Opinions and problems, please.

Well, latest version does work apart from the repeating buttons, which is a big nuisance.
The Audio plugin seldom works, and if it does the range is small.
Barend

Yes, let's all forget the support thread! There is nothing to see here! Move along, move along! These aren't the droids you're looking for!

I can't comment here, as I am biased. However, I am paying attention. Anyone have some constructive input that this gentleman (and I) can use?


--Don

I will add comments here which I forwarded privately for potential customers: Realize that these comments are written in context of saying "good work!" to the team at Griffin..

Comments:

This is a fantastic implementation of "Pronto" compatible remote software. Your interface in CCF mode is of the most importance to me. It's clean, easy to use, and truly transforms my Ipaq into the Pronto in almost every way. I have been following the threads on RemoteCentral, and I am pleased to be a part of testing your software. I want to extend my appreciation to the senior developer of this software (Don) for being patient with the folks who complain and say the software is lousy (VERY few), and keep your head high and concentrate on this great product. Nice work all-around!

Suggestions:

1. PDAwin software remembers the state from the last run (i.e. CCF or standard mode). Can you replicate in your software?
2. PDAwin allows mapping of the "D-pad" or "Joystick". These are mapped to the hard-keys for Volume and Channel on the original Pronto devices. Is this something you might add?
3. Pronto has options to set recurring "timers" on their devices. Is it possible to eventually see this functionality, or is this a hardware limitation?
4. Port: I have also read on RemoteCentral about users who have recorded the IR signals and migrated them to another platform to play as .WAV files. This is very interesting to me, as I could use my PC to act as a scheduling device for recording TV programs. Is your sampling routine "portable" to Win32 as a small .exe? I realize that this is not the direction you are trying to go, I just wanted to ask.


BOTTOM LINE: The software is a "work in progress" when it comes to CCF, but the core functionality is there. It works as advertised with my Ipaq 3635. The hardest part of using any Pronto-like setup is to come up with the most effective skins. Total Remote brings everything together beautifully.

TJD

Can I return it? They do not answer/respond to my e-mails. The Product does not work with my Toshiba 2032 Smartphone.

Will ccf dissappear with age, only to be replaced with pcf and others?

Why would you return it? Their website does not report yours as a compatible model. That's why the demo is available. Have you been able to get the IRDA port to work? Just for reference, you only paid an extra 5 bucks to get the IR adaptor over registering online...therefor, if it didn't work with IRDA in the first place, then you shouldn't have purchased it. The audio adaptor is a bit "over hyped" on their website and documentation, but it works as advertised on the 3635.

So far, the audio adaptor only works in my Ipaq 3635. The ONLY reason I ordered it was because that was the model they actually used to produce this software. I have registered and paid for 4 different remote softwares. I don't use them all. Sometimes you have to take a chance. $24 plus shipping was pretty cheap to begin with. I didn't even get my All-4-one for that.

If you call them on the phone, you will get somebody. That's how I get support with products, and that way I don't have to wait days for a reply, simply to save a few bucks in toll calls.

TJD

I did download it and the software shows up vividly on on my pocket pc. I even get a faint ir signal and it works at about 10". My Smartphone is exactly the same as the audiovox thera and the toshiba e570. Both on the list.

Most of us know that appliances all use the same technology and are sometimes built by generic manufacturers but different labels appear on the items. Anyway, I took a gamble. And, although most of my contacts was through remote central, and e-mails I never did call them.

I am just frustrated that the dongle did not work, it would have been way cool for me to control everything with me smartphone. I am a Landscape Designer and use the ccf for home automation on the outside: Sprinklers, Pools, Spas, Water Temp, Landscape Lighting, Irrigation - you get the picture.

I even e-mailed them to get the question that you just gave me, but never got a reply from them. That was: what pocket pc does the total remote work best on? I even volunteered (sp?) to be part of the beta testing program and still no reply.

So why should I waste more time and money on them, but rather get even with a nasty little remotecentral posting such as this. They got my money that is all they care about.

And that is the same with PDAwain, Vito and almost Ultra Remote.

Ultra remote would not take my money, I even begged for them to take it and they wouldn't. I wanted to try out the cf card with the pdawin software. They would not sell me the cf card. And it is just as well, I did not have a compact flash card socket. It was a secure digital socket. Hey, I am new to this, and extremly fascinated by all it.

