We just installed a system today with our first MX-700. My INITIAL impression is VERY positive. Here are my thoughts:
1) I can see a lot of my customers actually using the Sidekick. I seem to work with a lot of couples where one partner is a complete technophobe. I can overcome technophobes "fears" with a Crestron or AMX touchscreen, but a Pronto has its limitations in this regard. The Sidekick offers a great solution for the technophobe. 2) Programs MUCH faster than the Pronto, at least based on the way I do programming. And that was without ever referring to a manual. 3) Super easy to read with a great backlight. 4) Fits great in your hand. 5) Macros were pretty easy to program but I am not sure I like how it is done. You program your macros by pointing to other commands on the remote. That suggests to me that if the button that the macro is pointing to changes, so does the macro - not good. It also suggests that you have to have a button for each command you want in a macro, even if you don't need to have the individual button "shown". But you can "hide" pages (and therefore hide a button), so it shouldn't be a problem. I haven't read the manual yet so I could be wrong about these issues. 6) Like every other similar program I have used, it lacks the ability to attach any notes to your programming. This can be done with Crestron and should be a requirement of all programming software, IMHO. 7) Overall, it seemed to work flawlessly. No problems uploading or downloading. I didn't discover any bugs (knock on wood). Did all of my programming with the built-in codes. 8) When you create a device (lets say an RCA satellite receiver) it automatically throws every command on the appropriate hard button and lists "extra" commands in the LCD window. Then you can easily delete commands you don't want in the LCD window as well as drag and drop them. Fantastic! 9) Takes a little bit long to download. 10) I predict a lot fewer failures of the MX-700 than the Pronto, IMHO. We have had a lot of Pronto failures.
Overall rating - 9 out of 10. Of course this is how I often feel when I use a cool new product. I am sure that within another month or two I will have discovered all sorts of things I would like it to do better, LOL.
I don't want to turn this into a MX-700 versus Pronto debate but IMHO many customers find a Pronto hard to use (yes, even a well programmed one) and I think the MX-700 will be better in this regard. I am not selling any more Prontos now that I have this to sell and I will leave it at that.
p.s. Here is a quote from the first page of the small introduction brochure that comes with the unit - "Custom programming of a complex home theater is one of the most challenging tasks wihtin a home theater installation. It involves an intimate knowledge of how the components interact and exact details on the proper sequences of control. Only a Home Theater Master dealer has the requisite experience and training to quickly and effectively customize a remote control for true automated operation".
I thought it was nice they are trying to support us with this statement.
This message was edited by QQQ on 05/25/02 01:22.51.
