Recommend remote replacement (1 Viewer)

[oliverLim]

My Marantz RC2000 finally decided enough was enough. I am now in the market for a new remote. I like those which has a combination of soft and hard buttons.

A close replacement looks like the Universal MX-500 series? they also have a new model which is the 100-200-300 models but the MX-500 looks better to me.

Any suggestions?

Oliver

 

[Brandon:W]

I have an MX-500 and it's great. Very programmable: up to 10 devices, punch-through, multiple macro buttons, customizable LCD, etc.

If you take the time to set it up right, it can really be amazing.

Brandon

 

[oliverLim]

Thanks Brandon. I too am leaning toward the MX-500. But I would like to have a 2nd choice to auction as well!

I will probably decide between the URC-200 and the MX-500.

Oliver

 

[Dean_S]

I have an MX-500 and a Harmony 688. The MX-500 is nice and I have no major complaints about it except the setup time and certain buttons that don't work well every time but I now that I've tried the activity based Harmony and gone thru the very quick and easy setup process I will never again buy another device based remote. I now have a system that anyone can easily use without special assistance from the expert (me). The MX remote has been reprogrammed for another room but will soon be replaced by another Harmony.

 

[Brandon:W]

Well I have to say, the harmony looks pretty slick. If it really can learn all of your devices, that's great. Does the web site have problems finding devices? For example, could it find an EyeHome media streamer?

The MX-500 can be an activity based device too - but you have to do all the work programming it. I guess that's what you get for a $70 remote. Pretty decent for that price.

But I have to say - I may look into upgrading to the Harmony if it really can do all it says.

Brandon

 

[Dean_S]

I recommend doing the test drive of the programming on the Harmony website for ideas about how to program. I can't say whether or not the device you mentioned is in their database but if it's not there is a learn procedure you can do to add it. I was suprized to find that three of my devices where on the website and I didn't have to learn them. Two of my devices are fairly new and very new to the market and one is obscure. These are: HK DPR2005 recv, Onkyo DV-CP802 (very new on the market) and obscure is the Kenwood DT-7000S Sirius Tuner.

So far I've been able to do everything I want with the Harmony and from the time I installed the software on my PC and had the remote up and running was 20 minutes (this includes a small learning curve). I have hours and hours invested in my MX500 and it still needs some tweaking to get it the way I want it. My problem is I change equipment too often and with the standard programmable like the MX it takes too long...with the Harmony this will be a 5-20 minute process each time. I haven't tried to do any trick stuff like controlling/dimming my X10 controlled lights but I might do that some time once I figure out what part I need to make the X10 recognize IR??? I know some people here have done this with X10.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I am another big Harmony fan. I replaced a Marantz RC2000 MKII with a Harmony 659 last December and couldn't be happier. The device is simple to program, yet very flexible for my needs. It also greatly simplified operating our HT for my wife. Even my technology-challenged parents were able to figure out how to use it without any instructions when they visited last Christmas.

 

[nolesrule]

I'll third the Harmony.

I picked up a 659 about 10 months ago. Took me about an hour to configure it, including the learning curve and having to walk back and forth between the living room and the computer every time I needed to make a change (if you have a notebook computer or a computer in the HT area, use it to save walking time ). A month later, I got an RP HDTV and an HD cable box. It took me 10 minutes to reconfigure the audio/video wiring paths for the new setup, and about 15 minutes to reconfigure the remote. And just 2 months ago, my DVD player died. Took out the old player, installed the new one and reconfigured the remote for the new player in about 5 minutes.

I forgot to mention, my wife loves it. Definitely a high WAF.