Sling Media SlingTV, Slingbox 500 (Renewed)

The idea of streaming your set-top box content worldwide is novel, and it works, kinda, if you're willing to work through the pain.Here are my comments. Having known the below listed things in advance of buying the device would have helped my purchasing decision. Hope it helps you.1. Before purchasing this device, make sure your cable box, or set-top box is "supported" by the SlingBox. Mine wasn't supported! The NEW Cable Box provided by my cable company was Not supported. I made my cable company dig out a soon to be discontinued cable box model, which was supported by SlingBox.2. Streaming to a computer, phone or tablet works fine. Appears to be no buffering. However you will have issues with "Casting" your content to the TV. This is not a matter of slow connection speed, or a bad connection, or a slow modem etc. Something on the SlingBox/SlingMedia is NOT optimized for "Casting" the media to a TV. I had major issues with casting. Connecting a computer directly to the TV resolved the issue. But the whole point is removing the cables, and "Casting" your content. The way I know the issue is with SlingBox / SlingMedia is because I upped my Up/Down speeds on both the send and receive ends. I have premium routers on both send and receive ends. "Casting" other media is never an issue, and i Never encounter buffering casting any other media.Further on "Casting", Android tablets/phones do not have the "Casting" option, only Apple devices such as iPads! go figure! I know this, because I tried!Long story short, on the receive end, if you connect your computer directly to the TV/Monitor via HDMI, you will be fine.3. Controlling your DVR with the Slingbox is not great. changing channels has a significant time lag. Attempting to navigate the CableTV remote on the TV or computer is very painful. You cant just "click" on what you want to record or play from the DVR, you have to navigate using the remote. Each time you push the "arrow" navigation button on the remote, the screen buffers, sometimes it would take 10+ slicks to get to navigate somewhere you need. VERY painful. On the computer is somewhat manageable, on the TV its almost not even worth the hassle.I should note however, that changing channels (not the DVR recordings etc, but the LIVE TV channels) on the slingbox on the receive end does have a lag, but is less painful then controlling your DVD outright.4. If you decide to stream to the TV, I highly recommend a wireless media keyboard with a trackpad mouse. Don't buy a dinky tiny one. Get a full size wireless keyboard, with a trackpad. Worth every penny... if you plan on using the SlingBox on the TV.5. Connecting the SlingBox was not painful at all (after I got a different cable box!). the Interface is quite intuitive and well put together.

I was really nervous about getting a refurbished product. I had one scare where I got an error, but I reset the Slingbox and it was back up and running with no issues. I have been using the box for about a month. Also, Slingbox doesn't have Spectrum as an option when setting it up, but was able to figure it out with using the Comcast cable we had before it switched. Works great on my Laptop or my phone whenever I have wifi.I would highly recommend the slingbox. It has been a great product. I just cant give it 5 stars because of the few issues that we have had with it.

I have an older slingbox pro but wanted the newest model for my security cameras. Ok I know this is mostly for TV services and I use the PROI have for u-verse. I bought the refirbished model of the 500 and it came packaged well with all appropriate cables, if I didn't know it was refirbished I would have thought it was new! The first time through setup was not good, kept getting network error while going through the wizard. I did a factory reset and re-downloaded the newest firmware to get it working. HDMI didn't work due to HDCP copy protection but I had a workaround (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004F9LVXC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) . Ads in web interface are a turnoff. Even though I have this hooked up via HDMI 1080P I feel the quality in the Slingbox apps on the iPad and iPhone aren't the best, really no improvement over the older slingbox. I do find the quality is good over a hard wired computer over the same network. I think this product is past it's prime now that there are so many streaming options out there but I will stick with it for my application.

This was my first Slingbox 500 that was missing parts and documentation. Amazons support is fine - BUT - there is NO SUPPORT of the product by the manufacture (Which is done by "Forums" - Which is (by definition) "NO SUPPORT"). I did reorder this item and it is working fine (see my second review). A product of this level of technology needs "REAL SUPPORT". I replaced the second Slingbox 500 (video stopped working after 15 seconds - maybe why it was "refurbished" ?!?!) with a third. This time I purchased a 4-year protection plan.

The description of the product to me is deceptive. I am sure in the mice type it is fully disclosed. but what is not clearly listed or disclosed in the description is that one-third (1/3) of the viewing screen is taken up by advertising. I called tech support and was told when viewing on a PC there was nothing I could do to remove the advertising. He further stated that if you purchase the premium app for an Android the advertising would be removed if viewed on that device. So let me get this right.... I pay for the TV, cable, internet, Slingbox, and you are going to take up one third of my viewing screen and serve me ad constant? Also the product is listed as Roku compatible. That means to me that I add a "Slingbox" channel to my Roku and stream my content through the internet. But to Slingbox it means you can stream your content through a tablet or phone then bluetooth it to Roku. I think Slingbox management needs to rethink their business plan. I would find a different product to buy to view your content remotely.