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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Slingbox turns your PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone into a TV.
Tune in to your favorite shows, sporting events and special programming in stunning, true-to-life 1080i high-definition (HD). Change channels, browse the program guide, and set your DVR with an on-screen remote control that looks just like the one you have at home. The Slingbox PRO-HD easily connects to up to three of your A/V sources so you can take your entire entertainment center with you—on your PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone*.
Easily Connect Everything
Connect one HD video source, one standard-definition (SD) video source, and one coaxial source and watch anywhere.
Take Control
Take complete control of your home theater via the web with the comprehensive and easy-to-use on-screen remote control and program guide.
Tune In to 1080i HD
Watch your favorite shows in stunning HD over the Internet on your PC or Mac desktop or laptop—from anywhere.
No Monthly Fees
Watch and control your TV and its programming on your PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone with no monthly subscription fee.*
*Download sold separately. Additional fees from your mobile provider may apply. Picture quality depends on network speed.
Connections
Getting Started with Slingbox PRO-HD is Simple
- Connect the Slingbox to up to three A/V sources, such as a DVR, a cable set-top box and a DVD player/recorder (The Slingbox is compatible with just about any A/V source.)
- Connect the Slingbox to your home network (If your router is too far from your Slingbox for a direct connection, use the SlingLink TURBO or another Ethernet bridge for connectivity.)
- Fire up your home network-connected PC or Mac computer, complete the Slingbox setup, and enjoy your very own home theater on your PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone.
What Devices Can I Connect?
- Basic Cable TV Set-Top Box or Digital Cable Set-Top Box
- DVRs (such as DISH, TiVo, Comcast, ReplayTV or one provided by your cable/satellite provider)
- DVD Player/Recorder
- Satellite Receiver such as DISH or DIRECTV
- Video/Security Camera
- Windows Media Center
- Digital Antenna
- Digital Cable (clear QAM)
- HD Component Input Support for 720p or 1080i (60Hz)
What Do I Need to Watch on My Laptop?
Watch and control your TV directly from Slingbox.com. Using Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari, you have complete access to your Slingbox and its connected cable box, satellite receiver or DVR. You get a virtual remote control as well as a searchable TV guide—all without downloading or installing desktop software.
Virtual Program Guide and Remote Control
View all of your television programming with the virtual program guide. With the on-screen remote control, change channels, pause, fast-forward or rewind and set up DVR recordings.
Popup Video Player
Multitask while watching your TV, or if you prefer, watch your TV in full-screen mode.
PC and Mac Support
Access your Slingbox from any high-speed Internet-connected PC or Mac laptop or desktop.
What do I need to watch on my tablet or smartphone?
With SlingPlayer software (sold separately) watch your TV and all of its programming on your iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android phone, Android tablet, Windows Phone, Palm OS or Symbian smartphones.
Full Control of Your Home TV
Control your programming with easy-to-use menus and shortcuts on either a touch screen or navigational interface. Easily change your TV channels, navigate program guides and schedule recordings on your DVR.
Easy Access to a Wide Range of Devices and Programs
Control your digital cable box, satellite receiver, DVR or DVD player. Access music channels or video on demand.
High-Quality Viewing Modes
Enjoy stunning full-screen video. Switch to audio-only mode to save bandwidth or battery life. Adjust the video display size or aspect ratio. (Audio-only mode and adjustable video display size are only supported on select devices.)
Take Advantage of High-Speed Mobile Internet Connectivity
Access your television programming over a high-speed 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi connection. (Check your mobile device and service for supported connectivity options. Some Android phones and tablets support 4G connections. The iPod touch only supports Wi-Fi connections.)
Product Description
Take your entire HD home theater with you wherever you go with the Slingbox PRO-HD. Connect to multiple A/V devices and tune into your favorite TV shows, sporting events, and special programming in stunning, true-to-life 1080i high definition. The PRO-HD gives you the same features and ease of use as the Slingbox SOLO, plus a high-quality HD viewing experience-anywhere in the world. Easily connect up to three of your home-theater devices to the PRO-HD and take your entire entertainment center with you-on your desktop, Mac, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone.What's in the box: Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD Internet TV Broadcaster, AC Adapter (100-120VAC, 50-60Hz), Ethernet Cable, Coaxial Cable, Composite AV Cable, Component Video Cable, Remote Control IR Cable, S-Video Cable, Stereo Audio Cable, Quick Start Guide and 1-Year Limited Warranty.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
477 of 503 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Vine™ Review
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Having been a prior user of the SlingBox Pro, I was already familiar with the SlingBox software and hardware setup. Receiving the ProHD it was quite easy to perform the setup and installation required to be "slinging" my TV all over the world (and around my home).
