yep… and mpeg2ts as a “file” is not necessarily true “streaming” either. Were you doing HLS chunk streaming or something else? (e.g. something other than remove file access) Anyway, main point is mpeg2 vs something more readily supported.
Again respectfully, I disagree that accessing a remote file and viewing it remotely is not streaming. The file is not local, therefore it is streamed.
Many devices (not Roku as stated) can play MPEG-2. And if the Tablo had a simple DLNA server in it my TV natively (so can almost all other Smart TVs) play the files remotely like it did with MythTV.
“Streaming” is a term of art in the web world. True streaming requires certain file types and server capabilities. Just because you can download a file and view it does not make it a “stream”.
The file in this case is not downloaded. There is not enough memory in the TV to download a 4GB file.
cjcox’s point was that the mpeg2ts file format is not natively streamable. Obviously MythTV was doing something to wrap that file so that the DLNA player could handle it. But this is really a quibble about terms.
No idea what MythTV was doing and don’t care, shouldn’t have to care. The “server” was making the TV show available remotely to the “client”. MythTV used a standard DLNA server to make content available to the Video Player on my TV. All I needed to do was point the player at the MythTV server and browse through folders.
Neat thing there is that the DLNA server presented 3-4 ways to get at the files, things like latest recordings, or per show.
Actually, I was making two points. 1. mpegts isn’t the BEST at being streamable. and 2. it isn’t the universally supported format (due to cost usually). With all this said I will be playing with the format in my new DVR project, so I’ll let you know what I discover.
1 Like
Maybe not?
Tivo has indeed beaten Tablo to the punch. The punch is the outstretched hand of Mr. Rovi 
I agree the Tivo interface is excellent. I had a Tivo OTA for a year. The 500Mb HD was fine for our use (and I pulled it out of the Tivo to use with Tablo). We don’t keep shows around. We record them, watch and then delete. Even after a vacation of over two weeks, it was only half full when we returned.
I still think Tivo is the best option if you only want to view on one TV. A comment about the drives running all the time. The Tivo is constantly recording on the last four channels you used so if you go to that channel again it’s almost instantaneous, something Tablo could offer as an option to speed up channel switching. Pluses for Tivo:
- Excellent interface
- Fast(er) channel surfing
- Rock solid performance
- Recordings at broadcast quality
I migrated from Tivo to Tablo about a year ago because:
- I didn’t want to continue to pay $15/mo. Lifetime subscription was not available on Tivo unless you were lucky enough to catch it at exactly the right time
- Tablo can be accessed from multiple devices without extra charge
- Tivo subscription is for the device, not the user. So if you want to upgrade three years later to a new device, you need a new subscription. Tablo subscription is for the user so I can upgrade at any time without a new subscription fee.
- Tivo apps are limited and to get most available channels you would still need another device anyway (Roku, Fire TV, etc)
I’m happy with the Tablo but am always looking forward to software and firmware updates hoping for improvements to speed, recording quality, ability to change guide size, etc. It’s a good device but there’s lots of room for improvement.
That makes absolutely no sense.
Did the same with my 4 tuner Tablo-works great
Note: All my costs quoted below for products or services include sales tax unless otherwise indicated.
I feel TiVo hurt themselves by being so greedy for so many years asking $16mo (with 1 yr agreement) and an astronomical $648/lifetime for guide data, etc. Had they not been so greedy, I feel they would have been a bigger part of the early cord cutting revolution. Not until recently (just prior to Rovi buy out) have they tried to play catch up with the Roamio OTA for $399+tax which includes their lifetime subscription, which in reality is for the lifetime of the box you purchase, not YOUR lifetime which is the big difference between Tablo and TiVo. However, it helps make TiVo a viable alternative to Tablo so the decision between the two now comes down to a matter of personal needs and preferences. I have used both and I chose TiVo and I’ve taken a bit of abuse here in the Tablo forums for sharing that decision. Here is my personal cord cutting journey to help you better understand how I got there.
Way back in January of 2013, I bought two 3rd gen TiVo boxes (500GB Premiere/2 tuner) + two 1TB media drives + one TiVo Stream for $574 to avoid having to rent Time Warner Cable equipment. The addition of the media drives gave me a total of 3TB. The TiVo Stream gave me TiVo on my iOS devices in & away from home. With the $30/mo in TiVo fees ($16+$14 with 1 yr agreement) and the $11/mo for TWC’s cable cards, I don’t think I saved that much but I just had to try TiVo. I liked TiVo over the TWC box except for the ever present Charmin ad and having to use TWC’s tuning adapters (for signal decompression), MORE boxes under the TV. Had I known all this, I may have just rented TWC boxes.
In April of 2015, I decided to cut the cord. I compared the current offerings and chose Tablo. I liked the $150/yr lifetime guide (MY lifetime). I paid $770 for a 4-tuner Tablo + lifetime sub + a 1TB drive + two Roku 3’s + a 35-mile antenna. I boxed up my TiVo equipment, returned TWC cards & tuning adapters, and told TiVo that I was tired of paying $30/mo. and still having to endure their relentless Charmin ad.
