Is Tablo worth it?

Is Tablo worth it? The Tablo OTA DVR has been on the market for years, but how does it do performance wise?  If you are looking to purchase any Tablo DVR, read on for more insight.

There is not just one Tablo, Tablo OTA DRV’s come in a plethora of designs. The company, known as Nuvyyo, tend to use Tablo as their consumer-facing brand. While Tablo is not their brand name, you will find it everywhere on their products and website.

All Tablo OTA DVR designs include a power supply, Ethernet cable and of course free trial Tablo TV guide subscription. The Tablo experience includes a DVR, an app and a TV guide subscription all branded Tablo.

What should you expect from Tablo?

Design and features

Tablo DVRs have a simple design. While they are not all the same, they are pretty similar in size and color. The small black box acts as a simple hub. The Tablo DVRs do not have LCD display lights on the sides to indicate when you are recording information or tuning. However, Tablo 2-Tuner does have an LED light under the front edge that indicates it network connection status.

Unlike other streaming devices, the Tablo does not come with a remote control.  One can control and tune the device off an app made for android tablets and iPads. It is also possible to control the device from your Smartphone or pc through the chrome browser.

Tablo DVRs feature ATSC tuners, dual band Wi-FI support channels, Ethernet port, and antenna as well as USB ports to attach hard-drive storage devices.  Tablo devices do not have any internal storage hence the ports to attach the hard drive. Moreover, Tablo can only support up to 2tb of storage which is equivalent to 3000 hours of HTDV recording.

 Installation and set up

To set up a Tablo, you will need an HDTV antenna, which is purchased separately and an external hard drive. If you are looking to stream recorded or live TV, you will also need to purchase an additional streaming player.  Roku is to be the most compatible media player to Tablo.

You don’t need to connect the Tablo directly to a tv. Tablo DVRs can sit anywhere as long as it is connect to Wi-FI or plugged in directly through a wireless bridge( using a cable) , an Ethernet switch or directly into a router.

How to set up a Tablo DVR

To set up the whole Tablo experience, you need a DVR, TV guide subscription and the Tablo app. setting up Tablo is so much simpler compared to setting up other home DVRs. For instance, you do not have to rig up separate media devices, follow multiple installation procedures from separate companies or choose between various tuner brands.

To set up a Tablo, all you need to do is plug in the hard drive and then connect the antenna to a power outlet. Some people choose to hook the Tablo up to a router with an Ethernet cable. Next, follow the guidelines to set up your Tablo through website of Tablo’s mobile app. This should lead you to downloading the guide data and scanning your Tablo for channels, which is the last step. After this, you are now ready to watch or record over the air channels.

The Tablo is not plugged directly into the TV. Instead, the DVRs stream video over Wi-FI or hotspot to Tablo apps on other devices.  The app is easily available on Roku, Google chromecast, Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox one, Samsung smart TVs, iOS, android TV devices, android and the web. This allows users to have over the air tv and all streaming apps on a single input, making it easy to operate.

Subscription

Tablo DVRs do not require subscription for the services. However, DVR is much more useful with one. All new Tablo DVRs come with a 30 day free trial but you will have to pay $4.99 monthly subscription, $49.99 yearly subscription and $149.99 lifetime subscription.

Performance and content

Tablo’s latest DVRs let users watch two channels at once and allow 4 live streams or simultaneous recordings from a single antenna. However, you must connect an external us drive and antenna to the box which connects to router over Ethernet and Wi-FI.  Additional Tablo features include skipping commercials, and live TV pausing.

Tablo does not connect to TV directly, which means you will need another device to receive streams through Tablo’s apps. One of Tablo’s greatest assets is the broad device support. It offers apps fro iOS, android, Amazon fire TV, android TV, apple TV, Chromecast Roku, Xbox one, fire tablet and the web.

Unfortunately, Tablo does not give space for fine tuning while users are recording. This means there is no way you can automatically delete recordings after a specific time frame or episodes. Only manual recordings have separate start and top buffer times. However, Tablo does offer an auto delete function that removes your oldest recordings unless you have them marked as protected.

Conclusion, Is Tablo worth it?

If you like content that is available for free over the air TV, want to e able to time shift through the same content and are looking to record OTA TV as well as live stream to multiple devices, then any Tablo OTA DVR is totally worth it. Tablo DVRs have a ton of great stuff from major networks, allow users to record content to watch later and watch content on your phone or laptop when you need to.  However, the fact that users have to purchase an additional streaming device to be able to watch recording from Tablo on TV makes it not so handy for cord cutters looking to indulge in TV programmes.

FAQ

Where are talo products available?

You can access Tablo products from Canada and the USA directly from their official website and from trusted retail partners.

Can I record cable or satellite signals with Tablo OTA DVR?

No, Tablo can only record and stream over the air broadcast signals from TV antennas.