You seem to come up with a problem every two days. What’s your schedule for November? Nov 1 problem X, Nov 3 problem Y, Nov 5 problem Z… Is the payment haul a problem every two days?
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Every two days? Seriously?? On which planet?
I’ve posted here very infrequently (months have gone by), primarily due to all of the bias and defensiveness for a flawed product (on what’s supposed to be a open forum)!
…not unlike the (intentionally alienating) nonsense from you above!
I purchased my first Tablo 4 years ago, and it still works great today. I purchased the 2nd one about 2 years ago, and it works great. Granted, I have ethernet running to most of my devices, and use a top of the line Netgear Orbi AX6000 (overkill for my home).
I also have two HDHomerun network tuners. I never have issues, wired or wireless on my non-Roku based clients (PC, Android, FireTV, XBox), and occasionally have issues with Roku (Ultra and/or Streaming Stick +). It happens both on the Tablo and HDHomerun DVRs, but never on other streaming devices.
Being part of many other tech support boards, Roku seems to have difficulties with “live TV streaming” (from a network device in your home, not YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, etc). It has great difficulties with ATSC 3.0 channels (no audio, frequent buffering) with my HDHomerun DVRs.
FireTV never has issues (both of my FireTV devices are wireless) with either product.
I have also used Windows Media Center (with XBox360 and HDHomerun/Cable card) and TiVo (both antenna and cable card setups).
With all those products in my house, I still use the Tablo DVRs as my primary DVR for recording programs. With all the gadgets I have, I say with 100% confidence that the Tablo DVRs are the most reliable and have the best DVR experience compared with all the other devices I have.
It does have glitches once in a while - but so does every other product I have used, including the Cable/Satellite Boxes I have used over the years. And compared to all the other products, Tablo has performed the best. Most people that ask me - I recommend the Tablo DVR to them, and they simply love them.
Thanks for your insight and input!
My upsetedness with Tablo is that, although it might be a decent product (not exceptional), not only are there issues that basically never get resolved (or problems are added with new updates instead)…but there are simple, basic functions that should (but don’t) exist!
These simple, basic functions have existed on previous generations of OTA DVR’s. You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel (and in the process, eliminate basic functions that are tried and true).
In addition, albeit it’s only $2 a month but the commercial skip seems to only get worse, not better! Especially since the .36 update.
Far too many times, it fails to function at all (the infamous “commercial skip detection failed” message) and when it does, it’s generally hit or miss!
It’s odd that the 14 day guide is (supposedly) still in “beta” when it actually works decently (except for how excruciatingly long it takes to load!).
They really need to go back to the drawing board with commercial skip and stop charging for a feature that basically doesn’t work!
…or is it another of those “works perfectly in beta” stories, so that they can act surprised that there are problems in actual, real world situations (if their testing of it achieved such success, why are there suddenly issues with it?).
…and no, it’s not isolated to me. Nor are there any issues with my antenna reception.
It’s perfectly fine.
Not to mention something as basic as a one-touch record feature using a Roku device (their go-to recommendation), which has always been a standard feature with other (even much older generation) DVR’s.
Not to mention the fact that they seem clueless as to how to truly remedy the missing/always inconsistent “cover art” issue!
…and my #1 annoyance. The inability to reattach a previously recorded on drive, without it being turned into a brick that can no longer be accessed by the very same unit on which the recordings were originally made! Insanity!
Sorry, I don’t want to have to jump through various, convoluted hoops, so that I can (perhaps) be able to watch those recordings on a PC!
That definitely shouldn’t be neccessary, as the freedom to switch drives should be a necessity!
There’s more…but I’ll be ridiculed here as it is for pointing out that, even though it has it’s merits, there are better (current) options, that you, I and perhaps others here haven’t used as of yet (not including the ones that you mentioned).
I’m not going to provide free advertising here, so I’m not mentioning any more specifics.
Therefore, with all due respect, “love” wouldn’t be the operative word here.
“OK for now” might be more appropriate. Especially if it takes forever for them to consider that it’s never been fully baked and still remains a work in progress (with little progress being made over far too long a period of time).
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Not for you obviously. You seem to not believe that others can have a positive experience simply because you don’t.
Now this is your bias! As other constructive commentary noted - no issues. You make manipulative statements expressing your view as facts.
#FakeNews!
This is alienating no nonsense and counter productive. How can others help each other if you’ve already decided it’s “broke”? Essentially a waste of time to mess with.a
Every DVR has different capabilities, different interfaces, and different features. Because it doesn’t have your list of “basic functions”, doesn’t mean that it isn’t well designed. I am 100% sure, if a majority of users wanted a function, it would be added (or at least attempted to be added). I have yet to find any DVR, whether it be from cable, satellite, Tablo, or any other manufacturer that did everything I wanted. Those DVRs just don’t exist.
As for the commercial skip - TiVo (who has been making DVRs since 1999), has the best (they also cost a lot more as compared to Tablo), and they don’t work with Roku, FireTV or any other streaming device - you are forced to purchase the “TiVo mini” at a cost of about $200 per TV…(and that is why it sits in my closet).
There is always a balance between building the ultimate DVR (which requires more hardware specifications and software licenses) and the purchase price that appeals to consumers.