I enjoyed using Tablo for a few months, 4 tuners was nice (no recording conflicts), the iOS app was really nice but the Roku app crashed almost every time I tried to fast forward a recording. Then as my 1TB drive got to 70%, I realized that I really missed the TiVo feature of keeping only the latest X number of episodes of shows. I didn’t want to keep every game show, talk show, news broadcast, etc. I began my weekly ritual of deleting (one at a time) all the extra episodes that I would never watch. Also, I wasn’t happy about having to go back to the Tablo guide for every channel change and then having to wait 3 seconds while the new channel loaded. About the time I got tired of the Roku crashes, deleting episodes, and slow channel surfing, I realized I could plug an antenna into my old TiVo Premieres. So I hooked them up, called TiVo and was pleased to be offered lifetime subscriptions for $106 per box (as a longtime customer - 23 months) so I went for it. I was also pleased to see the ads gone. Also changing channels on TiVo is much faster. For me, the only downside to TiVo is that when the equipment dies or becomes obsolete, so does my lifetime subscription. But I figure I’ll have it long enough to absorb that cost. Either way, I felt that I found a set up that works for me, at least until another technology entices me with improvements (Tablo?).
In the last couple months, PlayStation Vue finally went national and I jumped at their offering of 55 on demand cable channels for $30/mo on my PS3 system. It’s the perfect companion to recording the local broadcasts on my TiVo. I can watch anything I want at anytime.
I am selling one of the TiVo boxes (plus a 1TB media drive) for $350-$400. I bought two Amazon Fire TV’s for about $180. I went with AF TV because they have apps for TiVo, PS Vue, (and also Tablo, should I ever go back there in the future). The new AF TV 4K has a faster CPU and is very snappy - no slow loading of menus, channels or anything.
So at present I have TiVo (local broadcast recordings) and PS Vue on all 3 of my TVs (up from 2). The devices on each TV are: (1) PS3 + TiVo Premiere (2&3) Amazon Fire TVs. Also I have TiVo and PS Vue on my iOS devices (TiVo Stream still needed to get TiVo on phone & tablet). So for $30/mo, I have everything I had with cable TV for 3-4 times that cost. I am happy with the performance of my equipment: Not one crash since I began. I must add that I recently got Google Fiber so I have a 1Gb/s (1,000Mb/s) data speed which is saweeeeet!
1 Like
Amazon Fire has a TiVo app. It is Beta but works great. At present, it only allows you to watch your recordings & delete (after watching) so you have to do everything else on the TiVo box itself. Amazon Fire TV can use WiFi and I think TiVo Mini requires Ethernet.
Were you just being generous here or were you truly able to begin viewing a Live TV channel within 3 seconds?!?
EVERY* time I tune to a Live TV channel, it takes 10+ seconds before the video shows. That is with iOS devices and the Apple TV 4 app. *unless recently tuned to or recording that channel
I currently choose the TiVo as well. It just works too well. I got a Tablo in January because I am tired of paying tivo’s monthly fee and the lifetime fee would be $600 (even after 2+ years of using the Roamio). I was hoping it would replace the TiVo right away, but having to stream from iOS devices to the ATV4 using AirPlay was not going to get WAF, so the Tablo has been sitting on the shelf under the TV waiting for the ATV4 app. The app isn’t good enough (yet) to compete with the TiVo, so I’m still paying TiVo until the Tablo app gets enough features to make the switch easier (it’ll still be painful giving up the TiVo, it’s just that good).
I was actually estimating, I never timed it but I remember Tablo admitting to 3-5 second waits for the channel to buffer(?) to their DVR. So I guess TiVo figured out how to do that without making you wait.
If you prefer TiVo, CALL them (not email, etc.) and tell them you want to cancel because of the monthly fee. They will probably offer you a lifetime (AKA “All-in”) subscription for $100. That’s what I did and I had been a paying customer for 23 months. I don’t know if you would qualify but it is worth a try. I think they did it because now they are selling the Roamio OTA and Bolt with a lifetime subscription included and they figure if you cancel they won’t get any more money from you but with the offer they get $100. I did it and it is sure nice to have TiVo without the monthly fee. Also if you ever sell your TiVo, you will get more for it because it has a lifetime subscription included.
Good Luck
I have called several times. Not happy with response (another reason I want to dump TiVo). I have a Roamio OTA that can accept the cable card so they won’t give me a good lifetime sub price (they want $600, no budging, grr).
If I could have gotten the lifetime for $300 or less I wouldn’t even be looking at the Tablo. I missed the $300 Roamio OTA deal back in January. 
I like the idea of the Tablo, including the smaller lifetime sub fee and that the sub is tied to the account, not the device. The UI just needs work (they are working on it).
Like I said, I’m ready to dump TiVo, even though I’ll miss the great features. Just need Tablo to catch up a little more and I’ll be good to go.
I checked fast live tv in the options and now when I tune in a channel on the new ATV4 app I’m pretty sure it never takes more than 7-8 secs to start the playback. Then there’s a small hiccup 3-4 secs in but it’s fast enough for me.
Btw this setup is really kicking ass, I kept my split cable still because I went with 2 tuners and I sometimes use them both to record something, this way I have a 3rd tuner easily accessible with instant channel switching, but I’m usually watching from the ATV app.
Can’t wait until we have sorting options on the recordings and the guide info pops up faster, but for 0$ a month this is beautiful.
As a daily TiVo user, my standard of kicking ass and beautiful seems to be higher than yours. 
(That was tongue-in-cheek. I am actually hoping Tablo gets the ATV4 app improved quickly so I can use it too).
1 Like
Live TV channel changing times are never going go get any better than what they are, it is inherent in the conversion process. If you’re hoping for a miracle, I wouldn’t way too long.