Travel Technology - Which TV redirecter to buy

Sling? Hava/Monsoon?

Here is what I need. Laptop viewing, usually from a wi-fi signal (that may not be streaming very fast ...off of a broadband card or worse)

I want to view from my own DVR'd stuff at home.

I am a bit confused about the buffering on devices......I saw a traditional slingbox demo from a friend and the TV quality wasn't very good. I would be quite willing to sacrifice "liveness" to buffer up the signal to improve image quality.

What do I want to get?

Thanks all!!

Sling? Hava/Monsoon?

Here is what I need. Laptop viewing, usually from a wi-fi signal (that may not be streaming very fast ...off of a broadband card or worse)

I want to view from my own DVR'd stuff at home.

I am a bit confused about the buffering on devices......I saw a traditional slingbox demo from a friend and the TV quality wasn't very good. I would be quite willing to sacrifice "liveness" to buffer up the signal to improve image quality.

What do I want to get?

Thanks all!!

Buffering actually happens on your computer (not the device). Think about it as how much of the video you download to the computer before starting to play. Because you are watching faster than you can download the download needs a head start (buffer). Doing a large amount of buffering isn't very practical when watching live TV and changing channels. Everytime you changed the channel, you'd have to wait for the buffer.

Because the internet is so slow, especially if you're using a cellular connection, you have to give up something. Either the size of the picture or the quality.

Personally I'm a SlingBox fan but that's because I've had one for years without any problems. The companies keep playing leapfrog as it relates to streaming quality - whichever mfg is actually the best today just gets surpassed by the other one's next update. HAVA currently has some features Sling doesn't, like recording.

Slingbox quality depends on two things:

1. Which Slingbox you have, and;
2. How fast is the internet connection.

I have a Slingbox Pro HD which I've viewed from all over the world. On a good internet connection, the picture quality is excellent -- I frequently connect my laptop to a large-screen HD television and watch on that. If the Slingbox can hit 1000 mbps or better, it will display in HD.

Slingbox works well IF you have a high upstream speed from your home internet connection. I have found that you need to have at least 700kbps up for it to be very satisfying when played on a 15 inch screen or better. Lower speed is ok for smaller screens.

At 700+kbps up, I've been able to pipe it to reasonable sized TVs, like 36 inches, all over the world and enjoy watching. I even watch blacked out US football games on a 36 inch screen reasonably comfortably - not perfect, of course, but watchable.

Downstream speed at the receiving end is almost always at least 700kbps so that is not a problem.

Sling has pretty good software that helps coordinate and buffer things so that after a minute or so you have a smooth flow.

I really think the key is to have the highest upstream internet speed you can....

Buffering actually happens on your computer (not the device). Think about it as how much of the video you download to the computer before starting to play. Because you are watching faster than you can download the download needs a head start (buffer). Doing a large amount of buffering isn't very practical when watching live TV and changing channels. Everytime you changed the channel, you'd have to wait for the buffer.


Got it ....but I heard that Sling does not allow bufferring on the computer...only has an "internal" bifferring up to 15 seconds or something.


I understand that I mgiht have some sacrifices......I don't envision "changing channels" much though.

My planned usage pattern would be like: I TiVo The Daily Show, Colbert Report, or a Cavaliers playoff game from my home DVR. Then when I am on the sailboat or in a hotel somewhere I decide to watch some of those recorded shows. Not really a "live TV" activity so much as remote viewing. The sporting event I would be happy to watch "semi-live", accepting a multi-minute delay in viewing time to improve image quality.


Thanks for replies, btw...sorry if I'm a bit remedial on all this stuff

Got it ....but I heard that Sling does not allow bufferring on the computer...only has an "internal" bifferring up to 15 seconds or something.Not true. The Sling client buffers up to 30 minutes, letting you put the show on "pause," fast-forward through commercials, etc., just like a DVR.

I think what you are missing is that there are two kinds of buffering:

a. Stream buffering: this is a short buffer used to smooth out irregularities in the transmission of the video stream over the internet. This introduces a short delay between when the video is received by the client and when it is displayed on the client screen. Stream buffering on the Sling client is dynamic, i.e. the amount of stream buffering varies depending on line conditions. It is rarely more than a couple of seconds.

b. Program buffering: this is a much larger buffer that allows the Sling client to act like a DVR -- you can pause the video program without actually pausing the stream. The Sling client continues to buffer the program, allowing you to fast-forward, go backward, etc. The size of the program buffer is dependent on the amount of hard drive space, but it maxes out at 30 minutes.

I understand that I mgiht have some sacrifices......I don't envision "changing channels" much though.The difficulty with changing channels is the Sling client switches from "program mode" to "control mode," i.e. no stream buffer is used while controlling the Slingbox. This means losing a second or two of programming when you change channels and a certain amount of jerkiness while you're inputting the new channel number. However, the Sling client also includes a comprehensive programming guide and you can change channels just by double-clicking on the on the program you want to watch within the guide.

My planned usage pattern would be like: I TiVo The Daily Show, Colbert Report, or a Cavaliers playoff game from my home DVR. Then when I am on the sailboat or in a hotel somewhere I decide to watch some of those recorded shows. Not really a "live TV" activity so much as remote viewing. The sporting event I would be happy to watch "semi-live", accepting a multi-minute delay in viewing time to improve image quality.That's exactly how I use my Slingbox (except that I don't watch sports). I also use it when I have long layovers and find myself in an airport club room with nothing to do.

Thanks for replies, btw...sorry if I'm a bit remedial on all this stuffNo problem -- it took me a while to figure out the advantage of streaming redirectors when I bought my first Slingbox many years ago.