We had a new custom home built last year and had prewiring and our A/V installed by a home theater company. They ended up installing a URC system with a MX-780 which we really are not happy with. Now looking at getting a couple of new tvs and perhaps cutting cord from DirecTV satellite since we now have giber optic gig internet.

The A/V company is an hour and a half away so want an arm and a leg for a service call to troubleshoot or reprogram. I would like to make a change to a universal remote system I can deal with myself and Caavo looks interesting. I think we were oversold with a system which was a lot more than we need. Not looking for a system to control everything from blinds to my thermostat but rather control my AVR/Blu-Ray Surround Sound andDirecTV HDVR for now and perhaps my Firestick. Our A/V equipment is located in an upstairs A/V closet and equipment with IR transmitters.

Can I uninstall and sell the URC equipment since it is only a year old?

Briefly, yes, but.

That remote requires proprietary programming software that is available to the trade only. They won't give it to end users. That means your market will be folks who buy it at wholesale, so that would lead me to believe you won't be getting the pay back you may have desired.

So to the right person, yes. Will it be worth the time and effort?

Maybe. Check out the Marketplace forum on this site.

If you sell it to anyone who isn't a dealer, they won't be able to get the software to program it. If you happen to have the software, please don't sell or give it to anyone, as this just makes problems for those people, as well as for URC and for other installers.

As for the A/V company, looks like they're not in this for the long haul, and you might mention that to them. Is it too mean to suggest that they were there for you when you were spending more than you are about to spend now, and they're using the same driving distance as a profit center now that you don't want as much? At least, that's how it looks to me. I say that while having several clients more than an hour away, with few needs, whom I charge the same rate as the guy ten minutes away.

Your system is exactly in the wheelhouse for that remote. It will not control blinds, unless ir, will not control thermostats. It's designed for standard entertainment systems with basic IR control

If you are sold an MX780, you were not oversold. But my question is, do you work for Caavo or are you the owner?

If you want DIY just get a Harmony Elit (assuming your gear is not way far away from TV)

Just looking at Ebay quickly, it looks like under $50 for a used MX-780 - maybe a little less - maybe a little more if they installed an MRF-350 and you include that.

Don't forget, you give Ebay and Paypal about 12% of that sale in commissions!

The Harmony Elite will definitely give you the ability to program yourself, and if you decide to go into more smart control or voice control it supports it.

I don't know if the Harmony will control a Fire TV - Better to go with Roku or Apple TV for easy control.

He doesn’t want a remote. He’s shilling Caavo.

This ^^

No way were you "over sold" with a URC MX780, the 780 does exactly what you are looking for and nothing more.

This assumes it was programmed correctly, which usually isn't the case for the cheap URC remotes.  Most of the entry level remotes from URC that I've seen in the wild look like they are programmed by some trunk slammer that doesn't understand what a macro is, or why discrete codes are needed.

Sorry to burst your bubble lads but in no way shape or form am I "shilling" for Caavo or Harmony or any other product. I came here to ask a simple question to which a couple of folks answered politely unlike some of the rather snarky replies by a few others.

I appreciate the candor by the ones who actually answered my question but also using my astute power of observation picked up on a smell of blood in the water (also known as fear whether real or perceived) by the poster Fins.

There are many different kinds of consumers...just know that not all of us need such systems that require someone else to program or maintain them...

Since nobody asked and you didn't volunteer the info, what don't you like about the MX-780? Is it the way the macros work? Did they even bother with macros?

What do you need to do in order to watch TV? You should see a Main screen with the activities. If you only press Watch TV and then see the buttons normally used for commands that need text, it may not be too bad, although they may not have explained everything well, if at all.

Sounds like user error.

Or programmer error- I have seen several remotes where they learned every command, rather than use the database and build any kind of driver. EVERY command was learned, including assembling the macros from them. Changing the programming was a biatch.

Because OP used the term "lads", I'm giving the installing home theater company benefit of the doubt.

I came across an MX 780 not long ago where there were no macros at all. Not even a power macro. And volume punch through? Nope. Nothing. It was basically a paperweight. There was a hand written instruction sheet detailing how to turn on each device individually, go back to the main page to select a device to control, then back to the main page to select the AVR for volume control. It was quite possibly the most useless install I've ever come across. It definitely wasn't done out of laziness, but rather a complete lack of understanding how/why even the simplest of control systems work. But hey, anyone can do this stuff, right?