Jun 6 Listener Review: Vulkano Flow Review
Chuck Ackerman recently purchased the Vulkano Flow (Buy Now $113) and offered up the following review:
Vulkano Flow Review
Features:
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Watch & control your TV from anywhere in the world over Wi-Fi or 3G on any mobile device
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Record TV shows to your PC or Mac hard drive
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Pause, rewind or fast forward live or recorded TV
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Stream TV wirelessly around your home; watch TV on your deck, by the pool, or laying in bed with your iPad
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Easy to set up use; wireless set up makes installation a breeze
The Vulkano Flow is produced by Monsoon Multimedia to be a direct competitor to SlingBox. While I’ve never owned a SlingBox I’ve owned the predecessor to the Vulkano Flow called the Hava.
I was in the market for a low cost device to use on an upcoming trip. I only need basic playback as I intended to connect this to my DVR. There are Vulkano products that can actually record onto external storage media (hard disk or thumb drives) but my goal was to keep the cost down. I compared Vulkano Flow with the Slingbox Solo and since the Flow cost under $100 and the Slingbox Solo runs for about $160 it was no contest.
Setup:
The Vulkano Flow is a very stylish looking box. It’s flat and wide (L 41.5 CM, W 13.5 CM, H 2.5 CM) and less than an inch tall. It can receive input from composite (SD) or component 1080i high def inputs. It can output to your TV in a “pass through” mode in composite (SD) and component 1080i output. It’s a passive device just sampling the video and audio as it goes along to your TV.
The Flow has a dual headed IR blaster that sits in front of the set top box you wish to control. This lets you change channels while using the remote software. My intent was to eventually use my Xbox as the device to control for the Flow. But, I set it up with a DVR just to make things easier.
I connected the Flow to my network via the supplied cat 5 cable. Output from my DVR’s component high def connections went to the input of the Flow in addition to the left and right audio cables. I then connected the supplied component cable from the DVR to my HDTV along with the LR audio cables. I checked to make sure that the TV functioned as normal through the DVR. All good so far.
Setting up the Flow required the use of a PC. There is no CD included in the box. The installation program is downloaded from their site. This is a great idea as the latest and greatest version of the software is always used. It went through the normal setup steps including checking the IR blaster to make sure I could change channels.
It also asked me my zip code and cable company carrier. I thought this odd at first but it turns out that the Flow keeps a full guide setup stored on its internal memory so that you don’t need to go through the process of bringing up the guide on the DVR to find a show you want. This is very clever and makes interacting with the Flow much better as I found out later.
Once setup is complete I was able to remove the cat 5 cable and do all further interactions via WiFi. If WiFi isn’t available or too far away it’s easy to leave the cat 5 connected.
I tested the client software on my PC and watched a bunch of TV. The picture was amazing. No pixelization or dropouts at all. It was communicating to my PC in the neighborhood of 2 mbps over the network providing a clean result. The remote control pops up next to the video screen for easy manipulation of the device. The image of the remote is identical to the FIOS remote I use to control the DVR. I was able to easily change channels, watch recorded TV and set up new shows to be recorded. Just like I was sitting there with a remote. I could pull up the guide on the PC from the Flow’s internal memory and see program descriptions and select something to watch. It was very snappy and worked like a charm. If you’ve used a place shifting device before and pulled up the guide on the DVR you know how hair-pulling that can be with the latency delay that is involved. The Flow’s built in guide is much better.
Monsoon says that up to 10 people can be connected simultaneously locally with a good picture. Of course they all have to be watching the same channel. Only 1 remote user can be connected at a time.
I then downloaded and tested the Android app on my phone, which is an additional $12.99 charge in the app store. It played perfectly. The picture was stunning on my Droid Incredible. The remote is different looking because of the screen size. It looks like a calculator keyboard that covers half the screen. It has multiple functions that lets the user select a channel, control the DVR and see the guide just like on a PC. This app works just as well on my Motorola Xoom tablet. There are similar apps for iOS devices and Blackberries also.
To really test the remote capabilities I recently took it on a drive from Westwood to Thousand Oaks via Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon. This tests the ability to send a lot of data over a 3G connection over a long period through areas with sketchy coverage. Turns out it was much better than I expected. The signal dropped 3 times on the 45 mile journey. Twice it resumed on its own after about 30 seconds. One time, in the canyon, it said it lost connection and I had to press OK and then press on the “Live TV” button again to get it going. I was very impressed with its ability to stream.
After all my tests were complete I ended up attaching the Flow to my Xbox as it is an extender to my HTPC that uses Windows Media Center to watch and record TV. It’s very cool seeing the Xbox logo show up on my phone’s screen and then start into Media Center. I guess I could do anything that the Xbox could do including watching Netflix, but I’ve only tested Media Center for now.
Conclusion:
As you can tell by the review I’m very happy with my purchase of the Vulkano Flow. I purchased it at Fry’s for $99 and it’s probably the best $99 investment I’ve made in my home theater system. This one’s a keeper.
Reader Comments (3)
Chuck,
Great review. I also purchased a Vulkano Flow and I've had it up and running for about a week. I agree with everything in your review and to add one thing, I'm using this device on with a legacy wireless G router! I have the device hooked up to my HD cable box via component (the flow does not have HDMI) and the picture and sound are fantastic. Streaming quality is great and it's never dropped a signal over my home network. For $99 I really think you'd be hard pressed to find a better device with built in wi-fi. I figured I may have to play around with this device to get it working based on some reviews on Amazon but I must conclude that anybody giving this device a poor review probably didn't take the time to set up the device properly. I would recommend this device to anybody looking to buy a slingbox that doesn't have their router and cable box in the same room.
Nice! This technology is so cool and I have the same capabilities with my Sling Adapter. I was introduced to the concept of slinging programming from my job at DISH Network and jumped at the opportunity to have these capabilities as part of my entertainment setup. My Sling Adapter is smaller than this, but the device works seamlessly and the app for my Android was free. I love being able to watch my Rockies games on my Smartphone, and I don’t feel like I have to plan my life around being home to catch my shows. I basically have my TV with me anywhere I have Wi-Fi or mobile 3G network and I love it! Check out DISH’s recent offer of a free Sling Adapter here. http://bit.ly/kbum9m
I am working on configuring my Surround Sound to the best it can perform. I know I do not have top notch equipment. However, it is not the worst either. The system sounds good, but I do not think it has reached its potential.