Anyone using Slingbox?

[heypilch]

I've got a TH with TV's that accept HDMI & all that good stuff, but I haven't bothered to put satellite tv in it yet. I don't want to spend the $$ on a rooftop system, since it's hampered by CG trees many times & hate it when the kids trip over the coax and knock over my dish. I've been really interested in Slingbox & wondered if anyone out here in RV land has had any success with it. I know that I can watch home tv from my laptop/ipad, but has anyone tried to connect to their TV in their rig? THAT's where it's at for me, if it's at all possible.

Besides that though, anyone with pros/cons?

[waddison]

I have had a Slingbox for years and love it. I have connected and watched from a pickup camper, 5er, and my 29 ft sailboat as we stay in the Greater San Juan Island area in the Pacific NW for 6 weeks or so. As long as you have a good wifi or other internet connection it's great. I have connected using my Verizon usb device, just have to watch the gigabit count. If you have it running in the house you just need to set up the correct port on the router/modem for you internet connection. Good Luck Ad

[smiller]

It works OK and mostly as advertised if you have enough bandwidth, but I doubt that you would find most camprground wifi systems adequate. Also the quality is so-so at best (meaning poor with low bandwidth connections, and so-so with a good connection.) If you aren't picky about quality or are viewing on a smartphone it's OK, but forget about a large screen. Not Slingbox's fault, it's just that it tales a lot of bandwidth to deliver decent quality video and again, I sure wouldn't count on that from campground wifi.

[heypilch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smiller It works OK and mostly as advertised if you have enough bandwidth, but I doubt that you would find most camprground wifi systems adequate. Also the quality is so-so at best (meaning poor with low bandwidth connections, and so-so with a good connection.) If you aren't picky about quality or are viewing on a smartphone it's OK, but forget about a large screen. Not Slingbox's fault, it's just that it tales a lot of bandwidth to deliver decent quality video and again, I sure wouldn't count on that from campground wifi.

OK, this is what I was kinda wondering about. Maybe just connecting my TV to my smartphone via HDMI & signing on to hulu would be a good idea. I'm not that crazy about watching TV in my RV, since I like to be out doing something else. My wife on the other hand...

Thanks for all the info guys! I think the tech is coming, but not quite there yet. Close enough to wait on though IMO.

[heypilch]

I bought a Roku recently (still waiting for its arrival) so I could access Netflix. It wasn't much, so I thought I would give it a try.

Now, here's another question. Since I have a DVR at home, can I take that DVR with me when I travel & use it to access my recorded programming while in my RV?

[smiller]

Again, I think you'll have difficulty using the Roku at a campground due to inadequate bandwidth, plus many places expressly prohibit video streaming.

Re: the DVR, sure, if you have programs pre-recorded on the device then you should be able to just move it to the RV and watch the programming at will. That's probably the best solution to your dilemma, just load up the DVR with programming before you go then watch it later in the RV.

[Wayne M]

iPad! Laptop! Both can be connected to the television for big screen viewing. HULU and Netscape APPS are available for both systems. Netscape and Hulu are both about $8 a month (each) for unlimited streaming. Netflix is more movie oriented, and Hulu is more TV orientated. The movies are not current, so you may have to wait awhile for them to catch up.(Or go to a movie theater) There is also and ABC APP for the iPad so if you missed the episode of "All My Children," (I don't even know if that is on ABC) you can go to the ABC player and view it, or any other prior televised episode/movie.

Yes, on taking the DVR with you. Without an antenna hooked up you will have to jump into the menu portion when it states it is looking for a satellite, but once there you can access all your prerecorded items. Experiment at home. Just disconnect the antenna feed and the see what it can do.

Some of the newer DVR's allow you to add a portable hard disk drive for a one time fee of about $40. You can then download a whole bunch of movies for later viewing.
Happy trails.