December 6, 2006 10:51 AM

 

I have used both, and I have had a lot of problems with the HAVA.The remotes are terrible,Slingbox have remotes that are close to the original remote.

I tried to return my Hava as it could not control my DISH receiver. I spoke with customer service and worked with someone called Rob for a couple of months as he assured me they are working on getting it fixed. After months of this troubleshooting, I said I want to return it and get my money back. Rob gave me a RMA to return it. I sent it back and I was emailed back and told that since I had it so long that they want to only give me back half of the cost.

I said send it back,I rather give it away then have them sell it to some other sucker. 

I would not go to Hava again as they don't back their equipment and you get screwed in the end. 

This is the experience that I had, and I was dedicated to them and only kept it that long as Rob was working with me to get the problem fixed and kept assuring me not to return it until we get pass the Beta and his tech team tried others means to get it to work. 

This was a slap in the face when this happened,so take this with a grain of salt and I wish you luck if you decide to go with them. 

Renton said: anyone used both, which did you prefer and why, trying to make up my mind which to buy Thanks, Jerry

 

 

January 2, 2008 10:53 AM

lmcwilli said: Just a bit of reference info to add to the thread: October 22, 2007 HAVA Platinum HD review at http://www.missingremote.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2062&Itemid=1 The HAVA driver page at http://www.myhava.com/support_downloads_hava.html gives an idea which problems are reported to have been solved. I was about to buy the Slingbox Pro but decided to buy the HAVA Platinum HD for its lower cost ($119, no postage) and reported higher resolution because I intend to use it exclusively on my LAN (1GB wired and 300Mbps wireless-N). The timeshift/pause and local record options were also pluses. I'll report back whether I was a dummy or not.

I've been using the Hava Platinum HD for several weeks. I am very happy with it---for the way I'm using it:

(1) Ethernet connection to my LAN then Wireless-N to my laptop, (2) Local LAN viewing only.

 I believe this use bypasses some of the problems reviewers have mentioned.

Technical support has been excellent. They responded quickly and came up with the correct solution: I needed to upgrade firware to correct a color separation problem. I haven't used the Slingbox but other reviewers have done a good job making that comparison.

Re one feature that the Slingbox doesn't have: local record/pause feature (where video is streamed to the local hard drive): I find that I never use it. I remotely use my DVR instead. The reason is that I frequently move my laptop to different locations in or outside my house. If there are hiccups in my wireless connection, while I'm on the move, it effects what gets recorded on my laptop. If I remotely pause using my DVR (connected wired to the Hava), I can start the program again when I've stopped moving and not have any breaks in the video.

In the end, cost was the most important descriminator.

January 2, 2008 2:09 PM

Well, MPEG2 and MPEG4 can both be used to compress - and convert to digital format - a standard NTSC or PAL analog TV signal.  MPEG4 results in smaller files than MPEG2.

MPEG4 is not restricted to HiDef. 

June 27, 2008 3:08 PM

ostate said:
Here is a good test, call up both Sling and HAVA and talk to their "experts."  I promise that when you talk to HAVA and you ask what type of format they stream in, whether it is MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, they will have no idea.

Not sure what difference this makes. Because I know I can ingest an MPEG2 or MPEG4 stream with VLC (or several other tools) and then do what I want with in. I also know I can't do the same with a Slingbox stream because Sling crippled it with DRM. So for me the Hava wins hands down on this comparison.

Thumb through their message boards and forums, you will see the large number of people who post nothing but complaints about how HAVA has said they will release new updates, and haven't as well as talking to a representative who is supposed to help them setup their new HAVA box, and they cannot even figure out the simplest instal task.  

Wait - are you seriously trying to say that Sling is more timely with releases and updates than Hava. Because I don't know how Hava could be worse than Sling. "As bad as" I could see, but "worse"?

Also, try going to the Sling forums and posting for help from a Sling engineer. Oh right - Sling doesn't have any official forums. But good luck with that.

June 27, 2008 10:08 PM

Not sure what difference this makes. Because I know I can ingest an MPEG2 or MPEG4 stream with VLC (or several other tools) and then do what I want with in. I also know I can't do the same with a Slingbox stream because Sling crippled it with DRM. So for me the Hava wins hands down on this comparison.

Actually with CheckSumCoder's Slingbox plugin you can do this with VLC. Once you have it setup you can do everything else with VLC you would do with any other stream.

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