As has long-ago been arrived at in the ATSC 3.0 threads.
Reading existing threads is often much more educational than sprouting a dozen new ones.
Tivo vs Tablo
- Thread starter Jackonearth
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Reading existing threads is often much more educational than sprouting a dozen new ones.
Camelcamelcamel.com shows the Roaimo OTA went down to $265 for six hours last night from 10pm until 4am. It has been down under $300 several times over the last two weeks. Anybody looking to buy one should set up an email alert.
HI. I can't tell from this thread which is the better way to go. I have 2 tv's now with DTV. Both are HD DVR units. Between them i get about 600 hrs of HD shows. What i really like is that i can schedule 100 shows to record on one receiver and 50 on the other. Better yet, when i Play Back shows... they are all combined into the same playlist. So from either TV, all shows are available to watch.
I'm looking to cut the cord. I'm finally there.
I have a root top Antenna and on my 2 of my TV's, if i switch to the TV input, i get all the broadcast channels.
My basic setup... in the Livingroom i have a nice little Stereo Receiver and a lot of speakers. It's nice. I have a DTV receiver connected to the stereo as well as a ROKU 4.
In bedroom 1 i have just a HD TV, DTV receiver and a Roku 4
In bedroom 2, i have an OTA tuner and a Roku 3
I also have a lifetime subscription to Plex as i see that come up now and then.
Some of my questions.... what would be the better setup for my family? The Tablo or the TIVO?
From what i read in the forums, i need to confirm... can i really buy a Tivo Bolt with maybe a 500Gig HD, and immediately swap the hard drive with a 4TB drive and it will work?
If yes, then again, i can get a TIVO Bolt with a small HD installed, and buy the lifetime subscription. I can then get a TIVO Mini for the other 2 TV's and i think... i should be good. If i really wanted to, i can then add another 1TB external drive to the Bolt???
I saw on Amazon that with the TIVO MINI's, there are 2 different kinds. One is the basic mini which costs $119 and the other has an external HD connector and costs $179. Can i get a BOLT with 1TB, add an external 1TB HD to it, get the Tivo Mini for $179 and add a 1TB hd to it, and then for the 3rd tv, get the basic Tivo Mini for $119? IF i did this... would i have then a similar setup to what i have now with DTV? I can schedule shows on 2 tv's with all that storage and then play back on all 3?
I'm kinda confused because of the fact that there are the 2 Tivo Mini's.
This setup gets kind of expensive though as it's a lot of hardware.
I really don't care about streaming broadcast TV to my phone or computers... for me, this is not a selling feature.
So... can you help confirm? Again, if i can truly install my own 4TB (or 6 or 8TB) HD inside the Bolt i can then do 2 of the cheaper Tivo mini's and all is good.
If not though, then i'm back to the Bolt, both types of mini's and external HD's...
Lastly, is one of the appeals of the Tivo is that in addition to recording shows, i can watch them Live too? And then when connected to the stereo, it's just like having a DTV receiver? Otherwise, we watch TV which has a built in tuner but i don't know how to get that to connect to the stereo.
The other option i found is the Tablo... my understanding here is that it does not connect to any TV. i can add any size hard drive however the only way to watch TV is to do it through the PLEX app.
Does that include LIVE tv, through the Plex app?
One question i saw here that i didn't see the answer for was if you use PLEX, how do you change channels? I use the harmony remote controls.
It seems that the Tablo option would be a LOT cheaper... but there must be some big appeal to the Tivo that i'm missing.
So i'm back to... what would be the best solution for my family? Thoughts?
I appreciate your help.
I lean towards Tivo due to the HDMI connections however, one huge piece is if it's true that i can open it up right away and add my own LARGE HD and it will indeed work vs giving me some kind of error and then i've voided warranty due to opening the box up.
Thoughts?
Thanks again. Sorry for repeating myself a few times.
Just trying to learn... this is new for us.
I'm looking to cut the cord. I'm finally there.
I have a root top Antenna and on my 2 of my TV's, if i switch to the TV input, i get all the broadcast channels.
