Slingbox ? Does it work with macs?

Question

Which slingbox do i need ? i Have the dvr box from cablevision ? what are the costs ? can i set it up my self or does it have to be done by someone ? What exactly does it do ?

Answer 1

Hi LetsGoRangers,

Yes, you can get a version for PC's or Mac's. The hardware is the same but the software is different.

Go here for more info then you probably want - http://www.slingmedia.com/

Norm

Answer 2

A slingbox device itself is platform independent.  Basically you connect the slingbox (with wires) to up to two video devices (e.g. DVR and DVD Player) and connect the slingbox to your broadband Internet connection (there are several ways to do this, though the best is a dedicated ethernet cable directly to the Slingbox from your router).  This creates a portal for sending your audio/visual signals (including HD with the proper Slingbox hardware) over the Internet.  You then use the Slingbox client software (yes there is a Mac version) to connect to your Slingbox from anywhere with a broadband Internet connection  to control and view your video devices (in my experience a strong 802.11g wireless works just fine, anything faster would be even better).  

Suppose you take a business trip to China and get fed up with the limited English language channels, you can fire up the Slingbox client and watch all of your channels as if you were sitting in your livingroom back home.  Naturally, you have to watch the programming on your computer screen unless you have the hardware to connect your computer to a television.

One important thing to remember is that you are interacting with your actual devices, so if you change the channel on your DVR from say Iceland, your family back home will be forced to watch that channel unless you split your signal or otherwise configure your AV system to perform with multiple inputs.