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:
Storage: No onboard storage – Support for 1TB to 8TB USB hard drive
Ports: Power, Ethernet 1000/100/10, USB 3.0, HDMI 2.1, Coax
Processing: Quad-Core, 2GB RAM, 16GB Flash
Networking: Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac dual-band WiFi with MIMO
Dimensions (Device): Height – 37 mm (1.45″),Width – 135 mm (5.3″), Depth – 131 mm (5.15″)
Weight (Device): 228 g (8 oz)
Video Format: MPEG2
Audio Format: Stereo (PCM) audio or AC3 Passthrough (5.1)
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.
