Cord Cutting - How do YOU do it?

Roku Tablo app v2.1 Beta Build 34

Tablo Quad…
Model: SPVR4-01-NA (6/18/2014)
Firmware: v2.2.10
Hard drive: Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2tb Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0 -about 3/4 full most of the time
Antenna: Two 40 yr old Radio Shack 75 miles - in the attic? Split at 3TVs for rare live viewing.

Zyxel PK5001Z from CenturyLink on DSL at 5.12Mbps with the radio OFF connected to a 6th Gen Airport Express in bridge mode with a 5th Gen Express on the other side of the house set as wireless extended network. The only thing wired to the modem is the 6th Gen AE, everything else in the house is wireless - except the Tablo and Rokus arehardwired to the wireless extended network, but I am not convinced that it makes any difference. All 30-40 items on the network have DCHP reservations.

Tablo has been on a DEEPCOOL WIND PAL MINI Laptop Cooling Pad 15.6" Slim Design 140mm Silent Fan Blue LED from Newegg US since Sept 2015. It makes NO noise and very little breeze …but my Tablo is now just barely warm to the touch and before it was HOT - 90++. Now I know that they say that 90+ is normal for the unit, but I have always found that cooler electronics seem to last longer.

Tablo Settings…
Active Subscription (lifetime)
Tablo Name: MyTablo
Auto-Delete Recordings: unchecked, disabled
Max Recording Quality: HD720 - 5Mbps
LED: checked, enabled
Remote Access: unchecked, disabled

75 - Active Channels:
Only use 32
4 - 1080i
6 - 720p
22 - 480i (takes about 20mins to load epg)
Tablo Connect: unchecked
Don’t Recorded Duplicates: checked, enabled
Extend Live Recordings: checked, enabled

2X Roku 3 wired
Model: 4200X
Firmware: v7.1.0 Build 4062-04
Roku IR (infrared) standard remote

Nexus Player wireless
Firmware: v6.0.1 Build MOB30M

Other used to view Tablo:
2X iPhones, 2X iPads, 3X Mac computers

Been with Tablo since 6/18/2014. Had a few glitches along the way and thanks to Tablo support they were all resolved in a timely manner. Its been smooth sailing the last 12 mths and we are very happy with our Tablo and no sat bill nor commercials.

Thanks for taking an honest look at this from outside the box.

Looks suspiciously like my format. :wink:

It is — why reinvent the wheel?:grin:

Of course I am a Tablo shill!!! This after all is a Tablo forum…or haven’t you noticed LOL?

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TiVo Roamio for OTA in living room. Have a TiVo Mini in bedroom. Have 2 Apple TV 4’s (same locations as above).
Have a 4-tuner Tablo sitting unused (it’s not ready to compete with the TiVo even using the ATV4 app).
Netflix (used a lot).
Amazon prime (never watch any videos here - won’t renew).
Hulu (bought 8 month gift card very cheap. Never watch anything - won’t renew).
Watch a friend’s Plex for some movies.

Wanting to go to a 1 device setup (the ATV4), but have to stick with TiVo for now for its great features. Tablo is a sunk cost now, so not sweating it, just waiting on it to catch up enough to dump the TiVo.

This guy is like a Jehovah Witness who sweat-talks you to get his foot in the front door then does his pitch once you let him talk.

Funny thing is he’s on the losing side of history. Tablo is picking up a head of steam, doing all the right things and getting more and more users satisfied. Meanwhile back at the Circle T ranch (Tivo), the land has been sold, the property divided up, the steers moping about and moving off the range… Nothin worse than a preacher preaching the wrong message.

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“Shill” or no, as a satisfied Tablo user I feel no inclination to go on a Tivo forum to enlighten them as to the superiority of Tablo’s performance.

That said, the future development of Tivo seems problematic since the recent buy out by a company notorious for basing their business model on nothing more than ongoing patent infringement litigation.

CraigRoyce and TabloFan just don’t seem to get it. Preferring TiVo over Tablo is no different than preferring Android over Apple. They both accomplish the same thing differently. Because this is a Tablo forum, I expect that TiVo will be under fire just as Apple would be in an Android forum.

I am now being compared to a Jehovah’s Witness “trying to get my foot in the door”. My apologies to the devout Jehovah’s Witnesses out there that TabloFan has offended. Apparently CraigRoyce and TabloFan prefer to insult and offend anyone who offers a differing opinion rather than contributing to the forum. Be careful TabloFan, you may be very close to or already violating Tablo’s forum use agreement.

Have either of you two ever used TiVo equipment? My intention as stated in my opening post (NOT my personal review post) was to invite people to discuss and compare cord cutting products and services that they have USED and give their personal preferences. I did that and so have many others, without insulting or offending anybody.

I have used both Tablo and TiVo and I prefer TiVo’s interface look and feel, it’s features, fast menu loading and quick channel switching. Honestly, it did surprise me that I preferred my older TiVo equipment **(see below for specifics) over the most recent Tablo equipment. My opinions certainly may change as different products are improved and I have the opportunity to try them.

