Digitalclips
macrumors 65816
As an avid Boxee and Hulu user on my MBP I was wondering the same thing.
'SlingPlayer Mobile for iPad' Now Available in App Store
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As an avid Boxee and Hulu user on my MBP I was wondering the same thing.
Cartaphilus
macrumors 6502a
Yes, my experience is not dissimilar. I have found, though, that if you have good upload speed with your home ISP feeding the Slingbox, you get very satisfactory images even with the throughput rates you've encountered. And, like you, I'm guessing, I've sometimes even gotten better results disabling wifi and using my unlimited 3G service. Of course, overseas this is often not a good alternative.
People should also be aware that Slingbox over a browser on a full-fledged computer is significantly higher in picture quality than with the computer application. And if Slingbox is important enough, upgrading upload speeds is worth investigating.
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gleepskip
macrumors 6502a
Hulu Plus offers limited content. Sling offers whatever content you can pump into it from satellite, cable, or OTA with no recurring subscription paid to Sling. If that is not attractive to you, then it isn't. I'm not attracted to paying a subscription to Hulu for so few choices and then have to watch ads on top of it all. Netflix is a much better subscription choice if you want depth and breadth and are willing to give up being able to watch last night's Dancing With Desperate Glee.
EDIT: Plus, there's a Netflix client for just about every device. I hear they are going to release Netflix for Krups coffee makers soon.
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Well, I was going to comment about how I couldn't stand that they were going to try to milk another $30 out of me... but since they've somehow decided that (for no obvious technical reason) my older slingbox can't possibly work with the ipad version, I suppose I can't even find out if the app is worth it. 
The iPhone version works fine after you dismiss the popup warning you that you should upgrade... apparently that was too generous for the iPad version.
Seriously, Sling -- I love your product, but whoever is making your business decisions is awful.
So what are the alternatives?
The iPhone version works fine after you dismiss the popup warning you that you should upgrade... apparently that was too generous for the iPad version.
Seriously, Sling -- I love your product, but whoever is making your business decisions is awful.
So what are the alternatives?
acidfast7
macrumors 65816
What about NetFlix for people not using a US-based IP address?
Cartaphilus
macrumors 6502a
Yes. The best quality--as good as the best HD-- is delivered when you're in the same wifi domain as the Slingbox. Watching on the screen porch or in the backyard comes with this level of quality. High-speed wifi somewhere else (in, say, the three Mb/s range) is almost but not quite as good--maybe 80% as good, subjectively. Over a good solid 1 Mb/s 3G network or a heavily shared wifi network (think Starbucks), it's maybe 80% of real wifi.
Even 3G, though, is surprisingly good and easy to watch; five minutes into a program or game, and you don't even think about it.
If I ran Slingbox I'd publish public credentials that let people experience the service themselves, using upload speeds like most home ISP's offer, and a trial version of the app. It's too big an investment to make solely on the recommendation of random Macrumors posters.
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Dirtywater
macrumors member
Sling, like most applications, serves a certain purpose that nothing else in the marketplace does. If it isn't for you, then it isn't for you.
I love Slingbox and what it does and find it very useful. I use it to watch DirecTV away from home, watch DVR recordings and to set my DVR. I actually do that a lot, lol. I tried EyeTV and Orb, just not for me. The fact that I have my entire DirecTV and DVR accessible to me away from home is very appealing.
I am a big sports fan and being able to watch my teams away from home is great. I even watch some off of the DVR. Hotel speeds are lacking, but it hasn't stopped me yet. I even took my old Sling and installed it back at my father's house in Boston so I can watch some of the old local sports sows I can't see anymore.
As good as their products are, I find the company and their support equally as poor. They rarely update their apps and finding help is almost impossible. If I had to pay a monthly fee, I would debate losing it, but I got a Solo for $99 and couldn't pass it up. The iPhone software really needs to be updated, but I doubt it ever will.
I look forward to trying this on my iPad tonight!
I love Slingbox and what it does and find it very useful. I use it to watch DirecTV away from home, watch DVR recordings and to set my DVR. I actually do that a lot, lol. I tried EyeTV and Orb, just not for me. The fact that I have my entire DirecTV and DVR accessible to me away from home is very appealing.
