Once you're up and running and have played around with the various menu options, it's time to get watching in earnest.
The first thing you notice is that is that there's a short time delay (3-5 seconds, or so) between what you can see on your TV and what your iPhone presents.



If you're away from home or watching in another room, that's no biggie - unless you and your family happen to be watching the same game of footy, for example, and you start hearing cheering before you actually see the goal.
Your family is also unlikely to thank you if you decide to change TV channels remotely using your iPhone, since it'll also change what your family's watching too - but that's something that's common to all SlingBoxes anyway.
Good sound quality
Sound-quality is fine for remote viewing - proving clear and easily comprehensible, but video quality is a little disappointing. There's obviously a fair amount of live video compression going on, which can result in a lot of blocking and other video artefacts.
If you're used to so-so quality from web video, or just like the idea of being able to watch TV when you're away on holiday, this is unlikely to bother you.
However the picture quality does fall considerably short of what the iPhone is capable of - something that's a little disappointing when you can watch live streams using BBC iPlayer or download fresh, quality content from iTunes.
Settings make no difference
Toggling the SQ (standard quality) / HQ (high quality) options don't appear to make any discernible difference either.
The results are certainly watchable and we noticed very few dropouts - although that largely depends on how good the signal strength is where you are.
It should be obvious that we're pretty impressed with SlingPlayer for iPhone so far - it's easy to setup and use, offers the right mixture of features without bogging you down in too much detail; and serves up a watchable viewing experience.
Ideal for anyone travelling at home or abroad, SlingPlayer for iPhone is a great, low-cost way of enjoying your favourite TV, DVD or other video content.


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