# Premiere XL4 - first impression not good



## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

So I went ahead and got the top-of-the-line Tivo, looking forward to the additional space and tuners. What I didn't expect, though, is an attribute of the device that will make me send it back: the horribly slow user interface. The device updated itself to the latest version of the software, so I can only assume that this is the best that Tivo can do.

The slowness of moving around, watching the screen redraw, is intolerable. What are these Tivo folks thinking?

The Series 3 UI is faster, much faster. The one is not ready for my living room. Buyer beware.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

I have one on order, due to arrive Tuesday. But I'll give it some time not only to load the latest updates, but compile data and cache. I'm expecting it'll be fine...


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

especially being a new box, it will take a good 24 hours to settle down... but if you however were expecting the HD interface to be as fast as the SD then it wont. I have no speed issues with the HD interface but it is not as fast as SD


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

The first 24 hours the interface is very slow as the tivo builds its guide info and databases. It should improve markedly after that.

The HD interface was indeed slow when the Premiere was launched but with the last few updates, I have no problem with it anymore.


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## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

compnurd said:


> especially being a new box, it will take a good 24 hours to settle down... but if you however were expecting the HD interface to be as fast as the SD then it wont. I have no speed issues with the HD interface but it is not as fast as SD


That's not acceptable to me. The SD interface was more than slow enough. Tivo could have improved the processor enough to draw the screens tolerably. The device is going back. Big boo for tivo. Newer is supposed to be better. This is not.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

jauburn said:


> That's not acceptable to me. The SD interface was more than slow enough. Tivo could have improved the processor enough to draw the screens tolerably. The device is going back. Big boo for tivo. Newer is supposed to be better. This is not.


Ok See ya later! I have no issues with my two premieres and there speed


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## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

Update: turns out one can select the old SD menus on the new tivo. Now I will reconsider.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

I had the SD menu selected on my XL4 until just recently due to the reports of the slower menu. I switched and did notice the menus seem slightly slower than the SD menus, but that feeling went away quickly and I am not sure I could go back to the SD menus anymore. The feature of the HD menus (especially in the To-Do list and Season Pass manager) are a huge positive over the slight speed difference of the menus.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

The SDUI on my Elite is roughly the same speed as my old HDs. The HDUI is slower, but has so many good features now it's worth the sacrifice IMO. Just wish we could've disabled the useless Discovery bar, but Tivo has to sell crap even though we pay for service.


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## DubVBenz (Jul 6, 2012)

jauburn said:


> So I went ahead and got the top-of-the-line Tivo, looking forward to the additional space and tuners. What I didn't expect, though, is an attribute of the device that will make me send it back: the horribly slow user interface. The device updated itself to the latest version of the software, so I can only assume that this is the best that Tivo can do.
> 
> The slowness of moving around, watching the screen redraw, is intolerable. What are these Tivo folks thinking?
> 
> The Series 3 UI is faster, much faster. The one is not ready for my living room. Buyer beware.


Yea, these things are total junk. I won't be renewing my service.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

jauburn said:


> Update: turns out one can select the old SD menus on the new tivo. Now I will reconsider.


Quite honestly... you probably should have done more research on here prior to purchasing... you would have found that out on the countless threads here


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I imagine the SD will be slow initially as well. Seems consistent with my experience with each new tivo. It also seems consistent with the information provided to the user during initial set up. But, that is just me.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The HDUI seems to be a bit slower on a 4 tuner box compared to a 2 tuner. Not sure why. Perhaps the extra overhead of the 2 extra streams recording. 

However if you really hate the new UI there is still the option of using the old UI and it's just as fats, if not faster, then the S3 units. 

Dan


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## HeatherA (Jan 10, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> The HDUI seems to be a bit slower on a 4 tuner box compared to a 2 tuner. Not sure why. Perhaps the extra overhead of the 2 extra streams recording.
> 
> However if you really hate the new UI there is still the option of using the old UI and it's just as fats, if not faster, then the S3 units.
> 
> Dan


I've had my 4 tuner for about a month now and either its sped up or I've adjusted. Don't notice the difference between it and my old PremiereXL at all.

I love my Premieres in all incarnations... would never use the SD menus again. I'm spoiled now.


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## mrsean (May 15, 2006)

HeatherA said:


> I've had my 4 tuner for about a month now and either its sped up or I've adjusted. Don't notice the difference between it and my old PremiereXL at all.
> 
> I love my Premieres in all incarnations... would never use the SD menus again. I'm spoiled now.


