After playing with tsu9300 (which I like lot despite its shortcomings) I am thinking of maybe getting another Pronto panel, this time PS enabled.

I don’t like the form-factor/shape of 9400; 9800 is too big, so it leaves me with 9600 (alternatively, RC9001 which to my taste looks much better – I realize that with the outdated firmware I would miss animation, gestures, active background and a handful of other little things that do not seem to be critical).

However, IMO, tsu9600/rc9001 has a big problem that no firmware/PEP upgrade can fix – no dedicated “Go Back” button. When navigating, say, Windows Media Center interface or “hardware” PVR’s, etc., the “Back” function is among the most commonly used ones and is as important to have as the cursor buttons. I understand that the function could be assigned to one of the available generic hard buttons, or to a touch button. But I don’t like it.

Obviously, since 9600 is very popular, for most it’s okay to have no dedicated “Go back” button. I’m just wondering what you, gentlemen, normally do? Would you share the relevant best practices or any cool tricks?

I'd like it too but as I've never setup my 9800 in production environment (only for testing), I've not missed it.

Ive always used the Middle hard key (3) as the back button on the 9600 .

Depending on the activity I'll use one of the firmkeys or hard buttons. When using a firmkey I go with either Firm1 or Firm5. Being on each end I find them the easiest to get to quickly by feel alone. If I'm using the firmkeys for transport controls I'll generally use the Home hard button as a back button if needed as I use the Power hard button throughout my configuration file as the Home button instead which takes you back to my Activities page. This allows for the actual Home hard button to used for more commonly used functions as it is grouped over with the other hard buttons and cursor pad. That being said, if you'd like to check out my configuration file in PEP v2's Simulator feel free to hit up the thread here where I have a PackAndGo version of my file available for download. There is a link there in that thread providing instructions for how to run the PackAndGo file in PEP v2's Simulator versus having to download it to a TSU9600.

OK, thanks! I guess assigning the "go back" function to the rightmost firm button would be an acceptable compromise for me and my family as the rightmost firm button is never out of reach even for very small right hand (otherwise my family would slowly eat me alive).

Thanks again!

I reassigned the 'home' button as 'go back' Works perfectly.

I use the 'Guide' hard button (looks like an open book) just above and to the right of the scroll wheel for cancel, clear or go back depending on the activity. Firm keys 1 to 5 are almost always used up with transport controls. So for me they are not an option. There will certainly be a lot of differing opinions on this subject. The main idea is to be as consistent as possible throughout your design.

The home button will take me back to the main activities page and the power button will toggle the power on/off for the device I am currently on. A press-and-hold of the power button will shut the system down... much like that of a laptop computer. I created a very obvious soft button on my activities page to return back to the previous activity I was in... see image below.

IMHO I find that the guide button is a poor use of a hard key. The one thing that the Marantz remotes (at least in their previous models... RC5400, RC9500) did right was change this button to a cancel button... a much more frequently used button for most devices. At least they included this button on the 9800. This is the one thing I wish Philips would change. Perhaps this is a more common function in Europe.

Is there any chance of purchasing the ‘return’ hard button in order to replace the ‘guide’ button on the 9600? I am assuming that they are the same size and would not be much more difficult to replace than opening the remote to replace the battery.

I track what activity I'm in (Tivo, PS3, DVD, etc.) and use the HOME button to jump back to that activity from anywhere. I use the POWER button to select activities.

When entering an activity, I set a variable so I can execute code to jump right back to that activity. This lets me go to other activities to control lights, pool/spa, audio in other zones, etc. but when I'm done doing adjustments, I just press the HOME button to get right back to the primary activity I was on.

Like Jon, I track the current activity I am in as well. However, I use a common button (red button with an X in it) in my settings and most other sections to close the window and return to my previous activity. See below.

tengizk - are you talking about a "go back" like a rewind or a go back to a certain screen type jump?

After re-reading this, I get the idea you're looking for a rewind type go back.

All of my viewing activities use the 5 hard buttons at the bottom for these functions. I keep it consistent for my Tivo, VZ DVR, DVD & Media Center PC.

By keeping the 5 hard keys consistent, it has been quite easy for myself, my wife and kids to use the remote without having to look at it. Almost all of our TV viewing is from recorded content, so using the firm keys to skip commercials or jump back is used very frequently.

It's layed out like below:
[PAUSE] [BACK] [PLAY] [FORWARD] [SKIP]