Sling Media Slingbox Pro

If you fancy being able to watch your home DVD player or Sky+ box on your laptop, wherever you are, then treat yourself to a Slingbox. The original model costs around £100 at the moment, but hurry — it’s been superseded by the new Slingbox Pro and won’t be around for long.

The Slingbox idea is based on ‘place-shifting’. Once connected to your home entertainment set-up, a Slingbox can stream any video source (TV, DVD player, set-top box and so on) over any available network — including the internet. SlingPlayer software running on a suitably-connected laptop or smartphone lets you view the stream, and even provides an on-screen virtual remote, so you can change channels and control playback from your keyboard.

Apart from the major cosmetic revamp, the Slingbox Pro has a few more features than the original Slingbox. Four video inputs are now available and the upstream speed has been increased from 2.5Mbit/s to 8Mbit/s to improve video quality.

The Slingbox Pro also adds HD support, but don’t be deceived by the apparent HDMI port on the back of the box — it’s a proprietary connection for the supplied ‘Sling Media HD Connect’ adapter. This has a ‘not-HDMI’ plug on one end and component video inputs on the other, and supports both 720p and 1080i, though not 1080p.

Clear instructions make setting up the Slingbox Pro simple enough, but you’ll need a nearby router (or a very long Ethernet cable) for the network connection — there’s no support for Wi-Fi. The built-in Freeview tuner requires a coaxial aerial connection, but both this and the other inputs also have pass-through connections, so there should be minimal disruption to your existing set-up. One thing to be aware of though, is that Freeview tuner aside, watching a video source on the Slingbox Pro is no different to watching it at home and two people can’t watch different DVDs on the same DVD player, for instance.

Video quality over an internet connection depends on the upstream speed, but it’s clear enough over the 250Kbit/s or so provided by a typical ADSL line, although frame rates may vary. It’s just as watchable over 3G too, though you’ll have to pay £20 for the SlingPlayer Mobile application for Windows Mobile and Symbian OS smartphones. Picture quality is adjusted on the fly to make best use of available bandwidth, but audio is always prioritised.

The Slingbox Pro works very well, but £194 is a lot to pay. The single-input, HD-ready Slingbox Solo model is available for around £130, though it lacks a Freeview tuner, which means that the original Slingbox is still the best buy.

Specifications

Inputs Aerial for built-in Freeview tuner, composite video (with SCART adapter), S-Video and HD component video Outputs Aerial, composite video and S-Video; 2x infrared emitter for video source control Minimum requirements Router for home network streaming, broadband with 256Kbit/s upstream for internet streaming Size 416 x 254 x 79mm