I have a Harmony 880. Yeah I know, but it was before any knowledge of URC remotes. I've been getting about 2 years out of the Harmony remotes. I've owned 3 so far. So I haven't had the quality control problems. I absolutely love the activities-based concept. Nobody in my family has to know which device needs to be on which input/output, etc and just one button turns on what you need or master turns everything off (except satellite receiver which stays on all the time).

Now I'd like to seriously take a look at the URC remotes. I understand that I can program them (certain ones) to act like an activities-based remote. I also understand this may take a little longer than the on-line Harmony programming (which I really don't like anyways) AND that the URC remote will cost more. I understand macros and punch-throughs and stuff after having owned a Sony AVR-3000 touchscreen. However I also learned that I absolutely hate touchscreen remotes and so does the rest of my family.

What is a reasonable expectation of service life for the more expensive URC remotes? I'm kinda thinking MX-810 or MX-880. None of the URC remotes appear to have a DVR button which we use heavily for the satellite watching. Easy to program such that when you're watching satellite TV you have immediate access to a programmed DVR button on the color screen?

I guess my biggest concern is .... is it reasonable to expect greater service life from a product that costs so much more than what I've been spending on a remote? Or will I simply spend more and then replace it in 2 years anyways?

Thanks for advice and opinions. I have to be able to justify the added expense to my wife. She won't really care how much more flexible the URC is. She just wants to watch TV. Know what I mean? If I say, "yeah it costs twice as much, but it's going to last twice as long", that will make sense to her.

I think URC for the most part exhibit little problems and I hardly ever return them because they went bad. That being said I think some have better track records than the rest. The MX-850 and 900 seem to be the most rugged and exhibit little problems. Others tend to be a little more sensitive and maybe some battery issues that can be easily resolved here and there.

If you buy from an authroized dealer you will get a good level of service and warranty. If you would like to program it yourself if it's done right you will really get more out of it in customability and RF capability than the 880. Yolu will find it more ergonomic and flexibile. The 880 is one of my best sellers and is really a great remote for single rooms.

Vincent

Asking if something is "easy to program" is hard question for guys here to answer, b/c it is very easy for us, but we do it all the time and have done a lot of it.

URC is a great choice for DIY'ers. There isn't a software restriction, so if you purchase the remote from a dealer, he can give you the software, HOWEVER URC will not be there to support your questions, you will have to pay or work out a deal with your dealer for your learning support.

The MX-450 is a pretty damn good remote IMO, especially if you have one of the MX Editors to get the EXACT IR code set number that you need.

While I don't think URC's RF is perfect, its better than Harmony's, plus you can easily add some sweet lighting control (again, you may need help of a dealer if you get a non PC programmable remote)

"Easy to program" is not a huge concern. Oh, I'm not saying I can program one in a heartbeat like a CI would or without tweaking afterwards, but I have a fairly high degree of confidence that I can get a remote working as long as I have the software. This is a single room remote. Basically operating the stuff in my signature. I don't have fancy lighting controls or motorized drapes or any of that. And at this point the Harmony is doing everything via IR so the RF aspect is probably not even all that important.... right now.... I mean we just moved into this house and might be rearranging how things are set up.

I actually have all of the original remotes for my equipment and all of them work.

I know I can pick up an MX-880 or even a MX-980 on eBay, but I also know from being on this forum that it would be foolish of me to go that route. I'd buy from a dealer and preferably one from here. In fact if I can't buy from someone on this board I probably would have severe second thoughts about doing this at all.

Right now I'm just trying to get a feel for whether or not the extra cash outlay will get me longer service life. We like color screens on the remote but no touchscreen. It was the Sony AVR-3000 that soured everyone in this house on anything touchscreen. It became unreliable in terms of sensitivity to touch. Sometimes it would even give you the little beep feedback that you've touched it, but it wouldn't send the command. Very weird... and annoying.

I cant comment on the newer remotes but the MX-700, MX-800 and MX-850's that we have installed over the last however many years are all still going strong with the exception of 1 MX-700 that lived in a family room with hardwood floors (where it was frequently dropped).

I would probably buy from one of the forum guys for no other reason than availability. They browse the same forum you do.

I think there are 2 hurdles when learning to configure a remote.

#1. You have to have complete understanding of how the system is wired and why its wired that way. A DIY guy knows his system inside and out so its easy to translate it into macros.

#2. You have to know exactly how you want to use the remote. This way you have an idea of what the menu structure is going to look like. Once you have the menu/gui perfect.. programming it will be easy because at this point its all starting to make more sense.


On a side note....

To be quite honest i never really understood activity based programming, im not even sure i know what it looks like. IMO its much easier to pick up the remote.. look at it and choose DVD or CD or LIGHTS right from the home page. DVD or CD would launch the startup macro and page flip to the DVD or CD controls and LIGHTS would simply page flip to the LIGHTS control page.

A home button takes you back to that main menu to select a different source and the OFF button shuts the system off then page flips back to the main menu.

From my limited experience with it... it looks like you have a watch/listen button that you have to press then you have to choose a source to watch or listen to. This seems like an unnecessary layer of button pushing to get where you want to go. The only time i can really see a need for it is if you have more audio or video sources than you have soft keys or space for touchscreen buttons and you need another page.

That's an activity Stamp.


I agree with you here. That's why I configured my 980 to start up on the "WATCH" page, rather than the default "LISTEN". I treat the "watch" page as a home page, and don't even bother with listen. Unfortunately my 980 was released before they opted to give you interchangeable buttons for those locations.

