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.

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.

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.

Mike

Mike, if you don't mind me sharing some of my comments as well:


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.



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.



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.

No problem. That's what were all here for. In fact, URC has asked anyone who has programmed a MX-780 to comment on this thread.


Yes, I agree. Actually, what would be nice is the ability to put text at the top of the screen that would correspond to the page. So, in your example, one could be "Watch" and the other could be "Lighting". That would help avoid probable customer confusion.


Well, as I mentioned on another thread, you can hide the text by right-clicking on the button and selecting to hide it.

Mike

Mike - aren't you able to do that now by simply renaming the "WATCH" and "LISTEN" on the tree? Am I understanding your request correctly?

Watch, Listen or whatever shows up in the software, but not on the remote.

Does the MX-780 have to ability to use custom icons such as with the MX-810/880 using Favorites. I have a few custom icons that I'd like to use or at least repicate. They're mostly for a few macros.

My MX-810 is has a few problems and I'll need a replacement. I thought I narrowed it down to the 880 but I like the four color buttons on the 780. Right now I have them on page one for my DIRECTV receivers.

Edit: I'm still curious about the icons but I went and got the MX-880. :)

Mike

Nope. There's no dedicated Favorites section. The only icons available are the ones you choose for devices on the Main pages(s). There's currently only one template available, but there's certainly the possibility of more being added. There's also no image gallery, but that could come with time as well.

Guys, the memory architecture in the MX-780 is similar to the MX-880. That means that there's a very limited amount of RAM for icons. This remote was originally intended to literally be a text-only remote (and some of our sales team still refer to it that way) but we figured out a way to shoehorn some limited graphics into the existing memory architecture.

We did design several other templates for the remote, so I expect they'll be released sooner rather than later (but this is ME talking, not the company so this is NOT an announcement to count on).

I have not tried any of the tricks that allowed people to get new graphics into the 880 with the 780. The memory architecture is similar, so it might work.

Don't expect an image gallery for LCD buttons. Knowing what I know about the remote as one of the designers, I can't imagine where we'd find the memory in that unit to add graphical Favorites or even more than one or two extra buttons shapes.

I am new to the URC world and, being a DIY guy, have limited AV Remote experience overall. However I do have a lot of computer programming experience over the years. I also have an old Nevo SL that I programmed myself.

I received my MX-780 late last week and have successfully programmed my fairly simple AV environment and can add several comments to those already made.

Firstly I have renamed the WATCH and LISTEN pages to WATCH and DEVICES and these do show up on the top the remote screen as well as in CCP. After reading various threads over the weekend I decided to try to build a simple "graphical" favorites page within my "WATCH DVR" activity. I can confirm that this can be done. I unpacked the Alpha/Icons/Main/ColFile.VFD file (utilizing a tool I found in one thread) to get a series of PNG files. I replaced the Gereral_1 through General_6 icons with some I made in Paint.NET using the standard button file (which I had also unpacked) changed to blue and then layered with the 6 channel logos I decided to use. I repacked the VFD file and replaced the original (after saving a copy) with the new one. Then I added 6 new "DEVICES" to the WATCH page and deleted each Device page but kept the buttons. I was able to then copy each button onto the favorites page that I had created within my WATCH DVR device and use a macro to select the appropriate channels. It all works very well.

One item of feedback for the URC guys is that I have a B&W Panorama Soundbar in my config and none of the IR codes in the URC database worked with my device (the other devices I have worked fine). I was able to use the HEX input and the HEX codes on the B&W Group USA support site to replace all the default ones and they worked fine. (Now if only LG had discrete codes for their wireless HDMI input instead of just the hard wired ones.... Ah well, I guess you can't have everything.)

All in all, a very positive experience (Although the limitation of now formal IF THEN ELSE for the MX-780 took a little thought to work out a solution for returning from individual devices to the "last" activity. Nice to challenge the grey matter occassionally though). I am looking forward to the arrival of the MX-1200 as well and may buy one of those for the family room and use the MX-780 in the back TV room.

Yeah. I just noticed that it's showing up on the remote now. There was a software update last week that did the trick I believe.

I got my hands on the 780 today. I love the weight and feel of it in my hand. It feels like it is nearly double the weight of the MX900.....probably less....but it feels solid.

I like the button layout and the size, spacing, and tactile feel of the buttons. The remote looks good. Not flashy...it means business. No frills. No glossy fingerprint attracting surfaces.

I have one complaint. The size and brightness of the screen is kind of disappointing. I know I should not have expected MX880 quality at this price point, but I feel like the LCD screen on the 780 is nearly worthless in comparison to the MX900.

I can see us using the 780 as an emergency piece in the cases where we simply cannot talk clients into the 880 or even the 900. Look at the margin on the 900 vs. the 780 and you will see what I mean.

I am more excited about the 1200 now though. We can replace our demo MX6000 with one hopefully! :)

Doesn't the MX0780 have an OLED screen?

aussie.bdp,
Would you mind sharing your blue background?
I played with sticking some of the custom 880 graphics in the 780 folder but the buttons don't fit right on the smaller 780 screen. I'd really like the option of another background other than the green. Nicer buttons would be nice too (even like the 450's) but it is what it is.

Is there a 433 MHz version available yet? I don't use the i series remotes all that much, but in some cases where I have multiples in a house I will use one 418 and one 433 to eliminate any chances of crosstalk. I did get 4 in (was supposed to be 2 but UPS lost the shipment so new ones were sent out. The lost ones showed up like 5 days later). The remote feels nice. I disagree with Audiophiliac about the weight issue. I have both in my hands right now, and then 780 feels about the same weight as the 900. It does seem to be more responsive. My MX900 is getting on in age, so it could possible just be the buttons are a bit worn out. My initial thoughts though are that it is a solid remote and will be a great choice for budget systems. I will no longer have to sell the MX450 to someone looking to save money and have to program on the remote. Not that I had to do it very often.

Really like the MX-780. Have been using the MX-850 for years but now switching as our 'go to' remote. Took the basic webinar to check out basic CCP programming but it's really for newbies. So far my only wish is that you could switch between WHITE or BLACK text on the buttons as someone above said, the white just washes away on some of the graphics. Also it would be fantastic if you could convert old MX-850 to 780. Overall, very nice entry level remote.