Despite having setup one of the the original devices before, I attempted to walk through the installation as a completely new user. The booklet gives clear, easy to understand directions for the multitude of ways in which this device can be setup. It isn't relegated to "just" HD; the SlingBox Pro HD can also sling your standard definition content over the world or over your own network as well. This does not mean, however, that a person couldn't be easily confused just due to the sheer amount of devices one could potentially control with the SlingBox Pro HD (or the original Pro for that matter).
Remember when setting up the hardware, the location of the IR sensors is crucial in your ability to control your devices over the Internet or the network.
Once you are finished setting up your SlingBox Pro HD, you are prompted to download and install the Sling Player software. Of the entire process, I have to say this is the most frustrating part. It would have been easy enough to deliver a CD with the software inside the box, however Sling Media chose to force you to download the software. The only time I can see this as being an issue is if you purchased the SlingBox Pro HD with the express intention of "slinging" your media around your house and not over the Internet (and even then really only if you have no Internet connection). Deduct a point for the 5-15 minutes you must spend downloading the software; as if the anticipation of getting the device working wasn't bad enough already!
Next up was actually installing the software and finding the device on the network. The software walks you through every step of the process. The most difficult part, and calling it difficult may be stretching the definition, is in figuring out what remote to use. Some devices you may have in your home have several hardware versions and also have remotes with different nuances which could potentially throw a monkey wrench in the works. You are presented with the layout and a picture of the remote, so as long as your remote is handy you should be able to compare it easily to what is on the install screen.
You must install the Sling Player software on every PC (laptop or desktop; or cell phone if you purchase the software for it) you wish to view your media from.
Now for the fun part, actually watching your media!
From home, you can sling HD media around your network with reckless abandon. Even with a "slow" network speed of 10 mbps, you can achieve the ability to sling content in HD. At lower speeds you may notice some minor artefacting and other compression issues, but this is really only due to the slower network speed. If you are using a 100 mbps or faster connection, this should shoot high quality HD content all over your house with no problems. The only down side in this is that if you are using wireless, you must remember THERE IS NO WIRELESS CAPABILITY built into the SlingBox Pro HD (or other SlingBoxes for that matter). I wish they had included the Sling Link Turbo, which allows you to connect the Sling Link Turbo to your network, another cable into your power line and network the SlingBox Pro HD via your electrical outlets, negating the need to run network cabling all over your house. Including wireless connectivity would also be a bonus, however there is no guarantee on wireless connection speeds, which is why it is not included as a feature. Given variances in wireless speeds and quality of connection, there would be no good way, yet, for the SlingBox to offer a consistent level of quality in the video it slings.
Now we delve into watching from anywhere around the world. The first HD caveat I mention in my title for this review, is one of HD media slinging. Unfortunately you must have a decent upload speed from your Internet connection to be able to receive a decent HD picture. The recommended upload speed for a consistently good HD picture while traveling and watching over the Internet is 1.5 mbps. My DSL connection is capped at 768 kbps, which means I cannot watch HD content while traveling as I am given choppy images and broken audio. You can, however, still watch the content, only you will need to set the SlingBox Pro HD to "down convert" the video you receive to standard definition quality. So if all you want is to be able to watch local sports or TV while traveling and don't mind it not being in standard definition, this is a great device. The other side of this caveat is that if you will only be watching while traveling and don't have a fast upload speed, you may be better served saving some money and going for the regular SlingBox Pro instead of the HD.
The other HD caveat is that the SlingBox Pro HD can only accept and output sources UP TO 1080i. This means that if you have a Blu Ray or other HD capable device that can output and is setup to output at 1080p, you will have to dial it down to 1080i output. 720p content is not affected.
Which brings us to connections. There is NO HDMI connection on this device. Not a single HDMI connection. Your options are:
Inputs:
composite (red, white, yellow)
svideo (still needs red and white for audio)
component (red, blue, green, uses either red and white for anlog audio or orange connection for digital audio)
coax (your cable connection)
Outputs:
composite (red, white, yellow)
svideo (still needs red and white for audio)
component (red, blue, green, uses either red and white or orange connection for audio)
coax
The SlingBox Pro HD also has a USB connection for viewing media off of a USB thumb drive (may even work for a USB hard drive; I haven't tried it as of this writing)
You can control all sorts of devices with the SlingBox Pro HD, and especially important is the inclusion of an ATSC tuner within the Pro HD. What this means is that this SlingBox is prepared for the digital conversion we all keep hearing about on TV. The regular SlingBox Pro has only a regular NTSC tuner so is not future proof on its own (if you have a digital converter box, like the ones the government offers coupons for, the regular SlingBox Pro may still be an option).
