Sling Media HD Connect Cable for Slingbox Pro ( HD200-100 ) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Don't buy the Sling HD connect cable - more accurately referred to as a component video adapter - if you're eager to get your Slingbox Pro broadcasting HD quality, since it won't do that. Instead, buy it if you want to connect multiple sources to your Slingbox, since the 4-way IR blaster that's included means you can actually take advantage of the full input capability of the Pro. I take a star off on both how this has been mismarketed and how it should have been included with the Pro, but it's a must have if you're going to truly take advantage of the Pro's capabilities.
The Slingbox is a really neat toy, but they've done a semi-unethical job positioning the Pro and this adapter as HD "compatible" in an attempt to catch on to the HD upgrade wave. Some of it isn't their fault, as bandwidth is a huge issue. Think of it this way: compressed high definition video in 1080i runs somewhere in the 8-10 GB/hour range, with uncompressed video directly from over-the-air stations running quite a bit higher. Even the fastest current cable modems - let alone DSL - would have problems keeping up with that, and with uploading generally limited to 1/10th that speed to prevent you from running a file server, it's a moot issue, which is why the Slingbox limits remote uploads to 320x240. And while you can get closer to the required speed on a LAN and the Pro transmits 640x480 video over it, it'd probably take $600 more of hardware for the Slingbox to process a 1080i stream - and while Slingbox is neat, it's certainly not $1000 neat.
So the Slingbox downrezzes any HD signal you send into it. Whether or not connecting a HD component to this adapter results in improved output depends a whole lot on how well your DVR or TV already downrezzes to 480i, which also makes sense: an expensive piece of hardware like that generally has better electronics to do so. Generally, the best reason to buy this for the HD input capability alone is if you have an oddball HD source, like my DVHS VCR which doesn't display menus in certain resolutions. Otherwise, it's a crapshoot as to whether or not you'll get improved video even within your LAN. (Outside of it you probably won't notice the difference much either way.) And by the way, even though the port looks like it accepts an HDMI input, the adapter only accepts component video inputs - although at least it includes a set of component video cables so you can pass through the signal if you need to without spending any more than you already have.
The reason you buy this, though, is that the Pro is very good at streaming 4 separate devices - but while you can connect 3 devices without this item, you can only control 2 with the IR blaster that comes with the Pro. I spent a while trying to figure out a workaround for this, looking into such things as 3/32" Y cable splitters connecting to 1/8" plugs and looking into finding another brand of IR blasters since Sling won't sell you a second one. Then I hit my head against the wall once I realized this includes a 4-prong IR blaster. Basically, buy this cable set if you plan on taking full advantage of the Pro's capabilities to remotely control more than 2 devices - or get a headache.
No real excuse for Sling Media not to include this with the Pro and not to explain it to the consumer properly, but such is life.

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The Slingbox PRO HD Connect Cable enables you to watch your home television s HD programming (up to 1080i) by connecting your HD component device to the Slingbox PRO. The Slingbox PRO and SlingStream technology adapts the compressed video stream to match the available network and Internet bandwidth to provide the best possible video quality between the Slingbox PRO and the SlingPlayer application, whether running on a computer or mobile phone. Compatible with Slingbox PRO. Provides pass-through connectors, so you can easily add the cable into existing HD configurations. Provides component video and stereo audio connections.

