One of the features I like with our Verizon FIOS dvr is the ability to limit the number of recorded and saved episodes per series.
For instance, if I record the local 11:00 news everynight, I don’t want to record and save and eventually delete more than one episode. Or if I am recording Law and Order reruns, I don’t need more than 4 or 5 saved at a time.
Of course this adds some complexity in the area of which recordings to “overwrite” or delete (oldest? what if partially recorded?) but Verizon’s FIOS dvr works well so that would be the model I’d follow.
now that I've thought of it, FIOS does FIFO, unless you select a specific episode and click "save until I delete"
We do this now, just on a whole disk level vs. a show level. Your Tablo will automatically delete the oldest unprotected recording if you have this setting activated in the settings screen.
now that I've thought of it, FIOS does FIFO, unless you select a specific episode and click "save until I delete"
We do this now, just on a whole disk level vs. a show level. Your Tablo will automatically delete the oldest unprotected recording if you have this setting activated in the settings screen.
Really do need this on a PER SHOW level as well as disk level… seriously… some shows I want to keep more episodes than others and I for example dont want to waste space on 75 episodes of the simpsons (or curious george) with “OTHER” season and no episode/show description because none was provided by the guide data and the do not record duplicates logic fails… While I would like to have a “few” episodes I dont need 75 of them (and many being dupes due to lack of proper guide data) … where 10 would be more than adequate … combine this with a 2TB limit of disk space usable by the TABLO and it makes it even more tight for disk space than it already is… My only current solution now is to either A. manually record individual episodes (which is a huge pain in the ass) … or B. just not record any episodes (which is undesirable as I want to watch them) or C. go in every day and manually prune out recordings to keep a lid on their space usage.
Also it would be nice to specify the QUALITY of the recordings on a PER SHOW basis … some I want better than others.
There are a couple of things that prevent me from screaming from the roof tops about how good Tablo is, and the ability to limit, by show, the number of copies to save.
The Roku app is being tweaked so the interface is a lot more friendly and Fire TV app is supposed to be coming. But we jst don’t know when.
The last item, which is a big one for me, is the one preventing me from promoting the Tablo to my family and friends, Until there is a way to limit the number of episodes to keep by show, I can’t truly promote Tablo as the best thing since sliced bread.
All the DVR’s I’ve have or used in teh past year have this capability so once you have it, you don’t want to lose it.
@Freway01 - This is definitely on our to-do list! It’s a very popular request so I’d like to see it as one of the main priorities when we set plans for the next few revs in April.
+1 for this feature. I’m cutting the cord on DirecTV and this is one feature I will miss. Banking 1 episode only of the news, Today, etc. Particularly important with no bulk delete feature.
Was just chatting with the engineering team yesterday about this very thing. Bulk delete is coming very soon which should ease a lot of the pain but we’d like to get save X number of episodes in during one of the next releases as well.
Interesting to me that this thread came back around; I had not noticed how many really want the “Save X episodes” feature. I brought this up re: the new release that included bulk delete but not this and got pounded over and over that I must surely be an oddity to want this feature. Anyone that ever had SAGETV or even a Comcast settop box would understand the utility of it. If implemented, it would make the need for bulk delete be tiny. The reason for the clamor for bulk delete was that this feature was missing; were it implemented, the “Bulk Deleters” would have been a tiny minority. In my (old) Marketing opinion, the decision for bulk rather than episode limiting was simply driven by the noise level, not by actually understanding how people use (or want to use) the product. From Tablo comments, I think they feel they’re just fine now that bulk delete has been released and episode limiting is now in the famous “Stand by!!” bucket; maybe in another year.
@OldMike - Actually the decision was based on what was easiest to implement. Save X episodes is already in the firmware but adding it to the apps will require many new screens and inputs whereas adding a few drop down options was much easier.
We made the decision to add the easier functionality now in order to tide folks over.
Then how about add it to the webapp asap and worry about the other “apps” later? That should only be one text input box limited to integers one or greater.
See screenshot with the solution.
I have mentioned this before: this missing feature is the only reason I have not turned off FIOS tv and dvr and why we don’t use the Tablo household-wide. Every month the Tablo subscription pops up in my email and I wonder “did they put in that feature yet?”.
Thing is, I don’t consider it a small feature! Until this is added personally I don’t think Tablo is ready for mass-market.
With all the daily shows that are recorded by various family members, two weeks worth of programming would fill up the Tablo disk, bumping the other “more important” unwatched shows. I don’t want to have to remember to log in and mark those non-daily shows as protected if I haven’t caught up yet. More importantly I would have a riot on my hands in the household and cries of “Dad why did we turn off the FIOS tv???”
To me Tablo (and DVRs in general) is about automation: setting it and forgetting it until you want to watch it. If you have to go in and manage recording by deleting then it defeats the purpose of set and forget.
