(COMPLETED) Per series recording setting to limit number of saved episodes

i agree web ui is a good starting place… work out any minor kinks or issues there then deploy the complete or near complete version to other interfaces…

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This is FAR and away my most wanted feature.

A huge swath of the content available on OTA subchannels is old shows. And I enjoy watching a lot of them. But I don’t need them devouring all the storage space either and causing newer first-run series to get deleted.

I’d prefer in-app functionality, but just adding the functionality period is more pressing. If that means web ui first fine. But please get this feature added ASAP. I’d be more inclined to watch OTA through Tablo far more if I could record more shows without worrying about high-frequency shows gobbling up all the storage space.

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Various postings indicate this feature exists on products like: Tivo, Replay, DirecTV DVR, WMC.

Yet they also claim “This is FAR and away my most wanted feature.”.

Very strange since tablo has never had this feature and it’s also of such importance, why did they buy a tablo in the first place?

Not strange at all.
Tablo is a great DVR.
This feature would make it even better.

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There are probably hundreds of nice features that tablo could have. But should anyone buy a product where it didn’t have “This is FAR and away my most wanted feature.”. Especially when other products have the feature.

Honestly, I simply assumed that Tablo had this feature since all the other DVRs I’ve used have had it. Unfortunately there is no trial period when you buy the DVR instead of renting it as is the case with cable and satellite DVRs. Had I done my due diligence and discovered that Tablo lacked this feature, I would have reconsidered the purchase.

It comes with a free 30 day subscription and all authorized sellers have a 30 day return policy.

You can still return your Tablo. Unless it actually took you more than 30 days to realize this feature didn’t exist lol

WHAT I DID…
Here’s what I have decided to do until Tablo gets the “keep X episodes” feature (or even if it never does):
I reactivated one of my old TiVo Premiere boxes along with my old TiVo Stream (it lets me watch live & recorded content on my WiFi devices like the new Tablo). I had added a 1TB media drive, giving me 1.5TB total on the TiVo Premiere (compared to 2TB on the Tablo). I also have TiVo’s Slide Pro remote that has a lighted slide out keyboard which makes searches waaaay easier. It is Bluetooth so I don’t have to point it at the box.

I am still using my Tablo to record all of my movies. I am also using it for the handful of shows that I want to keep ALL episodes of (Seinfeld, Survivor, The Aviators, and Raising Hope). On my TiVo, I only record the shows that I want to keep only the latest X episodes of (news, game shows, sitcoms, reality shows, etc.).
Although TiVo is costing me $19.99/mo ($14.99 with 1 yr commitment) it is worth it to me to avoid the hassle of constantly deleting old episodes on the Tablo. Unexpectedly, I’ve discovered that I prefer the TiVo interface over Tablo’s Roku & web apps. I have Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube all in one place with TiVo. Tablo’s Roku app crashes routinely and the Tablo web app doesn’t play well with my Apple TV (though not Tablo’s fault). Make your own comparison but for features, ease of use, and reliability I call TiVo the winner. I just hate paying their high monthly fee which is why I originally switched to Tablo.

If Tablo doesn’t get the “keep X episodes” feature by this summer, I’ll probably go for the annual TiVo subscription for $14.99/mo. I feel I must always keep the Tablo as I already paid the $150 for the lifetime guide subscription. Looking on the bright side, I’ll have 3.5TB of total storage. I will keep using the Tablo for movies and complete TV show series as its 2GB capacity is about 300 hours of HD content. I’ll eventually drop Hulu and Netflix (but will keep Amazon Prime to have recent movies, music, and 2-day shipping). I’m currently recording full series of my favorite network shows on the Tablo, so I won’t miss Hulu. Believe it or not, I rarely use those pay streaming services at present because I get 19 worthwhile OTA digital channels (not counting the Spanish, shopping, & religious channels). I am in Austin, TX with a Mohu Leaf antenna in the attic. It is connected to a signal amplifier and wired to all of my existing cable outlets in the house. My future plan is for my total home entertainment costs to be only TiVo + Amazon. I know that I will still have more variety and content than I can watch in a lifetime. Of course, I will also have the MLB and NFL pay services for my sports addiction.

To sum things up, TiVo is a good alternative to Tablo. You pay roughly $10 more per month for the guide service with TiVo (you can’t record on TiVo without the service) but have a nicer, full featured interface. Equipment prices are comparable.

It took me 31 days to realize Tablo was lacking this feature.:scream:

I only need this feature on the web app since that is my “go to” app for scheduling recordings.
I hope this happens soon because I am paying for TiVo until it does.
Thanks

UPDATE: TIVO LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION FOR $100 (may be a temporary special or one they offered to keep me as a customer.)

RECAP: I’m the guy that temporarily activated an old TiVo Premiere box so I could “keep only X episodes” until Tablo gets this feature, if it ever does.