Thank you Ultra Remote - You really care about us!

Any way, I am tired of trying to make things work the hard way, and am breaking down and picking up some Tsu 7000 and Tsu 6000. I have mastered ccf programing, how hard can the pcf be. And if the technology isnt there next year, I am sure there will be something for me and others to learn and gripe about.

I'm sorry, but they are not the same! For one thing, I would be VERY surprised if Audiovox would be lame enough to use the EXACT same audio hardware for a PDA as they would a cell phone; they are QUITE different in intent and function! Second, a computer can run different operating systems and not function at all the same from OS to OS. Smartphone is not the same as Pocket PC. That is why most apps intended for Smartphones were written expressely for Smartphone. At the VERY VERY least, working under the broad assumption that a program formatted and intended for Pocket PC would work as intended on a Smartphone, you would typically compile your app explicitly for Smartphone.


I see we have listed the Audiovox Maestro as "Not internally verified. Should work based on hardware specs and existing system requirements" and the Audiovox Thera as "Compatibility reported by our customers". This means that we have never personally tested either unit, although some customer may have told us they got it working on a Thera. Perhaps that customer was using IrDA and never tried the audio transmitter.


Griffin Technology, as a matter of policy and fairness to all PPC makers, will not endorse any particular PPC. If you ask us which ones we have heard work well, we can tell you what we have heard. I, on the other hand, am free to give my personal opinion, which is that Dell Axim X3/X30 and later tend to represent what I believe is the best combination of features, functionality and price. I have posted that MANY times on these forums, so it shouldn't have been hard to find.


If "getting even" on a RC.com posting is all you need to be happy, then I am thankful. You wouldn't be the first, nor likely the last. As far as getting your paltry $25 bucks, please take it back. While I feel you did not exercise nearly enough due dilligence on this, Griffin makes it a policy not to split pennies, and your $25 is just not worth the grief for either of us so I would like to override any decision ANYONE else in the company might make (such as the tech support guys) and offer you a full product refund, INCLUDING SHIPPING.


They were more candid about the fact that they did not know if it would be possible to support you. They were looking out for themselves as much as you. If you had called in and placed an order for Total Remote on the phone, and told us you wanted to use TR on a Smartphone, we would have told you we could not support it and tried to dissuade you from buying it. If you had insisted, we would have sold it to you and put a note on your order record to the effect that you were warned and we would not offer a refund.

So let me recap:

You bought Total Remote for use on a Smartphone, even though we explicitly state it is for Pocket PCs only. You assume your Smartphone is exactly the same as an Audiovox Thera or Maestro, which is not necesarily a reasonble assertion, but we do not even verify or affirm compatibility with those devices. You did not call tech support, but have E-mailed and not received a reply to your latest question... which was HOW MANY days ago? 2? 3? Now, instead of seeking a refund you intend to badmouth Griffin. And as an absolute aside, as though this crumpet of information was meaningless, you mention that NO REMOTE CONTROL APP IN EXISTANCE WORKS FOR YOUR APPLICATION!!!!

Hello?!?

Call to arrange for an immediate refund. Or not.


--Don, Senior Engineer, Total Remote


ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE AS A RESULT OF MY BLIND FURY, AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY REFLECTIVE OF GRIFFIN TECHNOLOGY POLICY.

Well you have put me in my place and defended Griffen Technology.

Sprint calls my smartphone a pocket pc, maybe this is where all my troubles are. It uses Windows CE and has a Strong Arm Porcessor.

I beleive the problem with the dongle is that it resides soley on output . Smartphone/Pocket PC cell phones (whatever you want to call them) have a two way audio jack. The headpone Jack is used for Speakers and a microphone. The standard dongle or adapter parts do not line up with our specialized jacks.

So lets recap.

I bought Total Remote for my Pocket Pc / Cell phone - What I thought is also called a smartphone.

I tried it out and it works with a faint signal, because as a regular customer and seeing that it had not been tested on my type of product
I got the dongle anyway.

I am too busy to keep track of every e-mail and telephone call I have made to Griffen Technology, and I have made several. I was eager and excited about your product. After realizing TR would not work with my smartphone, I looked for other products and put TR on the back burner. My calls and e-mails were months ago. I followed the forums and saw a posting for beta testing TR. I e-mailed you Don Stratton to be a part of you product and support team.
No reply

So, my badmouth was for lack of support by Griffen Technology including yourself.