I am a big sports fan and being able to watch my teams away from home is great. I even watch some off of the DVR. Hotel speeds are lacking, but it hasn't stopped me yet. I even took my old Sling and installed it back at my father's house in Boston so I can watch some of the old local sports sows I can't see anymore.
As good as their products are, I find the company and their support equally as poor. They rarely update their apps and finding help is almost impossible. If I had to pay a monthly fee, I would debate losing it, but I got a Solo for $99 and couldn't pass it up. The iPhone software really needs to be updated, but I doubt it ever will.
I look forward to trying this on my iPad tonight!
macsrcool1234
Suspended
I love it posts like this
Ironic no?
*facepalm*. The next time you try to be a smartass, make sure you actually know what the word irony means. You clearly have no idea.
You obviously have absolutely no idea what your talking about.
I've worked for the Department of State for the past 20 years. I travel more in one month than you have in your entire life.
Orb Live has never, ever skipped a beat for me. Oh yeah, did I mention I have satellite? Capture Card + included IR blaster = all the functionality of Sling with a fraction of the cost. Oh yeah, I can also stream music, videos and photos. Can your Slingbox do that?
It's not difficult at all to hook up. I almost died laughing at your post, "rewire"? The wires are color coded. The software comes with great documentation.
Also, do you even know what Hauppauge solution im referring to or are you just making things up trying to look smart? What's the name of their Live TV streaming software? When I had cable, it worked great.
All you ended up doing in your post was proving my original point: Slingboxes are targeted at complete morons.
Well, I was going to comment about how I couldn't stand that they were going to try to milk another $30 out of me... but since they've somehow decided that (for no obvious technical reason) my older slingbox can't possibly work with the ipad version, I suppose I can't even find out if the app is worth it.
The iPhone version works fine after you dismiss the popup warning you that you should upgrade... apparently that was too generous for the iPad version.
Seriously, Sling -- I love your product, but whoever is making your business decisions is awful.
So what are the alternatives?
No there is no obvious technical reason. The issue may be with what encoding decoding the older Slingboxes use as opposed to the Solo and HD. Didn't the older devices use wmv? No sure just asking.
Yet this thread is about Slingplayer and you're here, so what does that say about morons? Sound more like you are trying to prove to yourself Orb is superior to Sling, or you feel bad you can't spend the money.
Cartaphilus
macrumors 6502a
Ah, he works at the Department of State; this explains the finely-honed diplomatic skills.
StudioGuy
macrumors regular
No Slingbox PRO, like iPhone can
Bummer, specifically says that it won't work with my Slingbox PRO.
Guess I'll have to stay 2x on the regular Slingplayer iPhone app.
Why'd they take out the PRO?
I love my Slingbox - it's a killer app when people see it on the iPad.
It sells Slingboxes, Sling apps, & of course iPads.
¿por qué?!!! </groan>
Bummer, specifically says that it won't work with my Slingbox PRO.
Guess I'll have to stay 2x on the regular Slingplayer iPhone app.
Why'd they take out the PRO?
I love my Slingbox - it's a killer app when people see it on the iPad.
It sells Slingboxes, Sling apps, & of course iPads.
¿por qué?!!! </groan>
Alucardx03
macrumors 6502a
I don't understand a lot of this anti-Sling mentality. Those that watch a lot of TV understand how vital a Slingbox is. For example:
Dexter
Californication
The Walking Dead
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
True Blood
Entourage
Weeds
Now, out of that list, which are available on Hulu Plus? Oh yeah, none of them. And Hulu Plus won't allow me to watch football when I'm traveling. It won't let me catch up on DVR'd shows (many of which are not available on Hulu Plus). It won't let me access my premium On Demand channels to watch movies, etc.
So really, for TV fans, Hulu Plus has nothing on a Slingbox. Personally, I don't mind spending $100 for a Slingbox Solo (got mine on sale two years ago) and $60 for both iOS apps. That's only $160, which is what Hulu Plus would cost in two years.
And those comparing Slingbox to Orb or EyeTV-- you're paying for convenience of setup and use. You don't have to have your computer on all the time and there's very little setup involved. If you're content to pay the electric bills for leaving the computer on 24/7 and configure the setup in order to save a bit of money, more power to you. I wouldn't criticize your setup. But it seems to me there's a lot of bitterness and jealousy in this thread.