My basic setup... in the Livingroom i have a nice little Stereo Receiver and a lot of speakers. It's nice. I have a DTV receiver connected to the stereo as well as a ROKU 4.
In bedroom 1 i have just a HD TV, DTV receiver and a Roku 4
In bedroom 2, i have an OTA tuner and a Roku 3
I also have a lifetime subscription to Plex as i see that come up now and then.
Some of my questions.... what would be the better setup for my family? The Tablo or the TIVO?
From what i read in the forums, i need to confirm... can i really buy a Tivo Bolt with maybe a 500Gig HD, and immediately swap the hard drive with a 4TB drive and it will work?
If yes, then again, i can get a TIVO Bolt with a small HD installed, and buy the lifetime subscription. I can then get a TIVO Mini for the other 2 TV's and i think... i should be good. If i really wanted to, i can then add another 1TB external drive to the Bolt???
I saw on Amazon that with the TIVO MINI's, there are 2 different kinds. One is the basic mini which costs $119 and the other has an external HD connector and costs $179. Can i get a BOLT with 1TB, add an external 1TB HD to it, get the Tivo Mini for $179 and add a 1TB hd to it, and then for the 3rd tv, get the basic Tivo Mini for $119? IF i did this... would i have then a similar setup to what i have now with DTV? I can schedule shows on 2 tv's with all that storage and then play back on all 3?
I'm kinda confused because of the fact that there are the 2 Tivo Mini's.
This setup gets kind of expensive though as it's a lot of hardware.
I really don't care about streaming broadcast TV to my phone or computers... for me, this is not a selling feature.
So... can you help confirm? Again, if i can truly install my own 4TB (or 6 or 8TB) HD inside the Bolt i can then do 2 of the cheaper Tivo mini's and all is good.
If not though, then i'm back to the Bolt, both types of mini's and external HD's...
Lastly, is one of the appeals of the Tivo is that in addition to recording shows, i can watch them Live too? And then when connected to the stereo, it's just like having a DTV receiver? Otherwise, we watch TV which has a built in tuner but i don't know how to get that to connect to the stereo.
The other option i found is the Tablo... my understanding here is that it does not connect to any TV. i can add any size hard drive however the only way to watch TV is to do it through the PLEX app.
Does that include LIVE tv, through the Plex app?
One question i saw here that i didn't see the answer for was if you use PLEX, how do you change channels? I use the harmony remote controls.
It seems that the Tablo option would be a LOT cheaper... but there must be some big appeal to the Tivo that i'm missing.
So i'm back to... what would be the best solution for my family? Thoughts?
I appreciate your help.
I lean towards Tivo due to the HDMI connections however, one huge piece is if it's true that i can open it up right away and add my own LARGE HD and it will indeed work vs giving me some kind of error and then i've voided warranty due to opening the box up.
Thoughts?
Thanks again. Sorry for repeating myself a few times.
Just trying to learn... this is new for us.
HI. I can't tell from this thread which is the better way to go. I have 2 tv's now with DTV. Both are HD DVR units. Between them i get about 600 hrs of HD shows. What i really like is that i can schedule 100 shows to record on one receiver and 50 on the other. Better yet, when i Play Back shows... they are all combined into the same playlist. So from either TV, all shows are available to watch.
I'm looking to cut the cord. I'm finally there.
I have a root top Antenna and on my 2 of my TV's, if i switch to the TV input, i get all the broadcast channels.
My basic setup... in the Livingroom i have a nice little Stereo Receiver and a lot of speakers. It's nice. I have a DTV receiver connected to the stereo as well as a ROKU 4.
In bedroom 1 i have just a HD TV, DTV receiver and a Roku 4
In bedroom 2, i have an OTA tuner and a Roku 3
I also have a lifetime subscription to Plex as i see that come up now and then.
Some of my questions.... what would be the better setup for my family? The Tablo or the TIVO?
From what i read in the forums, i need to confirm... can i really buy a Tivo Bolt with maybe a 500Gig HD, and immediately swap the hard drive with a 4TB drive and it will work?
