Hava Wireless: a better Slingbox alternative for Windows Media Center owners? – Alpha Blog – alpha.cnet.com John Falcone reviews the new Hava Wireless box which is kind of like Slingbox and allows you to remotely grab your TV while on the road. Of particular interest John writes up the fact that Hava works with a Media Center PC.
I’m not quite sure I get it though. The Hava costs $249, and admitedly, according to John, “didn’t have the refined polish that we’ve come to expect from Slingbox products.”
Why in God’s name would anyone ever buy this product when you can get Orb right now for free for the Media Center PC and it would seem to do everything that Hava does without having to spend the $249 on a box or hook up one more thing to your home entertainment set up?
Personally I’ve yet to be impressed with any of the remote media solutions. The picture quality is the biggest killer for me. It’s low res and crappy on both Sling and Orb as far as I’m concerned — but I’ve got higher standards. Some people would probably get along just fine watching a bad quality version of their favorite TV show on the road.
What I prefer to do instead is to simply record the shows on my Media Center PC and then just copy them over to my laptop for remote viewing. A little more work and not instantaneous, but far better picture quality.
But if I was going to use a remote viewing service, I certainly wouldn’t be buying a $249 Hava box when I can get Orb on my Media Center PC for free.
Now I personally haven’t tried Hava so maybe I’m missing something here, but I say when Orb is free if you pay $249 for a Hava box for your Media Center PC you should hava your head checked. Maybe someone can enlighten me on why this thing is any better than Orb.