# Slingbox Solo or Hava Titanium HD?



## yukit (Jul 23, 2005)

I already have a Slingbox Pro HD hooked up to a TivoHD, but I am thinking about getting a 2nd unit for a S2DT (may get replaced by a TivoHD). Since I don't need another Slingbox Pro HD or Pro, I would just get a Slingbox Solo or Hava Titanium HD.

I figured this forum is a neutral ground to ask this question. I recognize that Slingbox is much more well-known than Hava (kind of Tivo vs Moxi), but my research from both respective forums may favor Hava for these two comparison. I was wondering someone here have experince with both of these.

I may also look at Sony Locationfree unit, but I have not done much research on this yet.


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## Seattle (Dec 13, 2001)

I have both a Hava and a Slingbox Solo. If I had to pick one I would pick the Slingbox Solo since it works with my Macs (Hava is still working on Mac support). Both work well but it seems like the Slingbox runs a little better with a slower internet speed. The internet upload speed of the Hava is capped at 1 mbps. Where are you going to be watching from (local network, remote location)?


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## SMWinnie (Aug 17, 2002)

Seattle said:


> I have both a Hava and a Slingbox Solo[...]


I have a Solo and am thinking of adding either a Pro-HD or a wired HAVA Titanium. Can you reliably reach both your boxes from outside your home network? (I want to be sure the HAVA and Sling boxes play nice.)


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## yukit (Jul 23, 2005)

Seattle said:


> I have both a Hava and a Slingbox Solo. If I had to pick one I would pick the Slingbox Solo since it works with my Macs (Hava is still working on Mac support). Both work well but it seems like the Slingbox runs a little better with a slower internet speed. The internet upload speed of the Hava is capped at 1 mbps. Where are you going to be watching from (local network, remote location)?


I will using the remote access 99% of the time. Mac support is not a big deal for me. It would be a no-brainer if the iPhone app on Sling was not crippled, but it is a plus.

I did not know about the 1 mbps upload cap on a Hava. I have read that remote streaming is done using mpeg4 (not sure if it is h.264 like Pro HD) so the video quality would be comparably better with the Hava than a Solo at a threshold bandwidth, say ~800 kbps. I have a relatively fast internet connection (upload ~4-6mbps) so I will mostly depend on the download speed of remote locations.

Thansk for your valuable info.


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## Seattle (Dec 13, 2001)

SMWinnie said:


> I have a Solo and am thinking of adding either a Pro-HD or a wired HAVA Titanium. Can you reliably reach both your boxes from outside your home network? (I want to be sure the HAVA and Sling boxes play nice.)


Both work reliably outside my network however the Hava is setup wirelessly so it is not as fast as the wired Slingbox. The place I used both remotely most of the time only has 512K down so I don't reach the Hava upload cap. I am able to watch both at the same time when I have a fast connection though and that it kind of cool.


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## MitchV (May 26, 2009)

I was kicking around the idea of getting a Slingbox Pro HD to work with my TiVo HD. The Slingbox doesn't have an HDMI port... if If I used it with my TiVo, would my TiVo output to my television via HDMI _and_ the Slingbox via componant cables?

How is the HD quality on the Slingbox when doing this? For the most part, I'd use it to watch TV in my home office. I've wired the house with cat6.

Thanks!


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## Seattle (Dec 13, 2001)

MitchV said:


> I was kicking around the idea of getting a Slingbox Pro HD to work with my TiVo HD. The Slingbox doesn't have an HDMI port... if If I used it with my TiVo, would my TiVo output to my television via HDMI _and_ the Slingbox via componant cables?
> 
> How is the HD quality on the Slingbox when doing this? For the most part, I'd use it to watch TV in my home office. I've wired the house with cat6.
> 
> Thanks!


I have my TiVo HD setup the way you describe (HDMI to TV and Component to the Slingbox Solo) and it works well. The quality is good but since I do not have the HD model I guess that would be better than the Solo.


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## yukit (Jul 23, 2005)

MitchV said:


> ... if If I used it with my TiVo, would my TiVo output to my television via HDMI _and_ the Slingbox via componant cables?
> 
> How is the HD quality on the Slingbox when doing this? For the most part, I'd use it to watch TV in my home office. I've wired the house with cat6.
> 
> Thanks!


