I'm this close

General Discussion
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…to taking the plunge.  


I’ve messed with HTPCs, torrents, hacked AppleTVs, they’ve all had shortcomings.  I’ve been in technology for all of my career, I can deal with quirks.  I married a woman who can not.  She also struggles with change.  Convincing her to switch from a BlackBerry to an iPhone was a hard sell.  Even up to the point we were transferring data over “I LIKE MY BLACKBERRY!!!”  “I’ll never use this.”  The next month I’m getting alerts from AT&T about over usage limits.  LMAO - not gonna use it, eh?  I digress…

When we first bought our house, the previous owners had a DirecTV dish installed so I decided we’d use them.  It was great.  Picture quality, sound, DVR interface…until it rained.  Anytime we had a big storm, we lost signal.  Check signal at any other time and it was as strong as it could be.  Done.  We’re going to Comcast.

Comcast was nice.  We had them for internet and rarely had an issue.  To this day, I can count a handful of times where I’ve had issues with Comcast internet or even TV.  Picture quality was slightly worse than DTV, but if there was a storm I could still watch TV.  We were satisfied.

I was wandering through Costco or Sam’s one day and the DTV sales people were out in force.  Special pricing, blah blah…I was in the mood to chat and time to kill.  I went on about how I was a DTV customer and had issues during a storm.  The guy admitted they had issues but they’ve since upgraded their equipment and it’s SO much better.  My parents have DTV, we have friends with DTV - let’s go back…

Same cr@p as before.  Their DVR interface is nice - much nicer than Comcast.  Heavy storm and the party is over.

We switched back to Comcast.  Again.  That’s where I am today.  We have 5,000,000 channels and there isn’t anything on.  We end up recording TV that’s on regular broadcast television.  Why in the ____ are we paying $70 a month for a bunch of cr@p we don’t watch?!?!

I looked at going all internet based programming.  It’s tough to do it legally to get everything I’d want (Big Bang Theory).  

Over-Air programming is nice, but DVR options are limited.  I could build another HTPC and get annoyed with it or have my wife hate it.  That’s always fun to deal with.  

There’s Tivo…meh.

I narrowed it down to Channel Master DVR+ and Tablo.  DVR+ is much like what we have today.  We aren’t gaining anything.  We have one TV and when we’re home at the same time, we watch TV together.  Simple.  Done and done.

Or there’s Tablo (mind you I didn’t sign up for the Channel Master forums, if that gives any indication to the direction I’m leaning).  If you wanted to watch a show on your laptop when you’re sick in bed…Tablo.  At your parents house and want to catch up on the latest American Idol and they don’t record it?  Tablo.  Away from the house and want to record a show that’s playing now.  Tablo.

My hang-up…

We have an AppleTV - no issue there and we use AirPlay for other stuff.  My MacBook supports AirPlay, her’s doesn’t.  We’re both iPhone users.  My concern is the battery drain streaming from Tablo to iPhone to AppleTV (our charging docks are on our nightstands).  And you’re then “stuck” just using your phone to stream.  I enjoy a nice game of spades when I watch TV.  So now I have to consider getting an iPad Mini in addition to the Tablo, antenna, hard drive…OR “we” use my MBP for AirPlay.  But the iOS app is SO darn sexy…

Anyway…from what I’ve read, kicka$$ product and it’s nice to see the developers and support teams so active on the forums. 


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If you’re comfortable with hacking the AppleTV. You can install Plex in place of the theater app on the AppleTV and run Plex media server on your MacBook. No need to Airplay. With Plex media server you can access your Tablo via Apple TV. This is how I have mine set up, I’m still hoping the AppleTV 4 has an app store. If they ever decide to make one.

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I have the same AppleTV/PLEX eco system … and we love it… works fine with the TABLO and its really nice having a mobile “screen” thats not always your main TV … more so if there are disagreements as to what to watch… 


with airplay battery isnt an issue… 

4

So many folks seem super happy with the Plex/AppleTV combo. Option #2 would be to pick up a Roku. It’ll give you the ‘remote control’ experience that may make your tech/change adverse wife happier. Either way, happy to hear you’re leaning towards Tablo. 

We’re here to answer questions if you have them :) 

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I agree with the main TV not being the only place to watch TV. I find myself watching more more TV right on the iPad.

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You could always just pick up one of those $5 apple clone charging cube / mini USB cable things from Walgreens and leave it plugged in near your sofa? At least that was my solution to the any multimedia app (Skype, Amazon, Netflix, web page with heavy JavaScript) eats my iPads battery issue. :slight_smile:

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Thanks guys.  I can assure you, the main/only TV is in the living room.  Her and I hovering around an iPad/MBP isn’t gonna happen (we’ve been together for 20 years).  