One other "problem" is not being able to control the PS3. As the PS3 is one of the best selling Blu Ray players, I would have liked to have seen a way to manipulate it using Bluetooth connectivity from the SlingBox Pro HD. They missed the mark on this one, but only by a little. Hopefully they will allow for Bluetooth remote control connections in the next version of the SlingBox?
In the end, this device is amazingly nice. Very rarely does a device impress me as much as this. If you desire to watch HD sources all over your house, this is a great device to purchase. If you want to do the same with SD content, this will still work for you. If you want to watch HD media while traveling, this is the device to purchase (assuming you have a fast enough upload speed to the Internet); you can also use it for watching standard definition content while traveling, though again, if this is what you desire you may be better served with the regular SlingBox Pro and save a few dollars.
As long as you can look past the inability to input/output at 1080p and the Internet upload requirements, this is a great buy!
Despite having setup one of the the original devices before, I attempted to walk through the installation as a completely new user. The booklet gives clear, easy to understand directions for the multitude of ways in which this device can be setup. It isn't relegated to "just" HD; the SlingBox Pro HD can also sling your standard definition content over the world or over your own network as well. This does not mean, however, that a person couldn't be easily confused just due to the sheer amount of devices one could potentially control with the SlingBox Pro HD (or the original Pro for that matter).
Remember when setting up the hardware, the location of the IR sensors is crucial in your ability to control your devices over the Internet or the network.
Once you are finished setting up your SlingBox Pro HD, you are prompted to download and install the Sling Player software. Of the entire process, I have to say this is the most frustrating part. It would have been easy enough to deliver a CD with the software inside the box, however Sling Media chose to force you to download the software. The only time I can see this as being an issue is if you purchased the SlingBox Pro HD with the express intention of "slinging" your media around your house and not over the Internet (and even then really only if you have no Internet connection). Deduct a point for the 5-15 minutes you must spend downloading the software; as if the anticipation of getting the device working wasn't bad enough already!
Next up was actually installing the software and finding the device on the network. The software walks you through every step of the process. The most difficult part, and calling it difficult may be stretching the definition, is in figuring out what remote to use. Some devices you may have in your home have several hardware versions and also have remotes with different nuances which could potentially throw a monkey wrench in the works. You are presented with the layout and a picture of the remote, so as long as your remote is handy you should be able to compare it easily to what is on the install screen.
You must install the Sling Player software on every PC (laptop or desktop; or cell phone if you purchase the software for it) you wish to view your media from.
Now for the fun part, actually watching your media!
From home, you can sling HD media around your network with reckless abandon. Even with a "slow" network speed of 10 mbps, you can achieve the ability to sling content in HD. At lower speeds you may notice some minor artefacting and other compression issues, but this is really only due to the slower network speed. If you are using a 100 mbps or faster connection, this should shoot high quality HD content all over your house with no problems. The only down side in this is that if you are using wireless, you must remember THERE IS NO WIRELESS CAPABILITY built into the SlingBox Pro HD (or other SlingBoxes for that matter). I wish they had included the Sling Link Turbo, which allows you to connect the Sling Link Turbo to your network, another cable into your power line and network the SlingBox Pro HD via your electrical outlets, negating the need to run network cabling all over your house. Including wireless connectivity would also be a bonus, however there is no guarantee on wireless connection speeds, which is why it is not included as a feature. Given variances in wireless speeds and quality of connection, there would be no good way, yet, for the SlingBox to offer a consistent level of quality in the video it slings.
Now we delve into watching from anywhere around the world. The first HD caveat I mention in my title for this review, is one of HD media slinging. Unfortunately you must have a decent upload speed from your Internet connection to be able to receive a decent HD picture. The recommended upload speed for a consistently good HD picture while traveling and watching over the Internet is 1.5 mbps. My DSL connection is capped at 768 kbps, which means I cannot watch HD content while traveling as I am given choppy images and broken audio. You can, however, still watch the content, only you will need to set the SlingBox Pro HD to "down convert" the video you receive to standard definition quality. So if all you want is to be able to watch local sports or TV while traveling and don't mind it not being in standard definition, this is a great device. The other side of this caveat is that if you will only be watching while traveling and don't have a fast upload speed, you may be better served saving some money and going for the regular SlingBox Pro instead of the HD.
