TiVo User Interface - Dated?

[GarySargent]

I just wondered what people thought of TiVo's user interface these days.

Personally I think its looking pretty dated now and in need of a complete overhaul.

For the purposes of the poll select one of the "Only just got TiVo" if you've had TiVo less than a year.

[boyz]

How about the option "Couldn't care less, I just use the thing"?

[mike0151]

I agree with boyz. That would have been my preferred answer. I always use the shortcut keys rather than menus when posible.

[cyril]

Today's gui graphics are much more 'slick-looking' than TiVo, but in terms of useability it's still good.

I would rather have an OK looking interface than one that's hard to use or doesn't do what I want but looks good.

[Regor]

Had TiVo for two years now and still am happy with the interface as does the job well. But at the same time would be nice for a few tweaks here and there to bring up to date.

[Toothy]

I've always thought the GUI was rubbish. :down:

It seriously needs dragging into the 21st century...but as UK TiVo is dead as a dead thing.......it ain't gonna happen. :( :(

[digital_S]

Never mind the TiVo interface, what about this forum's interface!! (Is nearly 4 years out of date.) :p
-----------------------------------------------------------
Voted: "Had TiVo ages - The interface is OK"

I'm the same as Regor. :up: We do deserve long-overdue "tweeks"

[cwaring]

Originally posted by digital_S
Never mind the TiVo interface, what about this forum's interface!! (Is nearly 4 years out of date.) :p
On that very subject, read this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=165511) post. Ahh well :(

He said neither "no plans" nor "no current plans". Guess that's an actual "NO" then ;) :)

[GoodSpike]

I won't vote because I don't know what your interface looks like over there, but I'd never change an interface simply because it's "dated."

That type of thing gets you programs like Quicken 2004 (not sure you have Quicken over there either, but basically through an annual change in interface they've taken a program that was easy and intuitive and made it a mess.).

[Toothy]

If only TiVo had used AMIGAOS instead of Linux...we could have had an MUI (Magical User Interface) based GUI. ;)

MUI is an object oriented system to create and maintain graphical user interfaces. It frees programmers from creating GUI's and allows users the freedom to create their very own unique interface...down to the very last pixel. :D :cool:

Imagine every single TiVo in the UK....with it's very own unique look...as designed by the individual user. :cool:

[David Bott]

"Never mind the TiVo interface, what about this forum's interface!! (Is nearly 4 years out of date.)"

Actually not even close. The ver 3 of the software was released not long ago. :) It is so now...it is not even reported to be stable yet for larger sites like this. Bummner. But I am hopeful for ver 3.1.

Thanks

[cwaring]

Originally posted by David Bott
...it is not even reported to be stable yet for larger sites like this. Bummner. But I am hopeful for ver 3.1.

Seems stable enough over on DS. But you'd know better than I on that. I'm only a user :)

[blindlemon]

Personally I prefer the UI of this forum to that of DS.

What's the point of cluttering up a forum with fancy graphics? People come to forums for information - and the quicker it is to navigate/read the better.

I could put up with being able to change the colours though....

[blindlemon]

As for the poll, it seems I voted with the crowd ;)

Yes, a slicker, customisable UI for TiVo would be great - but the product is already so far ahead of the so-called competition in terms of functionality, that I'd put up with a green-screen command-line "UI" if that was all there was.

[roydonaldson]

I've had my Tivo for a couple of years now and initially I was very impressed with the user friendlyness of the GUI. It is slick, easy to use by joe bloggs and his wife, and does exactly what it is meant to do.

I'd generally say that compared to other things out there today, it is pretty comparable and that is where the problem lies with it. When it first came out it was head and shoulders *better* than everything else. If you are speaking about a refresh of the GUI, then I would say yes, as today it should be refreshed to make it better than everything else out there.

Remember we all have Tivo's because they are so much better than other PVR's, not because it's just an ok interface/product.


On that point, is this a poll to actually get us a new interface ? or, just for interest ?

I'd like to be able to put all my West Wing episodes in a folder for instance.

Roy.

[Regor]

The best thing about the interface is that it's so easy to use. My mother has one and even she can use it!!

