While Slingbox is a great product & service, it is also a bit costly in my opinion. There is an excellent no-cost service called Orb that performs the same service. Orb lets you select resources on your home network like video, audio, and pictures, and share them over the Internet using their free service.

The one caveat that I must point out (ok, admit to) is that to provide the same streaming of your cable channels, you will need to purchase a TV tuner card or USB device. The Orb software integrates with several models, but that is one thing that is built into the Slingbox. Otherwise the service ends up being the same, and about $100-$200 for a TV tuner (your choice on features), and no monthly service is better in my book than $250 for the slingbox and a monthly service fee.

Also, Orb is accessible by just about any device, be it laptop, desktop, PDA, Phone, etc… and can stream in MP3, WMA, WMV, Real, and QuickTime - you simply need to have the appropriate player installed and you can stream these different formats with ease.

Highly recommended.

Link to jkOnTheRun: Buy a Slingbox, get Slingbox Mobile for free!