I want to purchase an activity based remote control for my home theater (HT)system within the next couple days. I would really appreciate some advice from the audience.

First, I would like to try to program the unit myself to save cost and to be able to make changes as I need or want to without the reliance of an outside source. I must admit I am no audio-videophile so the procedures associated with the unit can not be too complicated.

Second, my equipment will be in a cabinent. The majority of the door face will have speaker cloth so I am unsure if a RF capability is required. I will only be using the remote for this one HT system.

My HT system is quite simple: Yamaha AV receiver, HD/DVR receiver (HR 10 DirectTV satelite), Sony DVP NS3100ES DVD player, Pioneer Elite 50 inch and possibly a VCR.

I would like to be able to program some macro's (i.e., 30 sec jump, audio settings for certain selections (radio, CD, etc) so the unit must have that capability.

It appears to me that a PC programmable unit would be the right choice from a simplicity and user friendly point of view judging from my past experiences with other remotes.

If the remote could use rechargeable batteries that would be good that but that is not one of my hard requirements.

I would like a hand held unit model.

Lastly, I have made a tidy investment in this system so when my family goes to enjoy it, turning it on to the desired feature M ST be simple and straight forward or else I will be watching the TV with the pooch in her house. Thanks for your help.

jazzerd, look at the MX850 or MX900 from Universal Remote

If it is something you like call Damon at Pro Remotes www.proremotes.com

He will be able to sell you a remote and offer the updateable software as well as program it for you if you get stuck

www.universalremote.com for the remotes

Thank you for the advice. After all the research I have done I was leaning towards the MX-900. Intuitively, I find the user forums to provide more trustworthy information so I appreciate your reply. I have noticed that Damon's name (and reply's) appears quite often on this site. I made specific note of that when I surfed the site a few days ago. Again, thank you.

I am not familiar with the MX-900. But I own two MX-850's. Absolutely the best remote I have ever owned. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

bookaroni:

I like what I read about the quality and functionality of the URC products with the exception of the degree of difficulty in programming the units. What was your experience? Did you program the 850's? If so, how long did it take? Any touble obtaining software updates? What makes the 850 the best remote you ever owned?

Well, I haven't owned that many remotes. After going through a couple cheap ones I purchased an MX-500. It was (and is) a great remote. It took some time to program though. When setting up a macro if one part of the macro was wrong I had to erase the entire macro and start over. A lot of trial and error was necessary to get the macro right.
I was a little leary about buying a PC programmable remote, but after doing lots of research I finally bought the MX-850. It was not only easier to program than I thought, it was easier than the MX-500 as well. Doing a macro was a snap. If one thing was wrong with the macro I did not have to start over. I just edited the macro in the software. Not sure how long it actually took me to program the 850. It was so much fun I lost track of time. And I never had a problem getting the software or live updates. You will be taken care of as long as you buy from an authorized distributor.

Another thing I did was download a few files from here:
[Link: tinyurl.com]
to see what other people did. It gave me lots of great ideas, some of which I incorporated in to my setup.

E-mail Damon or other AD's from here:
[Link: universalremote.com]
and ask for their best price. I paid about $20 more than the same remote sells for on Ebay. Buying from an AD gets you a warranty, support and software with live updates.
And the CI's on this forum are more than helpful if you get hung up on something.
The MRF-250 or 300 will take care of your cabinet problem. I have the 250 on one of my systems.

Thanks much for taking the time to reply to my questions and for the additional info. Very helpful.

If you can wait just a little longer, Logitech will be releasing the Harmony 1000 activity based remote this fall. It looks quite nice and shouldn't take very long to get it setup the way you want.

I decided to order the Philips RC9800i and give it a shot. It's not very programmable, but since CostCo's return policy I figured it's worth a shot at seeing what it can do in my system. If I end up returning the RC9800i, I'll be looking at the Harmony 1000 next.

I've a few MX-800's I use at work and Harmony 890 I just picked up to evaluate. Will probably move to the 1000 next month. Have programmed both myself and do believe the Harmony is a bit easier. The main difference I've found is the UR's you need to download or upload the controls/codes. With the Harmony all the codes/files are on their servers. When you add a device the files are there ready to use. You can also learn codes if necessary. Programming is not as easy as I would have throught, but does take some getting use to. But once you understand it, it's really quite good and not that bad.

Although you install the remote's software on your computer, I believe the files reside on Logitech servers. So you'll need an internet connection to change the files and update the remote. Also, their tech support, tier I & II, is extemely good.

Either way you go, both are good products.

While I am a fan and long-time supporter of the Philips Pronto products, I generally tell clients to stay away from the 9800i. It looks good on paper but I have had a lot of people come to us, who have purchased a 9800i and are generally unhappy.

Very limited programming, the wi-fi feature is a joke, plus some other feature-sets which are poorly designed.

Most people really want a PC-programmable remote, available from several different manufacturers.

Give us a call if you would like to discuss features and benefits. We are experts on most of the better remotes in the marketplace.

Dave
650-591-2110

I have purchased the MX-900 and have started programming the device. The process is going slowly - I must have re-read the programming guide about a half dozen times. Call me a bit slow but after several reviews the info starts to click. Still, for the novice programmers, the manual could be more clearly written. It is still too early for me to comment on the performance of the RC (I have not even started to do the macro's yet!). Hopefully within the next couple weeks when I'm done which is what I realistically expect it to take based on my progress to date I'll have more to report.

Does any one have the appropriate IR code for a DirectTV HD/DVR HR 20-700?

I would recommend either the Pronto TSU3500/7500, depending on if you want color or not. The pronto's meet all your demands except the batteries. I would also recommend the MX3000. It's a great remote, but this one meets all you demands except the hand held remote, this one is 2 handed.

Uh, Ali? He just said he bought the MX-900. So that won't help him much.

The MX-900 is much easier to program than a Pronto.

Trust me, you've made a great decision. You'll love it once you get it running!

Check the "Files" area of this site and see if someone has uploaded the code.