So I can deduce from this that an investment in the better remote (the URC) would likely give me longer service life? Say... 4 years instead of 2?


totally agree


I might add a #3 ... knowing how the REMOTE wants to work


That's kind of a description of activities-based. You're simply choosing to engage in an activity rather than having to individually and consciously send control commands to several devices.... "I want to watch TV" ... and you've programmed the remote to know that means, turn on the TV, TV input HDMI-1, turn on AV receiver, AVR input SAT, wake up satellite receiver, volume controlled by AVR, master device = satellite receiver (other than volume... all other commands go to satellite receiver unless otherwise programmed). And when I'm watching TV, the soft buttons now show commonly used satellite receiver commands... like a DVR button or others I might use frequently that don't exist as hard buttons on the URC. AND ... one button to turn off everything except the satellite receiver.

Not sure if you've ever programmed a Sony AVR-3000, but it was a pretty manual process of teaching it the commands from each remote for each device you wanted to use, and then when you hit a "TV" button it was programmed (again pretty much manually) to set devices to correct inputs/outputs, punch through volume to AVR, etc.

That's why I'm thinking the URC with software has GOT to be easier than that and that learning experience at least gave me a taste of how this needs to be organized.

I have no delusions about being proficient at programming a URC remote and no doubt a CI could do this not only worlds faster, but could make it do things I don't even know I want it to do :-) .... but I think I can get it to simply control my rather simple setup. My main concern was justifying the expense. If it's likely going to last longer relative to the increased cost... I'd MUCH rather have the URC remote than what I've got.

Spoken like someone used to Harmony remotes...

I'm not mocking you yardbird, but you're in for a treat if you make the switch.

I've had the Harmony line too long. I have to say they worked in terms of making my family able to use the AV equipment without needing to know a lot... and it got rid of the dreaded basket-o-remotes.

But I'm tired of the web-based programming and tired of throwing money away every 18 months to 2 years

And it's ok to mock me a little. After all it's me that stepped into CI World as a DIYer looking for help. Fortunately, ah say FORTUNATELY... ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an occasion. I don't pretend to be a CI and you guys don't pretend I know what I'm doing... heheheh... seems fair to me. :)

The old email address I had that would auto-respond URC pricing doesn't work the same any more. I may have to dig a little to find pricing from a dealer on here for the 880 and 980 and see what I can fund before this Harmony craps out totally on me.

I've got an MX-3000 that I've had in daily use in my family room since the model shipped. It's been dropped, tossed across the room, and sat on more times than I can count. My kids have used it since they were toddlers (they're 8 now). It's still going strong. And since it's a touch panel, it's hardly the toughest unit URC makes. You'll encounter stories of lemons on any product's forum, but I can tell you that one of the most common reasons installers choose URC is because of our build quality.

Good luck on making your decision. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy programming and using it.

Best regards,
Dale

yardbird,

Over the years I've used an MX-700, an MX-900, an MX-810, and currently an MX-980. I have also set up friends/acquaintances with various of the above remotes. In all that time I experienced one hardware failure (a bad screen) that URC replaced without issue (although shipping from the west coast of Canada to NY and back to its time).

My personal experience is that URC build quality it excellent. URC's build quality is significantly better than Harmony's. URC has much better ergonomics than Harmony. The 810/880 is, IMO, the best form factor I've seen and used (although I prefer the extra horsepower of the 980).

I have never found URC remotes difficult to program. I prefer their approach over web based or wizard based software. When I have needed some support in trying to figure something out ... the answer can usually be found right here.

Since it's really difficult to get your hands on RTI or UEI product as a DIY, your choice is really Philips Pronto or URC. Both product lines have a lot of things going for them, but again, the ergonomics of URC remotes are (IMO) better.

The only remotes from URC I ever ran into problems with is the MX-950. Every other remote (and I have either had them going in my own home or used them in the field) have never exhbited problems. While admitting my entire home is NOT URC based, I do use the MX-3000 in my Master Bedroom and have had one for years. In my opinion the 850 could surive a war, the 900 and 880 while having a lihter base are simply nicer remote in that they feel better in the hands and are more powerful in terms of proramming features. The 880 and 900 are my most popular sellers and my clients are usually very satisfied.

If you can go up the ladder to the MX-980, then to the MX-5000 and 6000 these are by far the most graphically pleasing to the eye, packed with features and you can truly grow into as well. I do a lot of 6000's and 980's. As for the 5000 it has not been out long enough to catch on, but after dealers and others get to hold this remote in their hand they will probably want to sell more.

Vincent,

You state above you've done a lot of 6000's. I'm curious what you and your clients think of this remote. I've had a MX3000 for about five years now and have been thinking about upgrading particularly now that it appears real 2-way is coming via the MRX-1. Do you thnik an upgrade would be a worthwhile investment?

Bob

I tell you what I tell all my clients - and I just had someone ask me the other day. It is my opinion the MX-6000 is a far superior remote than the MX-3000. The hard buttons are great for customizing, the two way aspect is pretty good,and it integrates well with some of software from autonomic, etc which is a great deal considering it's free.

However, I believe it is a work in progress. Which means, there may be vast changes in the software which could mean future service calls. I don't want a client to think I gave him the short end of the stick because there will be additional programming in the future based on the enhancements.

I love the remote myself. I just picked one up for my home because I believe that it is a great panel that will have the full support of URC. Needless to say the client called me about an hour ago and told me to go ahead with the purchase - as well as as PSX2 with lighting which is nice.

Highly reccomend it - but again, it's a work in progress.

Thanks for the input. I'm not in any big hurry to upgrade and will probably wait a bit to see how things develop. I do like the idea of the six hard buttons below the screen (use for DVR transports?) and the slightly bigger screen (4.3" widescreen vs. 3.5" standard). I did the math and the screen is just short of 35% bigger, based on total area, than the one in the MX-3000. Two-way sounds interesting but not necessarily a must have. Any comment on what the MRX-1 will bring to the table?