My new position has me in charge of the maintenance and operation of many different types and brands of equipment over a large campus area. I am looking for a remote that is totally programmable and possibly expandable. I need to (for instance) control 15 different TV/Monitor types including menu and picture in picture selections. I also need to control several types of LCD & DLP Projectors and Source Devices. I was thinking of using the Compaq's iPAQ H3950. Has anyone had to deal with this sort of problem before? Do you think this unit will work to solve my problems? Is there a better solution? T.I.A.

I think that the best remote that you can get on the market today is a PDA with NetRemote. I have owned several remotes now, e.g. Multi Remote from Sony, Philips ProntoNEO and ProntoPro. My Dell Axim X3 that I have now is the best! Some PDA could have trouble with the IR length but I think it could be solved with an extender, but my Avim have the same IR Length as my ProntoNEO so its great!

You can put as many devices as you want to a ProntoPro or a PDA with e.g. NetRemote, so the only limitation you have with a Pronto Pro is the memory, and a PDA have as much memory as you want :)

Buy a PDA and a remote software (extender card if the IR is poor in the PDA or buy a Axim X3 :). You will not be disappointed!

In theory, pda remotes sound good but they do not live up to their applications, yes individual home theaters are great. but for a large project and reliability, go with the new pronto tsu7000. With an rfx6000, range is near 100 ft.

I have not done it yet, but the pronto can also work with the new media center pc's - can't wait to try that out!

I am working on a yacht club marina project in which, the idea is to give all entering yachts a pronto to use as an interface with the dock master and av stuff.

Thanks,
I also use the PDA as "a PDA " with programs like Word, Excel & ACT. My current PDA is an iPAQ 1900 which does not support any of the IR remote software programs I have tried. I will have to see if I can find someone in the Cleveland area that can give me a demo of the NetRemote and the Dell Axim X3. Have you had any problems with windows CE compatibly?

Thanks,
As a stand alone device the tsu7000 sounds like the way to go! But like I said "I Want It All"! I also use the PDA as "a PDA". Does the tsu7000 program reside on a windows CE platform or is it stand alone programing in ROM? It looks very much like a PDA.

I am running Pocket PC on my Dell, but all remote software I have tested works great. No problem at all...

It is not a typical pda, there is a specific progam used to create the atmosphere. Download it from:

[Link: remotecentral.com]

and load some sample pcf files into it. You can run an emulator that will
show how the files look and respond to on the device.

Were you still speaking of the pronto tsu7000?
Is it a pda as well?
Can it run Windows CE w/built in apps?

Sharp Focus

no, the Pronto is just a remote