This has been my experience with my new TP4 as well. I haven't noticed any slowness in comparison to the 2-tuner Premiere. I wonder if the cable provider is a factor in why some find their units more sluggish.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

mrsean said:


> This has been my experience with my new TP4 as well. I haven't noticed any slowness in comparison to the 2-tuner Premiere. I wonder if the cable provider is a factor in why some find their units more sluggish.


It could be the ISP or DNS servers also. These units like quick DNS servers


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## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> The HDUI seems to be a bit slower on a 4 tuner box compared to a 2 tuner. Not sure why. Perhaps the extra overhead of the 2 extra streams recording.
> 
> However if you really hate the new UI there is still the option of using the old UI and it's just as fats, if not faster, then the S3 units.
> 
> Dan


I found that out. I'm happily using the SD menus. They're a tad snappier than with the S3 (as they should be).


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

I am really not pleased with the new XL-4 speed either but am willing to live with it to get the 4 tuners and all the other great features. I tried the SD interface and found it a litttle faster but lacking many features. It's been awhile now but I think not being able to tell if a show was recording when looking at the guide was one. Maybe not being to tell if a show was new or not in the guide was another. I know there was a few issues but my memory is blurred since I went back to HD interface. One thing I find particularly annoying that I have to use often is the "input" button to step the TV through the different inputs. It's so slow on the TiVo remote but very quick on the TV remote. Here is a copy of my review from Amazon:
"This DVR has so many great features but OMG the lack of speed. My Comcast DVR which sits right next to it is much faster and a pleasure to use. For example if you want to select another input on the TV using the tivo remote you have to select "input" multiple times with a long pause in between each press. Most things on the XL4 are that way press a button then pause before pressing the next one. The Comcast DVR has a much more natural feel. I sure hope they can speed this thing up with some kind of update. Other than that everything is good especially the 4 tuners. My 3 star rating will be upgraded if they fix the speed."


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

mpnret said:


> For example if you want to select another input on the TV using the tivo remote you have to select "input" multiple times with a long pause in between each press.


The pause is a function of your TV, not the TiVo.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

mpnret said:


> "...For example if you want to select another input on the TV using the tivo remote you have to select "input" multiple times with a long pause in between each press. "


Since the speed of the DVR has absolutely nothing to do with this, I wouldn't put much credence in this review.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

SullyND said:


> The pause is a function of your TV, not the TiVo.


No it is not. It is the TiVo remote causing the delay. If I use the TV remote or one of my 2 Harmony remotes there is no pause.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

lpwcomp said:


> Since the speed of the DVR has absolutely nothing to do with this, I wouldn't put much credence in this review.


ok, fanboy, read my post above.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

mpnret said:


> ok, fanboy, read my post above.


Sorry troll, my usual policy is DNFTEC.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

lpwcomp said:


> Since the speed of the DVR has absolutely nothing to do with this, I wouldn't put much credence in this review.


+1


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

lpwcomp said:


> Sorry troll, my usual policy is DNFTEC.


I guess any one that makes a valid point that doesn't agree with you is a troll.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

You should try a different remote code. Some times the first code that "works" isn't the best one. Try the others there might be one that can communicate with your TV better and cycle the input faster. 

Dan


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

Dan203 said:


> You should try a different remote code. Some times the first code that "works" isn't the best one. Try the others there might be one that can communicate with your TV better and cycle the input faster.
> 
> Dan


Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a try later. This may fix my issues with the TiVo remote communicating with the TV but still doesn't speed up the XL-4 but for 4 tuners I can live with it. If they ever do speed it up I will be changing my Amazon review from 3 stars to 5.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

Dan203 said:


> You should try a different remote code. Some times the first code that "works" isn't the best one. Try the others there might be one that can communicate with your TV better and cycle the input faster.
> 
> Dan


Gave it a try but no luck. The remote code I was using was the only one that worked at all on the provided list. I guess I will just have to accept it. It's kind of a shame that the TV remote and both of my Harmony remotes can step through the input selections quickly. The TiVo remote for some reason requires a pause after each selection. The other annoyance is that when you finally get to the selection you want you just have to wait there till it times out for the selection to take affect. With the other remotes once you arrive at the selection you want you can hit enter or right arrow on the remote for the selection to take affect. On the TiVo remote hitting either of these performs a TiVo function. I guess it is just the way TiVo implemented the input selection with their remote.


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## jasew (Jun 12, 2012)

mpnret said:


> No it is not. It is the TiVo remote causing the delay. If I use the TV remote or one of my 2 Harmony remotes there is no pause.


