Yes. Under the context of “happy wife, happy life” I need to have everything running through our AppleTV
You’ve probably mentioned this before in other threads, but since said you welcome questions. 
What are you using as a Plex server?
I grabbed a Plex Pass lifetime subscription during one of the their $125 deals many years ago right after they announced DVR functionality was coming, to keep my options open. When I assessed all the factors back then, Tablo was the best fit for our needs as it was a while before Plex DVR was stable enough to actually use with confidence.
I still have one of the OG 2015 Shield TVs that runs Plex Server but I’m not planning on investing any more time/money into that route right now because if I make a change it’s likely going to be when I decide to move to ATSC 3.0 and what I’m reading about HDHR (would be the most logical tuners to use with Plex DVR) is not giving me good feeling about their ATSC 3.0 progress, much less whether it’s going to work at all (or well) with Plex.
Doesn’t adding new DVR equipment and apps cause more confusion than picking up a simple dongle for one app? Either way, you have to teach someone how to use an entirely new system.
It also seems very expensive to buy all this extra stuff for one feature.
I just don’t see why this way is easier.
Synology NAS
Yes, it is more expensive…hence why I’m reticent to do it. However, my wife will complain if she has to use more than one remote and change inputs. First world problems, I know.
LOL… Sorry, I’m seriously not being an a-hole. This just continues to blow my mind the lengths people will go through when – to me – an easier solution is available. I was genuinely curious.
If it helps… you can use your TV remote with many of the STBs out there, even the cheap Walmart onn 4k box. Not trying to sell you on anything. I get the remote issue – we have my mom’s labeled in a way that makes sense to her, even if it doesn’t to the rest of us. (Example: TV remote is called “Apps”!)
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I think it’s important to keep things in perspective when it comes to a new tech item or ecosystem like Tablo 4th gen. This stuff is always buggy and a PITA at first. Hopefully, the learning curve and software “catches up”, and it actually becomes even more useable at some point. But beware, this tech stuff always comes and goes very rapidly!
A few years ago, I started down the network OTA TV rabbit hole with the Recast. As with any new tech item, very painful. Lot’s of time, effort, and $ trying to get it to work “well”, which I think it was on the verge of right before Amazon pulled the plug!
My point is, nothing “keeps me on Tablo”. It is just the current interesting OTA TV device right now (at least to me). Will it be in a few years? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Things will change. ATSC 3.0 may or may not take over, requiring new hardware. The push for DRM will likely lead to “pay walls” charging for OTA broadcasts, at least for “premium” content. Company “A” will purchase company “B”, and the current Tablo will be a casualty. Who knows.
I like the Tablo 4th gen. For now, and maybe for the next few years. If they keep supporting/improving it, I might even buy a future ATSC 3.0 version if it works out and Tablo is still in the game. Perhaps that will “keep me on Tablo”.
Calssicrockguy,
Please explain what is NEW about the tech in the Tablo 4th gen? ATSC1.0 tuners have been around for decades. DVR technology ditto. Tablo has many years of experience with DVRs and tuners. So what is the new technology? The tablo 4th gen is pretty much old tech rebundled in a new box. That’s about it. What may be new is the firmware and software which from what I see and experience was poorly tested and designed.
It may be a box of “old” tech, but’s all new software. To me, that makes it “new” tech since you can’t separate the 2. Software is very often the achilles heel of any “new” tech IMHO.
My 2022 Ford F250 diesel truck is basically a box of “old” tech. But, it’s DOA when its “new” software is buggy.
Maybe I am misusing the word “tech”, but the Tablo 4th gen is “new” whatever you call it.
I agree it’s a new iteration. Previous Tablo boxes haven’t integrated FAST channels, and I’m pretty sure that’s a direct result of the acquisition by E.W. Scripps.
And, one cycle of Company “A” will purchase company “B” has happened recently as a result of the acquisition by E.W. Scripps.
Since I have a lifetime guide subscription I have no intention of jumping ship anytime soon, only if ATSC 3.0 becomes a thing and the Tablo solution doesn’t fit my needs/use case because I’d rather just purchase a new piece of hardware and not have the ongoing cost of a guide subscription.
