Tablo DUAL HDMI 2-tuner OTA DVR review

REVIEW – Over the past few years, it has been quite evident that many households have been trying to “cut the cord” from cable TV. While I have not quite made that decision as yet, I like to have alternate solutions when my cable TV experiences a service interruption or when I want to record a show on one of the basic channels that I watch. I refuse to pay the cable company more money for a DVR. Based on my experience with the first Tablo device that I owned several years ago, I am quite sure that this Tablo DUAL HDMI will meet my needs. Let’s see!!

What is it?

The Tablo Dual HDMI is an Over-The-Air [OTA] Digital Video Recorder [DVR] that features WiFi, a remote, and Automatic Commercial Skip.

What’s in the box

1 x Tablo DUAL HDMI
1 x Tablo Remote Control
2 x AAA Batteries
1 x AC Adapter
1 x Ethernet Cable
1 x HDMI Cable
1 x User Manual

Design and features

Features

• Tablo DUAL HDMI is our first OTA DVR model that connects directly to your TV via HDMI and comes with its own remote: Watch, pause, and record up to two live, local, antenna TV channels at once.
• This TV-Connected Tablo OTA DVR uses two ATSC tuners to record and play broadcast TV channels in their native MPEG-2 format.
• Cancel cable, keep the DVR: Tablo is the DVR for antennas. Pause and rewind live TV. Browse upcoming shows, schedule, and manage recordings. Skip commercials, fast-forward and rewind recordings.
• Watch and record your favorite broadcast network TV shows from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, the CW, and PBS without the cost or commitment of cable or satellite contracts.
• All basic live TV recording and playback functions are supported without a subscription.

Specifications:

The Tablo is a compact device made primarily of plastic. On the top, there is the branding and the LED indicator. On one of the sides, there are all of the ports: power, ethernet, HDMI, USB, and coaxial/antenna.

A Remote Control is included.

Performance

The first step is to connect the cables to the Tablo.

I tried 2 different antennas. When I owned my first Tablo, I was living in an apartment building on the 5h floor. I got a great signal and used to receive almost 60 channels. In my new home, I am only receiving 13 channels on the 2nd antenna shown below. The first antenna was only receiving 5 channels. This is NOT a Tablo issue. I am very sure I will receive many more channels once I am able to mount the antenna on the roof of my house.

The following are some sample screens from the setup process.

Here is what Tablo offers:

The following video shows the Tablo DVR in action:

I am a really big fan of the Tablo. It performs flawlessly for the channels that I receive and I cannot wait to get my antenna on the roof.
Click here for more information.

What I like

• The simple and compact design
• The two ATSC tuners
• The DVR functionality
• The ease of use
• The ability to add a large hard drive for great recording capacity

What I’d change

• I do not like that I need almost exact line of sight for the remote to work

Final thoughts

Since I previously owned a Tablo device, I was quite sure that this Tablo 2-tuner OTA DVR would not only meet my needs but that I would be as enthused with it as I was the first one. I am very happy to say that it has met all of my expectations and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get rid of cable TV especially if you are not dependent on premium cable channels. I give this Tablo a well done and two thumbs up!!

Price: $149.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Tablo.