I'm guessing that it's available to me at about half of wholesale if I attend a URC training for three hours tomorrow. Is this a good deal or is that the model that's more or less been called a bit of a turkey?

Well, without knowing what your time is worth, this is an impossible question to answer. I would need all the details of your worth to properly answer this. I will say the MX780 is a fantastic entry level pro remote that is reliable and very powerful for an inexpensive remote. The screen is small, but at the price, it's a hard to beat piece.

Unless you supply all possible model numbers you might use this with, including future model numbers not released, not designed, or not even yet planned, it is impossible for us to help you.

what is the model of your laptop?  what kind of desk will you sit at when you program?  how many fillings do you have in your teeth?  

we must know these things if we are going to give you accurate answers.

Ernie, it's one of our best selling models ever. Yes, it's lower end as the price indicates, but aside from editable graphics, it's got most of the functionality of some of the higher end remotes—no 2-way, though.

Just curious which model would be the "turkey" Ernie refered to?

Got to be the MX810, but I cannot help you determine this for sure because Ernie did not list the model number

I didn't write that very well. I meant to ask if the 780 is the remote that someone else had, in earlier threads, more or less referred to as a turkey, since it's not programmable the same way as the others, or for some other reason put forth by our distinguished panel of experts.

the remote has the same capability as the MX880 and gets programmed very much the same.

the screen is a bit small, but for the price it is an excellent remote.

I would think that any URC training is worth 3 hours of your time regardless of which platform they choose to make their training example of. You might learn some valuable tricks from the trainer that can be applied to other URC products or other control systems and most importantly you get to hear other programmers questions which will bring up answers to things you've never thought of before.

But if you're going to learn just programming a MX780 then you are definitely wasting your time.

That's just my opinion.

I loved the mx-780 until it quit sending IR commands, nor will it communicate with RF basestations. Yes, I looked thru cameras viewfinder, nothing, with it set to IR only, and IR/RF. Lasted 3 months.

I never go into a training anymore optimistic I am going to learn anything I can truly take with me, especially if it's a product I sell or am familiar with. More often than not, I feel like these "trainings" are less about the nits and grits on programming, and more of a sales pitch designed to keep your attention toward a product/company or steer you away from another one, or as a way to line people up at a distributor's desk to buy product afterwards. I think these companies are catching on as well; raffles, product offerings, super discounts and other enticements are usually advertised. I often leave there feeling almost betrayed and think about the missed opportunity or what I could have accomplished that day instead. I still feel that polished, edited and perfected pre-recorded training modules and a good old fashioned manual are the best way to learn if you really want to learn anything worthwhile.

But then, I realize it's also about making relationships, a way for them to meet the people who are selling and representing their product and gaining perspective on dealer needs, trends and wish lists. Otherwise, I prefer these trainings the way I prefer my basketball games - just catching the last ten minutes and hopefully getting a question or two answered.

so you got the URC email today for the training at ADI in a few weeks as well?  :)

Haven't had a single failure with any MX780's in the field, or the two in my house (one of which I won at a training. Thanks Hank)

I want to thank Hank too, he gave me the opportunity to purchase the mx-780 via employee discount. It arrived the week the middle building in my apartment house burnt down:



So i didn't get to program it until 6 months later, it lasted 4 months.