TabloFan reported that Tablo is “picking up steam” and TiVo is coming apart. I did not expect opinions about the different companies’ strength and solvency to be a part of this discussion but I welcome it and would invite TabloFan to provide more information about each company. I felt that comparing the products would be enough but I am sure there are some who would be interested in your observations. Just please stick to the facts and avoid emotions and insults.

** I am using an older TiVo Premiere (Series 4) which was manufactured beginning in March of 2010 and preceded the TiVo Roamio (Series 5) and the latest product, the TiVo Bolt (Series 6).

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I was thinking of replacing my 2-tuner TiVo Premiere with a Roamio but didn’t want to spend more money just yet. I replaced my two Apple TV gen 3’s with two Amazon Fire TVs because of the TiVo app that is only available on Fire TV as far as I know. The TiVo app works nicely for viewing and deleting recordings. I must have a TiVo Stream so the Fire TV TiVo app can connect to my TiVo Premiere but I don’t think your Roamio would require a TiVo Stream. I kept my Apple TV gen 4 because I have purchased movies and TV from the iTunes Store.

I know my old 2010 TiVo Premiere will bite the dust someday and when it does, I’ll have to make my TiVo or Tablo or ?? decision again. I didn’t like using Tablo with Roku (many crashes) and sold my Roku boxes some time ago so if I go with Tablo in the future, it will be used with Fire TV and Apple TV gen 4.

It’s your choice of venue and not your preference that put you at odds with some here. I think your commentary would have been better received on a TiVo forum. If you crash a Trump rally wearing a “dump Trump” T shirt you’d best be thick skinned. You could have requested all the input you’re seeking on any number of other forums.

Have you used TiVo? If so, what did you like/dislike about it? What do you like/dislike about your Tablo experience? This is the kind of discussion I was hoping to illicit when I started this forum. Just saying that one is superior to the other is not enough. You should have tried all the products and services that you are commenting about to contribute to this forum in a meaningful way.
Thank you

You misinterpret. I was referring to your allusion as to the superiority of one system (Tivo) over another Taboo).
There is currently no singular system available with all the multitude of bells and whistles that technology has to offer. And if there were the cost would be prohibitive. The best we can do is select a system that best suits our personal needs and interests.

The venue is “Cord Cutting - How did YOU do it?” (See forum topic). My intention was not to advocate one product over the other. I shared my personal preferences and my reasons for them and will let the readers decide how they will cut the cord. Posts from those who have tried other OTA DVRs and prefer Tablo are needed and welcome. My intention is to encourage feedback from all who have personal experiences with various cord cutting products and services.

I realize that the majority of the forum users have only tried Tablo since, after all the forum is on the Tablo website. (I get it, not everybody that just spent their hard earned money on a product wants to hear that there may be something better out there.) But there are some posts here already from people who have tried OTA DVRs other than the Tablo. Those who have only tried the Tablo are not really qualified to comment on different OTA DVRs since they’ve only tried one. But they certainly can comment on different streaming services and devices they’ve tried.

I haven’t checked for a similar topic in the TiVo forums but I’m sure that if there is one asking for experiences with competing OTA DVRs, it would probably also encounter such controversy from those who love their TiVo equipment. Ah, but isn’t controversy a good thing in forums as long as posters act like adults and control their emotions and refrain from personal attacks?

If I have offended those who love their Tablo, that was not my intention, but to think that the only OTA DVR that can be discussed on a Tablo forum is a Tablo OTA DVR defies the basic function of a forum does it not?

PhreeTV:
“Love my Tablo?” Not quite. Love is a powerful emotion reserved for a very select number of friends, relations, and my dog. Never a device. I do LIKE my Tablo though as it greatly enhances my TV viewing experience.
This is a particularly savy forum and I am sure many here are familiar with the pros and cons of the competing technologies and what best serves their personal requirements.

“It’s your choice of venue and not your preference that put you at odds with some here. I think your commentary would have been better received on a TiVo forum. If you crash a Trump rally wearing a “dump Trump” T shirt you’d best be thick skinned. You could have requested all the input you’re seeking on any number of other forums.”

  1. Bad choice of venue/Should have posted topic to TiVo forum: Yes, I could post there also, and I am sure it will be misinterpreted by those who love their TiVo equipment in the same fashion.
  2. You’d best be thick skinned: I believe another word for thick skinned is tolerant. I think I am tolerating all of this misplaced criticism very well. Are you and the others objecting to this forum being tolerant or open to discussion that compares the product made by the forum sponsor to competing products? If this is an inappropriate forum, let Tablo decide. Go ahead and flag it as inappropriate and let’s see what happens. Also, you would never see me at a Trump rally.
  3. You could have used any other forum: So a forum sponsored by the maker of a cord cutting product for cord cutters that want to cut the cord that touts cord cutting in its advertising is not a good place to ask “How did you cut the cord?”

