Customer Ratings & Reviews

When it works, it's great. But frequent crashes of the software make it unusable. Tablo is aware, I've contacted customer support and many have reported the same, but they have no date for a fix release.

Lasted 2 weeks a lot of connection problems other than that it worked great when it lasted now I have to see how to get a replacement

Doesnt work as advertised on Roku. Live TV contantly crashes the app after 15-30 min. Its a known issue all over their community forums, with no resolution. Terrible customer support.

Didn’t work! Major channels work fine with antenna but once I added Tablo ABC only major channel I could get. Tried in multiple locations. Great concept too bad.

Never could get it work wireless. Ended up buy a cheaper de-scrambler and added a small HHD to get the same product essentially.

Device did not work well for our household. Required daily reboots and channel rescans to maintain channel list and guide.

I thought i was buying tv antenna ot wasn't what wanted so i returned oit

Like so many others, the thought of paying a hundred to two-hundred dollars a month to watch television is absurd to me. When I did the math, over ten years of watching TV would cost, at a minimum, at least $12,000!! So, I decided OTA television was a great choice, especially seeing how TV networks are required to send programming over-the-air. Of course, one of the pitfalls to OTA TV is the lack of options when it comes to recording programs that you want to watch. Yes, there are memory sticks and the like, but if you don't have a slot for those on your TV, then it gets a bit more complicated. So, I was thrilled when I heard about the Tablo OTA Antenna DVR, which allows users to watch, pause, and record live OTA television. When the Tablo package arrived, I was a bit surprised at how small the shipping box was. For some reason I just thought it would be bigger. The box is roughly 6”x6”x3”, and the unit itself fits inside that. When I unpacked it, I noticed that the unit itself is round and measures roughly 5” diameter and is around 2” tall. So, the product footprint is extremely small. I browsed through the quick-start guide, and noticed the setup was relatively simple and easy… quite typical actually… plug it in, download the app, go through the set-up process, and there you are! So, after familiarizing myself with the process, I went at it. The quick-start guide has a QR code that I scanned which took me directly to the app download. Once the app was downloaded, and the device was plugged in and connected to my antenna (which is NOT included), I was ready to start. The app ran me through the wi-fi connection and channel scan. This was a rather lengthy process, but I remembered when I did a channel scan on my TV when I first hooked it to antenna a couple years back, it took a while as well. But after the set up was done, I was ready to start watching and recording live television. Or so I thought… This is where I ran into my first snag. Like I said, I BROWSED through the set-up guide rather than actually READING it. So, I overlooked the small little fact that I had to actually add the Tablo TV app to my television. After screwing around for many minutes, being unable to view a single OTA channel on my TV, I was convinced I had either a defective unit, or that it was incompatible with my TV. As a last resort, I went back and actually READ the quick-start guide. I noticed, much to my chagrin, that I overlooked the step that stated I must also install the app on my TV. This involved nothing more than searching for it in the app section of my TV and adding it to my apps. And wouldn’t you know it, it worked! NOW I was ready to start using the Tablo! Before I installed the Tablo, I simply went to the “Live TV” icon on my screen and it would go directly to the channel guide. With the Tablo, you must first open the Tablo app that is installed on the TV. This will take you to the Tablo version of the channel guide. The guide also includes any streaming channels that are included with your particular TV. Just be aware this does not include any premium channels you might have, such as Prime TV, or Netflix. At this point I was more interested in checking out the DVR function of the Tablo. I recorded a program that was already in progress. I had some hope that it might actually record the entire episode, but this is not the case. It only records from the point you start recording. So, after the episode was over, I went back and watched it via playback. I was extremely pleased with the recording quality, and the ability to quickly scroll through the recording. As you scroll, icons show exactly where you are in the program so you can go directly to the point you want to watch. Again, the recording was very good. When it was all said and done, the Tablo works much better than I imagined. It is simple to use, fairly intuitive, and allows you to record one program while watching a different program. In fact, you can record multiple programs in the same time slot. WOW! This is a game changer in the way I do TV!! All in all, I am absolutely pleased with the Tablo OTA antenna DVR. There are a couple of things, however, that keep it from being absolutely perfect. I noticed that after doing a channel scan, one particular network was missing. This was a bit frustrating as there is one program I watch on it every Sunday. I went to my antenna, adjusted it, came back in and the channel was still missing, even after a rescan. So, I unhooked the Tablo, hooked my TV directly back to the antenna, and the channel was back. I did this three times, and each time the channel was missing in the Tablo TV Guide. Another feature that is a bit annoying is the time it takes to load the channel guide when the app is first started. I would think that is something it should be doing automatically in the background without having to wait each time the app is started. PROS: Straightforward and easy setup The ability to record several programs at the same time The great menus 50 hours of onboard recording time with the ability to easily add a portable hard drive or extra memory (up to 8TB!) Low initial cost Extremely small footprint The ability to watch TV on almost any portable device such as computer, tablet or smartphone CONS: Loss of certain OTA stations Long start up times Even with all the absolutely positive Pros, I still can only give it a 4-Star rating. The loss of channels and the long start up times are real obstacles and really stand in the way. Regardless, I heartily and sincerely recommend the Tablo OTA Antenna DVR to anyone who is looking for a great-quality alternative to pay-TV!

