I've got a 50-room hotel with a wide range of guests, from technically smart to not-so-smart, keeping my hotel staff busy just turning on the TV!

Actually, the old tube sets with a single STB (cable set-top-box) work just fine. They are truly idiot-proof. But the 11 rooms we've updated with new flat-screens, HiDef STB's and DVD players (using an auto-input HDMI switch by Octava) are driving us crazy!

Oh, we got the Universal remotes that came with the Motorola STB and properly programmed them. But because of the inherent delay when a TV turns on, or the DVD player boots up, the impatient guests decide they must've pressed the wrong button, not pressed it hard enough, or need to press another button as well. So they press the Power button again, or another component button, and that component(s) toggle OFF again, before they even got to boot up!

HERE'S THE QUESTION: Is there a remote that can be programmed to do NOTHING for a few seconds after the original button-push (locking out any other client input on the button pad) so the components have a chance to boot up?

I've heard a suggestion to put a default screen message on the TV that warns to WAIT for 5 seconds between button selections. But the TV still needs a couple of seconds for THAT to show up.

Any ideas?

Buy a Pronto! Sounds like you are not using one. You could then prompt the user with screens. However, note that to make the system bulletproof requires discrete IR codes (see Classic Pronto FAQ if you don't know what this means) and the Motorola Box does not have them. Most of us with cable boxes leave them on all the time. With a Pronto, you can set system delays during execution of a MACRO sequence such that buttons are inactive.

There are other solutions with the Pronto Professional TSU9400/9600 remotes that involve the use of the RFX9600 with "Power Sense Inputs" where you can actually determine if a piece of equipment is on or not.

Best of luck.
Lyndel

Not to argue with Lyndel, he's one of the best in this forum, but the glass screens of a Pronto may give even more problems due to breakage.

I'm not sure why it "takes so long" to boot up. Do you (or the guests) turn the cable box off? If that's what's taking so much time try buying a relatively cheap universal remote (like this [Link: universalremote.com]) and when programming it, learn a BAD power command to the cable box power command. Try something like a number key for the DVD player. This will keep the cable box always on, speed up the whole process, and the cable box can still be powered up/down on the front panel if necessary.

Well, Lyndel, the Pronto looks good - in fact, TOO good. I'm afraid the "pilfer" factor may come in to play too much. A more generic-looking but programmable remote would serve us better, as they're more certain to be left behind by the last guest. And if it's programmable for the pauses and lockouts that I need, it's fine if it looks plain.

This is NOT a fancy system: a Set-Top-Box, a TV, a DVD player. That's it, at least for now.

By the way, bomberjim, I believe the Universal remotes that we HAVE for our Moronola Set-Tops ARE the R6 you linked to. Or one of their closeby models, anyway. I wish I could just DISABLE the "ON" button and let the Component buttons toggle that component on and off (with a pre-programmed, lockout-all-other-button-pushes delay). Is that possible with the R6? The STB's can stay on all the time, like you suggested, but all I have to do is program some obscure button for the power command for the STB?

There's still the delay problem for the TV itself. And then the fact that once the TV is on, the dummy laying in bed will have to figure out that he/she THEN has to select a SOURCE...

This is why I lean toward getting a remote with a screen so an idiot message can appear, 'Watch TV' or 'Watch DVD' or 'Turn TV and DVD off' and the programmed commands turn on/off the correct components. Maybe one of the monochrome models in the Complete Control series. That's cheaper and lower theft factor, but programmable enough, right?

I don't have an R6, so I can't say for sure what will work. It is advertised as a learning remote so I would assume that you could learn a power code "over the top" of the power code it already uses for the STB. The power code you would learn would intentionally be non-functional.

Just curious as to the final solution here.