Yeah, so I'm 99% sure I'll be returning this thing. Here's what I thought about it:
Pluses: - Sweet looking. The screen is awesome and the form factor "looks" great. The screens are nice. - Compared to the super customizable remotes, this is a breeze to setup. Totally meant for the consumer. - The TV Guide, all though kinda slow is a really cool feature.
Minuses: - Not customizable really at all. You can reprogram the buttons through learning, but you can't change the button label or add / remove buttons. I knew this going in so this wasn't my reason for wanting to get rid of it. You can't even make your own macros which stinks. $20 remotes from Radio Shack let you do that. - Not one handed friendly. I knew this going in. I thought I could get over it. I was wrong. - There doesn't appear to be a way to backup your config. I'd be ok with that if all your settings didn't get wiped out when you upgrade the firmware. Having to totally re-program this thing every time you upgrade the firmware sucks especially if you had to manually learn some of your equipment. I guess its not really a problem as they haven't come out with a newer firmware in quite some time. - Not real popular. This site didn't even do a review on it. This forum has the least amount of activity. I don't get the warm and fuzzies from that. Makes me feel this remote will drop off the face of the Earth any second.
Deal breakers: - Slow. The unit isn't as responsive as my MX-700. If I'm flipping through Tivo menus or other menus, I'll hit up in rapid succession. It would do it, but at about half the speed as my other remote. Once or twice it queued up the commands for like 30 seconds which was really annoying. - Buggy. I had to reset the remote several times. Mostly because of the light on the side buttons stopped working or behaved oddly. Once, the side buttons stopped working all together. I have a Treo smart phone so I'm used to unstable stuff, but my wife isn't. - IR transmitter is weak and I sit 15' away from the equipment. This was the straw that broke the camels back. My MX-700 could be pointed 90 degrees off and the equipment would still get the signal. This remote should come with a laser sight to help you aim right at the IR receivers. It worked ok for most equipment but I have one or two devices with weak IR receivers and it was hit or miss all the time. Very frustrating.
If it wasn't for the deal breakers, I would have kept the remote. I knew going in that you couldn't customize this at all but the other problems really stink. So for now I'll be sticking with the MX-700. I've heard good things about the UEI Nevo remote so maybe I'll look at that next. Or maybe I can find a color pronto semi-cheap somewhere.