So I activated my other TiVo box (now 2 TiVos @ $19.99 each) so I could transfer all my recordings to one TiVo, then I planned to discontinue service on the “empty” TiVo.

When I called to stop the service on that TiVo box the rep said I could have a lifetime subscription for only $100 per box so I bought two. She said it was a special offer (reg. $500!!!) for long time subscribers (I only was a customer for about a year, one year ago!) They never notified me that I was eligible for this so I think maybe she offered it because I was cancelling service on one of my boxes.

Now I have 3 TB total storage on my TiVos (external drives on each one) with the “keep only X episodes” feature compared to only 2 TB on the Tablo without that feature. In all fairness, I could buy a 4 TB drive for the Tablo but I don’t want to spend more and 3 TB is plenty.

I have all my movies and the shows that I “keep only X episodes” of (news, game shows, etc.) on one TiVo and shows that I want to keep entire series of (Seinfeld, Survivor, Raising Hope, etc.) on the other TiVo. I can watch the content of both boxes on either TV. With the TiVo app (and my old TiVo Stream box) I can also watch everything including live TV on my phone, tablet, and computer. I can also watch anything over WiFi or LTE when away from home. I can transfer content between boxes and download it to my tablet or phone.

SUMMARY:
I like the TiVo interface (app & DVR) better than those (Roku/Web/iOS) for Tablo. The Roku app crashes routinely. I used to hate TiVo until they dropped their annoying ad pop-ups some time ago. I kinda miss the FF preview on Tablo although TiVo’s skip ahead (30s) & skip back (10s) and FF (1x/2x/3x speed) are all good enough for me. I like that I have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon and MLB TV all on one device with TiVo. (Why hasn’t Tablo done this?) I like that TiVo pushes regular updates so I have the same interface as on their new boxes (Bolt, Roamio, etc.) I’ll hold off on selling my Tablo until I find out if the new Apple TV 4 app has the “keep only X episodes” feature. If it does, I’ll sell my TiVo boxes (worth much more now with lifetime subscription) and go back to Tablo (already have lifetime subscription).

The Tablo has done this. Whatever set top box that you use with the Tablo will have most of these apps, plus much more. One box for all your streaming needs.

My apologies, I should have clarified that in my view, the advantage of TiVo is that one needs only one device/interface to access all three things: DVR recordings, Live TV, and streaming services.

Using the example of being able to access all three on one TV set: (1) You can have one TiVo box or (2) you will need a Tablo PLUS a Roku (or Fire, Chrome, Apple TV+iOS device, etc.). With either set up, it takes about the same number of clicks to go from DVR content to streaming services however you have the wait time to connect to the Tablo box when going back to DVR content.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that with Roku (and others) you have a multitude of additional apps/channels. I use one of my relative’s AT&T U-Verse log in to get full content on many of those apps on my Roku/Apple TV/Smart TV (CNN, Spike TV, ABC, to name a few.) so I will always have to use one of those devices along with a Tablo or TiVo to get everything I want. To be honest, with TiVo, I rarely use those other apps/devices as Hulu has a lot of good Cable TV quality shows. Perhaps one day there will be one device that does it all :cry:.

@TabloTV I vote for keep whatever number on Android since I set my recordings during lunch

Wow. I had no idea Tablo was missing this very basic function.

I am ready to pull the trigger and move from WMC, but I have too many series set up that use the “keep X number of shows” feature. I can’t make this transition until that very basic feature exists. I won’t buy into a system that gives me a chore to go in and get rid of old stuff manually. After all, the idea of these newfangled computer thingies is to eliminate the drudgery, right?

Some, yes.
Main reason for cutting the cord is saving money.

Or hatred of the cable company…:grimacing: Cable company in our county is rated as the worst hated company in the country. Year after year! Their customer service is legendary - the stories classic. They actually bought out the previous cable company in our county whose president went to jail. Quite a record of performance for cable in our neck of the woods for the last few decades…

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+1 would like to see this feature. I like recording nightly talk shows - colbert, fallon, kimmel, meyers - I end up with more episodes than I’ll ever watch. Would be nice to say, for example, keep the last ten

Tablo isn’t about cutting out pay TV to save money. Tablo is a DVR. Absent standard DVR features that have been around since the beginning of DVRs, it’s not doing a very good job at being a DVR (yet).

You can cut out pay TV, save the money, and do so WITHOUT Tablo. Without any DVR, actually, but certainly without Tablo.

The whole reason for Tablo’s existence is to be a DVR. What good is a DVR that doesn’t have core DVR functionality?

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The core functionality of a DVR is schedule shows, watch shows, and delete shows. The Tablo does this with flying colors.

The Tablo also does this on almost every platform imaginable, something no other DVR can do.

There are some features that could make the Tablo better, but it a complete falsehood that the Tablo doesn’t have “core DVR functionality”.

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