# TiVO Live Guide or Grid? Choose your setup!



## johndoedoes (Oct 10, 2015)

Which guide do you like better and why?


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## Leon WIlkinson (Feb 13, 2000)

The only true guide to TiVo, It is faster to find stuff 1:30 hrs+ from now.

That & I never change it.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

This comes up every year or so and you'll find the following generalizations will wind up being your data points.

Long term users tend to use the Tivo Live Guide since IMNSHO it's far more flexible.
New users coming from an MSO DVR will tend to use the grid guide because it's less of a change in the SAF (spousal acceptance factor)


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

Live Guide for me, 

Grid Guide is limited to displaying 2 hours of upcoming programming regardless of channel content.

Live Guide can show 3.5 to 12+ hours, depending on length of programming.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I've been using the TiVo live guide for well over a decade. You see much more information on screen for a longer time period. So it is faster to view the guide info.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Not allot of reason to use the guide once you have your One Passes setup but when I do I like the TiVo Live Guide. Would rather see a longer amount of time for one channel than more channels. I think the Grid Guide is more for people who still look for live TV to watch, which I never do.


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## JayMan747 (Nov 10, 2008)

dianebrat said:


> This comes up every year or so and you'll find the following generalizations will wind up being your data points.
> 
> Long term users tend to use the Tivo Live Guide since IMNSHO it's far more flexible.
> New users coming from an MSO DVR will tend to use the grid guide because it's less of a change in the SAF (spousal acceptance factor)


Tivo Noob, so you are correct. Grid.

I would like the option to show grid on the ipad Tivo App as well.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Where's the option for both? Live to view live and Grid for upcoming. It's nice to have options. I wish I could do a 3 hr x 11 line grid like I had in Windows Media Center, but Tivo's grid isn't bad, especially compared to a typical cable company DVR.

In any case, I've ultimately found the Live guide to be more useful than the Grid I'd used on other systems for decades.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

Grid. I theoretically like the Live Guide, but in practice, it is quicker for me to see what is on 7(8) channels at a time for the next three-ish hours than to see 3 to 12 hours of programming, but only one channel at a time.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

atmuscarella said:


> Not allot of reason to use the guide once you have your One Passes setup but when I do I like the TiVo Live Guide. Would rather see a longer amount of time for one channel than more channels. I think the Grid Guide is more for people who still look for live TV to watch, which I never do.


I think you pretty much nailed it. However, I do use the guide fairly often to see what movies will be available over the next couple of weeks on the premiums and movie channels such as TCM. Of course the Live Guide is much better for this.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

Is there a quicker way to switch between live and grid guide than going through the Tivo Central settings?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I like the TiVo guide. Although I never watch live TV so the only time I ever use it is when I'm looking for something where I know the time/channel but can't find via search. Or when I want to see what was on the night before in a specific time slot that might have effected my recordings.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

aspexil said:


> Is there a quicker way to switch between live and grid guide than going through the Tivo Central settings?


In the guide just press A, then pick live or grid. I didn't even know there was an option in Tivo Central settings.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

Tivo live guide. I like to use it to search for upcoming shows on PBS, History, etc.. That I might like in the upcoming 12 days. Like others have said it shows a lot more info.


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

Live Guide just works better. Grid is for beginner/novice users who want a cable box experience.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

Used grid for the first few weeks, but eventually switch to the live guide. love being able to see what is coming up on my favorite channels.


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## apw2607 (Nov 17, 2012)

Grid guide on tivo itself .... Live guide on the ipad app.  best of both words.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The grid is probably better for people watching live TV and who can't decide what to watch. Those are the same people that regularly request color coding for program type. (i.e. movie, sports, etc...) The TiVo guide works better for most other use cases, but is not great when just randomly surfing the guide as it only shows the name of the show currently on, even if it only has a few minutes left.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

the Grid is now on our 5 TVs.
The Grid is Much easier to explain to my guests.

