I am a current Simple TV user…I have 3 of them (2 1-tuners and 1-2 tuner). I am looking at moving to Tablo, and would like any advice you are willing to give.
I would prefer the 4 tuner, just to have more recording options, but I worry that the signal might be degraded. Those with the 4 tuner, do you find that each tuner gets good signal quality?
Also, I am used to having the Simple TV’s on a timer that reboots them nightly (primarily the STV2 which is the dual tuner). Does the Tablo have similar issues and need regular rebooting?
Overall, the SimpleTV has been excellent for our cord cutting usage, so I expect that the Tablo could be even better because I see that the company seems to actively engage. Is this an accurate assessment?
How is Tablo support?
For reference, I have a wired network (ie, the Tablo would be connected via ethernet) and we have a Roku 3 connected via ethernet as well. Also would access with Windows PC’s.
The dual tuner and quad tuner have the same amplified 1x4 internal splitter. Only 2 of the outputs get used in the dual tuner, but the signal degradation is the same. However, it is minimized with amplification.
My Tablo runs for weeks if not months without needing to be rebooted.
If your network is wired, you will not have any issues with streaming.
Buy the 4. Programs already recorded are run through an idle tuner to generate thumbnails. So if you record several TV shows that air at the same time you need all tuners you can get.
I bought the 4 tuner and am happy that I did. With the start of the new TV season, there are quite a few programs on different channels, at the same time that I wanted to check out. Sometimes I’ve had 4 simultaneous shows going, but often 2 or 3. The 4 tuner Tablo gives you more options. Definitely worth it if you can spring for the extra money.
I also vote for the 4 tuner. We have two 4-tuner Tablos, for a total of 8 tuners. My husband uses one (primarily for sports) and I use the other (primarily for dramas). We have had no problems with signal quality even though we split the signal before sending to the Tablos.
I have the four, and am glad I do. Often have 3 or 4 tuners going at the same time. Any signal issues I have had tied back to the antenna, which I think I now have in a sweet spot.
I bought a 2-tuner and am very pleased with it. My 30-day free guide is about to expire. If I upgrade to a 4-tuner is the guide transferrable (if I purchase a 1-year or longer guide subscription)?
Barbz, SimpleTV has been pretty good for me, but one of my devices recently stopped working and as I look into the crystal ball, I am not sure that SimpleTV is committed to the devices it has in the wild. The support forum, twitter account, facebook account etc have all been abandoned since last January. While I have received a response from their support, and I was able to get the device back up and running (after reformatting my drive and losing all of the recordings), I am feeling that I should be ready to make a change or at least add to my arsenal.
If I were a new customer, I likely would get the four tuner. But in my year and a half of ownership of my 2 tuner, I have had maybe 2 programming conflicts.
Originally, there was a lot of talk about the 4-tuner running too hot. So I waited for a great discount on the 2-tuner model. Once it looked like it was functioning as desired I waited for another great discount on another 2-tuner. The cost was about $40 more then the MSRP of a 4-tuner plus an extra disk. But I have redundancy. It’s extra work to manage 2 devices. But one unit is exclusively sports and movies.