Dave-Z
Agent
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2003
- Messages
- 38
Hi folks
After reading for the past two nights just about everything I could find on an innumerable amount of remote controls, I've narrowed it down to the three mentioned in the title.
I'm leaning rather strongly towards the Harmony at the moment, but figured I'd ask about before I place my order tomorrow. I'd love to hear what you all might think along these lines, especially if you have personal experience. Following will be my analysis thus far, and please feel free to correct me, advise, etc... Would love to get this right the first time.
As far as pricing goes, I've found deals that put the MX-500 and Harmony 659 at about the same range, with the MX-700 a good bit more. My budget conforms a great deal more towards the former, but if their is sufficient response regarding the 700, I might be willing to go the extra mile.
As with all things, remotes especially, it's near impossible to find something with everything I might want. (one thing I do want is a lot of hard buttons, don't care for touch screen)
My three main concerns would be (1)device compatibility(being able to learn most any device either via hard remote to remote or downloading codes. (2) Vision: Will this remote still be functional 2, 3 5 years down the road... (3) Ergonomics and ease of use(broad category here, and also where it gets tricky making the final choice.
MX-500: The way I currently see it, the main downside to the MX-500 is the lack of internet connectivity, thereby allowing, or not in this case, for future upgradability. It's a darn shame too, as I think it's brightest spot is it's 10 user defined button capability. The lack of being able to learn codes down the line that aren't already in the unit pretty much disqualifies it for me in the end. I know there is the cable connect with ir attachment, but I don't know how effective it might be, nor what support it will receive a year or two down the line.
MX-700:This seems to be the ideal remote from many respects. Internet capable, nice design. Don't see too much of a downside, but I also haven't seen as much in the way of reading material for research as the other two here. The only thing keeping me from going this route is the added expense. I've seen an open box price that is quite enticing, but still ends up being close to a C-note above the other two.
Harmony SST-659:Highly rated professional and user reviews. The database(slightly suspect as it's a user shared database) seems incredibly large. The response with regards to company support is a resounding thumbs up. They really seem to be putting there utmost into constantly improving their products, which bodes extremely well for future use. The thing that really makes me cringe are two in number. First, there are only 4 user buttons available per screen for defined buttons. Second having to do directly with the first is the fact that in the reviews, it's said that in order to perhaps go back to a previous screen, you have to start all the way at the beginning to the device. I really don't like the sound of that. I lean towards the hope that with such strong company support, they will come up with an upgrade that will change this. btw, I simple love the backlighting on this remote. One other downside is the fact that while the ergonomic design is great when being held in the hand, I was always irritated by my TiVo remote when it came to just trying to press a side button while the remote was sitting on the table. It always wanted to(and did) tip over.
So, that's where I stand and see things right now. Seems even with a little trepidation that the Harmony remote is the best bang for the buck, along with long-term use capabilities. I'd really love to hear what you folks might think.
Thanks so much for your help!
After reading for the past two nights just about everything I could find on an innumerable amount of remote controls, I've narrowed it down to the three mentioned in the title.
I'm leaning rather strongly towards the Harmony at the moment, but figured I'd ask about before I place my order tomorrow. I'd love to hear what you all might think along these lines, especially if you have personal experience. Following will be my analysis thus far, and please feel free to correct me, advise, etc... Would love to get this right the first time.
As far as pricing goes, I've found deals that put the MX-500 and Harmony 659 at about the same range, with the MX-700 a good bit more. My budget conforms a great deal more towards the former, but if their is sufficient response regarding the 700, I might be willing to go the extra mile.
As with all things, remotes especially, it's near impossible to find something with everything I might want. (one thing I do want is a lot of hard buttons, don't care for touch screen)
My three main concerns would be (1)device compatibility(being able to learn most any device either via hard remote to remote or downloading codes. (2) Vision: Will this remote still be functional 2, 3 5 years down the road... (3) Ergonomics and ease of use(broad category here, and also where it gets tricky making the final choice.
MX-500: The way I currently see it, the main downside to the MX-500 is the lack of internet connectivity, thereby allowing, or not in this case, for future upgradability. It's a darn shame too, as I think it's brightest spot is it's 10 user defined button capability. The lack of being able to learn codes down the line that aren't already in the unit pretty much disqualifies it for me in the end. I know there is the cable connect with ir attachment, but I don't know how effective it might be, nor what support it will receive a year or two down the line.
MX-700:This seems to be the ideal remote from many respects. Internet capable, nice design. Don't see too much of a downside, but I also haven't seen as much in the way of reading material for research as the other two here. The only thing keeping me from going this route is the added expense. I've seen an open box price that is quite enticing, but still ends up being close to a C-note above the other two.
Harmony SST-659:Highly rated professional and user reviews. The database(slightly suspect as it's a user shared database) seems incredibly large. The response with regards to company support is a resounding thumbs up. They really seem to be putting there utmost into constantly improving their products, which bodes extremely well for future use. The thing that really makes me cringe are two in number. First, there are only 4 user buttons available per screen for defined buttons. Second having to do directly with the first is the fact that in the reviews, it's said that in order to perhaps go back to a previous screen, you have to start all the way at the beginning to the device. I really don't like the sound of that. I lean towards the hope that with such strong company support, they will come up with an upgrade that will change this. btw, I simple love the backlighting on this remote. One other downside is the fact that while the ergonomic design is great when being held in the hand, I was always irritated by my TiVo remote when it came to just trying to press a side button while the remote was sitting on the table. It always wanted to(and did) tip over.
So, that's where I stand and see things right now. Seems even with a little trepidation that the Harmony remote is the best bang for the buck, along with long-term use capabilities. I'd really love to hear what you folks might think.
Thanks so much for your help!