My experience is the same. I can cycle through the TV input options quickly with the TV remote. If I use the Tivo remote, there is a pause between each selection change. The Tivo appears to be "processing" that button request because the Tivo console light flashes when you press that button.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

The Input Delay is set to a high number on the TiVo remotes in order to accommodate TVs that require it. Your TV and Harmony remotes are probably set to the optimal delay needed for the TV. The number can be lowered on Harmonys(in milliseconds).

I don't know if the learning function will work on the Input button on a TiVo remote for your TV, but can you can try it.

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/278


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

The Tivo box has no control over the tv inputs, it is just showing it received a signal.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

cherry ghost said:


> The Input Delay is set to a high number on the TiVo remotes in order to accommodate TVs that require it. Your TV and Harmony remotes are probably set to the optimal delay needed for the TV. The number can be lowered on Harmonys(in milliseconds).
> 
> I don't know if the learning function will work on the Input button on a TiVo remote for your TV, but can you can try it.
> 
> http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/278


I thought for sure that was going to do it. The learning function is definetly working with the input button (I assigned TV remote power to TiVo remote input to be sure). Problem is once I assign the TV remote input to the TiVo remote input button the delay is still there.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

mpnret said:


> I thought for sure that was going to do it. The learning function is definetly working with the input button (I assigned TV remote power to TiVo remote input to be sure). Problem is once I assign the TV remote input to the TiVo remote input button the delay is still there.


Alot of remotes do this.. My Direct TV remotes also had a longer delay


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

Had another thought. If I could just find some unused buttons on the TiVo remote they could learn to go directly to the inputs I use. Only 2 I could think of are the "c" and "d" buttons. Unfortunately they don't work with the learning function. Looks like the only learning buttons are the TV controlling ones which I would have known had I completly read the link you provided.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

compnurd said:


> Alot of remotes do this.. My Direct TV remotes also had a longer delay


I guess it's really not so bad. But when you couple this with the pauses in the HD menus on the TiVo itself it gets a little annoying.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

I dont have the pauses with the HD menu...


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## chef616 (Aug 6, 2007)

mpnret said:


> The other annoyance is that when you finally get to the selection you want you just have to wait there till it times out for the selection to take affect. With the other remotes once you arrive at the selection you want you can hit enter or right arrow on the remote for the selection to take affect. On the TiVo remote hitting either of these performs a TiVo function. I guess it is just the way TiVo implemented the input selection with their remote.


This is more a factor of the way that your TV implements input selection. I have a Visio TV that works the same way. Instead of doing things the "old" way and just switching the input, pressing the input button causes an input menu to appear. Using the TV's remote you can use the direction buttons to scroll through the list and select the desired input. Which is a nice feature since you don't have to endure the time delay involved in switching to each input between the current one and the desired one.

The TiVo remote only replicates 4 buttons: power, input, volume up and volume down. It does not replicate the functionality of the directional buttons or the enter button, because how would the remote know if the signal should be sent to the TV vs the TiVo?

At least it works. The remote on my old Fios dvr wouldn't even map the input button.


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## zubinh (Jun 7, 2004)

I think your internet speed has alot to do with the speed of the XL4. Does anyone know if it's possible to check the Moca connection speed?

I have 75/35 with FiOS now but if the Premier will work faster, I could upgrade to the 150/65 Quantum service


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

zubinh said:


> I think your internet speed has alot to do with the speed of the XL4. Does anyone know if it's possible to check the Moca connection speed?
> 
> I have 75/35 with FiOS now but if the Premier will work faster, I could upgrade to the 150/65 Quantum service


That speed is fine. it is usually more related to your DNS servers.

you can use a free program like dnsbench to see if there are faster ones


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

chef616 said:


> This is more a factor of the way that your TV implements input selection. I have a Visio TV that works the same way. Instead of doing things the "old" way and just switching the input, pressing the input button causes an input menu to appear. Using the TV's remote you can use the direction buttons to scroll through the list and select the desired input. Which is a nice feature since you don't have to endure the time delay involved in switching to each input between the current one and the desired one.
> 
> The TiVo remote only replicates 4 buttons: power, input, volume up and volume down. It does not replicate the functionality of the directional buttons or the enter button, because how would the remote know if the signal should be sent to the TV vs the TiVo?
> 
> At least it works. The remote on my old Fios dvr wouldn't even map the input button.