Thank you for the prompt attention I will call for a refund plus shipping.

It amazes me that a product can be developed without the illicit company support from a major PPC manufacturer.

Does it really work? Why can't Griffen Technology tell us what PPC it was designed for?

------------------------------------------------------------------

PDAwin was the first Remote control software I purchased, it works at 6' My IR is on the side, so it is awkard to pick and point. TR's dongle would have been the perfect solution. My ccf's have gotten too large so it crashes peridoically.

As stated above, I picked up my Prontos tsu 7000 and am loving it! I am just concerned about that technology - how long will it be around?

--August, (not an IT professional) but a Landscape Designer.

well i never what a cheapskate augusty. do you use toilet paper one piece at a time. Watch that your finger doesnt go through the sheet when you wipe.

I knew I was going to get this, keep the jokes coming. I do have a sense of humor. And that is actually pretty good. You must know about dirty fingers from experience?

If that is the case they are making a mistake. Smartphone and Pocket PC are two entirely different things, and while they are probably about 90% compatible in practical usage it is still the wrong nomenclature and they have done a dissevice to one of their customers.


That actually is a good thought, but does not apply in this case. The Total Remote transmitter should be no different than standard 3.5mm headphones in the way they make a physical connection to the pins inside the headphone jack. UNfortunately, physical connection is the least of the problem. If it doesn't work it tends to imply the audio port of the Smartphone you have cannot reproduce high-frequency signals at the required quality level. I wonder, do you know if Wistron makes that Smartphone? Wistron made the Casio E-200 and Dell Axim X5, both of which had nearly identical substandard audio hardware.


Apologies, both for my verbose and vigorous reply and for our lack of effective communication. You made mistakes, and our tech support people appear to have compounded them by not providing the answers you needed. This could have and should have been resolved VERY quickly:

Augusty: "Hi, I have a Sprint Smartphone and.."
Griffin: "Hold it right there, lil' Pikachu. This doesn't work on Smartphones"


Griffin is a very big player in the Macintosh marketspace, and I can say in my several years here we have not gotten squat for support from That Big Company. We have branched into more PC products, and while we have certainly been contacted by a notable Washington company (that owns us all) every time they find a problem with our products that DIRECTLY AFFECTS their plans, they do not share information such as telling us what major changes will be made that will alter or affect the operation of our products in the future. Since working with Pocket PCs we have seen the same thing; the first time I hear about a new Dell PPC is when they contact me to tell me it doesn't work right! I know of very few companies in this field that have the type of relationship you imply. At that level, everyone is too busy trying to guard their secrets to share openly. Just the way biz iz.


You could read the compatibility list on our web site, and call us to confirm if you have any questions or doubts. Just a thought.


--Don

Am I wrong about the word Smartphone: Is this a Pocket PC combined with a Cell Phone? Sprint does not call it a Smartphone, I did, they call it a Pocket Pc with a cell phone.


The Jack is different, it has donut type metal rim like an audio port on the back of a VCR, but very tiny.


Do not know

----------------
Griffen Tech is taking back my product, therefore, I am moving on, probably good ridance. So it is off to the Pronto Pro and Next Generation Forums to reek havoc there.
------------------------------------------------
SO BACK TO THE QUESTION AT HAND
------------------------------------------------
How good is Total Remote?

Although, some remote control pda software works on my pda, Total Remote, did display the best graphics, and crashed less. It did support file sizes up to 5 megabytys ( that it the largest file I downloaded and displayed )

If I had the time to play with it on a perfect ppc that could run the software, I am sure it would be a blast.

If allowed, I would like to keep a copy of the software on my pda to show and recommend to my clients that there is an option to the Phillips and Marantz Remote Controls.

