Tablo - 4-Tuner Digital Video Recorder for HDTV Antennas with Wi-Fi - Black

Q: We have 4 smart TVs. Can I hook those to the box via wifi, or do I have to have an app on them?

A: I'm a 81 year old retired rocket scientist with no available grand kids who cut the Cable TV. I am the proud owner of a new 55 inch LG and have four old flat screens that are from 7 to 12 years old that I equipped with ROKU Premeires which gave me the ability to stream Video on all of them via WiFi. I get 64 local channels thru the TABLO that come equipped with commercials. I'm to old I don't have much time to watch commercials. I got the 4 channel Tablo to record them. It will not record streamed video. My TVs all play back the Tablo via WIFI which feed the 55 inch and the four ROKUs. I screwed with it for a week trying to get it to operate and finally relented and called the $49.00 Geek from Best Buy because I already have their 1 year maintenance plan that I bought when I got the 55 inch. Two Geeks showed up and they had everything working in an hour. They have more brains in their fingertips than I have in my head and they cut their teeth on it, and to top it all, they never saw a Tabllo before. When I ordered it at BEST BUY I had to repeat it several times because it was foreign to everybody, and they didn't know what it was or if I was slurring my words. They only carried the two channel and had to order the four. They sold me a two terra bite cloud hard drive that I didn't need that was way more expensive than the WD Elements 3 TB that I ordered from them at a around 40 dollar saving. Hope this helps. I adopted the two Geeks. Instructions that come with the TABlO come on 1/2 sheet printed on both sides that are totally insufficient. You do have to purchase the hard drive and the antenna to get the local channel reception. You Tube TV is my streaming channel of choice, you can record its streamed video and the wife is able to play it back after the program is over and can skip the commercials. I like the you Tube TV because they do stream the local channels, Fox News, CNN, sports and too many others to mention. Infinite storage for recordings. Hope this helps, I had to and am still learning the hard way. I just hate to admit my own level of incompetence.

Q: Thinking seriously about cutting the cord and looking at this DVR. Will it allow you to record daily ongoing shows like soap operas or weekly ongoing shows like Hawaii 5-0?

A: Micki, The simple answer is yes. For about $50/year you can subscribe to their listing service which allows you to record shows by title - only new episodes or all episodes, no matter what channel broadcasts the show. It is very easy to do this. You can set it up to record from your smartphone, pc or from the receiver itself through the TV. If you don't pay for that service you can record only by individual date, time and channel. For example if you want to record "The Big Valley," you have to program in Saturday, July 27 from noon to 1 on channel 4.3. If you want to record another episode, you need to program that in separately. I think it's worth the $50 bucks/year to pay for the service. We left YouTubeTV for Tablo about 3 months ago. We're very happy with our choice!

Q: Will this dvr work with cable TV or a satellite ?

A: No the Tablo dvr works only on an over the air antenna there are many antenna I have a Mohu sky 60 which picks up 54 channels

Q: Does this 4 tuner model Tablo allow the program being watched(live TV, not being recorded) to be paused while I get a sandwich?

A: Yes, but it depends on the sandwich. You can pause or stop and it remembers where you were. Can also now skip commercials automatically.

Q: I already have 3 Amazon Alexa Fire Sticks which is why I’m asking about a DVR to replace one when I decide to drop cable from Spectrum

A: In November of 2018 myself and my brother both purchased a Tablo 4 tuner dvr we are very happy with it .You can hook it up 2 ways either using Wifi or going direct to your modem which is the best.They have smaller units of Tablo which is a 2 tuner unit,we do a lot of recording is why we picked the 4 tuner.We purchased it at Best buy for 199.00 and also had to buy a hard drive it was a 4tb for 100.00 . Tablo comes with a 24 hr guide which is free and an optional guide that runs all the time picking up things from your hd antenna its amazing to see the things that are over the air We are very happy with it and the service from Tablo

Q: I would like to buy a UPS for my 4 tuner Tablo since we have been having frequent power outages. How many VA does the Tablo and its external hard drive require?

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Q: Can I record, burn a DVD from a camcorder

A: Nope, Tablo is a OTA DVR.

Q: Does this DVR (or any model DVR) have a HDMI input and a HDMI output? Can you program it for the 7 days of the week? What does the remote look like?

A: No, that is not how the Tablo works. - It's a great system and works with your streaming devices. Everything is wireless, except your streaming devices. I have Roku and they have the HDMI connection to your TV. Setup etc., ultra easy, tech support is great. You can program what ever you want and can receive (depending on your antenna). The TV-Guide from Tablo is great and very easy to use. Much better than DirectTV or DishNetwork. There is only subscription for the tv guide by Tablo etc. and cost $4.99 a month. The Tablo does not have any remote, it's controlled via your streaming app, like Roku or your computer. With the one I have you can record up to four shows at a time. Hope that helped.