And of course, Tivo Prem… doesn’t handle antenna. There’s lots of issues with the Tivo line. It makes things too complicated IMHO.
FYI - We did the math: http://www.tablotv.com/blog/the-devils-in-the-details-taking-a-look-at-total-cost-of-ownership
I saw that yesterday. Nice job getting the Tivo OTA in there the day it was announced.
The Tablo definitely beats about everything in total cost of ownership.
I saw that yesterday. Nice job getting the Tivo OTA in there the day it was announced.The Tablo definitely beats about everything in total cost of ownership.
I’ll repeat the same thing I said above. Tablo TV is hundreds of dollars less but the user experience on a regular TV isn’t even remotely close to a Tivo. How about making a table comparing features/missing features? If you want to discuss the strengths of the Tablo, its advantage is streaming but comparing DVR functionality on regular TV, Tablo/Roku is currently epic fail. Other than the handful of enthusiasts on this forum (of which I’m one) the masses of people would laugh if asked to compare which they’d rather use for an OTA DVR on their TV and its disinengenous to say otherwise.
@7UP - We’re always looking at ways to make Tablo more awesome. Some of the things we’ll be looking at over the coming months are improvements to the ‘living room’ viewing experience. Stay tuned!
I wouldn’t say “epic fail”, but I am sure the Tivo is a lot better at being a DVR than the Tablo. Tivo has been around forever, and their software is their selling point.
Potential buyers do need to weight the cost of the devices vs the features that you do or don’t get. As a Tablo owner, I am willing to accept the limitations of the device in the hopes that future software/firmware releases makes it a better product. I can get by with the basic functionality for now.
I think how you consume your television dictates which experience works the best for you.
We still have a TiVo running in parallel with Tablo while I get all the kinks worked out and ensure that it passes the wife test. And I’ll agree that TiVo has a superior “regular TV” experience. But given that in the last 2 years we’ve gotten more and more of our content from over-the-top sources, the way we view broadcast TV has changed.
About the only TV that we still watch live is football. Everything else we watch is time-shifted so we can fast forward through the ads. So for us there is precious little difference between the experience on TiVo and Tablo through Roku. We don’t sit down and channel-surf - we watch our recorded shows and/or Netflix and/or Amazon Instant video. And now with Tablo and Roku we can do it through ONE device, which is absolutely huge in terms of convenience.
Granted, the Tablo Roku interface needs a lot of work to make it more functional (trying to rewind during the Emmys last night generated a “this sucks” from the wife). But I think they’ll get there. And then it will be awesome.
Just my 2c.
Tivo is an expensive route… but if you already have a Tivo investment… sure, I guess. But maybe there needs to be another shirt (Tivo cutter?). 
@cjcox, actually the premiere model I have does OTA Antenna 
I think they made them like the Roamio, the least expensive does OTA and the others do not.
So when I cut the cord from Cable I was able to still use them with the Antenna. Problem was that with my downstairs unit the signal is terrible, so when Tablo came along I was ecstatic since I could put it upstairs with the good signal and using my Roku can watch everything better than before
@Jestep, Tivo’s marketing stinks. Because they make it sound like it doesn’t do OTA.
@cjcox Well, only the low end one does, so typically they have 3 choices and of course they are gonna push the more expensive 
@TabloTV - I will be sure to “stay tuned” … at least for a while ;)
I’ll take a wild guess that most people on this forum are early adopters interested in trying out the latest device. That pool of people is limited. For TabloTV to be accepted by more than those that frequent here, a lot of work needs to done to get beyond “basic funtionality” as DVR, particularly on regular TV.
In our house, prime time TV with DVR, Netlfix and Amazon prime are really all that’s need to keep everyone happy. Initial feedback from kids and wife when presented with Tablo running on Roku wasn’t good which is understandable. Changing channels is painful, there is no EPG, poor recording management and navigations and PQ while good isn’t the same. For Live TV, easy solution is to feed signal directly to TV but that doesn’t address other current shortcoming of Tablo. Is Tablo worth it? In its current state, the general feedback about Tablo in my house was exactly the same as the comments Pundit received during the Emmys.
@Jestep I think I was confusing the word Premier with Plus and Pro also… but I think you clarified it well.
Possibly straying a bit off topic… when I made my own PVR/DVR thing for OTA and/or cable QAM, I used http://titantv.com because their guide has buttons that download the meta data (xml) that I could feed into my channel changer and into my scheduler.
@7up
Guide data has to be paid for somehow (i.e. the table subscription) and so an EPG like thing may be limited to something more “guide like”, like it is now. Though I suppose you could do some kind of overlay that might get you what you’re looking for. I think just saying EPG doesn’t say what you are wanting… you may want to be more specific about what your requirements are for it. You know?
duplicated post deleted
@7up You covered what I was meaning. Just wanted to know what EPG means to you specifically. EPG is one of the places where providers try to differentiate themselves.
.
@cjcox - Could you tell me where the requirement free EPG was introduced? Tablo openly offers its users the option of monthly or lifetime subscriptions as they should. An EPG as the initials stand for is an electronic program guide which is most commonly in grid style with channels on the left and time across the top, ie like they do for the ipad app? Icons for channels as is currently on the Roku isn’t an EPG which is just one of the reasons why its foolish and misleading to compare Tablo to Tivo for DVR functionality or usage with a regular TV. One product is mature and fully the functional the other is a beta product still in development.
My pick is Tablo, and I say this after being a Tivo user (with antenna, not cable) for the better part of 3 years.
There are a few reasons I made the change. One is the monthly cost (as outlined by snowcat). $180 year in and year out is a lot of money for a TV guide and recording features. Also, I only have 1 Tivo box, so unless i spend more for additional devices and a higher monthly fee, it’s not a whole home solution.
Second, there are ads seemly EVERYWHERE. You even get ads when you pause a recorded show. You can get rid of it manually, but you must do this every time you pause.
Third, even though I am using Tivo with an antenna, Tivo automatically adds channels to my personal guide. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to turn off this annoying “feature.”
Also, there is no screensaver.
So overall, despite the current buffering issues with live TV and a Roku interface that is less than er… polished (I will be looking forward to each new revision) I find Tablo to be a cost effective solution for cord cutters wanting a whole house setup.
While I find it pretty easy to ignore them, I fully agree with you on principal that the Tivo ads are annoying and would much prefer if they weren’t there. After paying for the device and service, its just wrong to then feed the customer advertisements. If someone wants a low cost whole house DVR, MCE with extenders is still to this day tough to beat. Take an old Win7 PC, add Silicondust tuner, Xbox as extender from Ebay under 100 and Remote Potato for streaming. No monthly subscription required. Once Tablo Roku devs bring the Roku app up to par with the the ipad app, there will no contest. Hopefully that day will happen sooner than later. Since we’re dreaming, I’m hoping the Fire/Android TV app happens as well.
I do not see ads with my Tivo, where do they show up? I would be curious to know. Or maybe I have just gotten used to them and don’t realize???