Having said that, lifetime anything is pretty rare these days so if that option goes away I’ll be in the market for whatever solution best fits my needs/use case/budget.
ClassiRockguy,
Most of the Tablo 4th gen code is probably ported over from older Tablos and if it wasn’t it is dumb to reinvent the wheel. Plenty of code out there for capuring OTA and recording. Maybe fast channel recording is new but probably a tweak of OTA recording code.
This is not complex stuff. This is not new innovative tech or code. It has been around for decades!
Nilex… lifetime guide is only as long as the company exists and as long as they support the device. Read the fine print.
I can give you examples of how lifetime becomes something very much shorter than you expect!
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It is new for me. I used to live in my own home. Got tired of DirecTV and or cable ripping me off and not providing service. Cut the cord with an antenna on my roof and an OTA TIVO. Still bought internet service.
Now I live in an apartment with ATT fiber and Spectrum cable to every apartment, but could not see how I could make an antenna work without my wife strenuously objecting to wires and cable across the floor.
Tablo was the first thing I could see that allowed me to locate an indoor antenna at the best window, connect to my network through the outlet( a couple in each room), and just buy internet service. Now I can watch OTA and internet streaming services on my TV’s and not pay almost $100/mo. for TV.service
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I’m fully aware of what it means, and that’s exactly why I mentioned if it goes away I’ll be assessing the currently available options to see which best fits my needs. For me it was an investment that has already paid for itself a couple of times over so it was worth the risk.
I’m on my 3rd plex server hardware wise. Started with a tiny pc that couldn’t transcode, moved to 1st gen Sandy Bridge Dell Optiplex SFF, which could transcode, just not great at it. Now I run a Dell Optiplex 5060 with an i5-8500 which has more than enough muscle and is 4K transcode capable using the iGPU.
I have migrated from host to host to host without issue or loss of any kind. Have always run a flavor of openSUSE. Currently running Leap 15.5.
Never spent more than $100 USD for those complete systems… well, actually the new one was $150 shipped. But still…
I use a Hauppauge internal tuner card (WinTV-HVR2255), but I have tested Plex with two Quad HD boards (8 total tuners).
All media is stored on bus powered external USB attached drives. You can learn more about my architecture here:
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Another H/W Geek. Haha
I have had Plex for a long time, but not a big fan. They keep screwing with the S/W.
All my media is on a Linux server (AMD Rizen 7 CPU) with a Raid controller for the disks.
10TB Raid 1 for my data/media. Every day data gets replicated to another server for backup.
For some of you “real” old-timers like @cjcox, how was the stability when the OG models launched?
Stuff like this…
seems to be happening a lot right now. I understand part of that is because the 4th gen model looks to be popular among new cord-cutters especially, which I can understand based on the competitive price, etc.
But it also concerns me because priorities may have changed with the new ownership, priorities that may affect my long-term solution.
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For the legacy Tablos, a server outage would not affect any users except those using the web app. It also might not process commercial skip if you had that feature.
Stability wasn’t a big issue that I recall, but there were a lot of apps and features missing for a while that first year.
No offense taken! My wife is not at all tech savvy, and so I have to simplify as much as possible. She likes the AppleTV UX, so I have to keep everything running through it.
I don’t want to fall prey to the Ford and Chevy conundrum. My Ford engine broke, so I will never buy another Ford. So I got a Chevy, and the engine was fine, but the transmission broke. If it ain’t one thing …
The Tablo competition might do some things better, but there will be downsides to the other products too. I can’t remember any electronics, software, or apps that did everything that they promised too, or that I expected.
With Tablo I do not need hard wires to either my TV or my router,
I can locate my TV antenna anywhere in the house to the best location (which is not where the TV is), and there is a DVR (I’d get the 4 tuner mo if I was doing it over). That fulfills 95% of my needs. I like that there are no fees.
At the Tablo price point I was expecting some bugs, and Tablo has them. If Tablo could get rid of more bugs going forward, and update with next gen TV and DRM usability, I’d be satisfied. My concern is that there are enough bugs now to make Tablo a non-starter for users who don’t want to put up with the current bugs, and who expect the device to “just work”. The everyday not especially tech savvy tv user. Every customer should become a salesman for the product, but Tablo has too many customers who are telling others how the product did work for them.
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