[David B Gregory]

I have called multiple times to get Tivo to turn on a Bolt I own with monthly service an no annual commitment. I use this as an OTA at my seasonal residence. They keep telling me wait 24 hours, not happening, I have rebooted and updated over 10 times in 24 hours. If i try and activate online it only has option for monthly with 1 year commitment. WTF ! I will give them till 4pm today and then dump Tivo for another device. I am looking for input on Recast vs the new Tablo? For $200 it appears it is lifetime service, Tivo wants $149 for a year and I will only use it 5-6 months.

Thanks for your input

 

[JoeKustra]

I have a Roamio that I bought on eBay about two years ago to see if I would like TE4. It's on the Inactive Devices tab of my account since I only used it for a month. I just checked on the box and I can still activate it. This is one of my options:
$14.99 Monthly service No commitment

I guess TiVo treats a Bolt different.

 

[Adam C.]

The Recast overall has very positive reviews. You can get the 4-tuner model generally for around $250 and there is no subscription required. It's a fantastic deal. There is no way I would ever pay Tivo subscription fees, particularly for an OTA device that you are only using for half the year. If you really want to stay within the Tivo ecosystem, the Roamio OTA is great and requires no subscription. I have had mine for over 2 years and am happy with it.

 

[302481]

I replaced two houses full of and Minis with Recasts and Fire sticks about 6 months ago. I haven’t compared to Tablo which I understand is higher resolution. But Recast looks good enough to me.

Main thing I miss is commercial skip. But stacking 30 sec skips works fine. What I gain is having all my apps on one device and the ability to add more rooms for way less than the cost of a Mini and do it over WiFi.

 

[Adam C.]

What I gain is having all my apps on one device and the ability to add more rooms for way less than the cost of a Mini and do it over WiFi.

Exactly. It boggles my mind that the Mini costs $150 and yet it can't reliably stream Hulu or Prime Video without crashing. But a $30 Fire Stick can play all of these just fine.

 

[wizwor]

I am looking for input on Recast vs the new Tablo? For $200 it appears it is lifetime service, Tivo wants $149 for a year and I will only use it 5-6 months.

Tablo did a very fair comparison of the two devices. I agree with most of what they say, but prefer the Fire TV. (I own both). If you think you will want more than two concurrent streams, go for the Tablo TV DVR. Otherwise, Amazon has a DVR for you. Prime Day is less than a month away. Expect deep discounts on the Fire TV stick and Recast.

 

[David B Gregory]

Thank you for your responses. Honestly I dont need more than two active streams so the 4 tuner recast will probably be the right solution. Does it integrate well with Alexa? I know Chromecast and youtube tv work with complete voice commands.

 

[302481]

Does it integrate well with Alexa? I know Chromecast and youtube tv work with complete voice commands.

Integrates pretty well. I don't use voice much beyond searches. But my mother uses it a lot on her Recast. She can say "watch channel three" or "watch PBS" and it goes directly to those channels. You can also say record, pause, etc. I find it a lot faster to use the remote buttons most of the time. But voice saves a lot of time doing searches.

This is using the Fire TV remote. Neither of use has a separate Alexa device. So I'm not sure how differently that would work.

 

[Davelnlr_]

My Tivo backup is a HDHomerun tuner and PLEX media server to record OTA and to watch during storms if the cable goes out. Plex is quite affordable (I have a lifetime subscription) as are the HDHomerun tuners. Not sure exactly how fast the computer needs to be for the server, I am running mine of a I7/32GB ram and it doesnt even use 1% CPU. Nice thing about it is Plex app is available on just about anything that can stream.

 

[wizwor]

Thank you for your responses. Honestly I dont need more than two active streams so the 4 tuner recast will probably be the right solution. Does it integrate well with Alexa? I know Chromecast and youtube tv work with complete voice commands.

I have a four tuner Recast. I use it to stream television and recorded programs to my Echo Show devices -- "Alexa, show channel guide," "Alexa, show my recordings."
I don't control my televisions with Alexa, but here is a guide...

Amazon Fire TV Recast Review: The Ultimate DVR for Cord-Cutters

 

[wizwor]

My Tivo backup is a HDHomerun tuner and PLEX media server to record OTA and to watch during storms if the cable goes out. Plex is quite affordable (I have a lifetime subscription) as are the HDHomerun tuners. Not sure exactly how fast the computer needs to be for the server, I am running mine of a I7/32GB ram and it doesnt even use 1% CPU. Nice thing about it is Plex app is available on just about anything that can stream.

SD has released a beta Roku app. It's just for live tv, but it works well. I have a pair of Extends and a Plex Pass. Not really a fan of live tv via PP and HDHR. According to SD, the HDHR works with PSIP data to create its EPG. Can you confirm this? Can you recommend a standalone HDHR solution? We installed an antenna at my sister's camp and she would like to get rid of Dish without creating a support challenge (very limited cell service).

 

[Craigm]

Had a Recast and just sent it back! Thought it would be the answer until I recorded some OTA programs and played them back to see the faces washed out and look like marshmellows.. Really disappointed with Amazon for not having 1080. Plugged TVO,s back in and will ride them out until the end. I love Tivo's and you should too!

 

[CloudAtlas]

Had a Recast and just sent it back! Thought it would be the answer until I recorded some OTA programs and played them back to see the faces washed out and look like marshmellows.. Really disappointed with Amazon for not having 1080. Plugged TiVO,s back in and will ride them out until the end. I love Tivo's and you should too!

What output resolution does Fire TV Recast support?
Fire TV Recast is capable of receiving all ATSC broadcast resolutions, including 1080i and 720p. When streaming to other devices, Fire TV Recast transcodes 1080i streams to a resolution up to 1440x720p using H.264 to ensure that all Fire TV streaming media players work with Fire TV Recast, and to deliver more reliable video streams over Wi-Fi.

The upcoming TiVO app for Roku only supports 720p so apparently TiVO isn't the only one with this limitation.

 

[tenthplanet]

I don't think Amazon has a long term commitment to OTA. It's just another thing for them. For Tablo it's what they do. If you want choice in the long term I'd go with the Tablo. Support the little guy..while you can.

 

[wizwor]

I don't think Amazon has a long term commitment to OTA. It's just another thing for them. For Tablo it's what they do. If you want choice in the long term I'd go with the Tablo. Support the little guy..while you can.

I like Nuvvyo. I have a Tablo DUAL LITE OTA DVR. It's a decent DVR. Definitely a better DVR than the Recast. BUT, Recast+FTV Stick+Philo or Vue+Prime Channels is 1000x better than a Tablo TV DVR.