HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

This thing has not been released and they are finishing up Beta testing and it won some BS award already.
What a crock? How cheap or meaningless are these awards?

Let me sum up the MX810:
-Ugly (IMO)
-Bad software, takes too long and kind of complicated
-Geared at installers or customers???!? This remote sets another bad precedent of dropping the installer.
-Expensive for it's class, expect Amazon and Surfer Remotes to shred ever point of margin.
-New software design to learn and MSRP bump which means jack to the seller considering it streets so low.

I expect an unsuccessful product, but at least it will get many awards.
It seems like they expect more of the installer price propping.
How is this remote going to affect Harmony sales or cut into their user base or word of mouth sales?

I don't see how you could possibly know this unless you are one of the beta testers. If so, aren't you violating your agreement with URC by stating your opinions in a public forum before the beta has concluded?

Joe:

You've posted your disdain for the MX-810 several times. You seem really unhappy about it.

I'm not sure what about a remote control would make a grown man so unhappy that he would take his time to go post on a forum to try to make sure everyone else is just as unhappy as he is. When I don't like a product, I tend to laugh it off and dismiss the product as "not for me." In this case, it's a URC product, and we sell URC. So I've read up as much as was practical about the MX-810. Admittedly, I don't see how this product is going to fit into my sales. But that didn't send me on a witch hunt, trying to make sure that if I don't want to sell it, then dammit, nobody else better like this product either.

I would have to guess that if a CI looks at the MX-810 and thinks, "I don't think this product is for me," then the product probably wasn't designed to meet that CI's needs. But there are lots of different kinds of CIs. I don't see my shop ever installing an MX-810. We're much more interested in the MX-980. I can't wait to get more info on that one. But when I look at the MX-810, I don't feel a need to try to convince the world that URC are idiots. All I see is that URC thinks there's a significant number of CIs that maybe aren't as experienced, or maybe ones who are just getting started.

I appreciate that you don't like the product. (Though like Loraquest, I wonder how you could possibly have formed such a strong opinion and posted it without violating some sort of agreement with URC.) What confuses me is how you could possibly be so offended by it that you're going out of your way to try to cause URC harm.

As for the award... I have no idea what the criteria for the award is. Or what inside information the judges might have had. Or whether they had early access to new versions of the software. Who knows? And maybe you're right... maybe the award is bogus. But that still doesn't make me want to trash talk a company that has helped me make a respectable portion of my shop's income.

The product isn't aimed at your shop, man--you're more experienced than the client this product is looking for. Isn't it really that simple?

Sincerely,
Gorignak

I have no NDA. Maybe I will see you at Cedia. I will be the one asking pointed ?'s.
I stand by what I've said. I've mentioned my disdain 3 times and elaborated twice.
The Award it got already, set me off.

I am trying to explain why this remote's handicaps and how it sets a bad precedent of continuing the divide between CI/dealers and URC by catering direct to the consumer.

I just get irritated by dishonest business practices and not all of my customer are picking up Crestron compounded w/ the Ebay pricing on these units. Maybe it is that simple and we won't sell it, but I want others to see the pattern of behaviour here.

I feel this information is important. After Cedia, you'll see and if you have read this maybe you will get more out of Cedia instead of marketing spin. I am a grown adult, thank you, and the practices of those companies I sell matter to me and should to others.

So this does not appear completely onesided, I kind of like the MX350, MX900 and MX3000.

As a end customer who has never used a CI or intends to, I'm very happy to see URC and other companies catering for the end customer. Not that the previous non-customer models were that complex.

Cheers

Byron

I tend to agree.

I was having a problem with one of the windows I bought for my house a few years ago, so I contacted the manufacturer about it. They told me that I wasn't their customer, their distributers are their customers. 50K in windows, and I'm not the customer?

Make no mistake: all of these remotes are purchased by end users. They should (and generally do) treat their distributers very well, but without the end users, they won't be selling any remotes. Put another way, if the people we sell these remotes to don't like them, we won't be getting any money for them.

I see the 810 as part of an experiment to see how well wizard-based remotes sell. If it doesn't sell well, they probably won't expand the experiment. Is that what end users want? Dunno -- I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Personally, I'm very excited about the 980, though the 810 is interesting, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the software works.

Sean