I’m wanting to cut the cord and integrate OTA HD into my Plex. I see both of these options for adding content, both work differently and best I can tell (not having ran either) both have plusses and minuses. Seems the DVR is a truly integrated and “clean” interface. Tablo seems to be a little less integrated and requires a separate USB HD. Plex DVR seems to be a clean neat interface but doesn’t support live TV. And to add to it, I have a Samsung TV for most of my viewing I really like the Samsung Plex app which supports channels but not the DVR best I can tell.
So, can anyone with actual experience with any of these opine in here? I’m ready to drop cable just need to get OTA setup and working without much fuss. I have a wife and kids who will be using so this needs to be a somewhat painless experience (and they use plex now so nothing new to teach).
As Plex DVR is in its initial BETA a lot will change as it progresses.
…and Live TV has been already mentioned as a feature they (Plex) would like to add.
I saw that. I was curious how Tablo compares to this understanding live TV is forthcoming. I’ve watched a few YouTube videos and read some websites which make it look like Tablo has pretty full functionality right now via the channel (with the caveat that I would have to have a USB HD for it’s own videos as opposed to the HDHomerun method where I only have to have my Plex server storage). I’m curious from an end user standpoint, which one has the least fussy interface? Are there any other “gotchas” with ether platform? Anyway, I appreciate any input you have and if you have Tablo are you satisfied? Thanks.
@JBinFla said:
I saw that. I was curious how Tablo compares to this understanding live TV is forthcoming. I’ve watched a few YouTube videos and read some websites which make it look like Tablo has pretty full functionality right now via the channel (with the caveat that I would have to have a USB HD for it’s own videos as opposed to the HDHomerun method where I only have to have my Plex server storage). I’m curious from an end user standpoint, which one has the least fussy interface? Are there any other “gotchas” with ether platform? Anyway, I appreciate any input you have and if you have Tablo are you satisfied? Thanks.
I have a Tablo setup. I also have the Tablo channel installed in Plex. It integrates extremely well. Currently, I have the Tablo Ripper running on a windows machine that pulls all recordings from the Tablo into a directory that Plex is connected to for TV shows. Only issue I have now is Live TV does not work on Plex via the Tablo app outside of my Local Network. The Tablo app though is awesome because i can watch Live TV remotely using their Tablet App on Android or on my Mobile Phone using their Tablet app. You can also then cast from the app to a Chromecast device. Hopefully, Plex can work together with Tablo developers to integrate this DVR feature into Plex.
I have been around this many times. I have found that with both products, Plex and Tablo, having their own issues when adding them together you are only compounded the outcome, more issues.
I have learned over the past two years, going on three, that Plex is best suited to run with its core features and not to add anything into the mix. Tablo’s DVR function is far better than Plex’s DVR. Granted Plex DVR is still in beta, but I would still want to keep this separate.
Ok, so what about the Single Pain of Glass concept? I completely understand that we all want to have a single goto interface that does it all. This is where Roku comes in. Roku has nailed the Single Pain of Glass concept with perfection Roku also has a very powerful following and most devs if not all with adopt into Roku’s ecosystem because it will boost their audience. I have spent many years and countless dollars with several combinations to find the right solution.
Do not get me wrong Plex is an awesome app and I have used many others and these devs have the media access down to near perfection. However, Tablo is far better at DVR. I am simply not willing to invest my time into Plex’s DVR. I have already spent countless hours working with their Windows Phone app which has fallen disgracefully many times. Yes I know, why bother with a Windows Phone right? I just simply love the interface of the Windows Phone, especially Windows 10. It is solid and the best of iOS and Android in one. This is just my opinion.
So to my point you might be better off with something like a Roku that has a more far reaching list of apps and that can easily integrate into just about any solution
While I can’t side with NVader2000 on the Windows Phone situation, I completely side on the Tablo VS. Plex DVR situation, at least as it’s currently constituted… for me a DVR without the ability to view live TV, or a recording before it’s complete is useless… I tried DVR with HDHomeRun, and there you need to use a different app to pull live TV off the HDHomeRun, so you are stuck with tuner contention, or dedicated HDHomeRun’s for Live viewing…
What I would like to see is a Plex Channel/App that can pull recordings from Tablo into Plex only if they don’t exist… 2 way sync would be awesome…
