Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

****Update: August 2018**** My Tablo is still going strong. Tablo continues to make incremental but impactful improvements to their product. Their improvements almost ALWAYS are directly in-line with what their customers want...which seems to be increasingly rare in today's tech environment. For that reason..I have bumped up my review to 5-stars. My Tablo could explode today, and I would still feel as though I had received more than enough value for what I paid for it. 1. Phone integration is very good now (although I don't use it much) 2. Many improvements have been made to the recording-logic. You can now set the maximum number of recordings to keep for a particular show, for example. 3. An update that is now rolling out allows the retaining of the original 5.1 audio stream(!!). This is a universal setting, however, so you'll need to make sure that all of your devices can decode or passthrough the AC3 5.1 streams. If not, you can continue using the transcoded stereo AAC. 4. The TV streaming services have really exploded. In the years since I wrote the original review, Sling has been joined by DirectvNow, Hulu TV, YoutubeTV, etc etc. They're everywhere, it seems. Most of the services also carry the local OTA channels...which, frankly, I don't like. Why am I paying for something that I can get with a cheap OTA antenna? Ugh...I feel like the streaming-TV services are going in the completely wrong direction...but I digress. Despite the expanded number of offerings that offer streaming of locals...I still find value with my Tablo. Tablo has better picture quality that the streaming services. There are a lot of sub-channels and niche channels that the streaming services don't support that you can still pick up on your Tablo. Additionally, these streaming services are still susceptible to service outages, particularly during high-volume events (think Superbowl). This isn't a concern with Tablo (or OTA in general) *****Update: 8 Jan 15***** I continue to be happy overall with the Tablo. There have been some notable developments over the last few months that potential Tablo buyers (and anyone stuck with huge cable/satellite bills) should be aware of: 1. SLING TV: Wow...it's an exciting time to be someone looking to escape their big Cable/satellite bills. At CES, Dish Network just announced that their stand-alone "Sling TV" service will launch in the coming weeks. Sling TV will be an online streaming service that will cost only $20/mo and live-stream a small number of the most popular cable channels that typically keep people sucked into huge, bloated Cable bundles...ESPN, HGTV, TNT, Disney, CNN, etc...all will be streamed live to Roku and other streaming devices. Very exciting. The big "problem" that people are pointing out is that Sling TV does NOT provide access to the network channels (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/PBS)...well, that's where TABLO comes in to fill that gap. While Sling does have some other notable "issues" such as being viewable on only one device at a time...A "Tablo + Sling TV + (Netflix/Amazon)" bundle could be a huge value-play for forward-leaning TV viewers. Not to mention being potentially very disruptive to the traditional Cable/Satellite-TV paradigm. 2. Phone Apps! As noted below, Tablo did not enable streaming to phones upon original release. This was remedied a few weeks back with the release of "web-based apps" for both Android 4.1+ and iOS7+. I have not used it yet, but they are there, and seem to be fully functional according to feedback. 3. HDD selection. Be sure to carefully select what external HDD you choose to use with Tablo. Many HDDs have had inconsistent results when used on Tablo. As of right now, the WD "Elements" line seems to be Tablo's recommended drive. Recommend going to the Tablo forums to see what the latest recommendations are on the HDD front. 4. Major ROKU app upgrade coming. On their blog, Tablo has released some screenshots of a MAJOR upgrade to the Tablo ROKU channel/app. This will use a custom-built channel (like Netflix & Hulu do, for example) rather than sticking to the very limited "standard" ROKU channel format. The screesnhots look GREAT. A recent Tablo survey indicated that ROKU is by FAR the most used way to watch Tablo, so I'm very interested to see how this turns out. A really good Tablo channel for Roku would go a long way towards making Tablo seem more like a traditional DVR. No ETA has been given yet. *****End of update...original review below***** For the better part of two years, I've been on a search for what I would consider the holy grail of cord-cutters: A high quality Over the Air (OTA) whole-home DVR solution. I have three (sometimes 4) TVs throughout the house, and didn't want to maintain 3-4 different DVRs. However, that's not all...I also wanted to be able to stream recordings and live TV to my mobile devices (Androids and Kindles). I wanted at least 4 OTA tuners to basically eliminate any recording/watching conflicts. Oh...and bonus points goes to the solution that also ties into my Roku 3's...which would allow me to avoid having to add another "box" to each of my TVs. And, of course, I don't want to have to pay a lot for it. If this sounds a bit like a fantasy, it's for good reason. It seems like it didn't exist until recently. I went hands-on with multiple potential solutions to my requirement...and researched several others, but the quad-Tuner Tablo is where I found the best blend of functionality, reliability, price, and performance. It hasn't quite reached holy-grail status, but it comes really, really close...and is getting closer by the day. Prior to Tablo, here are some of the other solutions I tried: 1. I tried the do-it-yourself Myth-TV server. It turned out to be too complex to be reliable. I sank a couple of weeks of effort into it, but eventually cut my losses and moved on. 2. Windows Media Center (WMC) with extenders. It worked...but required stand-alone extenders (Ceton Echos or Xbox360s) that added cost and complexity to my overall system. Streaming to my android devices could be achieved by using a Remote Potato service, but doing so required a powerful computer and taking the risk of relying on a non-commercial product for that functionality. Finally, Microsoft's tepid support to WMC made it feel like I was very late to the game on this one...so I moved on. 3. Simple.TV v1. The Simple TV is very similar in concept to Tablo in that it transcodes to a stream-friendly format for Rokus and mobile devices. It worked in the most basic sense, but it failed on multiple fronts. The transcoder and compression was poor. Picture quality was ok on my Android devices, but simply