Greetings everyone. Current dtv subsciber, soon to be cord cutter, looking at Ota options. I’m here because Im leaning tablo but want to validate some assumptions . If this isn’t the right place let me know.
Love the tablo concept. I just don’t think my wife will. from what I am reading the big weakness is channel surfing. Is that true?
As a former tivo user back in the directv hr10 Era, I saw tivo and directv part ways. They became quite litigious. The reason I say that here is because I’m beginning to see why tablo may be lagging behind and that it may not ever sport some of the more granular recording features of tivo :parents are locked up. Tivo is a company that is very active legally and even going after Samsung apparently. I doubt we will see commercial skip on a tablo for this reason
Directv had to redesign its ui to avoid the tivo parents and it took along time. I expect tablo will have a hard time adding recording features as they will bump up against both tivo and directv parents.
Could anyone more familiar with tablo comment? I’d like to see tablo successfu and frankly the tivo roamio rollout has not been a cakewalk either in terms of a solid nature product which after these many years should be near flawless. . I’m astonished at the quality details they are fighting.
But what can tablo do that isn’t already patented? It seems recording management features could be on the list?
I have a question about set up . Tivo requires a zip code and I’m reading about issues there. Does tablo? Will tablo capture 100% of available channels because they are there, or will tablo present some subset based on some database?
TV stations that are not currently tuned by a tuner on the Tablo will take about 20 seconds or so to be tuned.
Why? Tablo is a streaming device. So the format that things are stored in requires some delay while being tuned and buffering for display (which could possibly be remote and possible of a lesser bitrate).
Tablo does use your zipcode to find the stations applicable to you. The goal is 100% of the channels for your area, if not, a support ticket can be raised… I’ve found them quite responsive.
Tivo is Tivo. Tablo is not a Tivo. But a Tivo is also not a Tablo. With a Tablo and subscription, you can watch Live TV from anywhere (even if you’re far from home), just need Internet. However, in order to use Tablo remotely, any end device must be paired with the Tablo on the same local area network first. Once paired, the device can be used from anywhere.
Certainly one could consider Tablo to be a Tivo competitor. Tablo works with your end streaming capable devices, where the common case of a Tivo setup means the Tivo is directly connected to your TV. Tivo has a lot of configuration options, but might be expensive to handle some of the features of the Tablo (if not impossible).
Is there anything wrong with a Tivo? No. And depending on what you need, it could be the best choice. However, Tablo presents a compelling case for inexpensive OTA TV from anywhere.
I bought a Roamio 4 months ago when I cut the cord but I bought a Tablo a month ago and now I’m only using my Apple TV for watching tv. I do miss the ability to channel surf but since I mostly use PS Vue and Netflix for watching TV it’s not a problem.
If I was only watching OTA I’d go with the Roamio, it just more natural to use and more like using a cable box but the TiVo Amazon Prime and Netflix apps were slow and clunky, it was better to stream it to the ATV from my phone or iPad. Most if not all apps were that way. Also, my wife kept grabbing he TiVo remote when the tv was set to ATV and just couldn’t get the hang of it. Moving to Tablo means one input and one remote (unfortunately it’s the ATV remote …).
Having said all that the Roamio was a great box and I liked some things about it a lot better than the Tablo - the guide, surfing, recording options, etc.
Thing is, tablo could do a lot re recordings management were or not for tivo parents. That’s the point I was trying to make. Tablo is what it is but what tablo could become is limited
I’m drawing on my experience with directv years ago, when they and tivo parted ways, and making an educated inference here for discussion sake. Tivo is, in my opinion and based on my own observations, a very litigious company. They have been in the dvr business for decades and protect their IP vigorously. I’m only suggesting that this has a very great influence on competitors. Any technology that tivo developed over the past years and protected with a patent is involved here, affecting things such as commercial skip technology and even ui elements such as the ux to change recording options - - for example directv had to re design their own ux for this function, which imho is inferior to tivo.
I’m just saying that anyone designing a dvr will have to contend with that and work around those obstacles. No I don’t have numbers but it might be an interesting exercise to research
Roamio:
Connects directly to your TV, thus channel surfing is instant & setup doesn’t require any third party device. Tivo’s DVR features are really second to none, they have been in the DVR business longer than pretty much anyone & have a very nice UI & feature base. You will get the video in it’s native format & with surround sound in tact.
Tablo:
Doesn’t connect to your TV only to your network, thus watching on a TV requires a smart TV or a third party device. The video is transcoded for easier streaming, thus channel surfing is extremely sluggish & surround sound is lost. Tablo however is available to pretty much any viewing device on your network - streaming boxes, computers, tablets, phones, etc. Tablo is really good for remote viewing - once a device is paired with your Tablo on your home network, it can access Tablo from anywhere you have internet access.
Tablo, IMO, is the better whole home DVR system. It requires a solid wifi network & third party devices but many, if not most of us, already have these and no wiring your entire home is required. Roamio requires you to buy a Tivo Mini box for each TV in your home & requires a wired network - there are ways to do this wireless but from what I have read it is very unreliable.
I also liked the fact that I access Tablo from my Fire TV. This means that all of my TV viewing is performed through my Fire TV boxes - Tablo, PSVue, Netflix & Amazon Prime. When I was trying to make my decision, I found that Tivo does not support PSVue & it appears they have no intention on doing so in the future.
I don’t, but with some research one could get a good flavor. Just from my observations over the last few years I’ve come to the conclusion that tivo is a very litigious company and vigorously goes after even large companies. They apparently try to protect everything they can so I suspect tablo and others have to find both technical and ux workarounds (like roku, headless streaming, compression, support for 5.1, etc) to try and stay competitive. I bet it’s an uphill battle. Lots of reinventing going on. It’s no wonder that folks like tablo are moving completely away from the traditional dvr.
I consider the non-traditional, network connected, using standard streaming protocols (even if they hide them in APIs) to be a big plus for the Tablo over a traditional pvr.
To be sure. It’s a game changer potentially and could spell the demise of the heavy traditional dvr. Frankly I hope it does. I have learned for example that tivo depends heavily on always on internet - - and not just for guide. Still trying to find out more but this isn’t exactly cutting the cord IMHO only changing to a different one.
Yes I know that tablo requires an internet connection, and streaming from Netflix requires a good one, but streaming Ota content within the home should not require more than that required to establish licensing and get the guide, and all should work well with a 1.5m dsl
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but streaming Ota content within the home should not require more than that required to establish licensing and get the guide, …
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What licensing? Receiving OTA broadcasts doesn’t require a special license. If I have a physical DVR (like the Tablo), the physical device is evidence of being licensed to run it’s software. Licensing to check that you are allowed to receive guide data comes with the guide data.
Theoretically you could get limited guide data from the OTA broadcasts themselves but after looking deeper into that, I see why Tablo (and pretty much every other DVR) went with an Internet based service.
Well yes that is rather my point although I did assume that tablo account was required to establish the license that is tied to you. Tivos license is tied to the device and, from what I can tell, is a very heaviky dependent on the always on internet connection to phone home for permission to work.