[pgogborn]

Originally posted by cwaring
Seems stable enough over on DS
You must have missed the recent occasions / resulting threads when the style sheets kept on falling over.

As for the TiVo user interface, I reckon that as hard drives increase in capacity, its short comings will become increasingly apparent.

If you are going to use the TiVo to create your own television channel with a terabyte of stored programs, you need easy and flexible ways to retrieve programs from your 'Now Playing' list - for example, multiple ways to order the programs, much more flexible folders than currently exist (on the USA version only), ability to add to program descriptions, key word searching of recorded programs etc.

Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to add the above features and still retain the ease of use that marks the current interface.

I have also got to say that I quite like some of the EPG layouts used by other people that reduce the live picture to less than a quarter of the screen, rather than using the TiVo format of a full screen transparent overlay.

[Stroller]

I see no need to change the UI whatsoever. 'tarting it up' will just slow the device down and make it less user-friendly. It looks neat, clean and professional as is, and changing the look of the UI would be waaaaaaay down my list of priorities!

[iankb]

I think that we are now used to very smart looking interfaces on a PC display, that make us feel that a TV display should be able to emulate. However, when you see a PC display transferred to a normal TV screen (no plasmas, thankyou!), the picture generally looks crap. Given the low resolution and small colour palette of a TiVo, I don't think it looks that bad. However, I do think they should have included an option for non-transparent EPG screens, and allowed for increased data on a widescreen TV.

[6022tivo]

Try using Sky+ for a year, then you will just love the TiVo interface.

[jeremy Parsons]

I have Windows MCE , My Dad has SKY$+ and I have Tivo , Tivo used to be irritating with Big disks , however the upgrade of my tivo's to Cachecard has resolved this and yes I agree its slightly dated now compared to MCE but not as much as you might think , MCE does allow a mini viewing window when working on other areas. However the interface is still better than most of the other DVR's and since those of us on cable have Tivo or Nothing I will take Tivo. In Terms of upgrades the Media Streaming is the area that I believe tivo really lags in the UK

[Andy Davies]

It's OK but I find the sliding menu's annoying...

[cyril]

Originally posted by pgogborn


As for the TiVo user interface, I reckon that as hard drives increase in capacity, its short comings will become increasingly apparent.

If you are going to use the TiVo to create your own television channel with a terabyte of stored programs, you need easy and flexible ways to retrieve programs from your 'Now Playing' list - for example, multiple ways to order the programs, much more flexible folders than currently exist (on the USA version only), ability to add to program descriptions, key word searching of recorded programs etc.


Well when I used to have 1.5 terabytes of stuff it wasn't too bad to find something as long as you recorded one channel per TiVo :)
Our current UK TiVos are limited to a measly 400gb per unit anyway.

TiVoweb helps a lot in organising and re-naming stuff.

Obviously US and Japanese Sony TiVos have got folders and sort facilities for a long time now, and when we get our Version 5 UK HDTiVo with terabytes of storage in 2009/2010/2011 a much slicker sophisticated UI is definitely needed, along with a search facility in Now Playing.


EDIT: each TiVo is limited to 800Gb now, with 1TB a possibility

[manolan]

A number of comments there that I think really hit the nail on the head.

The TiVo interface is very clear and consistent (although actually less so since 2.5 when they added so many more options). If only most computer programs could be as good.

Graphically it may look a bit last century, but that's only a small part of the story to me. You can have the prettiest interface in the world but it may not be the most usable.

I still think the TiVo GUI is one of the product's great strengths. Does that mean they should stand on their laurels? No, of course not. And there is a lot of sense in the comment about managing huge program archives (don't have one myself). But they shouldn't fiddle with it just because it looks a bit dated.

[woody]

Tivo's interace may be old, but it's a tried and tested one, that we all have got use to, and could probably navigate it blindfolded.

Even if Tivo wasn't a functional recorder, it makes the sky digibox useable.

As was mentioned above in a post about quicken, it's a nightmare when software firms make changes, it means spending ages trying to work out how to do something again.

I say leave it alone.

