My first Slingbox was the original analog version that was designed to work with TV cable systems before most of them converted to digital. The idea of watching TV on my notebook computer seemed frivolous at the time, but the model I bought was so deeply discounted, during a computer retailer's going-out-of-business sale, that I couldn't resist trying it. Now I must confess that I found more uses for my Slingbox than I had ever imagined. For example, if I'm working late at my office, I don't need to miss the evening newscast. I can take a break, catch up on what happened that day and then go back to work. During my out-of-town business and leisure travels, I can watch my local newscasts Ultimately I was forced to retire my analog Slingbox when my cable company switched almost entirely to digital and disabled most of their analog channels. I also made a change to Verizon FiOS, which promised me a faster Internet connection and more channels for my money but offered no analog TV service at all. My addiction to the convenience of Slingbox prompted me to buy the Sling Media Slingbox SOLO. It doesn't have a built-in tuner like the more expensive Slingbox models, but it allows me to take control of one of my digital TV converter boxes, just as if I were at home, and feed the channels and program guides to my notebook computer wherever I have a high-speed Internet connection. There are even (extra cost) downloadable applications that run on iPhones and Droid devices which allow you to watch TV via your wireless connection. The app for my Android smartphone works quite well as long as I have a decent 3G or 4G signal. My Slingbox software shows an image of my Verizon remote control (see the image I uploaded). A mouse click on the remote control's image electronically presses the buttons, just as if I were holding the remote in my hand. Once I've made my choices, I move the mouse cursor off the screen which automatically restores a full-screen TV image. If someone at home happens to be watching TV from that converter box, any changes you make remotely will affect what they're viewing and vice versa. When I upgraded my Sling box I simultaneously more than tripled my Internet access speed by switching to Verizon FiOS, so I cannot attribute the dramatic improvement in remote picture quality "just" to upgrading Slingbox to a newer model. My remote picture quality is now very good to excellent whereas my picture quality prior to my changeover ranged from poor to good. Slingbox's new software buffers the digital stream so, if you miss something because of an interruption, you can "pause, rewind" and watch the digital stream from that point forward. It does not record off-line, however. Like my old analog Slingbox, this new model is sensitive to warm ambient temperatures. When the room temperature is 80 degrees F or higher my Slingbox's performance deteriorates considerably. There are several suggestions that I would make as you are considering buying this model: 1. This Slingbox requires a fast digital connection to your router. If you cannot make a direct CAT-5 wired connection, you'll need to buy an accessory that allows you to feed the digital stream via Wi-Fi or through your power line, which is an extra expense. 2. Your Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) upload speed will greatly affect your viewing quality via the Internet. My FiOS connection gives me an upload speed 5,000+ kilobits per second. If I have an equally fast connection at the other end or if I am on my local network, the picture quality is excellent. Less than that causes degradation of picture quality and digital artifacts, although it's not really objectionable until speeds drop below 1,500 kilobits per second. Some hotels, hospitals, businesses and public access networks deliberately block or limit the speed of streaming video, which will affect your access and/or quality. 3. If you have people at home who're watching TV from the digital box that you're controlling, your channel surfing will no-doubt annoy them. In such instances it might be better to either rent a dedicated digital box or buy the more expensive Slingbox with a built-in tuner. It will also be necessary to keep your Slingbox in a cool place for good, reliable performance. 4. In order for you to take remote control of your Slingbox via the Internet, the Slingbox will need to be assigned a fixed internal IP address on your network and a TCP and UDP port will need to be forwarded from your external Internet connection to that address. For the most part the Slingbox installation software will take care of this for you automatically if you can provide the make, model and log-in information for your router. But if you have other devices on your network that require fixed IP addresses or your anti-virus software's firewall or your Internet Service Provider blocks Slingbox's default port 5001 you may need to enlist technical support from Slingbox to avoid connection issues. However, this is a one-time job that should not need to be repeated unless you change routers.