Currently I have:

TV: Panasonic 58" Plasma
A/V: Yamaha RX-V3800
XBOX360 w/ HD-DVD
2 Sat boxes (HD/SD)
Polk DSW600 Sub
Possibly Blu-ray in the near future

I've been lurking here since I pre-ordered my 880 back in '05, but now I have new equipment, and I know the 880 is just not going to cut it anymore. After a while I just couldn't customize the 880 the way I needed.

So fast forward to today, and I'm looking for a new remote. I'm not a programmer but very computer savy. I want to stay away from a two handed remote, and I like the looks of the TSU9400. I d/led the software and was playing around today and was thinking about getting the Ult Pronto Guide even though it's not for this remote. Should I take the plunge or is there something else?

Z

Very nice remote. I'd question as to whether it is a 1 handed remote. However, I like the full VGA screen on the 9600 a bit better.

I think “overkill” would be relative to your situation. Many people get the Pronto line of remotes to control a single room or small home theater. So I think the real question is whether spending $500-$600 on a remote it worth it to you personally? That is a lot of money to spend on a remote, espcially when you can now go with something like the Logitech Harmony lines of remote. Yet with that in mind please understand you WILL NOT be able to customize the Logitech remotes nearly as much as you would with the 9400.
I am in a similar situation as you. I have some basic programming knowledge but not much though, and a lot of computer knowledge as well. I had the earlier Pronto TSU7000 and am currently in the process of converting it over to the newer TSU9400 and am extremely pleased. I think if you enjoy technology and are willing to invest some time learning the software and remote then you really will enjoy this remote control. But be prepared to invest some significant time if you really want to customize the remote where it will take advantage of some of the more advanced features. But again if really enjoy messing around with things like this it REALLY is a lot of fun building a customized configuration for home that works EXACTLY the way you would like it to.
So in short if you are willing to spend the money and to invest the time I would say “Yes” this remote is definitely worth it. But do not get it and expect to just plug it in tell it a few of the devices you want to control and be on your way, because it just does not work that way. It is more complicated than that. But in all honesty once you have played with it for a while and built it to suit your needs, then it really is a lot of fun when people come over and your remote is the highlight of your system. Much more over that you can make it so it is VERY user friendly. Even my wife said how much she loves using just the one single remote, and how easy it is to use. But of course that is just my two cents. I will be more than happy to answer any other questions you might have. Good luck…….
-Jason

Jason,

Thanks for the reply, I'm really leaning toward the 9400 now. I've had the Harmony 880 and after a couple months seemed to outgrow it so I think the 9400 will fit my needs especially since I like tinkering. If anybody has played with the 880, you can only customize it to a point. I figure I'll get the Ult. Pronto guide and d/l a few .pcf files and start from there.

Z

Z,

Sounds great. Well apparently you and I have the same mindset. I too have a Harmony 880 for our downstairs area (I specifically purchased it for our downstairs since I already had the TSU7000 in my home theater). With that being said I think the 880 is a fine remote, and perfect for 99% of the market. However there are those few of us who just want that little ........... well ...... actually make that ............. A LOT extra. Which the pronto series of remotes offer. So if you do get this remote I think you will be very pleased, especially in the fact that I understand what you are saying about the 880.

Now about the Ultimate Pronto Guide. Well I too purchased that almost 2 years ago. It certainly was worth it to me at the time, and I think it will still benefit you with the 9400. I am not sure if you know this however the software that the U.P.G. references if for the older series of remotes and not the newer 9400. I am certainly not an expert on the newer ProntoEdit Professional software, however from what I can tell I think 90% of that the U.P.G. teaches is applicable to the newer software. Some of the buttons and menus have changed, but you can poke around and find it all there. On the other hand you may want to check out Philips website. They released a pretty good guide for ProntoEdit Professional 1.1(TSU9400) software which can be downloaded at the link below.

[Link: pronto.philips.com]

I would suggest you go through that before delving into the U.P.G. Although do not get me wrong I got A LOT of very valuable information from the guide and it would still be beneficial to this day.

Well if there is anything else you think I might be able to help with please let me know.

-J

I previously had a Logitech 676, and just got the 9400 yesterday. I got it up and running today after spending last night and tonight programming. The software was very easy to use, and that's coming from someone with no programming knowledge and only a little computer knowledge. At first I tried reading the help files to learn how to program it. But those weren't very clear, so I just tried to figure it out on my own which went very smoothly. The software was very intuitive to use. There are still some things I have to figure out, but I'm sure I will have fun tweaking the remote till it is just right.

My experiences with using it have been great so far. It doesn't seem to hard to use it one handed, especially for the hard buttons. Although I have two displays (an LCD tv and a projector), my system looks to be about as simple as yours.

The link to the Philips guide seems broken??