Dexter
Californication
The Walking Dead
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
True Blood
Entourage
Weeds
Now, out of that list, which are available on Hulu Plus? Oh yeah, none of them. And Hulu Plus won't allow me to watch football when I'm traveling. It won't let me catch up on DVR'd shows (many of which are not available on Hulu Plus). It won't let me access my premium On Demand channels to watch movies, etc.
So really, for TV fans, Hulu Plus has nothing on a Slingbox. Personally, I don't mind spending $100 for a Slingbox Solo (got mine on sale two years ago) and $60 for both iOS apps. That's only $160, which is what Hulu Plus would cost in two years.
And those comparing Slingbox to Orb or EyeTV-- you're paying for convenience of setup and use. You don't have to have your computer on all the time and there's very little setup involved. If you're content to pay the electric bills for leaving the computer on 24/7 and configure the setup in order to save a bit of money, more power to you. I wouldn't criticize your setup. But it seems to me there's a lot of bitterness and jealousy in this thread.
coolbreeze
macrumors 68000
nm, I was the wrong one.
3goldens
macrumors 68000
TOTALLY AGREE, SCREW THEM!
It took them this long to figure out and forever to get HD to a mac system, the hell with them, just not that important for me to have a dedicated program for iPad!
BeachChair
macrumors 6502a
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; da-dk) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)
So how many years will it take for them to update the crummy iPhone app. I'm sure they will put out a new app and call it Slingplayer HD for iPhone to get another $30 out of us
Sling really is a douche bag company
So how many years will it take for them to update the crummy iPhone app. I'm sure they will put out a new app and call it Slingplayer HD for iPhone to get another $30 out of us
Sling really is a douche bag company
skellener
macrumors 68000
Yikes! Awful expensive since you already own the Sling hardware to use it.
Better is Air Video. Just use your Mac to host your files. Without a doubt, the best $3. you'll ever spend!
Air Video - Free
Air Video - $2.99 (full version)
I have EyeTV and the TurboHD stick and Air Video clobbers EyeTV in performance, reliability, and price!! It Just works!
Better is Air Video. Just use your Mac to host your files. Without a doubt, the best $3. you'll ever spend!
Air Video - Free
Air Video - $2.99 (full version)
I have EyeTV and the TurboHD stick and Air Video clobbers EyeTV in performance, reliability, and price!! It Just works!
Yikes! Awful expensive since you already own the Sling hardware to use it.
Better is Air Video. Just use your Mac to host your files. Without a doubt, the best $3. you'll ever spend!
Air Video - Free
Air Video - $2.99 (full version)
I have EyeTV and the TurboHD stick and Air Video clobbers EyeTV in performance, reliability, and price!! It Just works!
Yikes!!! Air Video has nothing to do with place shifting. The expense is a relative thing. Some people find it a drop in the bucket, some it will break the bank. Does EyeTV place shift all cable/satellite channels?
PsyOpWarlord
macrumors 6502
I just did the same thing. My brother asked for a Slingbox for his birthday this week. After looking at all the prices I would have to pay just for the mobile apps for our different devices I saw the Monsoon Vulkano and decided that was the best route for him. $30 per mobile app becomes ridiculous esp when you have several devices in the house. I would be paying more for the apps than the device itself.
RossHenning
macrumors newbie
Sling Media doesn't take criticism well
I started a thread this morning over on the boards at Sling Media complaining about the fact that there is no upgrade for those of us that shelled out $30 for the iPhone version to use on our iPads. (Not to mention the $30 I shelled out for the Android version, or the $300 I shelled out for the box). A ton of people posted, all in agreement. The thread was subsequently shut down and hidden by Sling. I guess they think if they ignore the complaints, they'll go away. Great way to make happy customers...not!
I started a thread this morning over on the boards at Sling Media complaining about the fact that there is no upgrade for those of us that shelled out $30 for the iPhone version to use on our iPads. (Not to mention the $30 I shelled out for the Android version, or the $300 I shelled out for the box). A ton of people posted, all in agreement. The thread was subsequently shut down and hidden by Sling. I guess they think if they ignore the complaints, they'll go away. Great way to make happy customers...not!
NogbadTheBad
macrumors regular
Do what I did, take your custom elsewhere the next time you need to upgrade.