The other HD caveat is that the SlingBox Pro HD can only accept and output sources UP TO 1080i. This means that if you have a Blu Ray or other HD capable device that can output and is setup to output at 1080p, you will have to dial it down to 1080i output. 720p content is not affected.
Which brings us to connections. There is NO HDMI connection on this device. Not a single HDMI connection. Your options are:
Inputs:
composite (red, white, yellow)
svideo (still needs red and white for audio)
component (red, blue, green, uses either red and white for anlog audio or orange connection for digital audio)
coax (your cable connection)
Outputs:
composite (red, white, yellow)
svideo (still needs red and white for audio)
component (red, blue, green, uses either red and white or orange connection for audio)
coax
The SlingBox Pro HD also has a USB connection for viewing media off of a USB thumb drive (may even work for a USB hard drive; I haven't tried it as of this writing)
You can control all sorts of devices with the SlingBox Pro HD, and especially important is the inclusion of an ATSC tuner within the Pro HD. What this means is that this SlingBox is prepared for the digital conversion we all keep hearing about on TV. The regular SlingBox Pro has only a regular NTSC tuner so is not future proof on its own (if you have a digital converter box, like the ones the government offers coupons for, the regular SlingBox Pro may still be an option).
One other "problem" is not being able to control the PS3. As the PS3 is one of the best selling Blu Ray players, I would have liked to have seen a way to manipulate it using Bluetooth connectivity from the SlingBox Pro HD. They missed the mark on this one, but only by a little. Hopefully they will allow for Bluetooth remote control connections in the next version of the SlingBox?
In the end, this device is amazingly nice. Very rarely does a device impress me as much as this. If you desire to watch HD sources all over your house, this is a great device to purchase. If you want to do the same with SD content, this will still work for you. If you want to watch HD media while traveling, this is the device to purchase (assuming you have a fast enough upload speed to the Internet); you can also use it for watching standard definition content while traveling, though again, if this is what you desire you may be better served with the regular SlingBox Pro and save a few dollars.
As long as you can look past the inability to input/output at 1080p and the Internet upload requirements, this is a great buy!
238 of 248 people found the following review helpful
I was a happy users for about 11 months. Oh - it was a pain to setup some times. They tricked me into buying the HD version when they still don't support HD on the Mac OS/X. (They had an upgrade program and claimed my older Slingbox wouldn't be supported anymore which turned out not to be true.)
But today, about a week before the 1 year hardware warranty is set to expire the box just quit. No power light, no network lights - the box doesn't do anything. Clearly a hardware issue or a bad power supply.
However when I follow the directions on the SlingMedia website to get an RMA to return the defective hardware, I was told I need to pay $29.99. I said it is still under warranty - you cannot charge me. The person said it was $29.99 to talk to them. I asked if it turns out to be a hardware issue - which it clearly is, would I get refunded? No was the reply. There is no escalation path.
Consumers should not have to pay to have warranties honored. SlingMedia is no longer a company I respect or can recommend. I highly recommend everyone avoid this company.
But today, about a week before the 1 year hardware warranty is set to expire the box just quit. No power light, no network lights - the box doesn't do anything. Clearly a hardware issue or a bad power supply.
However when I follow the directions on the SlingMedia website to get an RMA to return the defective hardware, I was told I need to pay $29.99. I said it is still under warranty - you cannot charge me. The person said it was $29.99 to talk to them. I asked if it turns out to be a hardware issue - which it clearly is, would I get refunded? No was the reply. There is no escalation path.
Consumers should not have to pay to have warranties honored. SlingMedia is no longer a company I respect or can recommend. I highly recommend everyone avoid this company.
280 of 294 people found the following review helpful
By J. K. Tappe
Amazon Verified Purchase
I wanted to review this product's feature set and its ease of setup or its compatibility or some other attributes. However, I could not: mine failed after only 100 days of ownership. And I couldn't initially get it fixed by Sling because they told me they only support it for 90 days. I guess I'm old-fashioned in that I expect products to last more than three months before they fail. I also expect companies of those failed products to stand behind them.
UPDATE ONE MONTH LATER: Sling was now willing to honor the warranty on my Slingbox....but only if I paid them $50 more for an extended warranty. Yes, even though my product was well within the one year warranty. Only if I paid them more money would they answer my calls or e-mails asking them to replace my unit.
Anyone considering this product should add $50 to the purchase price when evaluating its worth to you. The product essentially comes with a mere 90 day warranty--you must pay extra after that. Sling should be upfront, adding that $50 to the list price and providing good support. But I guess that's not how they do business.
