Mike, if you don't mind me sharing some of my comments as well:
Programmed my first MX-780 today and overall I like the feel and |button layout. Very comfortable in the hand. The text size is pretty |good as well. You can get about 9 characters across a button with |the smaller sized text and two rows.
I guess it does't matter too much what we think, but I agree with all of the above. The remote is very good looking, feels great in the hand, has that shiny black classic look and enough hard buttons and ability to create just about any device with the icons and text capability. The bottom line is that my first customer which is an extension of a big commercial job I have been working on in NYC loved it in his fairly simple setup which consisted of a TV lift, HDMI switcher, LCD, cable & Bluray. Perfect go to remote that should give people considering Harmony a second look.
Here's a few oddities:
1. In CCP, you have both "Watch" and "Listen" pages where the MX-|780 only has a Main button. When you push the Main button on the |MX-780, it will toggle between Watch and Listen pages, but neither |actually say "Watch" or "Listen" at the top of the page like they do in |the MX-780 simulator. You can stop Main from going to the "Listen" |||(or Watch) pages by hiding them.
I like this feature. Here is why: I don't have always have "LISTEN" activities, especially in confined media rooms where music listening is very isolated and worthless. The fact that you can use this toggle for just about anything - lighting, settings, even zone 2 setup make it very versitile. I think this is a great idea. I don't enjoy having that "LISTEN" button go to waste or tell a client it's for another function on the 880.
2. When you do want text on the graphics, it's a problem when you |have a white or light graphic, because the text is white and you can't |see it. For example, I have two DirecTv receivers. There's DirecTv |graphic, but it's so light that if I use the text to identify the two |receivers by numbering them, you can barely see the numbers. You |can use the Sat-DVR or one of the generic icons however.
Agreed. What makes this even a bigger problem is that if a device icon doesnt require text because it's already built in (like Time Warner Cable) as an example, if you eliminate the text the device loses it's text in the tree and ultimately in the rest of the functions. I figured out a way around this and it works fine, but the bottom line is the text is not effective on some of the "busy" icons. I think some of these icons look great on thier own without text.
Another small issue, there are no channel icons available within the software or any other color schemes/templates which is not terrible, but it's more of an express program and certainly has it's place. The bottom line is that this remote will really work in situations where a client feels that his budget is not warranted on some of the higher end remotes on the URC line. However with the market share that Harmony receives, this is a great way to start out with a small URC system and expand from there. The person I sold the system to was considering a Harmony and I explained they could start with this system, add keypads to control thier current RadioRa2 setup, and have the ability to add additional rooms that share the same communication. They agreed, and were extremely happy with the ease of use and loved the feel of the remote.