I set it up with Favorites instead of all my channels.
So they can see all the major channels.

In a few weeks when QuickMode and Channel Logos come to the Roamio Pros 
it will be much easier for guests to use and understand.

Many of my guests do not even have DVRs.
Many are older and are not used to new things.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

No option for neither? I don't use the guide.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

series5orpremier said:


> Live Guide just works better. Grid is for beginner/novice users who want a cable box experience.


Live Guide works better for the people it works better for. I wouldn't presume to tell Live Guide users that Grid Guide works better. I'm not a beginner nor novice, and Grid Guide works better for my needs.


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## wscottcross (Dec 24, 2014)

For me, I like to see as much information as possible because, most of the time, I'm not looking for something to watch live, I'm looking for something to record later or make sure something is scheduled to record.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

wscottcross said:


> For me, I like to see as much information as possible because, most of the time, I'm not looking for something to watch live, I'm looking for something to record later or make sure something is scheduled to record.


Yes. That is why I also like the Live Guide. But it should also work great for live TV too. There ar etoo many channels. So the more that you can get onscreen at one time in the guide the better.


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

Yeah, it actually gives more current information than the Grid does. If a show is half over it's title often gets chopped off on the Grid so you can't read it. That's not the case with the Live Guide.


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

FitzAusTex said:


> Live Guide works better for the people it works better for. I wouldn't presume to tell Live Guide users that Grid Guide works better. I'm not a beginner nor novice, and Grid Guide works better for my needs.


It's not subjective. It's just a fact.


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## LightningBOLT (Sep 30, 2015)

FitzAusTex said:


> Grid. I theoretically like the Live Guide, but in practice, it is quicker for me to see what is on 7(8) channels at a time for the next three-ish hours than to see 3 to 12 hours of programming, but only one channel at a time.


I agree.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

series5orpremier said:


> It's not subjective. It's just a fact.


obviously, it is the opposite of what you said.


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

Something like color preference is subjective; engineering function is not. Long program titles can't be instantly read fully in Grid without navigating the cursor through an up to an 8x5 matrix. That's a near non-issue in Live where current programs on 8 channels display fully and all programs out to around 12 hours display fully by navigating the cursor through an 8x1 matrix. As an extreme example, if you're more comfortable watching TV on a SD tube television that's your preference but it doesn't give you better PQ than a 1080P plasma.


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## raqball (Feb 23, 2015)

I use the Tivo guide and like it MUCH better..


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## realityboy (Jun 13, 2003)

Neither a novice or beginner, and the grid guide works best for my purposes. I want to see what prime time shows are airing on the major networks. I look at that once a week just to see what's upcoming, but otherwise I'm never using the guide to decide what to watch now.


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## Edwil55 (Jan 24, 2016)

mdavej said:


> In the guide just press A, then pick live or grid. I didn't even know there was an option in Tivo Central settings.


When I press "A" I don't see an option to choose between live or grid view? Thought at one point I saw it, but not anymore.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

The last post was over 2 years ago!

So, Gen 4 GUI or Gen 3?

-KP


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## NGeorge (Feb 27, 2004)

It all comes down to how you watch TV I suppose. Personally I watch most of my stuff that has already been recorded - - but when I do go to the guide it's because I want to get ideas of what to watch at that moment - - so I prefer having the grid where I can see what's on multiple channels now and in the next few hours and can page down through them vs. the live guide where I can see farther out but only one channel at a time.

If I planned my watching through surfing the guide rather than searching to record, the live guide might make more sense.

But as it stands, I've always found the grid guide to be much more useful - - all the way back to my first Tivo in 2003 when the grid truly sucked and you had to wait for it to draw in all the content with each press. I really like the grid guide overhaul in the Hydra interface myself (I don't like much else of what they did, but the new guide is great - - the black color scheme makes it easier to read and they made more room for showing descriptions). 

N


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