TabloTV User going to Channels DVR!

Channels DVR Server
#1

2 years ago, I went from TiVo to Tablo, now I’m going Tablo to Channels!

I left TiVo because I was very attracted to consolidating my live TV onto the interface of my AppleTV, along with all of my other apps. TabloTV is nice in that everything you need is in one box, but the specs and the features are kind of dull. Mainly, no commercial skip, and performance is limited to the hardware in the TableTV box that is provided.

Has anybody else tried TabloTV and compared to Channels? What do you all think? I’ll be doing the DVR hosting off a 2012 iMac, with an i7-3770 CPU and 32GB of RAM. My house is entirely wired with Ethernet cabling, so there shouldn’t be any Layer 1 or Layer 2 network connectivity problems.

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#2

Welcome!

There was some comparison to Tablo recently in DVR On Airport Extreme 2TB Router?

#3

I was a very satisfied user of TabloTV and think it is a great all-in-one solution for someone who is not techie. There are still some ruff edges for sure, like remote access.

I moved to channels and I think it is the best thing on the market right now. I would recommend channels to anyone, then maybe TabloTV and then Plex after that. I am still using Plex since it does more than just OTA DVR functions. But for OTA DVR with remote access… Channels is the best I have used.

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#4

Glad to hear! Before Tablo, my wife and I did TiVo.

We had a TiVo Bolt, with 3 TiVo Mini’s. It was flawless…not a single hitch, but I started wishing for an AppleTV app so that I can have live TV, iTunes purchases and Netflix in one user interface.

The reason why I don’t do Plex is because any TV show (through cable) or movie I pay for on iTunes. Because of this, I have Apple hosting all my purchases, negating my need for Plex (since I don’t acquire my media through “other means”). With that said, I want something that’s JUST for OTA DVR’ing. Channels DVR seems to run the leanest, which is what I need right now.

I will be running this off an i7 equipped iMac. I figured there’s no need for a NAS…I mean…with DVR, the information being stored on hard drives is not important or sensitive…you record a show, you delete it when you’re done…or not. If something goes wrong and it doesn’t record, I can just pay the $3 and buy it off iTunes the next morning.

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#5

Or, if it is network program, you can probably find it on one of the network apps.

#6

Yes, that too

#7

That’s pretty much how I roll too. Watch and delete tv shows. Was very happy with finally getting the prime app and then movies anywhere to link my existing Vudu movie library over to iTunes too.

#8

Another reason why a NAS does not attract me…OTA DVR is non-critical data. If a hard drive crashed, you replace it, and recover your lost unwatched shows by purchasing them from iTunes or Amazon, or see if a network provider can stream it to you. (maybe it’s even on Netflix). Even paying per lost episode of whatever show on iTunes is cheaper than storage redundancy. Also, it’s not like you need the performance of a striped array either. Mainly, you need CPU and RAM resources (of which Channels DVR does not call for very much of), and one large hard drive. NAS’s are not known to provide adequate amounts of that.

#9

I went from Tablo to Channels about a year and a half ago. Here is a summary of my thoughts with the disclaimer that my Tablo experience is a bit dated and they may have made improvements.

Tablo
Good: A simple to install and use turn key system. You purchase the device, add a USB drive, sign up and you are in business. Interface is available on most major platforms and works OK. I also thought it worked fairly well for recording content.
Bad: I found the live television experience poor. The significant delay between selecting a station and the display makes channel surfing a non-option and the grid only interface didn’t make it easy to find something to watch when just sat down and wanted to search for something of interest. IMO some of the live television shortcomings were due to converting from MPEG2 to a streaming friendly format. This takes time and slightly degraded picture quality. Also ran into minor bugs using the AppleTV interface.

Channels:
The Good: Interface is very family friendly and provides excellent Live television experience. Changing channels is instant and the ‘On-Now’ screen makes it simple to find programs of interest. Live and recorded television can be viewed without conversion so picture quality is excellent. DVR is full featured and also very family friendly. Devs are very active on this site and provide excellent support.
The Bad: I bit more work to initially setup the DVR as you provide DVR hardware. Monthly fee for Channels app and DVR is higher then some other options. Channels viewer was limited to the Apple platforms: iOS and Appletv until a week or so ago.

Summary: IMO Channels and far superior experience to Tablo. Easier to use, more polished interface, fewer bugs, more features, and better support. Only advantages of Tablo is it is a bit more turn-key for the DVR and a lower monthly subscription for DVR service.

Good Luck.

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#10

I am leaving Tablo for all of the reasons you have just specified. I left TiVo and went to Tablo to have live TV on my AppleTV through an app.

The VERY BEST user interface was TiVo. THEY are the grand-daddy of the DVR User Interface. The iPhone/iPad app was amazing too. You can stream your DVR’d content, as well as download it, and store it locally on your mobile device, for when/if you are going to be offline. VERY cool, in very way shape and form.

THE PROBLEM? Having to have a whole separate device for each TV, requiring you to hit INPUT between your AppleTV and live TV content. The TiVo remote control is awesome, but doesn’t play nice with other devices on your AV setup (it can power on/off your TV, change the volume on your receiver, change inputs, but no basic controls of other devices whatsoever). Ironically, the AppleTV remote is sort of the same way (uses HDMI-CEC instead of an INPUT button, volume controls volume, SLEEP turns off your TV). When you have an AppleTV and a TiVo box side by side, it’s SUCH a pain to get a Universal Remote to utilize everything with both of them, because they are both trying to be the dominant UI of your living room or bedroom.

I really wanted TiVo to put out an AppleTV app. For a short while, they put out a FireTV app, but it was buggy, and short-lived…they took it off and that was the end of that altogether. Their boxes are WAY overpriced (a Bolt with a lifetime subscription is $1000, and that’s with a basic remote controller). Each “mini” box is $100 ($200 if you want 4K).

In a world where there are network tuners and downloadable app’s, this is all extremely uncalled for. I paid for all that equipment so I could’ve just kept it all, but I just wanted a single UI with everything on it. AppleTV and Tablo pretty much covered that. Now, all I have in my living room is an AppleTV and a Nintendo Switch, both of which are HDMI-CEC compliant. Awesome! Channels DVR replacing Tablo is going to be awesome. I get my HDHOMERUN on Thursday. CAN’T WAIT!

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#11

is there a month fee for the channels app or just the DVR?

#12

Only the DVR requires a subscription

#13

I understand the desire to have a single interface for all television watching. We have an Appletv on every television in the house and they are the primary device for viewing content. Only exception is the Family Room television and Home Theater have a Blueray player for the occasional disk. Blueray is the only time we change input. Everything else is through AppleTV.