Just a few questions from a soon to be remote newbie:

I need some help in deciding on whether to buy a Pronto or a ProntoNeo. I am not sure I need the Pronto as I have a modest home theater (with a Tosh 42 inch HDTV, Tosh 5 disc DVD player, Sci Atlanta cable box, sony vcr and a kenwood receiver.) Is is worth the extra money?

Should I even bother looking at buying factory refurbished?

I recently bought and returned an the RCA 1000B because it did not work well with some of my components. Will the Prontos work better with what I have?

Thanks in advance...Andy

Hi Andy,
I just got the Neo this past Friday and am quite pleased with it. I downloaded an ncf file someone else created, Bob Hopwood, and it looks great and I have all my components functioning.

I found the easiest way was just to use the learning feature on the Neo instead of locating the different codes. The only component that matched mine was the Sony VCR, which you have too. For that I didn't need to change anything. The rest of the components I set up using the learn mode, pointing the remotes at each other and pressing the matching button on them both.
I'm just in the process on using NeoEdit to customize some of the pages and create a few new ones.

I decided on the Neo vs the Pronto in favor of the extra hard buttons that are great for using my cable box controls. The touch screen is nice for picking components etc. but I wouldn't want to view the cable guide and surf channels with it. I think the Neo is the perfect blend of a surfable remote and cool touchscreen and I would not trade it for a Pronto.

I personally wouldn't touch a refurb, I've had bad experiences in the past with that.

I bought the Neo for $150 new at bluedo.com and I highly recommend them if you can't find it locally.

Good luck,

Brad

I strongly suggest that before you buy either, you go to a store that sells them and try them out. Hold each in your hand and imagine using it. If you have any "Tweeter" stores near you, they carry them.

I recently got a Neo that I ordered online and was a little disappointed with the feel of it. It just feels "cheap" and is thicker than I thought it would be from the pictures. (I kept it anyway - so I like it in spite of these comments.)

The regular prontos would never be acceptable for me - too few hard buttons.

I too got a Neo for Christmas, and am very pleased with it. It is running a satellite dish, Hitachi wide screen, Denon surround sound, with a Sony DVD and JVC VHS tape machines. Still working out some of the bugs in getting it to navigate smoothly from operation to operation, but it has met all of my expectations. Like others, I think it is a good mix of hard buttons and the touch screen. The hard buttons do all of the stuff you would do by feel (up/down volume, channels, search the satellite guide, etc.) The screen changes to cover the less used functions. When I use the DVD as a CD player, I've just defined it as a CD player, and have the hard button pad do the play, skip, pause and stop funtions.

The Pronto is certainly capable of a much glitzier display, and can likely support more and smaller buttons. I find that the screen on my NEO can be a little congested when I'm trying to get many functions on the screen to avoid using 2 or 3 pages to get all the controls I need available.

My file is now about 160 kb. I have seen others near 200 kb, so the device is not taxed, yet it does all I need.

Based on a very short period of use, I think it is a great device, and like Rodney Dangerfield, it gets no respect. For $150 (I got mine from BlueDo as well)I felt at the worst it would end up in the bedroom if it could not handle the task, and I'd have to spring for the 3000 when available. For now I remain extatic over its capabilities.

Eric

Thanks to those who replied. I bought a new Neo from surfremote.com. I too am pleased with the Pronto so far. Just can't figure out how to program two buttons for my kenwood receiver. Other than that I love it...so does my wife. Especially the macros that "automatically" do everything for her.

got a neo for xmas, love it. Small learning curve but now I am looking for more stuff to IR control. (already have X-10 Stuff and IR543 in on order.)