I finally have had a couple of days to play with my new tsu9300 and wanted to share some experiences in case anyone else is contemplating buying one, although most likely in the light of the latest news it might no longer be relevant.
One of the most ridiculous things that I have discovered very quickly was the following: despite being able to do the 1-way serial control via the extender, it really did not work for my Denon receiver – since the receiver does not have mute toggle command over serial (only discrete ones are provided), it is simply impossible to use the dedicated hard mute button on the remote if you want to use rs232. Using the hard button to mute and adding a touch button to unmute on a remote that retails for $799 with the extender that retails for $600 – are you kidding me? So you either need to go back to IR, or live with the clumsy interface with 2 buttons for mute/unmute. To all fairness, this is not entirely the Pronto’s problem, but the lack of the PS makes it simply unsolvable for tsu9300 if you want to steer away from IR (and why wouldn’t you with the Wi-Fi remote?) when controlling the networked/serial capable equipment.
So, if I were to pick and choose the features for the perfect remote based on tsu9300 – if you are not providing me both the extender support and the PS to do the 2-way control, I’d say drop the extender and give me just the PS and TCP/IP over Wi-Fi with WPA. I wouldn’t be happier.
Build quality – I am also somewhat disappointed. The plastic body is indeed very stylish - in my opinion this is absolutely the best looking one handed remote I have ever seen - the shape of the back is excellent, the face is a thing of beauty. It sits very well in the palm and the overall layout is really convenient. Sadly, the build quality is not on par with the looks. The big plastic parts of the body have noticeable movement even when the remote is handled gently – you can both feel it and even hear it squeak when the parts rub against each other.
The row of the 5 “hard” buttons looks like the crooked teeth in the mouth of Austin Powers. And it’s not the “wavy” shape of the buttons (they actually look very slick) - it’s the fact that they are not aligned well. If you look at them from an angle, you can hardly notice it. However, if you pick up the remote, when the backlit starts leaking though the slits between the button and the body, you can clearly see that the buttons are aligned/angled unevenly. They also have a noticeable lateral as well as up/down movement, which is not that big of a deal actually, thanks, again, to the shape of the buttons.
If I were to compare the build quality alone of tsu9300 with, say, old Harmony 550 (the more recent Harmony remotes are actually horrible as far as the build quality goes) which retailed for 1/7th of the tsu9300’s MSRP, shockingly, I am not sure which one I would prefer.
Overall, having owned tsu9200, Sony RM-AX1400 and a couple of older Harmony universals, I do agree that tsu9300 is indeed a significant step up. However, the lack of PS really cripples this remote. Add the inadequate build quality and the whole thing is not that appealing anymore. So, if you are willing to spend more, I’d say go for tsu9400, although since I have never seen the actual remote, I don’t really have an opinion on the build quality.
Last edited by tengizk on October 29, 2010 19:52.