Ahhh, I see what you mean. The three lights are purely recording lights which by there very nature only turn on when a programme is being recorded.
Give it a couple of weeks and TiVo will become instinctive whilst you look back and wonder how you ever coped with the V+ box!
On a more serious note though, the way that the tuners are implemented on TiVo allows the user much more flexibility. That can only be a good thing in my eyes.