SlingCatcher PreOrders - $299

[magnus]

It looks like the SlingCatchers are on their way. I'm not sure that they are worth $299 though.

However, there are going to be some cool features with it. I'm just not sure they are going to be worth the price.

http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingcatcher-purchase

[rainwater]

A SlingCatcher combined with a Slingbox Pro-HD would be a good combo. You could stream content in close to HD quality from the Slingbox to another TV. However, I can't see paying $600 for this combo. The internet stuff seems lame since it requires a PC so I am not that excited about that.

[kas25]

A SlingCatcher combined with a Slingbox Pro-HD would be a good combo. You could stream content in close to HD quality from the Slingbox to another TV. However, I can't see paying $600 for this combo. The internet stuff seems lame since it requires a PC so I am not that excited about that.
I assume this would work great with Hulu but assuming this box is sitting in my bedroom connected to my bedroom tv but connected to my pc which is downstairs, how would I surf to sites on the internet. I assume they will have deals with certain sites (ie, Hulu, Youtube, etc) and list them on a menu?

[jlb]

I was very excited way back when when this was first announced. I loved the idea of getting this and a Slingbox, mostly for getting TV upstsairs (old home) and for when we travel.

However, there are two major factors that turn me off now:

1) Price. $299 way too high. Between that and a slingbox, we're talking ~$400-$500. Not worth it.

2) Connectivity. In the original, rumored specs, it was going to have built in wireless. Now it looks like it does not. It either will need to connect direct to a router, use the turbolink thingies to use electrical wiring, or, I suppose, an ethernet wireless adapter. What a pain. Having onboard wireless would have almost sold me at the $299 price.

No sale for me.

[jlb]

Not that I have an iPhone, but in Megazone's blog on the Sling Community website he has a "one more thing" at the end of his blog:

And what else...

Oh yeah - we are in Apple's iPhone Developer Program, and have been for a while. Just so you know.

So, how long before there is a slingplayer for iPhone....I bet not too long.

But still, $600 for catcher and HD Pro......no way. Not unless I hit the lottery.

[EDIT]: I did read that you could use an ehternet to wi-fi bridge that powers off the Catcher's USB. But now that I think about it, add a 22"-27" TV for the bedroom and now we're talking ~$1,000. Definitely not going to happen. Oh well.

[yunlin12]

Exactly, if someone already has a Tivo HD, then for $600, just get another Tivo HD with lifetime, and you can MRV all the shows you want, same price as using Sling Combo to move shows from Tivo to a different room, but now you have a second Tivo.

[jlb]

Except we don't really need another TiVo. I wanted a nice easy way to get video upstairs. I don't have a cable wire coming up, so for now, a TiVo HD would only mean MRV for me. That's why I was hoping for a nice entry price on the catcher. Given that we would not really need a big screen upstairs, I was even willing to go with a lower sling that down rezzes HD content. But it is still the $300 price in the catcher.

It's probably all for the better as usually if I lie down and watch TV in bed I am out in a few minutes anyway.

[rocko]

Except we don't really need another TiVo. I wanted a nice easy way to get video upstairs. I don't have a cable wire coming up, so for now, a TiVo HD would only mean MRV for me. That's why I was hoping for a nice entry price on the catcher. Given that we would not really need a big screen upstairs, I was even willing to go with a lower sling that down rezzes HD content. But it is still the $300 price in the catcher.

It's probably all for the better as usually if I lie down and watch TV in bed I am out in a few minutes anyway.

You'd be better off with a RF modulator and IR extender. If you had coax upstairs, that is.

[tivoupgrade]

It might be too little too late, but when I first saw one of these in action, it looked pretty good.

I'm still searching for a good set top box that can handle downloaded content efficiently and that has a good user interface and a decent remote.

The XBOX360 has come a long way, but it is LOUD and the UI stinks.

VUDU looks promising, but its not open yet - ie, it will only work with their content.

TiVo with TTCB is picky and I haven't found a good way to do this.

$299 seems a bit pricey for something like this; it will be interesting to see whether Sling is successful with the product. We are a Sling reseller and have not seen much movement of Slingboxes, however.

Lou

[kas25]

Exactly, if someone already has a Tivo HD, then for $600, just get another Tivo HD with lifetime, and you can MRV all the shows you want, same price as using Sling Combo to move shows from Tivo to a different room, but now you have a second Tivo.
I think you are forgetting the cost of cable cards. Also, transfers can take time on the Tivo while the sling is almost instant. Additionally, watching HULU type web sites on my TV is intriguing. I am curious to see how user friendly this will be on the new sling.

[jlb]

You'd be better off with a RF modulator and IR extender. If you had coax upstairs, that is.

I have thought about that, but getting COAX upstairs has 1 of 2 battles to possibly happen:

Given:
Cable wire comes to the front of the house from across the street and then winds around the foundation half way around the house to where I have it come right in to my equipment stack.

1) Either pay (probably not much) Comcast to run another wire up the front of the house right into our bedroom. My wife won't like this option.

2) Run another COAX split in the basement and have it follow the newly created path up to our attic that was made yesterday for our new thermostat. Not a great idea due to very small crawl spaces and there are too many possible curveballs being such an old house (1750's).

