Weekly Rewind
A new Tablo DVR in town: This week, Tablo announced the second-generation of its dual-tuner DVR, but the new Tablo Dual isn’t drastically different from the old one. The main difference is a built-in flash drive with 64 GB of storage–enough for about 40 hours of HD programs on Tablo’s default settings–though users can still connect an external drive for more storage. The Tablo Dual is also 20 percent smaller than the old two-tuner model.
I reviewed the new model for TechHive, and concluded that most people should seek out the previous model instead. External storage will likely be a necessity in the long run either way, and the old model regularly sells for $200 or less, compared to $250 for the Tablo Dual. Either way, my biggest gripes with Tablo–slow channel load times, limited recording options, and no interpolation for 1080i channels–haven’t changed, but the breezy setup, straightforward interface, and broad app support still make it my pick for best all-around DVR for cord-cutters.
Sling TV’s new guide: As part of broader interface update, Sling TV is getting a traditional grid-based channel guide, like you’d find on a cable box. It’s available now on all Android devices, and should be a major improvement over the old horizontal guide, which became too cumberesome to navigate as Sling’s channel lineup grew. Other changes include a row of recommended shows on the home screen and a new “Shows” section that highlights on-demand TV.
Worth noting, though: Those updates aren’t yet available on AirTV, the $100 Android-based streaming box that’s supposed to be optimized for watching Sling. AirTV also doesn’t yet support Sling’s cloud DVR service, which arrived on Android devices in early April. In hindsight, perhaps having a forked version of the Sling app on a device with practically no market share wasn’t a stellar idea.
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