SFOAmdam

I live in the US but spend a great deal of time working in Europe. I don't want to get the local video offers (cable or sat) given the language and other considerations. I tried a friends slingbox but the bandwith I have is not good enough for a quality picture.

Ideally what I would like is some form of DVR that I would have with me in Europe that would get its content from the US. Instead of streaming the video it would just download the files so I could watch them without latency.

I looked at the new Apple product and like much of its features except it looks like it is only on a pay per view model. Download a movie and have access to it for 24 hours. Would be more interesting if could have access to more content and could purchase it for a longer period than on offer.

Looking at the sling catcher which looks closer to what I am interested in but from the website cannot see if the catcher is a DVR. Seems like you can attach a hard drive which maybe this is what makes it a DVR. Also draw back is that it is not out yet (I would assume soon as they have the website up - anyone know).

Any alternative products that I should look at or suggestions?

soitgoes

The slingbox would probably do what you want it to do. You can hook it up to a DVR or TiVo from your cable or satellite provider.

SFOAmdam

is then i still have a bad picture as the sling box is streams the video from the tivo or DVR.

What would be ideal is if the DVR was on the other side, so the sling pushed the video files to a DVR in Europe where I could watch it without the slow streaming issues.

PTravel

Sling is coming out with a hi-def slingbox this fall. If you can wait, it might do the trick for you.

MisterNice

I am awaiting it too but the more I think about it the bandwith it must require has got to be more than I see available in many hotels I stay in ie at leat 4x what the other slingbox require with their marginal pictures.

MisterNice

SFOAmdam

I would think Hi def would only make my issue of not enough bandwidth worse. That is why is was thinking of some device that would down load the files at the speed it is given and then I can watch them live right off the dvr in front of me.

As I understand it this is how that Apple iTV product works but unfortunately it ownly down loads the files you buy from Apple and they last all of a day once you start to view them.

Maybe I want a product that does not exist yet.

PTravel

Take a look a www.vimeo.com. It streams HD, full-screen, and in quite good quality. It's not perfect, no, but far, far better than Youtube or Slingbox SD. I've got an HD video posted here: http://vimeo.com/453481 (It's a little jerky, but that was a mismatch between my mpeg transcoder and whatever vimeo is using -- there are better examples).

It can definitely be done with the usual amount of bandwidth available in shared internet connections.

fredl

I would look into a media center pc, you can schedule recordings (OTA/Cable/etc..) and then use a software to automatically remove commercials convert them into a more efficient format (like xvid or mp4). Then you just transfer the files to where you are now, if you travel with a NAS with ftp support you could fxp the files to your hotel and watch them when you get back. This is a very good solution, but it has quite a steep learning curve. If your not that tech savvy I would look into using a proxy service to access the networks streaming media of shows or just buy them on Itunes (doesn't require a proxy at the moment)/ Amazon unbox / ...

ScottC

Another great way to test your speeds, is with the Hulu HD gallery:

http://www.hulu.com/hd/

Probably only works with IP's in the US though...

ScottC

Another great box: http://www.vudu.com/

But probably just another thing that won't work on a non US IP address...

nmenaker

While the current slingbox PRO is not HD, the HD quality I get from my HD tivo is MUCH better than from my SD tivo. With a good 600kps (and you might have more) I get a VERY nice signal in Europe, Asia and South America even when run into a TV

PTravel

My experience has been the same. I've been very pleased with the "slung" picture from DirecTV HD DVR. I will, however, investigate the HD Slingbox when it comes out.

SFOAmdam

I checked out the Hulu service and the vudu box and both need an IP address in the US.

Interesting that you guys got a good picture through sling. I tried a friends for a football game and had to make the box very very small to get anything close to watchable. Putting it on the TV seemed hopeless. Maybe need to give it another try.

Rom Sac

I agree, this is probably the right solution. It is, though, something of a pain to set up!