Word: slingbox
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...buzz terms you might hear these days are ?time shifting? and ?place shifting.? Time shifting is what a TiVo does, recording something in the 8 pm slot that you watch later on. Place shifting is what a Slingbox does, giving you access to video stored up in one location-be it on DVD or recorded on a TiVo?s hard drive-from another place using an Internet-connected PC or mobile device...
...Setting up the Slingbox is easy. I plugged my cable box, a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD with built-in DVR, into the Slingbox, then connected that to my TV and my home network via Ethernet. (There are many ways to do this; fortunately, Sling has many useful accessories, such as the $100 SlingLink which make it not-so-painful.) After everything was plugged in, I ran a simple software installer...
...Within minutes, my own TV programming was bounced at roughly 1200 kilobits per second from the Slingbox through my home network and out via Wi-Fi to my HP laptop. Video appeared smooth and watchable. I especially like the video-adjustment wizard that ensures that the picture on the SlingPlayer is halfway decent...
...Sony's LocationFree LF-PK1 connects to a cable box and home network much like a Slingbox. It can take two video sources plus a cable straight from the wall, but unlike Slingbox, it doesn't come with enough wires to do a basic cable-box setup. The software setup was also a little more complicated, though in fairness I did configure everything in a short while...
...probably already watch a lot of HDTV. To put it bluntly: if you're recording the current season of Sopranos or 24 on a high-def cable DVR, you'll have to record it simultaneously in standard definition to watch it on Sony's LocationFree TV or the snazzier Slingbox from Sling Media...