the network. What's the point of the stupid USB hard drive method to viewing your media? Really unrealistic expectations by Sling on how the average user would
I read here that the catcher supports iso's.
"DVD's are shown in the media list with a little disc icon next to them. A DVD can be present on the drive as either a DVD folder structure (the Video_TS folder with the associated files is all that is needed) or a DVD .ISO file. But keep in mind that most DVDs are larger than 4 gigabytes; if you have a lot of .ISOs you may wish to convert them to folders. The name of the top level folder of a DVD archive is the name that shows up in MyMedia. Inside that folder is your Video_TS folder. Additionally, a very nice aspect of the MyMedia software is that if you put a JPEG image file in the top level folder, this shows up as the DVD artwork when selecting the movie on the Catcher. It can be named anything, as long as it ends in .jpg (other image formats were not tried - your mileage may vary) and should reside in the top level of the DVD archive."
yet all the iso's I've created didn't work.... perhaps I'm doing it wrong? AND... my .jpgs aren't showing up in the thumbnail window.
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