Sling Media Slingbox M1 (Renewed)

I have had a PRO-HD Slingbox for years now and it has been great. They advertise the new M2 as being able to be used with the new free (ad supported) apps on Android, but it is about $50 more than the M1. I have had no problem using the free apps with the M1, so I see no reason to pay more for the M2 when it is the same hardware. A good deal on the M1 is the way to go. It is important to understand that you need good UPSTREAM internet speed at your house (or wherever the M1 is located) because it needs that bandwidth to send the TV picture UP to the internet so that it can go to wherever you are. Most often internet speed advertised is the DOWNSTREAM speed, the speed at which you can download from the internet. The Slingbox sends its' signal UPSTREAM TO the internet, so this is the more important number here. DSL internet is notorious for providing a high downstream speed but a slow upstream speed. For most people, this doesn't matter because the upstream traffic consists of small requests only. The sligbox sends large amounts of data UPSTREAM to the internet, so keep this in mind.

Awesome device and simple setup using my laptop. Total setup took maybe 10 minute (including plugging in all the wires, connecting to network, and updating the software). Wifi connection was flawless. Accesses my TIVO perfectly and streams the content (live TV) to my laptop, cell phone, tablet, and my Android TV box. Only problem is I had to download the Slingbox apk and side-load because the PlayStore said it was "incompatible". Definitely recommend it! One little nit to pick, when you start up the app (computer or mobile device), a video ad plays but you can cancel it after a few seconds (much like YouTube).Just a note - if you're already using an HDMI cable from your box to your TV, you can keep it that way. Just connect the component cables and the audio cables into the "out" jacks of your box into the Slingbox. No need to go out from the Slingbox to your TV. This doesn't affect your TV usage.

It took about 10 minutes to setup and start streaming. There was no trouble at all. I could not tell this was a refurbished unit as there are no scratches on the unit. For people disappointed that there is no HDMI, Keep in mind that this has to do with the video producers, not the device itself. HDCP encoding does not allow HDMI to be streamed. This is why you need to go Component or Composite. As for the adds on the clients, They are non obtrusive and don't detract from the stream at all if you are full screen Otherwise it is like YouTube. I have streamed from one floor to another in my house and to hotels around the US and the Middle East. This device works well.

When traveling and wanting some mindless downtime, I used to have to make do with whatever was on-the-air at that time on whatever channels my hotel provided. With the M1 connected to one of my home settop boxes, however, I can access recorded shows from and fully control my own DVR whenever and from wherever I want. Love it.If anyone else is interested in adopting a similar approach, here a few things to understand up front: 1. The M1 sends/forwards TV content via the Internet. If the M1 is at home and the receiver (e.g. iPad) is remote, then you will need enough uplink bandwidth to transfer the video & audio out of your home and into the general network. Since so many home Internet connections are asymmetric (much faster download than upload speeds), this could be an issue. 2. Sometimes the connection between my receiver and the M1 drops for no apparent reason, leaving the M1 unavailable. This could be frustrating when I'm on the road and can't manually intervene by resetting the M1. My solution has been to plug the M1 into a Wi-Fi smart socket that's controllable via the Internet. This allows me to leave the M1 turned off until I want to use it, and to cycle its power remotely as necessary. 3. The remote control feature for the settop can be slow to respond. For example, when clicking on the virtual "Play" button while fast-forwarding, it might take as many as 5 seconds to take effect - resulting in a significant overshoot.

So far it's a good product. Relatively Easy setup, just a little trial and error with aligning the device to the cable box (IR for remote control) given multiple options. When in doubt google search for guidance from others. For mine it was searching to find the manufacturer of the Xfinity X1 box is "pace".Using the free sling player at the moment over laptop, iPhone, and kindle fire.Going to try fire tv next!Update:The only negative is using the remote control function. Every time you press a button there is a 2-3 second delay. It gets very tedious after a bit.I'm now using the Xfinity tv remote app instead to control the cable box remotely as it doesn't have the delay per press. That way I remote control through the Xfinity app and watch through the sling app.Sling needs to work on a remote function without that delay per press as I doubt I would keep the sling box if I didn't have an alternative remote control option.

When I switched TV providers I discovered that I could no longer stream all my content when I was away from home. Normally that’s not a big deal, but during the fall when we’re camping in our RV, we like to watch football and MLB playoffs. We bought this and use the free app to stream. The interface on the app isn’t that great. You also control the TV the Slingplayer is connected to. So if you have someone pet sitting or house sitting they should be warned you might take over the TV. That’s the reason for the 3 star review, that someone can’t watch the TV unless they’re watching what you are watching on the Sling.

Awesome little unit. I wanted to bring tv to my computer in my office. Had to do a lot of reading to figure out hook up for my setup with no cable provider. Was easily able to adapt instructions to use my DVR instead. Seamless installation. And then I realized that I also now had tv on my iPad and iPhone... duh! Admittedly connection sometimes drops and quality of image a bit degraded probably because I'm running it off DVR rather than cable. But it is good enough for my needs.