HDHomeRun only? Not Tablo?
I don't have either of these devices yet, but I'm curious as to why Channels seems to have an alliance (or preferred setup) with HDHomeRun vs Tablo?
What are the advantages or disadvantages of each with Channels?
Tablo isn’t an open system. Their tuner only works with their own software.
HDHomeRun tuners are developed specifically for any software to integrate with them.
1 Like
As was said, Tablo DVR hardware is proprietary, so not an option. But as for advantages, one of THE main reasons I chose Channels DVR over channels was that Tablo transcodes everything which makes channel switching in Guide and elsewhere have a delay. That delay would drive me crazy and reminds me of some of the old cable company boxes where going from channel to channel took like 5-10 seconds.
1 Like
Understood. Thus one is limited with Tablo to only Tablo's own proprietary platform. That makes sense.
That's useful information. We're all looking to replace cable type systems with alternatives. But we need those alternatives to work just as efficiently and enhance (not dilute) the user experience. Thank you for your input.
We started with cable, was with Tivo or many years, then to Uverse, and briefly to YouTubeTV, before going to Channels DVR. To me, Channels is the last UI change I'll ever have my family make, because now I can change providers and the UI and DVR library will stay the same. For family/wife acceptance, that is a big deal to me.
3 Likes
Questions:
So, because "HDHomeRun tuners are developed specifically for any software to integrate with them," that's why they are said to work so well with Plex? Plex offers the ability to even play local media, a feature some value. Whereas Tablo is limited to Tablo without outside integration. Understood.
With Channels, does a hard drive need to be exclusively dedicated to Channels usage (like Tablo)? Or, can one still play all local media as well (beyond Channels DVR recordings), from the drive connected through the HDHomeRun device?
No, Channels does not need a dedicated drive. Think of Channels and your recordings more in line with Word and your documents. You don't need a dedicated hard drive just for Word, and you don't need a dedicated drive for Channels.
(Many users here share their systems/drives that they use for Channels with many other applications.)
1 Like
Excellent. That's very clarifying and helpful. There's other platforms which capture exclusive use of a drive through uniquely formatting the storage to their proprietary system. Channels is more a standalone program than an exclusive operating system.
Understood. Thank you.
In the configuration of channels, you just point it to any folder that is accessible by your system and it will take over that folder. That said, drives are cheap so why not through a USB3 drive at it to avoid it filling up your boot drive or something.
It's configuration. I already have one USB external hard drive which I use for business. But yes, for this application, I can get another (higher space) hard drive or flash drive given Channels is computer operated. I just need to read up on getting the proper HDHomeRun device and configuring this to the external hard drive. I want to run Lan Ethernet (not WiFi) if possible.
Unless you are going with really minimal use, I'd recommend an HDHR Quatro Connect, or the new 4K one. The reason is that if you are recording a lot of stuff, it will suck up tuners. It doesn't give you an option if there isn't an available tuner to easily override one if watching Live TV and you need a tuner. I ended up doubling up the quatros so that I'd never have my wife be faced with "no tuners available".
1 Like
What is meant by ‘take over the drive’ as it relates to ChannelsDVR?
1 Like
I said take over the "folder", not "drive". I simply meant that once you configure that, Channels DVR will do the rest and use that folder. I guess "take over" was a bad description.
1 Like