A little more to it than that. On your Vizio TV and remote you should be able to step through your input selections very fast just using the input button on your Vizio remote, nothing else. If you try to do the same with the TiVo remote it forces you to pause between each press of the input button. Not a big deal but couple that with the slow XL-4 interface and it's annoying. Not that the XL-4 interface is super slow. Just slower than my Comcast/Moto box sitting next to it. Nothing to do with internet or servers. It's the same on or off the net. Just not everything is available when off the net.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

You should look into getting a Harmony remote. Most TVs have discrete input codes. With a Harmony you can make it use those so if you select to control the TiVo it will jump directly to the input the TiVo is using and if you select to use another device it will jump directly to the input for that device. Makes the whole input thing very convenient. 

Dan


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

compnurd said:


> That speed is fine. it is usually more related to your DNS servers.
> 
> you can use a free program like dnsbench to see if there are faster ones


Some people have also found assigning an IP address speeds it up.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

innocentfreak said:


> Some people have also found assigning an IP address speeds it up.


There is another good suggestion


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

zubinh said:


> I think your internet speed has alot to do with the speed of the XL4. Does anyone know if it's possible to check the Moca connection speed?
> 
> I have 75/35 with FiOS now but if the Premier will work faster, I could upgrade to the 150/65 Quantum service


I notice very little difference in speed between home with my 150/65 Verizon Fios connection and at my GFs house with a 1.2 Mb/s/384Kb/s Verizon DSL connection. It is only a fraction slower there. Although this is with a two tuner Premiere. I've never taken any of my Elites over there.

As someone mentioned the DNS servers make a difference. When I switched her router to the google DNS servers it made a difference. Netflix started quicker, everything started quicker. But even on her slow DSL connection, Netflix is rock solid on the Premiere.

And I had a similar result when I switched my DNS servers at home. Although since being on the FiOS 150/65 tier and being switched over to GPON, I get basically the same results with the FiOS DNS servers and the Google DNS servers. When I was on BPON there was a noticeable difference between the two.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

Dan203 said:


> You should look into getting a Harmony remote. Most TVs have discrete input codes. With a Harmony you can make it use those so if you select to control the TiVo it will jump directly to the input the TiVo is using and if you select to use another device it will jump directly to the input for that device. Makes the whole input thing very convenient.
> 
> Dan


I have a couple of them. Favorite one is the 670 which they marketed as the best one for controlling TiVo and DVRs about 6 years ago. That remote lasted through a couple of ReplayTVs and a couple of Comcast DVRs. We keep wearing out the rubber membrane that the quick skip button is attached to. I buy non-working 670s on Ebay for the new membrane with buttons attached.
Anyway I currently have a 4 different remotes set up on the TiVo/Vizio TV. I have a Harmony One, Harmony 670, TiVo peanut that comes with XL-4 and the Vizio remote that came with the TV (it is multifunction and does control the TiVo). Least favorite is the Harmony One. I prefer the TiVo remote for controlling the TiVo but it has the input issue and also an issue with not being able to switch TV channels if I decide to use the TV tuner. It looks like the Harmony 670 is going to be the best for my needs even though I really like the TiVo remote.
I did a kludgey fix for the input delay on the TiVo remote but am still left with the inability to change TV tunner channels. Using the learning feature of the TiVo remote I assigned the input button to go directly to the TV tuner and the mute button to go directly to the TV input that the TiVo is on.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I also have a 670 and a couple of 680s. I really wish they made new Harmonies that were similar because they're all starting to wear out and I'm not sure what I'll do when they eventually die.

One thing you might want to check is the TV. Some TVs have a way of disabling unused inputs. I have a Sharp LCD TV that does this. When you disable the unused inputs the Input button simply toggles between the ones you actually use. If your TV has this it may make the TiVo input button more tolerable.

On a related note I think TiVo might be working on some sort of universal remote. I take all of the TiVo surveys and there have been several questions in the most recent few about features of the remote. I think they might finally be working on something that can control more complex HT systems. If that's the case then maybe TiVo will have a viable replacement for our Harmonys soon.

Dan


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

SullyND said:


> The pause is a function of your TV, not the TiVo.





lpwcomp said:


> Since the speed of the DVR has absolutely nothing to do with this, I wouldn't put much credence in this review.





compnurd said:


> +1


Got a Roamio Pro, same TV. Problem solved. Looks like they changed the timing in the new remote.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> ...maybe TiVo will have a viable replacement for our Harmonys soon.
> 
> Dan


Wouldn't want one....I'm perfectly happy with my Harmony One...


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