I know the Quad isn’t out yet. I’ve read the available information (and a huge thread) on USB drives that work (or don’t), but I’m wondering if there will be recommendations for the internal drives. I’m just going to use a 1TB drive as we don’t record and archive stuff. We record it to view at our convenience and then delete it.
The external USB drives seem to be a bit more fiddly and I’m guessing that’s due more to the USB connection and how the various externals interface with it. I’m hoping the internal drive will be more straightforward and “just work”.
My wife was a little balky at the total cost to switch over from TiVo to Tablo. A lot of that has to do with the extra stuff needed. Another Roku, a hard drive. I managed to find enough Amazon points and a gift card I’d forgotten about and ordered a Roku Ultra. If I can order a hard drive ahead of time and just have it here (she’s used to me having lots of extra computer parts), then when the Quad is released and shee says, “how much is this going to cost us again?”, I can say “$200” instead of “about $400”. Significant because “$200” is less than it would cost us to renew TiVo service
Differences in approaches, licensing, etc. I have friends that love their Tivo. There are choices. I’d examine the features of each first and see what suits your needs, then I’d look at initial cost, recurring cost, and expansion costs. But features might trump any cost considerations.
It’s mostly the service renewal at this point. We have 2 Bolts. 2 annual service. At about $165 a pop that’s $340 a year. On cable they were pretty terrible. Because of the switched digital cable system they required a “tuning adapter” in addition to the M-Cards. Cable company sends signals to tuning adapters and the Tivo and tuning adapter would stop talking. Had to reboot both devices (tuning adapter first) to get them to rediscover each other. And… they were connected to each other by a USB cable so it wasn’t a wireless hiccup.
So we decided to go OTA. Removed cable cards from the TiVos, reset them to use OTA. Saved a boatload of money by turning off the cable TV (like… $1200 a year boatload). This was after getting a Roku Streaming Stick+ just to see if we could live with filling in a few stations we can’t get off the antenna (HGTV, DIY, stuff like that). PhiloTV fills that gap for $20 a month. Cruising along all fat dumb and happy and in December the TiVo service renewed. Wife says, “I still hate TiVo”. So started looking for how to get OTA DVR without breaking the bank. I find Tablo. Well I find a LOT of options, but whatever I narrowed the search DOWN to had to be wife friendly. She’s great with the Roku, so… how about a solution that has a decent interface, records her cop shows and the View and all that junk off the networks we get OTA, and … one remote. Just pick up the Roku remote, hit the home button, TV turns on and switches to the HDMI that the Roku is on. AV Receiver set to autosense (ARC) and switches inputs as well. Slick!
So yeah, it’s mostly about getting out from under the TiVo service annuals, but still being able to record OTA and have 4 TVs easily watchable depending on where you are in the house. Only 2 really get used a lot.
So… I’ll buy the Quad when it comes out. Set it up on 2 TVs, but keep the TiVos alive while we check things out. Come December, if wife is on board, TiVos don’t get renewed. Then I either find someone who wants TiVo (I have the 2 Bolts and also 2 TiVo minis) or they go in recycling. They’re really pretty useless without the service.
The mini boxes don’t cost me anything. They were probably less than $150 to buy and they’re just network devices that feed from a Bolt. If they’re do away with the annual service even if it meant a lifetime buyout it would have to be a a REALLY good price to convince me to keep them as things are. On OTA, they’re actually decent boxes. Before I pull the trigger on the Quad I’m going to call TiVo and give them a chance to convince me to stay. At the time I bought the Bolts, the “all in” plan … their new name for lifetime service… would have cost me I think it was $549. AND… tied to device. So if I ever want to upgrade a device I’d have to buy service again. They’re basically pricing themselves out of MY market.
She doesn’t hate the TiVos on OTA… she really wanted to toss them out a window on cable. She just hates spending so much for guide service.
I have had zero issues with my external hard drive for the nearly 4 years I’ve had my 2 tuner Tablo. Just saying. And the drive was several years old before I used it for Tablo. I was using it as a backup drive for my computer before that. For what it’s worth it is a Fantom Drives 1TB External Hard Drive.
@SophieCat I suspect that’s the case (not having issues) for a majority of people. It just seems that all of the hard drive related issues I’ve seen have been USB connected. I can’t say I’ve come across this with the Tablos that have internal hard drives. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m waiting for the Quad. Ok, that and the improved ethernet … and money… and time…
I thought the Red only comes in 3.5 inch form factor.
The Black comes in a 2.5 (and 3.5) and is 7200 rpm with bigger cache than the blue for nearly the same price. Not sure the higher performance drive is necessary, but I think the Black has a lot longer warranty than the Blue
Yeah if I were just starting out with Tablo, or my current 2 tuner was about to die, I’d certainly look into the Quad. Having an internal multi TB hard drive just sounds like a good setup. We really don’t need 4 tuners as our 2 tuner has proven to be more than sufficient for us. But upgrading to 4 would not hurt. My 2000 Saturn has a 4 cylinder that is more than sufficient. But an 8 cylinder would be more fun.
We have 8 tuners now. Rarely use 4 at once but it has happened. And if all 4 on one TiVo are recording, then you can’t watch live TV. So switching inputs to TV on antenna is not something we’re unaccustomed to. If we keep bumping into the 4 tuner limit on the Quad and it becomes an issue, I’ll get a Dual to pad the system a bit.
I liked TiVo or should I say the sound of it at first. One box and wifey approved with the guide interface. But I tend to agree on the pricing and when I found out the license was hardware bound and didn’t move with the account I decided to look around.
So I looked into HD HomeRun tuners with a NAS running a Plex server which could also all be managed by a Roku type. That sounds pretty good but there are multiple points of failure. Not bad if I am around but others in the house are not a fan of multiple remotes much less multiple boxes in a system. I like the Plex and will use one even if we go the Tablo route for our own media including music.
Thanks for listening. Sorry so long winded. Have a good one!
