Sling Media's Slingbox PRO-HD / SlingCatcher up for pre-order

Check it, placeshifters -- two new must-have boxes have just popped up for pre-order on Sling's website and Amazon's online marketplace. Sling Media's awfully exciting SlingCatcher and the sleek Slingbox PRO-HD are now ready to be loved for $299.99 apiece, though neither site gives any indication of ship dates. Still, with the holiday season just around the bend, we'd expect to see 'em both out before too long.

[Via ZatzNotFunny]
Read - SlingCatcher pre-order
Read - Slingbox PRO-HD

[1234321 @ Sep 10th 2008 2:57PM]

I totally dig the new low rank fading, can I suggest bold on highest rank and dissappearance on lowest (readable at will via highlighting)

[absinthe party @ Sep 10th 2008 3:04PM]

Do they still have "lowest?" I always figure that Erik kid would make it true, but alas, no luck.

[Kris @ Sep 10th 2008 3:01PM]

I really wish these or Popcorn could use a TV Tuner and act like a DVR. If they could do that I'd probably buy a couple.

[CraziestGadgets.com @ Sep 10th 2008 3:14PM]

i like that the design of the boxes themselves fits with the name slingbox.. it's sort of what you'd expect.

[J @ Sep 10th 2008 3:28PM]

So when's the sling player for the iphone coming out?

[Charlie @ Sep 10th 2008 3:45PM]

As soon as it's not seen as something that will draw revenue away from iTunes episode purchases.

[Bob @ Sep 10th 2008 3:27PM]

Hopefully it'll be out in time for Christmas, so I can upgrade from my Slingbox Pro. Still waiting on updates to their mobile client.

[Toadlet @ Sep 10th 2008 3:33PM]

There is no HDMI input on the Pro-HD, but there is HDMI output on the SlingCatcher. Also, you could probably find a decent decrypter for your "copyright issues".

[Cagrino @ Sep 10th 2008 3:35PM]

Not to interject Apple into this story but, I sure miss having SlingMobile on my Tilt since switching to the iPhone.

Sling & Apple, can't we all just get along?

[axiomatic13 @ Sep 10th 2008 5:44PM]

I am in full agreement. Apple... get the lead out and put the Sling client on the iphone.

[Miles @ Sep 10th 2008 3:35PM]

"Streaming in HD-resolutions is only available for Windows"

Swing and a miss...

[Kwantum @ Sep 10th 2008 3:48PM]

Except that most people are using Windows.

[munir @ Sep 10th 2008 3:46PM]

can someone explain how this is a significant upgrade to the Pro + HD accessory? I understand the compression is better (hardware now), which should lead to slightly better quality, but for those of us whose upload speed is the limiting agent, we probably wont see much of a difference, right?

[FreeRange @ Sep 10th 2008 4:04PM]

Outside your home, yeah, probably not much difference, unless your upload speed is 1.5mbps. It's possible the better compression tech might allow for a higher resolution or at least a more efficient stream at the same bitrate but we'll likely need to wait for a review to be sure. Imagine the current acheive max resolution at something like 8mbps so for this to have such higher resolution at only 1.5mbps makes me think they may be able to do that 640x480 at what previously would have only garnered a 320x240 resolution.

Inside the home this is the difference between 640x480 for the PRO w/ HD Connect and 1920x1080 for the PRO-HD.

Beyond that, the input count has gone from 4 to 3 in favor of the original PRO. Component, S-Video, composite and coax on the PRO w/ HD Connect versus Component, S-Video OR composite (share the audio) and coax (albeit in ATSC/NTSC/QAM on the PRO-HD versus just NTSC on the PRO w/ HD Connect).

[Harley3k @ Sep 10th 2008 4:51PM]

Streaming rates on some models are higher if you connect over LAN vs. over the internet. But some FIOS users with 20mb upload speed have overcome the limitation by setting up a VPN and connecting that way, making the over-the-internet speed the same as the Local Network speed.

[SloMoe @ Sep 10th 2008 6:00PM]

@ Harley3k

How would setting up a VPN make your connection faster? Your VPN is still limited by the speed of your internet connection, and with the additional overhead of encryption on the packets going through the VPN I would think it would be slower.

[modenadude @ Sep 11th 2008 10:01AM]

@ FreeRange (or anyone else)

Real quick, just want to get something straight. I don't have a Slingbox (not PRO or PRO-HD), but am seriously thinking about purchasing one of the two, just want to figure out the difference, resolution wise. My upload speed at home is at least 1.5Mbps. So, if I'm outside the home w/ just the PRO (and the HD Connect), the resolution would be as small as something like 320x240? And if I had the PRO-HD and watch from outside the home network, the resolution would be just a little bigger than that? I've never used a Slingbox, so I have no clue: could I ever get to watch video at HD resolution outside of the home network, with either PRO or PRO-HD? There's no way to get around that (if HD res can't be reached)? If I misunderstood, could you please clear it up for me? Thanks in advance!

[FreeRange @ Sep 11th 2008 5:41PM]

modenadude,
Okay, so when viewing inside the home you'll have ridiculously good local speed so no worries. Once you are outside the home your upload speed or your download speed will dictate the speed. If you can upload at 1.5mbps (and download at speeds at least equal to or great than that) you'll get a very good video outside the home. With the Pro + Hd Connect (or Solo, or Av, for that matter) the highest resolution you could hope for is 640x480. You still make the video full-screen at whatever resolution you get, btw, it'll just BE that resolution. So, best case, 640x480 with the current models. The PRO-HD purports to stream 1080i (1920x1080) at that 1.5mbps speed so, outside of your home, you would have true high definition, in theory. If you have that upload speed but find yourself in hotels or coffee shops with a max of 600kbps, you'll have a lower resolution as that download just killed the benefit of your fast upload speed. But I was asking if the efficiency of the new unit might still produce a better stream (higher resolution) at that lower rate since the older models sound so much less efficient on a local network. 8mbps locally can, at best, do 640x480 while 1.5mbps locally can do 1920x1080? I don't know. That's what I'm waiting to find out. Does that make sense? With all of that said, it'll be about the difference of $100 for you to be able to stream true high definition outside of your home. If you've got the upload speed, you owe it to the rest of us to strongly consider it and go all-in! :)

And 320x240, btw, looks absolutely amazing when you are watching live television over the Internet so don't let those numbers discourage you. Even in worst case scenarios the Slingbox just works beautifully.

[Harley3k @ Sep 10th 2008 4:46PM]

Yah, the Pro has HDMI, but it doesn't stream HD Quality like the Pro-HD is supposed to do.
I want to see some specs and samples on what the Pro-HD looks like........and not happy that the Mac Client doesn't support HD Streaming :( Hopefully they add that later.

[Eric @ Sep 10th 2008 8:34PM]

I really like my slingbox, but it has proven quite a bit less useful than I'd like, mostly due to the lousy Internet connections in motels/hotels. Most of them still charge about $10/day, especially in some of the more high end hotels (strange, but not unexpected). However, in the few places I've been with free net access (that has enough bandwidth for a streaming connection), it is the best thing in entertainment.

[Bart Munro @ Sep 11th 2008 2:31AM]

Newegg now shows a release date of 9/25 for the Pro-HD and 10/2 for the SlingCatcher.