3) Have Comcast run another wire part way around the house to the side, and then up and into our closet (and then I can get the wire through the baseboard into the bedroom).

I think 3 is the most doable for us. But all that said, that would get us live TV.....

What would a decent RF modulator setup cost me?

[yunlin12]

I think you are forgetting the cost of cable cards. Also, transfers can take time on the Tivo while the sling is almost instant. Additionally, watching HULU type web sites on my TV is intriguing. I am curious to see how user friendly this will be on the new sling.

No worries about the cable card cost in my case. I have one Tivo S3 with cable cards (no premium channels), and another Tivo HD without cable card, just analog cable, plus it's in my upstairs bedroom, so I can hook up an indoor antenna and get almost all of major OTA HD channels. I use the S3 to record all the cable HD shows (SciFi, USA, sports, etc), and MRV it to the Tivo HD. The Tivo HD serves as a backup for all OTA HD shows. The speed from the S3 -> HD is a little slower than real time, but if I queue it up and go make a sandwich, I'm good to go. The Tivo HD cost me $250 box + $299 lifetime. So for me at least it's a better deal than the Sling combo. I get an extra Tivo, for $50 less than what I have to pay for the sling solution, I don't tie up the Tivo S3's video output when I want to watch something on it through the Tivo HD, and the MRV goes both ways, instead of sling only going one way.

[pdonoghu]

I think you may be missing the main market for a Slincatcher. Yes, you could use it within your house, but as pointed out, that may or may not be cost effective.

I think the biggest market is for people who are away from home for extended periods. We travel in our RV several months out of the year. We often have decent internet access. I've used a Slingbox to watch things from one of the Tivos at home. The Slingcatcher allows me to move from the PC directly to the TV to watch and frees up the PC. I'll bet people with vacation homes will also find it useful.

[rainwater]

I think the biggest market is for people who are away from home for extended periods. We travel in our RV several months out of the year. We often have decent internet access. I've used a Slingbox to watch things from one of the Tivos at home. The Slingcatcher allows me to move from the PC directly to the TV to watch and frees up the PC. I'll bet people with vacation homes will also find it useful.

You have to wonder how many of the HD slingboxes they are going to sell at that price though. I would venture a guess and say the quality outside of your lan isn't much different than the SOLO.

[yunlin12]

I think you may be missing the main market for a Slincatcher. Yes, you could use it within your house, but as pointed out, that may or may not be cost effective.

I think the biggest market is for people who are away from home for extended periods. We travel in our RV several months out of the year. We often have decent internet access. I've used a Slingbox to watch things from one of the Tivos at home. The Slingcatcher allows me to move from the PC directly to the TV to watch and frees up the PC. I'll bet people with vacation homes will also find it useful.

Good point, now I just gotta go get me one of those vacation homes so I can play with a sling catcher :D

[jlb]

I think you may be missing the main market for a Slincatcher. Yes, you could use it within your house, but as pointed out, that may or may not be cost effective.

......

No. I would love to have it for our travels and our annual trips to visit my parents in Florida, and business trips, etc. It's just that it would be an awesome way to get TV upstairs too. Just too expensive in general for us.

[rocko]

What would a decent RF modulator setup cost me?

Anywhere from $50 to $250. As I might have mentioned, I don't have that setup so I would hesitate to recommend any particular solution. Others, I'm sure, would be able to.


Oh, and a note. Most solutions I've seen will deal with SD, not HD, so that's also a consideration.

[ZeoTiVo]

my Brother-In_law in Switzerland who watches from a slingbox pro in my House in NC pre-ordered one without hesitation.

As for me in the states, If I used a slingbox it would be with a laptop or smartphone so no need for catcher.

[milliepuppy]

you could get a pc for $300 hooked up to your your tv ... in that way itll play everything media wise ..... including running the slingplayer software ....

[yunlin12]

I suspect a decent PC that can handle 1080 content may still cost a little more than $300, but yeah, it's not that off. On the otherhand, Slingcatcher may be better in providing a TV like experience, while with the PC you have to worry about getting a remote to work with it. I think both solutions are missing a little in value proposition, or ease of use department.

[JohnBrowning]

I'm considering one for the times I watch tv at the beach house.

[kingkong316]

I think you may be missing the main market for a Slincatcher. Yes, you could use it within your house, but as pointed out, that may or may not be cost effective.

I think the biggest market is for people who are away from home for extended periods. We travel in our RV several months out of the year. We often have decent internet access. I've used a Slingbox to watch things from one of the Tivos at home. The Slingcatcher allows me to move from the PC directly to the TV to watch and frees up the PC. I'll bet people with vacation homes will also find it useful.

That is me. I spend the work week closer to work with a relative and then spend the weekends at home. I have all my a/v equipment with me during the week and use the slingbox to watch my tivo on the weekends. My only problem with the slingplayer (which I would pre order otherwise) is that it isn't wireless. I have even tried hooking up my laptop to my tv and watching my slingbox but the quality is terrible. I looks like a VHS bootleg tape.

If only it was wireless....