I'm probably going to have to return this unless some technological miracle happens.

Does not work with samsung tvs nor an xbox one. You will need a roku or other device to use this device. Returned mine.

Returning! Seem to acquire many ota stations but when I brought up live guide-many of them were missing.Don't waste your time or money!

Was not compatible with my brand of TV. I was not aware of that until I tried to install them.

Poor quality. Was never able to comnect even after installing the app

Please don’t waste your time and money, this is nothing but bad quality DVR, the channels you get with this are the same ones with just using an antenna

Wont work with samsung tv! But its a good value. Sad

Difficult to use, you have to download an app. Might be fine for some people but not me.

I can't even get this set-up correctly. Website is no help. Taking them back to the store.

This was the second of these that I purchased. I actually got it as a gift for someone else, but where they lived it did not work as they couldn't get a lot of over the air channels where they lived. Even without over the air channels, if you have an internet connection, it still offers a lot to watch. I have had one myself for a couple of months now, and use it to record over the air channels. It works, essentially, just like any online stream service. You can set it to record a show any time it airs, only new episodes, etc. It has built in storage and you can also expand it with external storage. One important thing to know is, unlike a VCR, it can not be used out of the box by itself. There is no way to physically connect this device to your tv. There is no HDMI port to connect it to your TV. There is no remote control to control it. In order to use this you have to have a smart TV that supports it or a media player device. I use a FireTV stick. This also means you need a way to connect the device to the media player. It has an Ethernet port so you can connected it to a switch or a router, or you can connect it wirelessly. You also need a smart phone. You can't get through the installation process without one. So, it has a lot of dependencies. It is not a stand alone device. It can also record only two channels at a time, or record something while still letting you watch something. Once set up though, it works great. I still haven't cancelled my online streaming services that I use for the major networks, but I certainly could. The picture quality is great. It totally eliminates having to watch commercials, because you can quickly skip past them. Another great thing about it is you can put it where you get the best signal, like up high in your house, but can watch it from anywhere in your house. Not only that, but it just shows up on your media player like any other app. Someone who was not aware what this was wouldn't even realize it wasn't just another streaming service. It has a nice grid based TV guide and a user interface as good as many streaming services. The person I bought this for lives in the Palm Coast, Fl area, and from there, without an outdoor antenna, it could pick up very few channels. I didn't have time to look into or purchase an external antenna while I was there. I think it would be worth it to do so though. Where I live, it picks up all the major networks. With the OTA and online channels, it has over 90 channels. It 100% eliminated the need to subscribe to cable or a streaming service to watch the major networks forever, for the price of one month of one of those services. I am going to keep this second one anyway, because there are two people living in our house. One of the things I wish it had that it didn't, is the ability to set up user profiles so with a single device, multiple users in a house could have their own recordings and such. Since I have a second one now, I am just going to achieve this by having each person in the house have their own device.

Doesn’t work on a 5 year old tv and would not buy a new one

Going to return this item' doesn't work right on or tv