I looked a bit at Plex.  I have an old PC that could be repurposed.  
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If Tablo would just get a native phone app, the battery drain/multitasking/stream shut down when you lock your phone issues wouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think @TabloTV understands what type of market they are missing out on, especially when millions of people are in the middle of upgrading to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The longer I wait, the more perplexed I get as to who is running the show over there. They almost have the perfect cord cutters product, but refuse to take this one last step.

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I agree making the current iOS compatible with iPhones really is a total no brainer… IMHO i use my plex app way more on my iphone than on my iPad (and with a 2 year old toddler I find i use it in all kinds of crazy places like doctors offices while waiting for the doc  and other places where two year olds and waiting generally don’t mix)… I also watch content on my iphone when I have that rare 4 mins of “free time” … to try to catch up … I can’t always lug an ipad around but I always have my phone.

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Plex is installed on my MBP and AppleTV is configured and working  One step closer.  

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I've messed with HTPCs, torrents, hacked AppleTVs, they've all had shortcomings.  I've been in technology for all of my career, I can deal with quirks.  I married a woman who can not.  She also struggles with change.  
There's Tivo...meh.

I narrowed it down to Channel Master DVR+ and Tablo.  DVR+ is much like what we have today.   


Dave, my story is very similar to yours.  I would only advise that tablo/simple are a much different product than the DVR+.  I consider the DVR+ a set top box and relegate the others to background recording and remote access – the things they do best.  If you have Plex running, both Simple and Tablo have Plex channels.


Get a DVR+ first.  You need this most as it allows for very nice interactive use.  You can easily rewind, fast forward, pause, and slow advance your programs.  It’s also a great ad hoc recorder – it’s very easy to record a program you are always watching.  It has a terrific EPG.  Program guides matter.  Even the PSIP guide is very good.  You may be totally satisfied with this experience (based on what you posted).

After that, you may find that it is not convenient to record every episode of a series or navigate your recordings.  You may find that you want to access your files/antenna remotely.  If you do not like the sling box, Simple/Tablo will get you there.
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If Tablo would just get a native phone app, the battery drain/multitasking/stream shut down when you lock your phone issues wouldn't be a problem. I don't think @TabloTV understands what type of market they are missing out on, especially when millions of people are in the middle of upgrading to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The longer I wait, the more perplexed I get as to who is running the show over there. They almost have the perfect cord cutters product, but refuse to take this one last step.

We haven’t refused, we just haven’t had the chance to get there yet. We’ll be working on an option to package the web app for easier use on phones while we find the bandwidth to address the need for a true phone app. Resizing our tablet apps for use on phones will take a significant amount of work so we’ll need a bit more patience from our fans on this one.

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Yesterday, I worked with Plex a bit and got a few of their channels setup just to see how this was going to shake out.  Using the iPhone Remote App for AppleTV going through Plex, she was able to navigate the different stations and play episodes and really had no objections to the entire thing.  She thought it was cool that she was able to do it all with her phone versus needing to use the Harmony remote.


The only thing that was slightly confusing for her was going to ‘Trailers’ instead of ‘TV Shows’.  

Then she saw all the stuff that was available for free and didn’t see the need for an antenna and Tablo…whoops.
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My order has been placed.  Tablo 4-tuner, Winegard FL6550A and a 1TB WDBZFP0010BBK-NESN.  And now I wait :frowning:

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Thanks for your order @DaveG! We hope you love your Tablo. 

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Now I gotta get back to getting some projects done around the house. 

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My Tablo showed up today.  It’s smaller than I expected, eh?  I knew it was designed in Canada, but I ASSumed it was made in China/Korea/Mexico/India.  Nope, there’s a big “Made in Canada” stamp on the box.  Awesome!  It’s almost like being made in America, just different :wink:


http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/941379/ottawa-made-tablo-tv-streams-free-hd-channels/

Of course, I have to wait on my antenna and hard drive to get here…

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@DaveG - The secret is that we use maple syrup to glue the components together.  :))


But seriously, it’s 100% true that Tablo is conceived, designed and manufactured right in Ottawa. 
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It’s all hooked up. Of course I got home late and had to leave for a volleyball tournament before I could do much. Maybe we’ll get beat and I can get home at a decent hour. :slight_smile:

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I’m sure this is gonna end up like 99% of my first dates, but OMG I’m in love…


I shoulda gotten a 2TB drive.