Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100)

first AMAZON IS AMAZING. when slingmedia would not help me, amazon totally stepped up and took care of a problem for me that they did not need to. thanks amazon and i didn't know you could make me a bigger fan than i already was but you have.

second i have had the same problem with slingbox solo that other one star reviewers have had. i too just had my unit for under a year and was still under warranty but like others, technical support gave me a total run around and would not give me an RMA and my options were to pay for a tech support consult or buy an extended warranty... but wtf, i was STILL UNDER WARRANTY why would i want to purchase an EXTENDED WARRANTY when i'm still under warranty now when the unit has failed?!

these are bad, disingenuous and sneaky people who want to nickel and dime you for every little thing. they don't care about customer satisfaction or their own commitments and you will notice that their culture is one that is absolutely closed and stonewalled.

in every way that amazon shines for their dedication to their customers, slingbox radiates bad faith.

this technology is not worthy of these guys and it is my fondest wish that they fail so that someone bigger, better and more committed to their customers becomes the standard bearer.

i loved my slingbox and i loved the technology. they had a die hard fan in me. but with one phone call to a tech support person far more concerned with selling an extended warranty for a product that was already under warranty when it failed... man, they have earned my enmity.

as for a recommendation, it's a tough call if it works and never fails, it's great. but if you need to have ANY kind of backup from slingmedia, you are completely out of luck.

UPDATE for me, it WAS bad capacitors:

One (hopefully last) review of this piece of junk. Indeed I did open up the Sling SOLO and in the process voiding my "warranty" (if we can call it that with a straight face) and found that the capacitors had failed, as everyone else eventually discovers. Replacing them at my cost of about $12 and two hours worth of my time (and I am not an electronics geek by any means), solved the problem. Here are some image links of the SOLO:

picasaweb . google . com / cesinco / SlingBoxSux#5547257092994979890

picasaweb . google . com / cesinco / SlingBoxSux#5547257105670666994

picasaweb . google . com / cesinco / SlingBoxSux#5547257110680945410



I have come back to edit my original review of the SOLO. I cannot stress enough how poor the product and customer service is. You are better off to take your wife out to a nice dinner than to hand your money over to this bunch. If you do, you might as well have set fire to the money you paid for the SOLO. Anyway, back to the original review...

If you are thinking of buying this product, I highly recommend you first go to this discussion thread on Sling's site

answers . slingbox . com / message / 24401

to see what nearly 500 postings have to say about the SOLO and Sling's customer support in general. If you don't wish to go through all of that, here's the condensed version:

Many people have discovered that the capacitors installed on the SOLO bulge up about 1 year after purchase, rendering them and the SOLO useless. Many of those who have tried, said that replacing the capacitors with new ones corrected the problem. Sling refuses to acknowledge that this is a problem of their making (despite the numerous posts and the thread having started about 6 months ago). Apparently, they don't "wish to leap to conclusions" as to the source of the problem until it is properly diagnosed. In the meantime, until such time as it is "properly diagnosed", Sling charges customers who are out of warranty (that means practically everyone since the problem typically occurs AFTER the warranty expires) just to talk to you. As I understand from other contributors to the thread, if it can be determined that the problem is indeed with hardware, Sling will credit this $30 towards replacement hardware which will cost you $100. So you end up paying $70 if it's a hardware problem to get a working SOLO or paying $30 to remain stuck with a non-working SOLO. Wonderful choice.

Apparently, the customer service reps are rude too.

Anyway, this is not me saying this it's the condensed version of what is on the discussion thread.

I leave it to you to make up your own mind on whether you want to deal with such a company. Myself, I will go the "replace my own capacitor" route as others have and if it fails, I will be no worse off (except for the cost of a few caps) than I am now. But I will not fall for their tricks agan.

Buy Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100) Now

My unit worked well for eighteen months. When I attempted to reinstall it in a different system the setup software required that I upgrade the firmware. The upgrade failed and the box has been useless ever since.

I am not the only person to have this problem. Slingbox charges $29.95 to talk to you after their warranty period. This will be refunded if they determine you have faulty hardware. Thus it will cost you $29.95 to find out if Slingbox will repair the hardware that their own software rendered useless.

In addition, while the Mac or PC players are free, the mobile players cost $29.95 for EACH type. Want to watch your Slingbox on an iPad? Then pay up even if you have already purchased a player for your iPhone.

These guys richly deserve to go out of business. I suggest you consider a Monsoon Vulkano. These units perform exactly the same function (and more) as a Slingbox, cost much less, and do not have a history of becoming unusable. Further the player software for any platform you desire is FREE and so is their customer service.

Given the problems with these units and the available alternatives there is simply no reason to purchase one.

Read Best Reviews of Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100) Here

I have heard the Slingbox advertised for several years and have often wondered what the appeal was--with other technologies like tv tuner cards and portable media players, I never saw the point. Recently, however, I purchased a 3.5G smartphone and found there was Slingbox client software available for it. The idea of watching television anywhere from my phone [with an unlimited data plan] intrigued me enough to make the relatively minor investment in a Slingbox.

After trying it, I can only say it is incredible. Having a device in my pocket that can receive television is amazing, and the fact that it is not some choppy over-the-air signal but a beautifully clear signal with access to an entire cable tv feed, on demand services, program guides, and recorded programs is mind-blowing. Even from a laptop or other client, having access to all the channels and features you normally have in your living room, no matter where you are, makes the Slingbox much more powerful than a simple tuner card. For those so motivated, it is also possible to spy on what your kids are watching when you're not home (or annoy them by changing the channel).

I purchased the Slingbox SOLO because of the built-in high-definition component input. Because I was eager to set-up the box, I initially connected it with a simple composite connection--later, I dug-out an RGB component cable and connected it that way instead, but found with the lower resolution and compression artifacts introduced by the Slingbox I didn't notice a significant difference and ended-up switching back just to eliminate some cables and to take advantage of the cable-box's ability to convert everything to the same aspect ratio to avoid having to switch the client. The video quality looks perfect on the cell phone [although I don't think anything less than 3.5G service would work well] but from a PC or laptop, the picture quality is similar to a high quality standard-definition tuner card, even when viewing a high-definition source.

Setting-up the Slingbox was absolutely simple and almost completely automatic; it does require a pc on the same network. The box was detected and video was working as soon as set-up started. A huge variety of equipment is supported, with pc client software displaying a remote that looks almost identical to the actual equipment remote. I did not have to make any adjustments to the box's IR signal timing to the cable box and it has worked flawlessly without ever missing a command.

Want Sling Media Slingbox SOLO (SB260-100) Discount?

I have spent the last couple hours playing with the new Slingbox Solo. In comparison to the Slingbox pro I like this new model better. It is about 1/2 the size and does not need an extra dongle for HD video.

The software to setup the device is very easy and very fast. Video quality on a home network is superb. Internet is not bad but depends on how much upstream bandwidth you have available.

The only gripe I have with it is the unit does not come with any component cables. This however is a small gripe.

Overall this device is well worth the money if you like watching TV.

Hopefully slingmedia will come out with an iPhone client soon.

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