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Tablo Dual 64GB Over the Air DVR Review: Record Sans the Cord
If you’re already one of the many that are watching broadcast TV over HD antenna and cutting out their monthly cable tv bill the Tablo is for you! Tablo is an over-the-air DVR device that you can use to record all your favorite broadcast shows with in HD. Best of all no TV bill and no extra monthly charges to rent the DVR box from the cable company.
We’re all busy with life and the convenience of watching your favorite shows without having to be at home when they are on is huge. Having that ability to record and watch your shows whenever you want again is welcome sight.
Our Experience
Our time with the Tablo was a pleasant one. The device works well, does what it says and operated without a hitch. Synchronizing channel art can take a few minutes to complete but runs in the background while you have the app open and you are free to use the Tablo without issue.
Connecting to the device and initiating a streaming session can feel a tiny bit laggy, once it connects the picture is clear and audio is good. The stream is smooth and consistent but depends on whether or not your HD antenna signal is good and you have the proper bandwidth on your home network. As with most devices, if you use an Ethernet cable instead of WiFi to connect to your network you’ll see faster performance.
Our testing devices were on iPhone X, Galaxy S8, various Android Tablets, Roku 3 and performed well without issue across platforms and devices.
The Tablo is roughly about the size of an Apple TV, little bigger. The Tablo Dual uses passive cooling so there’s no fan. We’ve not had any adverse effects due to heat that we can notice with any significance but the unit can get hot; You’ll want to make sure you have an open tabletop to place the Tablo.
If you’re a BYO kinda guy and don’t want the onboard storage you can purchase the Tablo Lite for $139.00 which features all the same great functionality as the Tablo Dual 64GB sans the onboard hard drive.
Wrap up
The Tablo Dual 64GB brings the functionality and convenience of a DVR device for your OTA HD antenna. 2 over-the-air ATSC Tuners allow you to watch live TV and record simultaneously. Record directly to the onboard 64GB of storage or attach an external HD for up to 8TB of additional space. If you want to record OTA HDTV the Tablo Dual is a nice little device that allows you to watch your shows on your time.
