i like on softbutton remotes you can remember the locations and functions of each button and not have to look down in the dark. Its also much faster.

my idea: fitting my remote with a plastic seethrough covering, and putting dots of glue over each rectengular button (same layout on each devices page) and be able to find them in the dark. given youd still have to learn, but a seasoned user can operating most features in the current device by touch. and if i screw it up the first couple times, i can simply replace the covering and try again.

my questions to you before i attempt this is: what do you think about this idea? what type of plastic covering would u recommend thats cheap and will still permit the touch screen to work. and what type of glue dries in nice dots, pref clear so you can see through it but high enough to feel it.

should work, but it is not a hard button so a touch (looking for button) might be enough to press. Also make sure all the layouts have buttons at the same place and that what ever you use to create the bump it will not interfere with seeing the button

as for what to use, a PDA protector

thanks for your reply. I am hoping that the covering for the screen will make it slightly less sensitive. or at least enough less sensitive to let me feel around for the bumps. i was hoping to use some type of plastic laying around, but i just picked up some cheap pda protectors from ebay. ill post back here with results when they arrive

any other ideas on material or glue?

what you could do is use buttons that are longer or wider then what you need for the text and then put the bump where the text does not reach.


here are some slightly different ideas

1) get a rigid plastic (one that wont let the touch work) and punch holes it, so you can feel for the hole and then press in it to activate the button

2) use the PDA screens, but don't make bumps but raised lines that form a grid around the Prontos buttons, the lines should not be on any button

Anthony's suggestion is most viable.

However, I have another...

Don't waste your time and possibly destroy a good remote in the process.

Buy an All 4 One learning remote and ditch the Pronto. If hard buttons are what you desire, then buy the appropriate remote for your task. The partner approval factor will definitely go up because the All 4 One is most likely cheaper.

Lyndel

I agree if the thing that is most important is touch then a good push button remote will probably be better then a hacked Pronto, but if he actually needs the customization of a Pronto, then I don't think a OFA even cheaper will get good WAF.

I think any config can be created to force each page to have a max of 12 buttons arranged 3 columns of 4 rows (that is what I have), I don't have anything like dimples or lines or pits, but I am very accurate at pushing the right button at the right time. As to ruining a good remote, the mods he is talking about are on a screen protector

I've handled this before using a PDA screen protector. I laid the plastic on a cork board, then used a blunt stylus to push little dimples into the plastic. I then put the protector on the screen, dimple-side up. With a little mastery, you can actually get dimples just the right size so that they don't obscure the image at all, nor do they turn white from stretching the plastic. It took a few tries, but I got it to work.

Dale

I remember someone had talked about trying that, but did not remember it was you, I guess the big question is did it work well and did you like using it?

wow, thanks for the great suggestions. I should be getting my pda protectors in a few days, i will try a bunch of different glues and also the poking method. i just tried the thickest plastic bag i could find over the pronto and the screen was still surprisingly sensitive. i could also very easily lay straight thin lines of elemers kids gel glue, so i'll see how it dries by tomorrow.

if i use the grid method, i never have to touch the buttons to find the keys, just count to the button as i feel down the grid. that should help the sensitivity problem, thanks for the great ideas guys!

glad to help, and don't forget to post the results

I didn't end up using my method on my own setup. I thought of this when I was programming a remote for someone during the time when I was developing EasyTheater. The pop-up cursor and transport that I created in EasyTheater made it simple to know where the buttons are without tactile feedback. However, the gentleman I programmed that remote for has asked for revisions of his layout (along with newly-dimpled screen protectors) several times, so he appears to be happy with it.

Dale