I’ve been using Tablo for two years now, and I see no reason to ever quit using it, so I’ve been thinking about moving from my monthly guide data subscription to a lifetime subscription. Just wondering if Tablo has any kind of discounts on the lifetime subscription for those who’ve been purchasing month to month for a while.
My understanding is that they do not. If they did then everyone would go that route. I just paid for the lifetime after the 30 day trial because I knew they would improve the software and that there was no going back for me after such a huge investment.
Unfortunately you just have to bite the bullet and pay the full price!
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It won’t hurt to ask them directly.
I’ve seen a few posts about users being given a discount when switching to lifetime subscription, but it’s not an automatic thing they do.
I did a 1 year subscription initially, until I proved to myself that Tablo would work well for my needs, and then bought the lifetime. No special deals, and I remember something about a special deal to folks in our position being unfair to those who bought the lifetime subscription up front, almost as an act of faith. But, I figured after 3 years of lifetime, it would pay for itself anyway.
When Tablo becomes available in ATSC 3, I figure I’ll replace mine when I have to, and will continue using my lifetime subscription, something not possible with TiVo, because in Tablo’s case, the subscription is tied to the user, not the box.
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I don’t think that something like 20% off for a two year user would be unfair. At the end of the day, the long time user would have paid $120 + $120 = $240 while the guy who jumped in with both feet would have only paid $150. Of course, there’s nothing unfair about not offering any kind of a discount either. No worries though, I just wanted to see if there was any kind of a program out there.
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I bought my first Tablo off of eBay and didn’t get a trial of the program guide. I went ahead and bought the life time program guide so it has already paid for itself. The one I bought off eBay lasted 2 1/2 years and I couldn’t connect to it any more come to find out it was the WiFi antenna that went out on it because I plugged it in directly to the router and it worked but it was to much trouble for me to run a tv antenna to the router. I bought a brand new one and the guide went right over to the new one at no cost. Also if I ever do decide to run a cable to the old Tablo the guide should work on it for free. I’m glad I paid for the lifetime program guide.
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Apart from the Wi-Fi issue, how long do tablotv boxes last typically?
I have price barriers in my head. So a $40 box should last 2-3 years and a $200 box 5x this length. Definitely, don’t have the stomach to buy and resetup a new box every 4 years or less.
Tablo 2 Tuner - 3 years so far
Tablo 4 Tuner - 2.5 years so far
One is 3 1/2 and one is 3 years old. Original power supplies and original WD element discs.
I planned on giving my older unit to a relative. But husband/wife just couldn’t agree to any cordcutting strategy. In preparation for the gift, a year ago I purchased a dual. So now I also have a dual using internal storage.
Obviously, not going to see huge lifetimes yet, as the devices can’t really be 5 years old… but I have one of the early 2-tuner ones (July 9, 2014) and it’s still going strong.
I think one of secrets to long unit life is managing the heat that the unit generates.
Since tablo uses a passive heat sink, I always raise my unit at least 1-2 inches above the underlying surface. And I make sure the type of underlying surface doesn’t reflect or retain excessive heat. My surfaces are real wood.
I got a $10 laptop fan from Amazon about 3.5 yrs ago and it runs cool. Been working fine with 2TB seagate usb portable drive for 4 yrs now. Then upgraded my network and very few problems the last 2 yrs.
I bought my first Tablo off eBay so I have no idea how old it is but things break even on new products. My Tablo stil works it’s just the WiFi card went out on it and I’m to lazy to run a cable to it. I’ve never had any problems using it until the card went out. But I have looked on the internet and I could replace the WiFi card in the unit. I saw it being done on YouTube and if you do it your self it doesn’t cost that much to replace but a single 4 turner works fine for me. I might replace the WiFi card my self and use one Tablo for recording tv shows and the other to record movies.