UPDATE ONE YEAR LATER: After stewing over the extra $50 for months, I opted to pay it so I could move forward and actually have a working SlingBox. I will give Sling credit: Once you pay them their extra $50, they do support you. They stayed on the phone with me at length, connected in remotely, and didn't hesitate to send a replacement unit for my failed one.
I did require support after receiving the new unit because no installation instructions were included and their software is not all that smart. It should have recognized there was a new SlingBox on my LAN and proffered "Do you want to configure the unconfigured SlingBox?" instead of making me hunt through the menus to force it to do so. There are still bugs in the latest configuration utility too, leaving me stuck in the procedure at one point with no "Continue" button and necessitating another chat with Sling support.
OVERALL: I cannot recommend a SlingBox for a non-technical user. With work, an average Joe can connect the cables to one but the software setup is for those who understand video hardware and computer software rather well. This is in no way whatsoever a "plug & play" product. Better software engineering (and hardware quality) could vastly widen the potential user audience. Maybe we will see this in future revisions, but until then it remains a hobbyist extravagance. Make sure you know what you're getting into before buying.
UPDATE ONE MONTH LATER: Sling was now willing to honor the warranty on my Slingbox....but only if I paid them $50 more for an extended warranty. Yes, even though my product was well within the one year warranty. Only if I paid them more money would they answer my calls or e-mails asking them to replace my unit.
Anyone considering this product should add $50 to the purchase price when evaluating its worth to you. The product essentially comes with a mere 90 day warranty--you must pay extra after that. Sling should be upfront, adding that $50 to the list price and providing good support. But I guess that's not how they do business.
UPDATE ONE YEAR LATER: After stewing over the extra $50 for months, I opted to pay it so I could move forward and actually have a working SlingBox. I will give Sling credit: Once you pay them their extra $50, they do support you. They stayed on the phone with me at length, connected in remotely, and didn't hesitate to send a replacement unit for my failed one.
I did require support after receiving the new unit because no installation instructions were included and their software is not all that smart. It should have recognized there was a new SlingBox on my LAN and proffered "Do you want to configure the unconfigured SlingBox?" instead of making me hunt through the menus to force it to do so. There are still bugs in the latest configuration utility too, leaving me stuck in the procedure at one point with no "Continue" button and necessitating another chat with Sling support.
OVERALL: I cannot recommend a SlingBox for a non-technical user. With work, an average Joe can connect the cables to one but the software setup is for those who understand video hardware and computer software rather well. This is in no way whatsoever a "plug & play" product. Better software engineering (and hardware quality) could vastly widen the potential user audience. Maybe we will see this in future revisions, but until then it remains a hobbyist extravagance. Make sure you know what you're getting into before buying.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Buyer Beware!!!
If you are considering buying a Slingbox PLEASE do your research before you buy!! Sling Media (the company that manufactures/sells Slingbox hardware) has a habit of sending out... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Christopher M Varney
1.0 out of 5 stars
Support will cost you after a year....AND it SUCKS
I bought one of these and it lasted a year before it would show video but no sound. nothing changed in my network or setup. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Al G. Burdulis
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sling Box will fail your expectations!
I bought the Sling Box to use while traveling, right!
I get to Florida and the website needed my PC to have and update loaded. Read more
I get to Florida and the website needed my PC to have and update loaded. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Gary G. McDonald
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still working great
This item still works great, after a couple years of having it and was good purchase that made me happy.
Published 15 days ago by F. Naderi
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommend
I love my Slingbox. I have travelled to France and Africa and if I have internet I can watch my programs that I have DVR'd. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. Lemley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works as described
Bought my Pro HD about 6 months ago so I could watch my home TV during annual 6 weeks in Florida. It worked perfectly while we were there. Read more
Published 2 months ago by bobm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very convenient!
This works great for letting me watch my cable tv anywhere and everywhere I go! I "Sling" My TV shows on a regular basis! Thanks Sling!
Published 2 months ago by Kevin Knutson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great, when it works
The unit worked great for 6 months, then just stopped working. Upon unplugging and plugging back in, the upside-down U lights up, then turns off. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Geordan Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
The reason for the four star was because I had to send the main unit...
everything about it I liked. I did not dislike anything. I don't think it is wireless but that would be a good feature.
Published 2 months ago by rick christianson
5.0 out of 5 stars
great offer for past models
With the newer SlingBoxes® not being compatible with previous SlingPlayer® apps for PC viewing, its great to still have access to purchase units that will work with older... Read more
Published 3 months ago by sjsharksfan
