Anyone using a USB dock with a large drive instead of external?

I’m probably going to get a Tablo before the new year, and I’m sourcing everything leading up to it.
I’d prefer to use a USB dock with a SATA drive, perhaps a WD purple, so I’m wondering if anyone has had good or bad luck with a set up like this. Recommendations welcome.

Thanks, Teedawg.

I cannot speak for every combination, but my experience with USB dock and Tablo did not resolve well- I had problems from the getgo there, but changed to a WD elements and smooth sailing since

Also using the WD Elements drive, 2 TB. I was reluctant to go with anything other than recommended drives at the time I bought my Tablo, wanting to get the best experience possible. The WD drive has been super reliable for me.

I’ll probably go with a 2 TB Elements then.
Thanks guys!

The Western Digital Elements 2 TB portable hard drive was recommend online for the Tablo and so far, it has worked wonders for me. I keep the Tablo and hard drive separately on an aluminum heat sink and neither overheat also. As far as using a plug-in 5 TB type larger hard drive, I think it’s a waste of electricity since that unit also has to be plugged in separately. 2 TB is enough to record hundreds of programs. Invest in the portable Elements drive.

I like the dock for cooling, I run a few of them on my PCs for this and the ability to swap drives out easily. I also had not checked the $ of the Elements in a while, less than 80 bucks for the 2TB on Amazon right now. Heat sink is a good idea too. FWIW, I have a 1st and 2nd gen Fire TV and many Rokus, the Fires run very cool while all my Rokus get warm just running the screen saver! The Tablo content will be very accessible for me, a major advantage over the Roamio in my house.