I've sold my Pronto after a couple of weeks of using it and I thought I should share with all of you my reasons (at least because some of you have helped me very kindly and I feel I owe you this). I know most of you won't agree with me, especially my friend Diego ;-) but it's just my opinion.
1. Maybe my hand is too small but I can't use the Pronto with just one hand. If I use the right hand is more or less OK, but I find it nearly impossible to reach the hard buttons with my left thumb. The two hard buttons at the bottom are also almost impossible to use with just one hand.
2. Leaving the Pronto on the couch by my side or in the coffee table in front of me doesn't help: it's difficult to read the LCD if you don't look directly at it.
3. I can't get used to a touchscreen-centric remote. I have my other remotes shapes in my brain *because* I learned them unconsciously just by touch. The very few "hard" buttons on the Pronto, which on the other hand are not easily reachable as I said, make everything but changing volume or channel a "two hands-two eyes" task, where it takes just my thumb with the normal remotes (at least with the best designed, like the one from my Loewe TV or digital satellite receiver from Philips).
4. For programmers, designers or those interested in GUIs (I consider myself part of the three categories) it's fun to look for discrete codes in this forum, design new buttons, create an interface, program utilities, etc. I've found myself doing most of this (well, starting to) for more than two weeks. During those two weeks I've barely used the Pronto for what it was intended for: control my home theater equipment. To be honest I feel a bit like a fool.
5. Programming the Pronto is by no means an easy task. I've been a programmer for years and I find the operating system too restrictive (*and* tricky) for real programmers and definitely useless to non-advanced PC users, even average-skilled computer literate people will use ProntoEdit just for basic tasks (I just can't imagine what my mother would do with a Pronto). On the other hand, not programming the Pronto makes it an absurdly expensive universal remote (who wants this thing just to learn the codes from the other remotes "as is"?). Philips should provide both more openness and pre-programmed solutions along with the gadget. Being just in the middle makes no sense to me. Besides, the nicest solutions I've seen here are very tricky nice tries to override the default interface with the three areas (home, macros and devices) the system has been designed with. This doesn't surprise me; no one seems to find them useful: me neither.
6. Philips doesn't support this thing. For what I've read here people have tried to contact them for codes, file formats, help, etc. apparently with no success. I'm not a hacker; I like full documentation and support when I face any new programming project. I understand the manufacturers of the new remotes are trying to sell and this might explain why the guys from RTI (the makers of the new TheaterTouch remote, or "T2") are promptly and kindly asking all my questions about their remote. I don't know how would they do "after" I eventually buy from them, but this is definitely a must for me. Some people have said here that this big forum is a reason to go for the Pronto ("the Pronto community" and all that). I think it might as well be a very bad sign. This forum is a quite helpful place but it just proves what I'm saying here: most of the messages posted are asking for help. Philips must be really happy with you Daniel: you and the rest of the people helping here are doing their job, for free!!!
My silver Pronto has a very elegant design, clearly "cooler" than the competitors; it definitely fits the style of my home and my personal visual tastes. I love it in that sense, I find it sophisticated and really cool. I've tried hard to find a good reason to keep it, but I haven't: in my honest opinion and for the reasons above it is an unpractical device. If I ever go for something like the T2 or the MX-1000 (I won't be such an impulsive buyer next time...) my aesthetic sense might be a bit hurt (sorry RTI and the others: Philips beats you clearly there), but I might get a remote I can use with one hand, without looking at it and being supported by the manufacturer. It's a reasonable trade-off to me.
