I'm currently finishing my basement for my dedicated home theatre and I'm looking for a universal remote. However, my budget is not willing to support anything over $500 Cdn. I will have a Toshiba 57HX81, Kenwood receiver and Panasonic DVD player. I'm also looking at Lutron Spacer switches to control the lighting and I want to make sure that the remote will be able to control the Lutron Spacer dimmers.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards...Jim

My favorite remote is the Philips Pronto (or any remote in the familly). If you get it of the web, it comes to about 500$ CDN with the charger and rechargable battery. And it can control anything (or almost anything).
[Link: remotecentral.com]


If you are not into the Pronto or touchscreen remotes you might want to look at the HTM MX-500
[Link: remotecentral.com]


Or last but not least the Harmony remote
[Link: easyzapper.com]

Thanks for the reply. Any ideas where I can order from the Web for $500. I also saw a Maranz remote that was for $200 - unfortunately, I didn't get the model number. Any ideas?

Thanks...Jim

I don't know who has the best deals. There is a dealer list on the TSU-2000 review. I did not make it clear in my previous post, but I meant US web sites.
some places you might want to call

AVsmarts (link on the side)
JandR (www.JandR.com, give them a call, you can usually get a better price then the one advertised)

and if you look at profiles
alpha2data
Bill e.
(I don't remember their company name, but they are regulars here and they have helped many people.)

These are the few places that come to mind at the moment.

Anthony--

Can either the HTM MX-500 or Harmony remotes you mentioned be programmed with the codes for the Lutron Spacer Systerm lighting switches? I have seen on this site the file of sixteen code sets for the "4-scene" capabilities of these swtches. I thought only the Pronto-type remotes could download these .ccf files; I'm looking for a cheaper remote that can operate the swtches and a TV/VCR.

Any info would be great.

Ray

CCFs are only for the Pronto. You can ask the question on the HTM forum and the Harmony forum on this site.
The MX-500 is a non-PC remote, so if it is in the database then no prob. if not you will have to teach it each command. The Harmony is programmed through the web and the info is passed to your remote using the USB port on your PC, so the database is ever increasing and chances are that if anyone has tried it the information will be on their site, you could also try contacting their Tech support, from what I heard they are very helpful.