That is how mine is setup.

The video quality on LAN is excellent.

For remote, it is fine as long as the bandwidth is ~1 mbps. It may get a bit choppy with sports (fast transitions) so you may choose to use a lower quality (vga) to get the uniform video consistency.

I am seriously considering getting a Hava for my 2nd Tivo since I don't need a 2nd pro-hd unit.


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## wierdo (Apr 7, 2002)

I'd use the Hava (well, I do use the Hava) because they don't ding you for $30 for a mobile client and then not support it.


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## 84lion (Jan 23, 2009)

Does the Hava Titanium HD Wifi allow control of all Tivo functions, including playing recorded content and pulling content from another Tivo? In other words, using the virtual remote control on the computer, can I do anything I would normally do with the Tivo remote, or are there restrictions?


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## Enrique (May 15, 2006)

84lion said:


> Does the Hava Titanium HD Wifi allow control of all Tivo functions, including playing recorded content and pulling content from another Tivo? In other words, using the virtual remote control on the computer, can I do anything I would normally do with the Tivo remote, or are there restrictions?


No restrictions, it would be just as if you were seating in front of the Tivo.


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## spocko (Feb 4, 2009)

Enrique said:


> No restrictions, it would be just as if you were seating in front of the Tivo.


True, expect that there is quite a bit more latency when using the virtual remote. I setup a Hava Platinum HD recently, fed by the component output my Tivo HD. There is a least a 2 sec lag, but usually more like 5 sec, between when I press a button on the virtual remote and when I see the response on my PC screen. This is running over my local network. Hava support tells me that this amount of lag is "normal". It's not a big deal for just watching a program, but trying to do something like setting up a wishlist is tedious. I have not used Slingbox, so I don't know how it compares.

Overall though I'm happy with the Hava. Setup was simple, it seems to work well, and it was quite a bit cheaper than a comparable Slingbox.


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## SMWinnie (Aug 17, 2002)

SMWinnie said:


> I have a Solo and am thinking of adding either a Pro-HD or a wired HAVA Titanium. Can you reliably reach both your boxes from outside your home network? (I want to be sure the HAVA and Sling boxes play nice.)


Apparently I cursed myself. About three weeks ago, my SOLO appears to have placeshifted itself to The Land Where Streamers are Eternally Blessed.

There was a sellout.woot! sale on the HAVA Titanium HD and I dropped it in in place of the SOLO. The interface isn't as slick and HAVA doesn't have Sling's web or mobile clients, but the performance has been rock-solid and the picture quality has been a touch better than the SOLO's was.


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## 84lion (Jan 23, 2009)

Thanks much for replies. One more question: Can the Hava be set up to control more than one box? For example, I have a satellite receiver "inputting" to the Tivo on RF channel 3. What I'd like to do is watch the Tivo remotely on RF channel 3 (which would be the satellite input) and at the same time change channels on the satellite receiver. Is this possible?


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

yukit said:


> I have read that remote streaming is done using mpeg4 so the video quality would be comparably better with the Hava than a Solo at a threshold bandwidth, say ~800 kbps.


Yes, they encode in different formats. But, in real world usage video quality is comparable. (I have a few of each.) What it probably comes down to for new customers is purchase price and device support? Want to stream to the Nokia tablet? Go Hava. Want Mac or Blackberry support? Go Sling. Etc.


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## yukit (Jul 23, 2005)

84lion said:


> Thanks much for replies. One more question: Can the Hava be set up to control more than one box? For example, I have a satellite receiver "inputting" to the Tivo on RF channel 3. What I'd like to do is watch the Tivo remotely on RF channel 3 (which would be the satellite input) and at the same time change channels on the satellite receiver. Is this possible?


I am not familar with satellite receivers, but do they have multiple tuners?
With a single tuner, if you change channels on a satellite receiver while it is connected to Tivo, it will screw up the recording on Tivo, & channels would be out of synch.

