i have had the quad hdmi for about a week now and it’s performance is fine. a few bugs with the channel skip feature but overall very good. my problem is that when i went to sign up for the lifetime subscription service it only showed monthly and yearly. these are the first models from tablo i am aware of that do not offer a lifetime subscription. tablo support says it is a company decision with no technical reason. for people with a lifetime licence wanting to upgrade to the hdmi models this is something you need to know. it is not shown on the product page, you have to find their subscription page and in small red letters at the bottom they exempt the hdmi models from the lifetime service. now i have to unhook the setup, box it up and send it back , oh and i have to pay the shipping.
While it’s a bummer, this page does call it out…
Tablo DUAL HDMI OTA DVR | Over The Air (OTA) DVR | Tablo (tablotv.com)
yeh, thats the subscription page i mentioned in my post. people with lifetime licences wont go to that page. they already have a lifetime licence which would be useless if they upgrade to the hdmi models. they need to put that on their product page.
As the small print also mentions, your guide data service is tied to YOU not a specific device so lifetime guide subscriptions can be transferred to an HDMI model within the account portal. That is the only exception.
thanks for the reply. that information would also be helpful on the product page. so as a work around are you saying if i bought the cheapest tablo available with a lifetime subscription my hdmi unit would also get the lifetime subscription. that would save me the hassle of returning mine.
If you’re a new subscriber you can only have 1 Tablo connected to your subscription account at once so you’d need to decide whether to place it on the HDMI or the other DVR.
“upgrade” 
how is my networked tablo inferior or a downgrade from an HDMI connected tablo?
it’s not an upgrade for some but for people in rural areas with spotty internet service or people who want to take it along in their RV the hdmi version after setup is less reliant on internet connectivity. at least that is the claim by tablo.
here is a link to the tablo page that covers the main differences between the two models. it seems that the hdmi version sends raw mpeg 2 to your hdmi connected tv without any transcoding. the network connected version has to transcode the video so it can stream smoothly but the file is compressed. " Introducing Our Newest TV-Connected OTA DVR, Tablo QUAD HDMI | Over The Air (OTA) DVR | Tablo (tablotv.com)"
ok, but you made a blanket statement
Not that any one has a lifetime license, annual or monthly even. Agree, it’s a better choice for some.
Each has their benefits and one isn’t necessarily better than the other - the best is which ever best fits the users needs… individually.
I’m well aware of the differences since the announcement, including noting the fee for in home streaming. They had clarified since beginning you can add or swap an HDMI to a lifetime, just not buy new - subscription. They sever sold lifetime licence
you people live here. i just found out about this product recently. the main point of this thread is that new customers need to know that the tablo hdmi products do not offer a lifetime licence. it needs to be on the product page and not at the bottom of the subscriptions page in small print. most people will get right to the end of the free 30day subscription before they find this out when it’s too late to return the product. im sorry if i offended some by calling this an upgrade, but better video quality on the hdmi connected tv by many would constitute an upgrade.
I’ve had my OG Tablo 2 tuner for 7 years, and I would consider going to a Tablo QUAD HDMI an “upgrade”. It is newer, it has a better tuner in it, it is 4 tuners vs 2 tuners, and native MPEG2 video quality is definitely better than the compressed h264 video. So you’re not wrong to say that, don’t worry about it.
That said, I am happy with my OG Tablo.
Sure the video quality is superior. In a multiuser family household an upgrade may be 6 streams on a larger mix of devices. An upgrade may be tablo Connect for traveling users. An upgrade, “the best” is what fits your upgraded needs, one isn’t inferior to the other based on one feature as a blanket statment…
Why not offer the LIFETIME guide data to those that have only the HDMI model, letting them know Tablo Connect features mentioned do not work ifor anything on the HDMI models of Tablo. It would save them money over the long haul. I already have a grandfathered lifetime guide subscription so I can add it to the hdmi model if I got one.
There ya go! That probably doesn’t make good business sense when they need to generate revenue.
The playing field and changed drastically since their first release, espically with the global giant talking one in the mix. Still there isn’t a 1:1 for OTA DVRs so there’s advantages if consumers pay attention.
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