Yeah you can, but then you're just using the Slingbox as a remote control. If you want to use a PC instead of a Slingbox, you would just need a capture card and IR blaster (included with some cards). I've been using Slingbox + VLC which works okay at home, but the dynamic compression scaling thing on the Slingbox makes it much more useful on-the-go (whereas VLC is a constant bitrate). The PC also sucks up a lot of power compared to a Slingbox.