Now that beta is over and only those paying for commercial skip are using it, how has it been working?
Not worth a damn. It appears to me that it is skipping parts of programs that are not commercials, and not skipping some or all commercials. The beta version was a delight. It seemed to almost always work, and work well.
I thought that maybe the problem was that I was still using “Tablo Preview.” When I bought my Quad, nothing told me what Preview (the beta version) was; I figured that out only much later. When I started having major problems, I switched to the released version of Tablo, and I see no change.
I expect that the next thing to happen is that someone will ask me a number of in-depth questions in order to fully analyze the problem. I can answer those questions right now, by saying, “I don’t know.” I didn’t buy this product in order to have a new hobby, I don’t want it to be the new focus of my life. I have not been keeping a journal of its operation; I haven’t purchased a ‘baby book’ for it.
I love this box. I love the design concepts, and, for the most part, I love the implementation. Well done! I thought that the guide and skip features were worth the price charged. And the commercial skipping feature is a big deal to me, and it isn’t working.
The Tablo Preview app is not a beta app, it was designed to eliminate the syncing delay that may users had complained about. On the other hand commercial skip was a beta feature that has now gone completely live. Currently the original Tablo app is only getting maintenance updates. The Preview app is getting Tablo’s main attention regarding future updates. The Preview app still doesn’t have all the features that the original app has, mainly Tablo Connect, but Tablo is working on feature parity for all Tablo apps.
If you’re experiencing major problems with commercial skip, I would suggest you contact Tablo directly either by phone or support ticket. Since the feature is out of beta and you are now paying for it, you should expect it to work and work well.
So far it has been far more consistent. We still have about 10 hours of stuff we haven’t watched since the subscription but the last 5 hours of programming we watched worked just fine.
Same here. I have had my Tablo Quad for not quite 3 weeks. Had Commercial Skip enabled from the start. So far, I have viewed 10-15 hours of programs on 3 separate networks and it has worked almost flawlessly. One prescription drug commercial was not skipped and most previews of next week’s show are being dropped (not a big deal for me). Other than that, it’s almost like watching the show on a commercial-free service like Netflix. Just a couple of seconds of black screen while the commercials are skipped. I have signed up for the $20/year premium service and am happy to pay it.
Are they uploading and getting CS back faster? I know before it would usually take hours and prime time would take til next day. I was hoping with fewer people it would take an hour or so for them to come back.
About 2-4 hrs…but I have the lowest DSL - 6 down and .7 up. The only thing I can get here. So I am suprised and happy about this. In beta it was taking 4-24 hrs.
Thank you, Tablo engineers, over the last month Commercial Skip has worked about 98% of the time. The only failures have been intermittent on the one VHF-H channel in my market. Even there the failure due to reception is accurate and not all the frequent.
I am using a Antop AT-400BV outdoor antenna with the VHF arms at about 21 miles from the tranmitter. Most times reception is perfect, yet other times, for reasons I cannot determine, a show will have significant reception issues.
Anyway, as of today, I am very happy with the added feature.
@TabloTV
Is there any thought of having a more expensive tablo come out to where it can CM skip on its own machine. aka better processor/ram. This would be something I would be interested in especially when the new OTA signals come out in 3-4 years.
In order to do this processing onboard, the Tablo would basically have to be/cost as much as a laptop. Unfortunately few people would be jumping up and down to pay for a $700-$800 OTA DVR.
How about a software that could be install on our own computer, that could process the commmercial skip from our Tablo? That way it could be sold as a one time software buy.
Would that include the tech support? If it were possible, there would undoubted be an unimaginable amount of difficulty connecting tablo -> PC for processing.
For various reasons may users have complex issues just connecting to their home network and various devices. Of course it wouldn’t be platform dependent?
But, realize that “one time software buy” doesn’t really work. You’d still have to have something with software maintenance. And it could get pricey as there’s a big difference from install to install as people aren’t very dedicated to their OS installs (bad support).
If it were possible, there would undoubted be an unimaginable amount of difficulty connecting tablo -> PC for processing.