I test drove a $7,500 DVR that was supposedly “the ultimate”, and found it wasn’t any better than the competition (it did have a lot of storage).
If the commercial skip doesn’t work for you - don’t pay for it. You can click the “FF” button to skip through the commercials (that is what I choose to do). There isn’t a commercial skip feature out there that is perfect…
Development for devices are based on:
- Demand from the customer (the more than want it, not the loudest screamers).
- The ability to deliver a product that is what the consumer wants at the price point the consumer wants.
- The amount of development time (programming features takes time to accomplish).
- And the most important - RETURN ON INVESTMENT. If it doesn’t make the company money - they aren’t going to do it.
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You (and others here) completely ignore the fact that I’ve said (repeatedly, no less) that it has it’s merits and isn’t ALL bad!
However, “LOVE” is definitely inappropriate for what is (regardless of what the biased defenders say) a (OMG, here it comes!
) flawed product!
Sorry to contradict you…but the (basic/standard) functionality that I’ve taken issue with (which the ace designers/developers didn’t even consider) existed on the CM DVR+ (which was left off of your list). You can’t condemn either that unit or various TiVo units (that I’ve never used) just because the Tablo products are networked.
I’d rather sacrifice the networking for (what I consider to be) basic, essential functions (that were kicked to the curb with the Tablo) and greater overall reliability.
For example, I’d much rather have the (minor issue) of using a wireless HDMI system, therefore circumventing the need for multiple DVR’s connected to multiple TV’s.
In that scenario, there’s never any concerns or issues with networking problems that can potentially affect the use of the Tablo.
The ONLY feature that was missing from the DVR+ was automatic commercial skip, which has never and will never work properly…but guess what?..
20 years ago it functioned far better on ReplayTV than it’s ever functioned with Tablo’s technology. The technology that’s still in beta, gets worse with each update and yet we’re paying for it (which is ridiculous!).
There are many newbies that haven’t had experiences with previous DVR’s.
They’re unaware that you could swap drives at will without the units re-formatting your drive and kiss your recordings goodbye (total insanity)!
They’re unaware that there was once an (overly complicated ) one touch record feature built right into the remote (that the geniuses at Tablo didn’t even consider for their HDMI units…oops!).
They’re unaware that, when you advanced the guide a few days, you didn’t need to wait as much as 40-50 seconds for it to populate!
It was there instantly!
There’s more both in terms of functionality and ongoing problems that seem to take forever to resolve and always get blamed on other sources (such as Gracenote, since Tablo can’t manage their data efficiently)…but (once again) there’s too much narrow-mindedness here for it to even matter!
Trust me, had CM not “pulled the plug” on the guide, it would still be my favorite DVR ever!
No issues whatsoever (except at the outset but they resolved them relatively quickly)…and they actually listened to the users and implemented improvements quickly as well (vs. years of waiting for what will likely never occur with Tablo).
…and no subscription fees either!
No manipulation. No “fake news”…and please don’t get me started with “bias”, when certain contributors are here for the sole purpose of shooting down criticism and overwhelmingly defending what is, in reality, a flawed product (in several respects)…and that actually IS a fact (sorry!).
Regardless of how many emoji’s you use.
You are the one of the most dangerous types of users. You aren’t just trolling, there IS some validity to some of the shortcomings you post about, I’ve even directly said that.
However, your mostly negative approach to the product is not a constructive discussion, it’s just repeating the same things over and over. Even your username reflects your general attitude toward the product.
It’s not so much WHAT you are saying, it’s HOW you continue to say it. If you are so displeased with the product, move to something else.
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There have been discussions OTA DVRs don’t have a 1:1 feature comparisons list… this may not be the right choice.
But to insist all devices going forward need to function just like obsolete and/or proprietary DVRs, OTA or not… it’s comical. Or a competitor troll, maybe just bored - or…
You want to live in an Era where seniors yell at kids to get off the grass, and fussing and complaining “gets things done”
If this relatively small company is still going against a behemoth like Amazon, they have figured out marketing which you, apparently don’t fit into!
Buy a Recast and try telling Amazon how messed up their product is. They may compensate you just to leave them alone.
So based upon your (strange) premise, if a DVR was discontinued, not only is it deemed obsolete, it has also lost all of its worthiness as a product, just because Tablo decided to try to “reinvent the wheel”…and if it’s proprietary, that means the simple, basic functionality (that worked for many years to improve the user experience) should be avoided, just because this company thinks that they know better!
…even if they decided not to incorporate certain ergonomics (that made other products quite successful over the years).
No, they aren’t required to incorporate this (tried and true) functionality…but does that make it a better product? Absolutely not!
…and is it not worthy of (constructive) criticism as a result?
Just started something weird today. I scan for new channels, select ones I want, press add to guide. then get circle of death - it keeps going forever. @TabloTV any ideas besides opening a ticket?
Since you didn’t mention which app you were using, what happens if you broke out of the app and tried again , or what happens if you try using different app, or if something as simple as using the settings screent to request a guide update works, I don’t think anyone is going to pull any rabbits out of the hat.
Don’t know what I did but I managed to fix it. I’m st use to the channels being added faster.
Chiming in to add a data point. So far I have no issues with my Roku Ultra connecting to my Tablo.
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