If yes, then again, i can get a TIVO Bolt with a small HD installed, and buy the lifetime subscription. I can then get a TIVO Mini for the other 2 TV's and i think... i should be good. If i really wanted to, i can then add another 1TB external drive to the Bolt???
I saw on Amazon that with the TIVO MINI's, there are 2 different kinds. One is the basic mini which costs $119 and the other has an external HD connector and costs $179. Can i get a BOLT with 1TB, add an external 1TB HD to it, get the Tivo Mini for $179 and add a 1TB hd to it, and then for the 3rd tv, get the basic Tivo Mini for $119? IF i did this... would i have then a similar setup to what i have now with DTV? I can schedule shows on 2 tv's with all that storage and then play back on all 3?
I'm kinda confused because of the fact that there are the 2 Tivo Mini's.
This setup gets kind of expensive though as it's a lot of hardware.
I really don't care about streaming broadcast TV to my phone or computers... for me, this is not a selling feature.
So... can you help confirm? Again, if i can truly install my own 4TB (or 6 or 8TB) HD inside the Bolt i can then do 2 of the cheaper Tivo mini's and all is good.
If not though, then i'm back to the Bolt, both types of mini's and external HD's...
Lastly, is one of the appeals of the Tivo is that in addition to recording shows, i can watch them Live too? And then when connected to the stereo, it's just like having a DTV receiver? Otherwise, we watch TV which has a built in tuner but i don't know how to get that to connect to the stereo.
The other option i found is the Tablo... my understanding here is that it does not connect to any TV. i can add any size hard drive however the only way to watch TV is to do it through the PLEX app.
Does that include LIVE tv, through the Plex app?
One question i saw here that i didn't see the answer for was if you use PLEX, how do you change channels? I use the harmony remote controls.
It seems that the Tablo option would be a LOT cheaper... but there must be some big appeal to the Tivo that i'm missing.
So i'm back to... what would be the best solution for my family? Thoughts?
I appreciate your help.
I lean towards Tivo due to the HDMI connections however, one huge piece is if it's true that i can open it up right away and add my own LARGE HD and it will indeed work vs giving me some kind of error and then i've voided warranty due to opening the box up.
Thoughts?
Thanks again. Sorry for repeating myself a few times.
The TiVo is a mature top of the line product, more like regular satellite and cable dvrs. The TiVo has skipmode, so one touch of the button on network shows and it skips the commercials. Yes it works will with external audio receivers via hdmi or optical. You need a breakout cable to use analog left and right audio.
Yes you can swap the drive, although it’s more touchy on the Bolt than the Roamio due to the 2.5 inch drives.
You cannot add external drives to Mini’s. There is one particular model of western drive drive that is approved for TiVo Roamios and Bolts but it’s overpriced, hard to find and only 1TB. The external drive is mixed with the internal drive, so if one goes bad you lose everything. Overall it’s cheaper to get and replace the internal drive with a larger one. I have 3TB drives in 3 of my 5 Roamios and 2TB in the other 2.
Minis on the other tvs take one of the tuners from the host Roamio or Bolt for live tv, but otherwise respond and function just like the main dvr for watching recordings.
Today TiVo announced and demoed a new app for Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV devices that can replace a mini, albeit minus some functions. These will be available in Q2-Q3.
If you have a Plex lifetime subscription then live tv and dvr service is included with it. You could get a Silicon Dust HD Homerun tuner and add it to your Plex server and use Plex to watch and record OTA tv.
It works, as I use it as a backup with some old HD homeruns I have. The TiVo is the more elegant user friendly solution though.
Tablo does have 5.1 surround sound . The software enabling it came down months ago. Next feature to arrive in March by software is auto skip of ALL commercials including older Tablo receivers. Can't wait. You can easily read up on all the software on the tablo website. www.tablotv.com
Personally I just use an AirTV (black box) because it's much simpler and integrates with Sling. And you can record on it so imo that makes it better than having yet another set top box for one of my TVs.
Sent from my SM-G955U using the SatelliteGuys app!
Sent from my SM-G955U using the SatelliteGuys app!
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