Am I correctly assuming that you and the others are really objecting to posters on this forum comparing Tablo to other OTA DVRs? If that is true, please help me to understand why you would not want to hear from people that prefer Tablo over other OTA DVRs that they’ve tried and why. Perhaps you feel that the subject is taboo in Tablo forums (isn’t it funny how spell check changes Tablo to Taboo?)

Lastly, I enjoyed using my Tablo as my first attempt at cutting the cord. I liked the simple, clean text and mostly blue menu screens and movie/tv graphics. I shut it down and boxed it up and sold it with some sadness. I want to buy one again when most of the promised features are implemented and the interface responds more quickly. The Tablo may get a faster processor by then. I have a new Apple TV 4 waiting for that day. I’m sorry but my old TiVo box gives me the features and the speed that I want now. I am sure the folks at Tablo understand this. They know that their product needs a few more features to become a fully functioning DVR. I am hoping that my wait will be well rewarded by them.

PhreeTV:
“Love my Tablo?” Not quite. Love is a powerful emotion reserved for a very select number of friends, relations, and my dog. Never a device. I do LIKE my Tablo though as it greatly enhances my TV viewing experience.
This is a particularly savy forum and I am sure many here are familiar with the pros and cons of the competing technologies and what best serves their personal requirements.

WHAT? Are you being disingenuous or purposefully obtuse? People say they love products all the time. There are many different meanings for the word love that’s why the Greek language has several different words for it. It is the English language that balled all of them into one word. Is the kind of love you have for your intimate partner different for the love you have for your dog? I certainly hope so. Your sarcasm is obvious and a waste of effort for both of us. Not really wanting to berate you but I would be thought a fool to not point that out. Please spare me the sarcasm if you send any more posts.

So why did you tell me that there are savvy people here that already know all of the pros and cons of competing products? It seems like you didn’t finish what you were trying to say.
Anyway, I agree. Many of the posters seem to know enough to describe what they have and why they like it in detail. But I feel you have over simplified the complex machinery that makes forums work. It is good to have all of these savvy people in the forum. But more than savvy people that know the pros and cons, there are the ordinary people who also experienced the products first hand. Then there are those just reading the posts to learn. That was my reason for creating this forum much to the dismay of those that think I am a TiVo shill expecting a check from Rovi. Let’s not forget that in addition to the savvy and ordinary posters, there are many more readers that don’t post. A few of them will post their appreciation and a few will post questions. With all of that going on, the purpose of the forum is realized as many more people are helped than just those who posted. My apologies if you already know how forums work. I just didn’t understand your reason for mentioning the savvy people.

This guy just keeps going on and on about his Tivo…at a Tablo forum! And he expects “objectivity” and 'thinking outside the box." It’s as if he expects to sit down with his wife and have an “objective” “out of the box” conversation with his wife about his mistress.

In a few months expect another thread with another “topic” as he eventually slides in his Tivo predilection. Sorry I can’t do a Neville Chamberlain act here… The Tivo PR Department (or is it the Rovi Marketing Dept now?) couldn’t do a better job writing his posts.

Reminds me of the Commies (and their fellow travelors) who wanted a “free” and “open” discussion about social justice in America and yelled “censorship” whenever a non-liberal brought up Stalin.

I never said the TiVo was superior, better, or greater than the Tablo or anything like that. I pointed out features that I like that are on the TiVo but have not yet been added to the Tablo. I stated that I prefer my current choices that include the TiVo over my previous choices that included the Tablo. To say I prefer something means it is better for me. To say something is superior means it is better for everyone. I never said or inferred the word “superior”.

I don’t see the point in you mentioning a product that doesn’t exist. There is no OTA DVR with every bell and whistle because every manufacturer is different in choosing which features to offer after determining the most popular and desired features. It would be fiscally irresponsible for a manufacturer to include features that not many people want and unnecessarily raise the cost of the product, making it cost prohibitive to use your words. My words about wanting all the bells and whistles is a loose expression meaning all of the cool desirable features. I guess that is why you mentioned the non-existent product because of an old expression I chose to use. I’ll have to be more careful about that I guess. I am aware that it would be rare for one product to have everything that everyone wants. I will always prefer the product that has the most of the features that I want. Often you must try the product to discover this. That is the purpose of the forum, for people who have tried cord cutting products and services to share how they met their needs and how they liked them. If that includes singing the praises of a product that competes with Tablo so be it. It is just one person’s opinion based on their personal tastes and needs.

You have claimed that I used a word that I didn’t (superior) and took a loose expression that most people understand (all the bells and whistles) literally to mean every feature that technology has to offer. Congratulations, you have successfully misunderstood almost everything that I said. The only thing you got right was “The best we can do is select a system that best suits our personal needs and interests.” and that’s exactly what I did when I chose to use TiVo for my OTA DVR and watch Tablo for new features. I think we agree on almost everything except for me committing the major No-No of saying that I preferred TiVo in a Tablo sponsored forum. Sorry about that but freedom of speech is a b1tch.