[ccwf]

Originally posted by iankb
However, I do think they should have included an option for non-transparent EPG screens Sounds like today's thread Why must the guide be accessed via live tv? (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194137), which got a response from TiVoOpsMgr.

[iankb]

Oh goody. Another option that, if implemented, will make our old UK model even more outdated. :rolleyes: ;)

[Tiny Clanger]

I would be happier with the TiVo interface if there was a faster CPU behind it. Granted, I have various hacks running, but three seconds between pressing TiVo and playback stopping is three seconds too long. Taking over ten seconds to show Now Playing is way too long, even if I do have 120Gb.

Sadly, I don't think you can realistically overclock a TiVo - and I don't think I'd want to take the risk, even if you could :)

(Would CacheCard help here? Not that I can afford to go buying anything at the moment, mind...)

[pahunt]

Originally posted by Tiny Clanger
(Would CacheCard help here? Not that I can afford to go buying anything at the moment, mind...)

Yes :)

[Heuer]

This is all a bit like arguing which make of diesel to put in your car .

Is the GUI fit for purpose? If so why change it? And why does 'new' seem to imply it will be better?

It works so leave it alone. Ditto this site!

[DJWillis]

Personally I think the TiVo GUI is clean, fairly tidy and easy to use. I would love to see some of the US features in UK boxes without resorting to hacking but that’s a long way off a complete GUI restyle.

The GUI looks good (not great in 2.5 due to poor icons IMHO) on the TV and everybody I have chucked the TiVo at has worked out how to use it with no problem.

I have also setup several other TiVo ‘like’ devices such as MythTV, WMCE and Xbox Media Centre and I find that I end up using the TiVo like user created interfaces on them over there all new fancy GUI’s as I like these devices to be usable by normal mortals as well as the resident geeks ;).

[mrtickle]

Indeed. I think the design of the UI is really great. It's only let down by the implementation, which made frustratingly simple mistakes which are too late to fix now. Eg an extremely poor choice of colours in the palette making a purple BBC2 logo impossible; gaps at the bottom of the screen and squashed blobs on Now Playing due to hard-coding for NTSC; twittering lines (selection bar, A-Z screen) due to NTSC designers not testing on a PAL TV, etc. :rolleyes:

[pgogborn]

Hi Mr Tickle, your hat looks bigger than ever.

[mrtickle]

Hiya. And thanks - it's mine. :p

[polina1337]

Tivo has an overall better layout when compared to the TV Guide On Screen interactive user interface. But there are some things that would make Tivo cooler:
It needs picture-in-picture. And I’m not talking about the crappy, obstructed by your guide, type of display “Now Playing” on Tivo. TV Guide might have advertisements underneath it, but it has real picture-in-picture imbedded on every page you are browsing. And don’t get me wrong, I totally like the non-distracting aspect to the current Tivo menus. I just want the option of having it—because I want it.

******as for the layout of the forum... it would look nicer if it didn’t stretch all the way across. Try adding some margins.****** :down:

[BrianHughes]

Really old thread warning :-)

[Glen]

It would be supreb if our TiVo's GUI was the same as the ones on the UK. The one with the little TiVo guy standing under the spotlight! It looks very cool! The one we use now as the same as Sky had when digital was first released!

[pauljs]

Still like the TiVo interface, but starting to prefer and use MCE more these days

[polina1337]

i understand that this is an old thread... i was doing a report on this for a class, and came across this thread. it helped in my analysis of tivo alot. i was going to post a link to my paper (if anyone was interested) but this forum wont let me post links until i have 5 posts.

[DeadKenny]

In terms of the colour scheme and overall theme then maybe it could do with a refresh, but as a user interface in general it's still way ahead of it's time. When people I know who are used to Sky have seen my TiVo interface they always comment how much easier it is to use. I mean, being able to browse the listings with the TV picture in the background... ! Sky still can't do that. So that makes TiVo 21st century and Sky back in the dark ages :D

That's compared to Sky of course. Compared to other things like MythTV, GB-PVR, Windows MCE, it's another matter but then most of those copied TiVo ;)... it's just they've evolved whereas TiVo (UK) has stagnated so they have far more features.