I don't have Hava, but speaking from Slingbox's experience, yes it is possible to configure a satellite receiver & Tivo independently on separate inputs on Slingbox Pro or Pro-HD, but normally you would not do that.

Typically, you let Tivo control the satellite receiver, then let Hava (or Slingbox) control Tivo. I have done some tricks with a Comcast's DTA box with my Slingbox, but that is outside of scope for this thread.


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## yukit (Jul 23, 2005)

davezatz said:


> Yes, they encode in different formats. But, in real world usage video quality is comparable. (I have a few of each.) What it probably comes down to for new customers is purchase price and device support? Want to stream to the Nokia tablet? Go Hava. Want Mac or Blackberry support? Go Sling. Etc.


You are quite right. I have been checking up Hava's forum occasionally for a news of firmware update, new HD box or iPhone client.


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## 84lion (Jan 23, 2009)

Yukit, thanks.



> I am not familar with satellite receivers, but do they have multiple tuners?
> With a single tuner, if you change channels on a satellite receiver while it is connected to Tivo, it will screw up the recording on Tivo, & channels would be out of synch.


I have a Tivo HD, which doesn't have an "input." What I am doing is inputting the satellite output from the sat receiver RF output. In other words, I tune the Tivo HD to NTSC channel 3, and if the sat receiver is "on," I get the sat receiver on the Tivo HD. Crude, but effective. The sat receiver I have is single-tuner only.



> I don't have Hava, but speaking from Slingbox's experience, yes it is possible to configure a satellite receiver & Tivo independently on separate inputs on Slingbox Pro or Pro-HD, but normally you would not do that.


I believe that the satellite receiver could be input directly to the Hava as a second input. What I want to do is view the Tivo output but manipulate the satellite receiver, viewing it on the Tivo HD channel 3, remotely. I'm just not interested at this point in splitting the sat receiver output "again" (already out to TV, HDD/DVD recorder, etc.).



> Typically, you let Tivo control the satellite receiver, then let Hava (or Slingbox) control Tivo. I have done some tricks with a Comcast's DTA box with my Slingbox, but that is outside of scope for this thread.


My understanding is that non-Tivo HD units (e.g. - Tivo 2) do control external boxes such as satellite receivers. The Tivo HD doesn't have an "input" other than the OTA RF input.


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## ljcaswell (Oct 20, 2005)

Seattle said:


> I have my TiVo HD setup the way you describe (HDMI to TV and Component to the Slingbox Solo) and it works well. The quality is good but since I do not have the HD model I guess that would be better than the Solo.


I'm curious...I had mine setup that way also, but was unable to watch the slingbox remotely because I kept getting HDCP messages from the Tivo when I was watching remotely and my TV was off.

Not wanting to leave the TV on all the time, I ditched the HDMI cables and ran component.

Do you leave your TV on, or is there something funky going on with my setup that stopped it working?


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## Seattle (Dec 13, 2001)

ljcaswell said:


> I'm curious...I had mine setup that way also, but was unable to watch the slingbox remotely because I kept getting HDCP messages from the Tivo when I was watching remotely and my TV was off.
> 
> Not wanting to leave the TV on all the time, I ditched the HDMI cables and ran component.
> 
> Do you leave your TV on, or is there something funky going on with my setup that stopped it working?


I turn off my TV although the red light in the front stays on so I guess it might be a standby mode. I have not tried turning the switch on the TV to off so that no lights are on and see what would happen with the Slingbox.


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## yukit (Jul 23, 2005)

84lion said:


> I have a Tivo HD, which doesn't have an "input." What I am doing is inputting the satellite output from the sat receiver RF output. In other words, I tune the Tivo HD to NTSC channel 3, and if the sat receiver is "on," I get the sat receiver on the Tivo HD. Crude, but effective. The sat receiver I have is single-tuner only.
> ...


I was thinking about this, but I wasn't sure if you have TivoHD or not.

Yes, it would probably work. You could probably use a VCR instead of TivoHD since you would be losing most of TivoHD features in this configuration.

If I remember correctly, Hava Titanium HD does not have a coax input (other models may have that), so you would need a VCR or Tivo to convert the coax signal to composite or component video.


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