what is going on the mac use to be the the computer for multimedia it seems everything to do with pvr is being made for the pc. So will installing vista on the mac solve the problem of streaming hd to the mac with the new hd pro

My understanding is that the Mac development at Sling is somewhat behind the PC development. Unfortunately, it has to do with resources and market share issues. Those Sling customers who use Macs are a small minority of the total user base. I'm a Mac user as well and am frustrated by this but sadly, that's life. The customers that comprise the biggest market share are going to get the newest features first. Sling's not a huge company and the resources are limited. Given all the programs that are coming out, they have had their hands full: SlingPlayer 2.0, ProHD, Catcher, Clip and Sling (at some point we hope), Blackberry, iPhone (we hope) and more. So I hope that Mac development starts catching up soon. It is very sad that it's so far behind.

As far as running in a virtualized environment, I think that may work as that's how I first ran with my Classic way back when. However, be aware that the ProHD looks to be pretty processor intensive based on the published specs at Sling. The virtual CPUs may not have enough horse power to be able to stream well. I think the specs are 3 GHz for a single CPU. I don't know of any of the virtual environment programs that can utilize more than a single CPU at this time even on a dual core or higher machine. We'll have to see how it all shakes out.

And then, we hurry up and wait for a ProHD Mac client....

Slinging with a SlingCatcher, a ProHD, a Pro, a Solo, an AV, and a Slingbox Classic. 3 Replay TV units, a Roku Photobridge and a Roku M2000 Soundbridge, an AppleTV, a Vudu, and digital cable. www.na9d.net

I have tried Slingplayer 2.0 via the latest version of VMWare Fusion (and a Classic, so I cannot speak to HD). It works, but it does have its drawbacks.

- NAT will not work with Slingplayer 2.0. You must set the network connection to Bridged via Fusion setup, else it will never find the Slingbox, be it on the local LAN or over the internet. From what I have read on here, this problem is not present on Parallels.

- Video does not look as clean as the native Mac Slingplayer. Certain advanced video options are automatically disabled.

- The 60 minute buffer does seem to cause a bit of a lag. This is even with a Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro and 4 GB of Ram. Disabling the buffer does seem to help (a bit).

Hope this sheds a little bit of light.

I will have to dissent with the coddling taking place in this thread and say that this is not acceptable.

Apple's market share isn't my problem, nor is Sling's percentage of Mac customers my problem. We have no idea what their numbers are, and quite frankly, I don't care. They are selling a product with a Mac-compatible logo on the box, and they tout this fact heavily on their website and in their sales materials.

I just set mine up... and I'm not able to view HD streams (OK, they said I wouldn't be able to yet, I can live with that for now), but precious little works otherwise. I've managed to get the analogue tuner to work and that's about it. I've set up a composite connection to my cable box... but the sling player doesn't work with it. It comes up with audio and video, but no remote... so it seems the IR remote feature doesn't work with the Mac player either. It considers the composite connection

Richard York said: "unconfigured". So I'm not even able to control my cable box through the sling player for Mac. I paid my $300 for this device just like the Windows users did, I want a working player, and, I'm sorry, but I want it now. Sling said it was Mac compatible, and it barely works. Don't say your product is Mac compatible if it really isn't. I guess technically I can watch an analogue stream of a subset of my channels.... no premium channels, of course. Oh, and on top of the awful Mac player, the installation manual included in the box was in French. And don't give me the Parallels / VMWare crap... I wouldn't have purchased this product if I could only use it in a virtual machine. So, where is the Mac player... when will we have one?

I agree completely with Richard.  I paid the same amount for the HD box as windows people for a machine that said it was mac compatible, yet on no where on the box did it say only SD straming will work on the mac.  That leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.  I think it's time to start hitting the mac sites so everyone knows about this before anyone buys one. 

Not that I want to start a war here, but (on my box anyway) it specifically states that high-definiton streaming is not yet available for the Mac... in 2 places:

---------------------------------------

On box, bottom:

Minimum Mac Requirements

   - FOR STANDARD DEFINITION

           - [yada yada] 

   - FOR HIGH DEFINITION

           - Streaming in HD-resolutions on the Macintosh is not yet available. For up to date information, please check support.slingmedia.com

On box, left side:

 Coming Soon

 - Streaming HDTV inside the home to a SlingCatcher (sold seperately)

 - Streaming HDTV to a Mac

For up to date information, please check support.slingmedia.com

--------------------------------

I'm not saying Sling shouldn't hurry up to pacify the undeniably smaller (yet very vocal) Mac crowd. All Slingers deserve the best experience on all popular platforms (yes, I'm still pulling for ya my Linux friends). What I am saying is that you should check the facts before you spread hatred and discontent. My box says coming soon; what does yours say? If it's different than mine, post pictures please.

My box:

http://www.slingcommunity.com/gallery/30343/Gallery-Slingbox-PRO-HD-Hands-On-...

I didn't take a photo of the bottom, but could if need be.

Mind Over Matt'er - Technology musings, opinion, and more straight from TechLore's head geek.

Well matt i understand but when you dish out 300.00 dollars there is no 80% verus 20%,its not like this thing was in the works for a few days its been on the drawing board for over a year.As i said its not fair for mac owners to leave this thing out, there was plenty of time to get this right.

To Richard York:

My comments weren't directed at you. You're obviously having problems with the PRO-HD and the current version of the SlingPlayer software. I agree with you; it should at least work in SD per what the box says. I haven't seen anyone else complain about the PRO-HD and the current mac software, but then again, they just started shipping recently. I'm totally on your side if it doesn't work and will raise the pitchforks with you.

I also agree with you that many companies CAN manage to release multi-OS software at the same time. Many companies also forget that Macs exist and just don't bother. I'm not sure which is worse, but if Sling decided to only code for Windows and mobile clients, they'd sure get a lot less grief.

I do know they have Mac engineers; maybe they fell behind schedule... maybe they ran into problems and need a few more weeks? Does Sling delay the release of a new product that 80%+ of their customers can enjoy? Or, do they warn Mac folks on the box that it's not quite ready for them, but will be in the future? To me, it's on the buyer to understand what they're buying BEFORE they plop down $300 bucks. Again, it should work in SD like the box says, but many others here are whining about HD, when it clearly states it's not happening until some point in the future... and I do hope that future is much sooner than later.

What I absolutely can't stand are comments like "no where on the box did it say only SD streaming will work on the mac" when in fact the box specifically said there will be only SD streaming on the mac until some point in the future.

I also can't stand the total Mac fanboys who always seem to elude to some major conspiracy between company X and Microsoft.

To pastafazoule,

Well matt i understand but when you dish out 300.00 dollars there is no 80% verus 20%...

You bought it knowing it didn't support HD on Mac until some point in the future. If that was going to upset you, then why did you buy it now? Why not wait until it works the way you want?

Mind Over Matt'er - Technology musings, opinion, and more straight from TechLore's head geek.