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Hard Drive Specifications & Recommendations

Tablo Support - Brittany
Tablo Support - Brittany
  • Updated

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To get a feel for how storage space translates into viewing hours, go here.

Selecting an unsupported form of storage may result in failed recordings or buffering.

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In order to record your favorite Over-the-Air shows, your Tablo DVR needs a place to save those files.

Depending on the model of Tablo DVR you have, hard drive storage requirements, options and specs may be different.

Only one type of supported storage can be in use at any given time.  

 

Please review these recommended recording storage options for your Tablo model before setup.

The 4th Generation Tablo is our current DVR. Every other product below is legacy.

 

Table of Contents

 

4th Generation Tablo

Owners of 4th Generation Tablo devices have two options for recording storage:

  • 50 Hours of Included Onboard Storage
  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size)

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Tablo DUAL LITE 

Owners of Tablo DUAL LITE OTA DVRs have one option for recording storage:

  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives
    (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size)

 

Tablo Dual 128GB 

Owners of Tablo DUAL 128GB OTA DVRs have two options for recording storage:

  • 128 GB of Included Onboard Storage 
    (~80 Hours of Recordings).
  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives
    (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size)

 

Tablo DUAL HDMI

Owners of Tablo DUAL HDMI OTA DVRs have one option for recording storage:

  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives
    (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size)

Tablo QUAD

Owners of Tablo QUAD OTA DVRs have two options for recording storage:

  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives
    (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size).
  • Internal 2.5" SATA drives - Spinning or SSD
    (Standard 7 mm or 9.5 mm Heights, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size).

 

Tablo QUAD 1TB

Owners of Tablo QUAD 1TB OTA DVRs have three options for recording storage:

  • 1 TB of Included Onboard Storage (SATA)
    (~700 Hours of Recordings).
  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives
    (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size).
  • Internal 2.5' SATA drives - spinning or SSD
    (Standard 7 mm or 9.5 mm Heights, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size).

 

 

Tablo QUAD HDMI

Owners of Tablo QUAD HDMI OTA DVRs have one option for recording storage:

  • USB-Connected Portable Hard Drives
    (USB 2.0 or 3.0, 1 TB to 8 TB in Size)

 

Hard Drive Recommendations

For USB-connected drives, we recommend Western Digital Elements drives and Seagate Expansion drives.

For SATA-connected drives, we recommend Western Digital Blue or Seagate BarraCuda internal drives. 

Most other brands/models are compatible but avoid drives whose reviews suggest frequent disconnect problems.  

There are no speed or performance benefits from USB 3.0 and solid state drives (SSD) vs. USB 2.0 and spinning drives.

 

Unsupported Storage Options

The following types of storage are not supported by 4th Gen or legacy Tablo OTA DVRs and may result in failed recordings or frequent buffering:

  • USB Flash Drives (AKA Memory Sticks, AKA USB Keys)
  • Network-Attached Storage (NAS)
  • Internal Drives in External Enclosures

USB flash memory can be too slow and is not designed for the sheer number of read/write cycles that recording live TV requires. Many USB flash drives also contain less storage space than Tablo requires for normal operation. 

Network speeds for NAS can also be too slow to record live TV from Tablo DVRs. 

Internal (laptop style) hard drives placed in external enclosures can cause frequent USB disconnects and communication issues between the drive and the DVR. 

 

Learn More

Now that you know what types of recording storage are compatible with your model of Tablo OTA DVR, check out the following posts about storage space requirements and much more!