Sling Media Slingbox review

Typical, isn't it?

With the World Cup now a distant memory, two manufacturers release products that would have enabled you to watch matches on your laptop no matter where you are, as long as you have an internet connection. Both the Slingbox and Sony's LocationFree LF-PK1 went on sale at the beginning of June, but our schedules mean that this is the soonest we could review them.

Once connected to your home-entertainment equipment and a broadband internet connection, the Slingbox enables you to stream video from your home to any PC, anywhere, over an internet connection. With the appropriate equipment connected, you can watch anything on your remote PC that you can at home, whether it's live (or recorded) Sky+, or just the tape you left in the VCR.

Of course, not everyone will be able to put it next to their TV equipment and a broadband or network connection, but Slingbox's built-in Freeview tuner means an aerial is sufficient for watching live TV remotely. Otherwise, up to two external devices can be connected via composite video, S-Video or SCART sockets. There's also a pair of infrared emitters to place in front of whatever devices you've connected so that you can control them from afar.

Setting up the hardware is easy and you can install the SlingPlayer software that controls it on as many computers as you like. The initial setup needs to be carried out from a computer on the same network as the Slingbox, but from then on you can connect to it using any available internet connection.

Video quality depends on the internet connection, but over the recommended minimum 256Kbit/s upstream it's on a par with a VHS recording. The Slingbox constantly optimises the image to suit the available bandwidth, but audio is almost always crystal clear. £180 is a little steep to make the Slingbox an impulse buy, but if you love TV and are away from home a lot, it's money well spent.

Author: Julian Prokaza