Can I prioritize my scheduled recording list? From what I can tell, the answer is “no”; Tablo sets its own priority based on when the user added the recording to the list.
Has that changed?
So if you have 3 shows to record at one time and 2 tuners and there is a conflict, the Tablo will automatically choose the 2 shows you want?
Unfortunately no such feature (yet - I have no idea what is to come, but they’re always coming up with new great features).
According to what I know, if you have more shows than tuners the Tablo will choose the shows that the user scheduled first and will ignore the shows that the user scheduled later.
This is a real issue, frankly. For example, I have a bunch of shows scheduled inside WMC right now; when Magnum PI came on in the fall, I scheduled it AND moved it up the priority list to make sure if there was a conflict, it would record.
Now imagine using a Tablo for several years and scheduling recordings, and as new shows appear in the lineup each year they simply get dumped at the bottom of a non-adjustable priority list. Suddenly that new hot show you REALLY wanted to catch, didn’t get recorded.
An automated priority scheduling feature is crucial to a solid DVR experience. Let me arrange my series recordings in whatever order of importance I want, and let the automated system follow that. If a new show comes on, let me put it inside that priority list where I want it, and let the system do its thing.
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That’s the whole point of the Conflicts page. It lets the user resolve those conflicts as they wish.
Does it let you set it once and forget it for a series or a group of series?
Or must the user always be on it, looking for conflicts as scheduling changes?
If you try to schedule a show that creates a conflict, it will let you know right away. And if you continue, you can go into the conflicts screen and resolve it for any episodes in the two week window.
It won’t resolve for a whole season, so if you set up three different weekly recurring shows (on a two tuner) on the same time, whatever you did for the current two weeks won’t continue. It will default back to the third show not being recorded.
I just don’t see the issue. A user is given all the tools to resolve conflicts.
I vehemently disagree with that last statement. I do so having seen much better ways to manage all of this, ways that do not involve regularly going into a conflicts screen to deal with things.
I don’t want to fiddle regularly with the DVR. That’s not my end goal, and gives me no pleasure. I want to set it up and have it run using the series instructions I give it.
Putting series in a user-specified order in a priority list, and going there to revisit it only when brand new shows are added (once a year), is a significantly better tool. If Tablo doesn’t have that, then Tablo most certainly is not “giving all the tools to resolve conflicts”.
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Actually, new shows are dribbled out multiple times a year. September through October and January. And who knows what happened after the December premier of Deal-or-No-Deal.
And then there is all the potential conflicts for sporting events you might be interested in. In the end no matter what technique you use you have to determine and resolve conflicts.
I see @adam1991’s point - conflicts can arise after scheduling (esp if I’m scheduling irregularly occuring things, or as shows move around channels and/or times), and I would need to proactively open up the conflicts page regularly if I cared to do so.
It’s entirely feasible that I could set priority levels every time I schedule something - 1-100, or High/Med/Low or whatever, to help improve what Tablo’s conflict resolution approach would otherwise be. It’s also conceivable that there could still be collisions, but wouldn’t it be great if my Tablo could alert or email me when a new conflict arises and let me resolve if I wish?
Indeed, there are lots of improvements that could be made. I love my Tablo very much, but certainly they’re not done improving 
How about everyone just buy a brand new Tablo QUAD? So with 6 or 8 tuners total, there will never be conflicts 
lol
I just watch less TV.
Never a conflict. 
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Or put some sort of timer on your Internet and TV usa click
If people had a timer on their TV how could they collect all the known episodes of SeaHunt and Rin-Tin-TIn and manually remove the commercials.
Maybe someones Plex library is hungry and needs to be fed more episodes.
All the tools you need are not necessarily all the tools everyone else needs. Me, I need a tool to adjust start/end time a minute in either direction (start a minute late or end a minute early). That may not work for you… but it resolves my conflicts.
I would vote for a priority feature. I used it a lot on the Tivo, before I discovered Tablo I don’t have the money to buy another Tablo right now. I don’t get a lot of conflicts, but when I do, it would be nice if the Tablo resolved it according to my order of preference, not the order in which I added the recording to the schedule.
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Something like what FireTV Recast can do would be awesome.
Here’s a video clip I found on YouTube (starts @8:25): Scheduled Recordings - Priority
gee, that’s pretty much exactly how Windows Media Center does it–and has done it for…how many years now?
Again, it’s not understandable how anyone choosing to go into the DVR market could ignore functionality so basic and established so as to be an expected standard for behavior.
It was so popular for it’s features, that it was discontinued years ago, and it required some particularly expensive hardware… I can’t seem to remember what it was…
Oh yeah, it required a computer.
I don’t know how expensive the computers everyone else buys, but mine are all way more expensive than a Tablo.
Doh!
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The Tablo has the functionality to handle conflicts, like all other DVRs. That is the expected behavior. Just because it isn’t exactly like you demand doesn’t make the product wrong.
We’re actually going to be reviewing the conflicts engine this year. All of this feedback is super helpful!
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