New Laptop

marvin4239":3gm5kar9 said:
I think the label burner comes with the Roxio soft wear that comes loaded on the computer. If you go on the Dell website you can chat with a tech. You tell them exactly what you are interesting in and they configure it and send you a quote. I think they are pretty competative price wise.
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I was curious on the speed and qualityof the disk burning labels (LabelFlash, LighScribe)
 
My Slingbox is connected to my home network router. It comes with IR emitters which I align with the ir port on my TIVO (or on your TV cable box). Now you have to install the Sling software on your laptop or any PC or Mac you intend to use.

When you set up the software on the remote PC you put in a code and password which will find and give you access to your home slingbox over the internet. Once connected, an image of the slingbox remote is on the PC's screen next to the image of your home's TV screen. You use your mouse to click on the remote to change channels, etc. All this can appear in a window on your PC so you can continue with other work - talk about multi tasking!

So if you're at a mooring or marina that has Wifi your PC can be used to watch not just TV, but the TV stations back home.

BTW: you can currently use it with many cell phones but I'm still waiting for the app on my iPhone :cry

Visit www.slingmedia.com
 
Interestingly, Woot.com had the classic Slingbox on their site for all of $69 on Saturday 3/29. Probably unloading the non-HD versions as they shift everything to HD. Since my eyes aren't HD, and it works with TIVO I jumped on it. Lots of places we RV around have Wireless access and a Slingbox is one heck of a lot cheaper than a satellite setup. Helps that our marina also has wireless. Thanks guys, I hadn't even heard of a Slingbox 'till it came up in this thread.

Don
 
If you are buying a new laptop that has Vista installed, all you need is a USB TV Tuner. There are several on the market. With the TV tuner attached to the TV Antenna you get over the air TV via the Media Center portion of Vista. It is pretty slick. I have my desktop setup with a TV Tuner card hooked up to my cable. I can get all the normal channels (anything below 100) on my computer. It allows me to record shows onto my hard drive when my computer is turned on even when Media Center isn't running. You only need the internet to be able to download the program list.
 
I got a program called WinTV-HVR 950 by Hauppauge. It seems to work pretty well. It has a stick that attaches to a USB port with and antenna connected by a small coxial cable about 6 feet long. I think it was just what I was looking for. One good feature is it has a scan mode that scans your reception area and downloads the local channels. As Jim mentioned it would be a little bit of a hassle to set it up but I like the idea of being able to get local area news and weather.
 
ccflyer":3fenxmgi said:
FWIW the Slingbox is my personal favorite tech gadget. I got one before they were widely available and have used it almost daily, usually from the office. However, on one recent trip out West I was able to watch local news and sports on my Macbook. Indeed, you can watch whatever is on your local TV from anywhere in the world. To kick the setup up a notch I run it through my TIVO so I can also watch archived stuff :thup
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Since you are knowledgeable about all things sling (presumably), what can you explain about these two new products that Amazon is telling me about:

-- Sling Media SlingCatcher SC100-100 Universal Media Player for TV
-- Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100

I confess I am a bit overwhelmed by the feature list!

Warren
 
Warren -

I can't say I've purchased either. While I like the wiz bang nature of this new stuff, I couldn't justify buying it as I could with the original Sling Box.
To recap, the original Sling Box is attached to your TV or DVR (like a TIVO) and to a fast internet connection. You download the free Sling software to any PC or MAC and you can connect to your TV or DVR from anywhere in the world to watch local TV real time or anything you've previously recorded. And, anyone with the right password can access your TV with the free software on their computer - one user at a time. This is legal and known as place shifting whereas a DVR can legally time shift. I know a couple of kids away at college who use Sling media software.

The Sling Box PRO-HD adds the capability of high definition to the mix.

As I understand the Sling Catcher, it is a box that interfaces between a TV and either a Sling Box, or a computer hard drive, or a computer with an internet connection. With it you can watch video you capture on the Sling Box or recorded on the hard drive or can stream on the computer.
I have Apple TV which plays all the stuff off my Mac to either my hi def TV or through my projector to a screen. I use it infrequently so I don't think I'll be buying the Sling Catcher.

Six months since I posted on this topic and I'm still waiting for the next big release from Sling, the iPhone app.
I think I read a beta version is still a few months away. ( Last June Engadget had a video clip of a Sling Media engineer demonstrating Sling Media capabilities on an iPhone. Here's the clip: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/08/slin ... or-iphone/ ) When released you'll be able to watch on an iPhone the Seahawks while stuck in the woods during a snow storm - provided you're connected to the ATT 3G network. All very cool. :smiled

I hope this clears things up. If I missed something or there are other Sling Media users in our group I'd welcome their input.

Phil
 
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