I’ve recently purchased the Tablo Dual Lite and added a 1 TB USB hard drive to it. Originally I was just going to skip buying into the guide data subscription, and just use the “manual” recording feature, but I liked the guide data experience so much that I bought a year’s worth. It’s not really a DVR experience without it. You can do a manual recording without the guide data, but that’s like stepping back in time to the VCR days. I agree that for live TV watching, it’s not ideal. The lag when changing channels is due to the fact that it converts the data from the OTA MPEG-4 to some other format (I forget which) for streaming. I bought extra antennas for my two main TVs so I could channel surf, plus I don’t want to sacrifice that sweet MPEG-2 quality when I watch something in real time. I would advise anyone who is considering the Tablo to factor in the cost of extra antennas. These are one-time start-up costs though. I’m very happy with the DVR playback. Once a show is done recording, it will process the file and create thumbnails for forwarding though commercials, and works great. If you are just time shifting and not going to wait until the recording is done, you won’t get the thumbnails and you’ll have to guess on when to stop your forwarding. I have no issues with the video or audio quality. The audio is stereo and not 5.1 so if you have a home theater set up, you might be unhappy about that. For me, simple stereo is perfectly adequate. I am liking the remote viewing feature also. I was able to watch my recordings on my laptop while spending the weekend at my in-laws. Worked great. The only caveats with the remote viewing are that 1) you need to subscribe to the guide data and 2) you need to set up some port forwarding on your router, which may be beyond the skills of non-technologically inclined people. Once it is set up, it is super easy to use. All-in-all, I couldn’t be happier with my Tablo. Reply
Thank you for your insightful mini-review, Michael! Glad to hear that your experience with the Tablo Dual Lite has been such a positive one. Reply
Just FYI, Iit doesn’t work with all USB hard drives. I have an old Toshiba 500gb which (might be a USB 1.0 interface) and it doesn’t work with that. It only works with USB 2.0 and up that are backward compatible with USB 2.0. Reply
Rather than multiple antennas, couldn’t you use an amplified distributor on one antenna? That would seem to be cheaper and require less space. Haven’t tried myself yet. Reply
That’s a good point — yes, I think you could! A splitter would be enough, provided your signal’s strong enough (an amplifier would help there, as you say). Reply
I have a Tablo 64 with a 5TB hard drive attached. We are having the following problems and are asking if anyone else has or is having the same problem: All the stations are buffering and Tablo comes up with some crazy reasons for the problems 1. It is a 4 tuner and we get the msg that only 2 are availabe. 2. Says the Tablo is full. 3. Shuts down because of poor reception. Put new antenna up with same problem as old We live in the middle of town with tv towers 20 miles away. 4. No tuners available. Antenna is about 30 feet off ground. Tech Support gave me a real hard time last I talked to them. Actually, the tech man hung up on me because he said I was asking the same questions. I am 75 years old and sometimes things come pretty hard to me. Tech says there is nothing wrong with the unit. 5. A playback error occurred. At this point in time we are thinking about just buying another brand from Amazon and seeing if it will solve the problem. Please help if you have anything close to our problem. Thanks. Reply
Hi, I had similar issues, installed an LTE filter for TV antenna. Resolved my problem. The LTE filter for TV antenna are available on Amazon and elsewhere for $10-20. Reply
They don’t make the 64gb’s anymore, now it’s 128gb’s and you get them directly from TABLO, check their website, they will ship you any model. Reply
They don’t make DVR with 64 gb’s anymore now it’s 128 gb’s a lot more storage. You can by them directly from TABLO check their website. Reply
Have a slingbox 500. As you know, be becomes a brick later this year. Love the set-up with my Slingbox 500. As it was great at recording, viewing outside my location, instant reception when changing channels. However you still have a cable bill. As for Tablo, it is a very good replacement for my needs. Operates a little differently, but actually gives me more flexibility on 1) streaming to 4 screens, vs only 1. 2) Only internet fees on my cable bill. 3) Tablo has a great forum to keep you updated and answers some of the questions I have had. All in all, a great OTA and does everything I need. You will not be disappointed with the Tablo Quad. Reply
I initially didn’t realize that this was an older review that was updated in July of 2021. Something I was puzzled by in the review was the inability to channel surf. I purchased the Tablo because one of its features was the ability to channel surf. The Tablo improved our OTA experience. We now can see programs we normally would have missed with the outstanding recording guides. It’s probably the closest to a cable experience out there. We are very happy and highly recommend Tablo. Customer service is also very good. I have never had an issue not addressed by Tablo and it’s usually within a day or two. We have owned other devices and Customer service is probably what sets Tablo apart from every other company. Reply