My recommendations to Griffen Tech and TR is two fold:
-->First, develop or support a ccf editor. such as tonto to produce better graphics on our pda's

-->Second, Is to get the support from a major PPC developer. I and others would flock to that PPC just for the combination. You have read it on the forums, users are buying pdas just for use with TR. (I do not trust the compatability list)

TTN - August

You are conceptually accurate in calling "Smartphone" nothing but a Pocket PC bolted to a cell phone, but it is like comparing Windows 3.1 to Windows XP; they may SEEM the same, but you can RARELY expect a program written for XP to run on a 3.1 system. Sprint engaged in the common practice of marketing hyperbole, a concept I can appreciate and sympathize with since I watch our marketing guys twist my technical words around all the time. Marketing will tell you it isn't important to be 100% technically nitpicky correct about dumbing down concepts to a form they think a end-user could understand. I can see the conversation at Sprint....

Engineer: "Our Smartphone is almost ready to ship, so you need to finish the advertising propaganda soon."

Marketing: "What the hell is a 'Smartphone'? Does it constantly change wireless carriers to find the best long-distance rate?"

Engineer: "Uh, no. Smartphone is a new type of hardware and software platform from Microsoft. It can do all the same things a PDA can do, and it has a built-in cell phone!"

Marketing: "...what?"

Engineer: "It is a whole new device category, but it can browse the web, play games, handle contact and calenders, and all those other things you can do with a Pocket PC."

Marketing: "...sooo... it's a Pocket PC with a cell phone"

Engineer: "..."

Marketing: "See, I can sell a Pocket PC with a cell phone, but no one knows what 'Smartphone' is so it will confuse them. They need to understand it is just like a Pocket PC. Can I see your prototype?"

Engineer: "Sure, here."

Marketing: "How do you turn it on?"

Engineer: "The power switch on the front."

Marketing: "Wow, that's confusing. Can we fix that? Oh, never mind."

Engineer: "...yeeeaaaah...."

Marketing: "HEY! This looks exactly like my iPaq! I though you said this was something different!"

Engineer: "Uh, well, it is quite a bit diffe..."

Marketing: "GREAT! No worries! I can sell a Pocket PC with a cell phone!"

Engineer: "... great, whatever... "

The Jack is different, it has donut type metal
rim like an audio port on the back of a VCR, but
very tiny.

Sounds like it could be some sort of compound connector that also has microphone input and maybe even power and serial communication. Still, if standard headphones work I would expect our audio transmitter to work... assuming the hardware can even drive it, which we still don't know.

Although, some remote control pda software works
on my pda, Total Remote, did display the best
graphics, and crashed less. It did support file
sizes up to 5 megabytys ( that it the largest
file I downloaded and displayed )

Cool! At least we don't suck in ALL areas. ;)

If I had the time to play with it on a perfect
ppc that could run the software, I am sure it
would be a blast.

An infrared blast? ;)

My recommendations to Griffen Tech and TR is two
fold:
-->First, develop or support a ccf editor. such
as tonto to produce better graphics on our pda's

What is wrong with Tonto now? I think it supports 24bit color, and it is theoretically possible to make a CCF that was so optimized for the Pocket PC it probably wouldn't work right on the old Prontos, so I am not sure what else is missing. What are your thoughts?

-->Second, Is to get the support from a major
PPC developer. I and others would flock to that
PPC just for the combination. You have read
it on the forums, users are buying pdas just for
use with TR. (I do not trust the compatability
list)

As I touched on before, we have a very tricky balancing act to juggle the needs of ALL of the Pocket PC vendors. We do not want to alienate HP and the iPaq by formally endorsing the Dell Axim, nor would it be fair to users that might assume we ONLY support the Axims.

The other major issue is that almost all Pocket PCs lack the necessary hardware to do "real CIR", and I am quite certain that the vendors are more concerned with the cost of components than picking the best hardware for the job. CIR is paid much lip service by PPC companies, but the reality is they do not want to commit ANY additional expense for what is perceived as a VERY VERY small niche market. There was one time I saw a prerelease Pocket PC that had a combination IrDA/CIR port, with REAL CIR hardware, and it worked GREAT! The company ended up going with a normal IrDA port because the IrDA/CIR part cost about 50 cents more. If you assume that there will be about 6 million units produced you see they saved _THREE MILLION DOLLARS_! I think everyone has learned from the disasterous Nevo deal; too few users will care to justify the shocking expense.

That is why Total Remote has such potential among the ODMs; they can tempt a customer into buying their PPC because it can be used as a remote control, they point them to us for a sale, we do all the support and work, we can offer PPC remote control to ANYONE who wants it, and the ODM can save the vast majority of their user base from the extra expense of hardware they will never use.


--Don