Bought a tablo on amazon… found out my vizio won’t work at all with tablo unless I buy a roku. Worthless junk is on it’s way back to Amazon.
Did you ever think about going to the tablotv WEB site and seeing what output ports it has and devices it works with?
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Ya, you probably need a streaming device like Onn, FireTV Stick, or Roku. This one has an HDMI output. Good luck.
ATSC Digital Converter Box with TV Tuner, TV Recording, USB Multimedia Function, 1080P HDMI
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Seems more like you didn’t research the product very well before purchasing.
There are two images on the this Tablo 4th gen product listing…
and one of them clearly states Vizio TVs are NOT directly compatible without a compatible third-party streaming device.
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Hey I have one of those and use it as a backup with weekly time recording for a couple of show my wife likes that are on CBS. We don’t have Paramount Streaming so this is cheap solution. Tablo has worked well for us with lots of teething pain LOL. I have said before I felt like a Beta Testor without opting into being a Beta tester. For the most part my wife and like the Tablo especially for the price. I hope they market a ATSC 3.0 unit when the time is right. I can’t see buying a Zapperbox for their crazy price!
Peace
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Nope, doesn’t work on Vizio’s build in Smart TV OS. They never had that on their supported list.
However, I have NEVER liked Smart TVs. I wish you could find stupid TVs, but it seems they are all Smart TVs and I find it annoying. They try to keep themselves updated and will change to screens I didn’t ask for in an attempt to update or perform other functions I don’t want. I just want to turn on the TV and have it on the same input I had it on when I shut it off.
Here is my other problem with Smart TVs. Their proprietary OS is only supported for a limited time, and then they tell you it is obsolete and to get a new one.
I much prefer an external streaming device, like a Roku. Do they become obsolete? Of course they do, but can be easily replaced for $50.00 or less. Several of my Roku are close to five years old.
One more wild advantage of NOT relying on HDMI… if you plug the DVR into your TV via HDMI you will have access on that TV only. One Tablo in the house, sending it out over the home network easily connects to multiple TVs. I have six TVs in my house (all using Roku), and all six can connect to the Tablo at the same time, and run quite well.
I won’t claim that Tablo is perfect, but for me it works VERY well, and for the price it is remarkable. Anything that I have found that even comes close it 2 -3 times the price AND requires a monthly fee.
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Smart TV’s stink! We got a FireTV for the bedroom a few months ago. Yes it works but it is a pain in the rear to just get to live-TV. I’ll take a dumb TV anyday and add my own streaming device going forward. Hopefully I will be able to find one when we replace our living room TV!
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While I totally agree with this sentiment, I have an ONN TV (Walmart Brand) that comes with a Roku interface, it acts entirely like a dumb TV at all times. You turn it on, and it goes to the last input you used. You only see an input menu when you want to change inputs. I still use an android dongle. The only way to get to the built in Roku interface is by hitting the home button on the remote. This is how all TVs should operate.
OTOH, I have a couple of Amazon Fire TVs that are so annoying, I have disabled them as much as possible, by factory resetting and not logging in, to avoid their stupid home screen full of ads.
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Get a $15 Onn or Amazon stick and you’re good to go. The TV tuner above won’t work.
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I just picked one of those up at a 2nd hand store for $6. As far as I can tell it was never used. The remote is pristine. As an ota video recorder it reminds me of an old vcr. No plans to use it for that. I basically bought it for the signal meter. It’s connected to an hdmi input of our main TV. When the snow melts off the roof (and it gets warmer out) I plan to use it to see how my antenna aiming is.
Smart TV’s can run out of memory so a 20 dollar stick is a good fallback.
My Roku 3600RW is 10 years old and still works fine.
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Sorry that didn’t work out for you. In my experience, Roku and some of these other options have a better usability than the smart tv menus. You might end up being really happy to get a Roku, plus the added bonus of getting the Tablo to work. Good luck.
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