TV Wherever You Wander

Slingbox

From your TV to your PC

Who it´s for
At $250, mostly just frequent travelers, although watching TV on a laptop anywhere at home is nice.

What it does

The Slingbox is a more straightforward proposition than Orb because it only streams video, and it does so through a stand-alone device. Connect it to your cable box, DVD player or DVR, and it transmits the feed over the Internet to any connected PC that has the SlingPlayer software installed (Mac, PocketPC and smartphone versions are in the works).

Setup
Also easy. Plug in your video cables and connect the Slingbox to your home network. Then configure it with the setup wizard using a PC on the same network.

How it works
Connecting through the dedicated Sling-Player instead of hitching a ride on Windows Media Player or other standard-issue apps (the way Orb does) offers better on-screen controls and less fiddling with software. The trade-off: You can´t just sit down at any Web-enabled device and log on. And although the Slingbox works with just about any cable box or DVR, its on-screen remote might not always match the real thing, so you could be missing a function or two. I had complete control of my home TiVo box, including the ability to pause and rewind, and even schedule recordings. Video quality was comparable to Orb, except at home, where the Sling software automatically routes the signal directly over your home network (instead of over the Web), for a faster, more reliable stream.

How to get the best streaming video

Leave the settings alone

Both systems allow you to adjust settings based on your network-connection speeds, but the automatic settings worked fine for me.

Use the best video cables

Video was noticeably better on both Orb and the Slingbox when I used S-video cables instead of standard composite-video cables.

The home network matters

The most important variable for getting great video is the connection from your host PC (Orb) or Slingbox to your home network. Wired is best; 802.11g is OK; don´t even bother with 802.11b.

Don´t sweat firewalls

Both systems had no problem getting around my home network´s firewalls.

Resolution will never be perfect

Remember that a standard TV signal is painfully low-res compared with what your computer screen is capable of displaying (and neither system supports HDTV yet), so blown up to full-screen, it will always look a little pixelated. I experimented with lowering the screen resolution on my laptop to better match the signal, but it didn´t help much.