Need info on "learning remote controls" (1 Viewer)

[Mike Hodgkinson]

I have too many remote controls with my home system and am looking at buying a learning remote.I know nothing about them and am looking for advice. What model/brand to look at...how easy to use...price...
Would appreciate any info
Mike

 

[Jim Lenneman]

Personally, I'm a Pronto fanatic. However, your best bet is to go to remotecentral.com. Under features, use the clicker picker to narrow the field price-wise and feature-wise. Then read the reviews of your candidates, formal and user reviews, critically - a must to avoid suprises. Finally, any specific questions on a particular remote can be asked in the appropriate forum.

Jim L.

 

[PhilS]

I highly recommend the Home Theater Master MX-500. I have two of them, one for the upstairs system and one for the downstairs system. Very easy to program and very easy to use. Everything is very intuitive. I also like the hard buttons better than the Pronto screen. Check out remotecentral.com for reviews of this remote and the Pronto, and you can also find out the best place to buy there. The price of the MX-500 was $189.95 in a local consumer electronics chain store, and $118.95 over the internet.

 

[GregoriusM]

Here are the links you'll want to look at:
RemoteCentral.com. The Main page for Remote Central. Be sure to look into the forums listed on this right-hand side of the page.
RemoteCentral.com Clicker Picker As mentioned above. Enables you to choose the features and price range you like and compare features side by side.
RemoteCentral.com Universal Remote Reviews. Reviews by the web site owner. He gives in-depth and fair reviews, and is very knowledgeable about remote controls.
RemoteCentral.com User Reviews. The users let you know what their experiences are with the various remote controls. Well worth reading.
RemoteCentral.com does not sell remotes, so the opinions in the reviews are about as unbiased as you're going to get.
------
I use the MX-500. It is one great remote. Check out the Home Theater Master forum on RemoteCentral for discussions on the MX-500.
... Greg (GregoriusM on RemoteCentral)

 

[Ken Custodio]

I just bought the Phillips Pronto 2000 from Ecost.com on sale for $150 and I think it is a great remote. The software that came with it took about a day to get the hang of it but it is very powerful. And you can download configuration files from remotecentral.com that other people have created. I just found a configuration from the internet that I liked how it looked and made the buttons learn my remote commands so it worked with my equipment.

 

[Michael Reuben]

You might also want to check in the section of the Hardware forum entitled "Remotes".

M.

 

[David Glenn]

ditto on the Home Theater Master MX-500.

 

[TylerZ]

And yet another vote for the MX-500. They just came out with a new version that has more of a raised bezel around the thumbpad and gemstone hard buttons. I have the older version purchased in November 2001. I like the fact that I don't have to 'look' at the remote to perform functions, after you use it for a while you just sort of know where the buttons are by feel. It replaced 5 of my remotes and was very easy to teach/program. Even my 10 year old has no problem manipulating functions for SAT,TV,DVD,Audio, or VCR.

 

[Kevin. W]

Got a Marantz RC2000 mkII with my AV560U pre/pro. Excellent piece of hardware.

Kevin

 

[Kris McLaughlin]

I have a Sony RM-VL900 and I love it. It is fairly cheap (US$40 I think), and it is easy to program. It also has a huge capacity for learning new commands, and can do up to 11 different macros.
Check out the Specs & Pics here.
Just a suggestion for the lower end of the price scale.
Cheers,