didn't cut it on the TVs. None of the meta-data or schedules were stored locally on the device, so it would "phone home" to Simple's servers constantly during use. Unfortunately that meant that it turned into a brick whenever their servers or your internet connectivity were down. It was only a single-tuner as well, meaning it was not up to par as a true whole-home DVR. Simple released a v2 dual-tuner version...but it was a disaster at the beginning, with widespread overheating problems and very loud cooling fans. 4. Tivo. I had Tivo HDs in the past, and liked them. The base Tivo Roamio, which is the only one with OTA tuners, receives really good reviews. Tivo's Achilles Heel, however, has always been their pricing practices. They historically have required a relatively high monthly fee for EACH device...or a huge upfront cost for a lifetime subscription for EACH device. Additionally, Tivo did not have Android streaming support until just recently. It also requires a Tivo-specific "box" at each TV (either full-up Tivo, or a Tivo-mini) with corresponding networking infrastructure. It should be noted, however, that Tivo seems to be making changes rapidly in recent months...with the possibility of the monthly fees being ended on Tivo Minis, as well as a previously mentioned Android streaming being finally released after years of development. This occurred after I purchased my Tablo...but even with those changes, I would still have picked the Tablo. ------ After looking at the above solutions, I decided to give one last try before resigning myself to keeping my Dish Network service....Tablo. On paper, it looked good. It had two models, including one with 4 tuners. The channel schedules and meta data were stored locally on the device, so it avoided the cloud-reliance issues from the Simple.TV. It also approached the transcoding differently than the Simple (too techy to really get into here)...so I suspected the picture quality would be better. Streams to Roku? Yep. Streaming to Androids? Mostly...but only Tablets (more on that later). Is it cheap? Well...that probably depends on what functionality you'll be using. For me, with 3-4 TVs and multiple mobiles to stream to, it was cost-effective. So, I pre-ordered the Tablo Quad-Tuner and received it shortly after release. I've been using it now for about 3 months, and have been very, very impressed with it. Here are some of the STRENGTHS of Tablo from my viewpoint: Picture quality: Pretty good. For most content, it's almost indiscernible from Dish Network. The transcoding does struggle a "little" during sports, where motion isn't quite as smooth as the original OTA transmission...and the compression is noticeable on my biggest TV (54" plasma)...but overall, light-years ahead of Simple.Tv when it comes to viewing on TVs. Reliability: Probably the most surprising part for me. It was pretty solid from the start. There have been a few reboots (maybe every couple of weeks), but it's getting better with each firmware update. Having the data stored locally also is huge as far as reliability goes. Seems to be a great company: Tablo is very, very active on their forums and other popular forums. They seem to very interested in what the customer wants. They communicate well...and are rapidly improving their product. Roku integration: For my own requirements...this is the money maker. I already had Rokus on all of my TVs, so I didn't have to add any additional devices to puchase/install. The Tablo "channel" for Roku works well. It takes a bit of getting used to and has some quirks and shortcomings (no traditional "guide", for example)...but it gets the job done and is also being improved continuously. Some DOWNSIDES of Tablo: Audio: All audio is transcoded to stereo AAC for maximum compatibility. However, it loses a lot of the "pop" from the original Dolby Digital transmission when viewed on capable surround sound systems. Dolby Digital pass-through has been a popular request on their forums, and Tablo acknowledges it...but it doesn't seem to be imminent or high on their priority list. Phone streaming: As of right now, Tablo only support streaming to devices 7" or larger (tablets, basically). It doesn't stream to phones. Tablo readily admits they underestimated the demand for streaming to phones...and seems to be committed to making this happen in the future. This can be overcome, however, if you have a PLEX server. PLEX can serve as an intermediary to enable streaming to any PLEX-capable device. It works well...kudos to the developers. **Update: phone apps were released in Nov 2014*** Syncing/downloading content: Tablo doesn't have that functionality (yet). External streaming: This takes a bit of technical know-how to open ports on your router...and requires your device to have been "registered" previously with the Tablo by having been on the same LAN previously. Kind of an odd "authentication scheme" there. --------- So...in the end, if you're looking for an OTA DVR...what should you buy? In my opinion...it depends. What do you want that DVR to do? What do you currently have? Do you have a couple of TVs and want a traditional DVR experience? Willing to spend some money for a high-quality and polished experience? Get a Tivo Roamio and a Tivo Mini. Honestly...Tivo is the best pure traditional DVR. Uncompromised picture quality...the famous Tivo UI experience. It makes for an easy transition for family members. Do you already have a traditional DVR you're happy with...but just want to be able to stream the big game to your phone/tablet while you work on a project in the garage, commute, or are out-and-about on the weekend? Give the Simple.TV v1 a try. You can get these for dirt-cheap on Ebay now (~$75...including a lifetime subscription). Take the hard drive out of an old laptop, slap it in a $10 external hard drive enclosure...and for less than $100, you have that ability. The cloud reliance of simple.tv is actually a strength in this case...because it's server serves as an intermediary for connecting...making router-adjustments unneeded. Do you want a whole-home DVR to integrate into your Roku-streaming house? Want mobile streaming without having to deal with horrible transcoding? Tablo is what you want. For me...it's the best "next-gen" OTA DVR on the market right now. It's not a traditional DVR...and it's not purely an Aereo-replacement. It's something in the middle or something else entirely depending on how you look at it. It's not perfect. It won't fool anyone into thinking that it's a traditional DVR, and that takes some getting used to. It still has some shortcomings, but those are being actively worked on by what seems to be a very good and responsive company...so, it gets a highly recommended from me.