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Sony DVP-CX985V 400 Disc Progressive DVD / SACD Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Expectations are everything. My experience with the incompetence of the consumer A/V industry must lower mine. I've heard the complaints about the speed and clumsiness of this unit but I have no major complaints about it. I must admit that I place a higher priority on picture and audio quality, and this unit is awesome on both counts. In addition, the transport is well designed, quiet and well balanced.
For those of you shopping for one of these, make sure you read the dimensions. This sucker is HUGE. It's much deeper than any of my other equipment, including my Sony ES receiver. I had to cut the back out of my A/V cabinet in order for it to fit. Again, no biggie. I'd have bought a new piece of furniture for it.
The time required to set up this unit is nothing when compared with the nightmare of displaying, storing, and handling 350 DVDs. My wife and I spent about three hours inserting the discs and entering the titles, using a keyboard and a spreadsheet of our movies. It took me another hour to divide the DVDs into the four included groups in the Disc Explorer. I divided them into Family, Action, CDM (Comedy Drama Musical) and Other (special features, yoga, documentaries). Seems to work so far for me.
Is the Disc Explorer the greatest thing in the world? Nope, but it works fine if you are too lazy to have a printout of your movies nearby. The best part is that it's not required in order to use the unit, which gives you lots of flexibility. If you are serious about your video system, use DVDlobby and you'll never use Disk Explorer again.
I've heard complaints about the speed of the transport on this unit. Again, expectations are everything. How long does it take to look through the movies in your media cabinet, decide which one you want, open the sometimes bizzarre packaging, load the disc into your player, take the old one out, and put it away?
With this unit, it takes 18 seconds to load and play a disk on the opposite side of the platter. It takes 9 seconds to go from viewing a movie to viewing the Disk Explorer. It takes about 4 minutes to navigate through all 400 disks with the Disk Explorer. It's faster if you don't add pictures to the disc names, and some of the names from the disk manufacturers are just wrong, so you might be better off not letting the unit detect your disks.
The only movie I had a real problem creating a title for was Confessions of a Dangerous Mind since there was only room for "Conf/Dangerous M". I settled for "Dangerous Mind". I know my movies well enough that I don't require an entire paragraph to remind me.
If you are interested in using this unit for SACD, remember that you must have a 5.1 channel input on your receiver. If you have more CDs than DVDs, don't expect this thing to be a good CD player. It isn't, but I've never seen a DVD player that was. Buy a megaCD changer and save yourself the trouble.

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Store your collection of DVD movies and audio CDs in Sony's DVP-CX985V progressive-scan DVD/SACD player, and they'll just be ready for playback at a moment's notice. The DVP-CX985V multiformat mega-changer stores 400 discs and is compatible with DVD-RW/-R, DVD+RW/+R, SACD (Super Audio CD) multichannel discs, and CD-R/RW discs with CD and MP3 audio.
Other DVD players detect image changes at the scan line level--Sony's Precision Cinema Progressive (PCP) system detects them at the pixel level. The picture is more faithful to the source--whether film or video--because separate, optimized algorithms are used to handle the differing pixel behavior. Separate algorithms are also used to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are free from motion artifacts.
The high-speed 108MHz/12-bit video D/A converter employs 4X oversampling for much more effective noise filtering.
In addition to standard 2-channel CD playback, the DVP-CX985V plays 2-channel and multichannel Super Audio CDs. It reads the disc information of all the discs and loads the information into memory so that disc type, titles, and other text information can be displayed on the TV screen.
It has the following video output options (with number of ports): component video (x1), S-Video (x1), composite video (x1), coaxial digital (x1), and optical digital (x1). It also has the following audio output options: analog audio (x1) and 5.1 channel (x1).
Other features include:
Included remote operates the DVP-CX985V as well as a number of functions on select brands of televisions and receivers; its keys glow in the dark.
Instant Replay feature enables you to go back 10 seconds to review a scene with a single press of a button.
TV Virtual Surround feature generates a convincing surround-sound effect using only 2 stereo speakers.
Dolby Digital and DTS output.

Tech Talk
SACD: Super Audio CD (SACD) is a high-resolution digital audio format that promises vast sonic improvements over the current audio CD format. SACD discs can be played back on dedicated SACD players or combination SACD/DVD-Video players. Certain SACD discs feature a conventional audio CD layer (hybrid SACDs) which can be played back by any CD player or computer with a CD-ROM drive.
Progressive scan: Also called sequential scanning, a progressive-scan system displays the entire image--providing all the horizontal lines per frame, rather than every other line--once every 60th of a second. This method reduces flicker and increases stability. Progressive-scan viewing requires a compatible digital TV.
Component video: Unlike a single video input, component video maintains the video signal as three separate signals through these three jacks. This connection provides optimum quality. To ensure maximum picture quality, use three video-grade cables for the Y, Pb, and Pr connections.

What's in the Box Sony DVP-CX985V DVD/SACD player/changer, remote control (RM-DX500), 2 AA batteries, RCA cable (57 inches), and operating instructions.

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