Hey Guys,

Wondering if you guys could share your wealth of knowledge and experience, and help me decide on which remote to go with. I have narrowed my choice down to either the Philips Pronto TSU-7000, or the Home theater MX-3000.
I value ease of use, (partner needs to be able to use) as well as 'flash' value:) I will also need discrete codes to make system easier to use. I have heard Prontoedit and MX-3000 computer interface are almost identical?
(my previous remote was a Pronto TSU-2000, but willing to learn a new program if required:)
I like the idea of the MX-3000 having easily marked hard buttons, compared to the Pronto's icon marked buttons. But I also love the way the Pronto's main page is set up, with the animation and easy access to what you want to do etc.
What do you guys recommend? What are the Pro's and Con's of each.
Any advise is much appreciated guys.

Thanks,

Paul

you can DL the editor for both remotes and play with them

I like the MX-3000 the best... it's a little harder to learn the software than the pronto but it comes built into the software a wealth of discrete codes; also live updates of the software add more codes as they are constantly adding ir codes to their database.

WEe do both and I prefer the mx-3000 over the tsu7000 these days. I prefer the layout of the screen and hard buttons on the MX. It is a little more complicated programming wise but in the end I feel you can do a lot more with the MX than with the Pronto.

Robbie S

I like the 3000 better. I find the 3000 easier to program than the 7000 but I come from a programming background so maybe it is just more logical for me. Either is pretty flexible and I'm sure you can learn to program either one, so I wouldn't base my decision on programming.

Bob

Hey,
Thanks guys, most people seem to prefer the MX-3000. Appreciate all your opinions, as hoping to buy shortly.

How about opinion of these 2 vs. the ipronto.......??

it depends what you want, the iPronto is wi-fi and can dl a TV guide and surf the web, but it is tablet shaped.

Just say NO to the iPronto. Never really worked right and features that were promised never came online.

Personally I have a MX-3000 in my test room. I find the screen a bit of pain to activate. I have a hard time with the buttons n the screen I strike the button and sometimes it goes and sometimes it doesn't. Once I assigned sounds to every action it made it easier for me to tell if it was actually transmitting. I find the 7000s touchpad to be more responsive.

As for the first IR code... its nice to have the hard buttons. But they get on my nerves. See a MX3000 will not transmit an IR code untill the screen is on. So the first contact with the hard buttons or screen is to wake the device. (This assumes that the screen is off.) I see no reason for the screen to have to come on when I am just trying to raise the volume. I mean I understand in the design of the product and all but I constantly do something like this...
Using Dish Network Sat box... I am watching something and the commercial or something just gets too loud or soft. I reach for the easily reachable hard button for volume. I press the volume expecting it to ramp down. Now the MX3000 lights up.. no volume change. I release the volume button and press it again and then I get a reaction. Ofcourse I have to mess with the timing of the unit so that when I let go it doesn't keep ramping for about .5 seconds.
Or
Using the Dish Sat box again... I want to browse channels. The procedure needed is Starburst "Right" then "UP, DOWN, 1, 2, 3 etc. So I press "Right" then I press "UP" $#iT The channel changed rather then let me browse because the "Right" command was never emited. Neither problem occures with a 7000.

The LCD screeen itself is about as readable as a TSU6000. The 7000 made a real improvment in visability.

The screen is shorter top to bottom then the 6000/7000 but wider left to right. Certain logical layouts like 1234567890 can get a bit cramped. But transports are easier to set widder play,pause, slow, etc.

I hear the RF on the MX series just crushes the Philips. (Distributor never has them in stock for me to verify.)

You can put wavs on teh MX... but who the hell cares the speaker is not gonna give you any real output for spoken comands or verification. Anything more then a beep is too low in voume and mostly uninteligable in most of my testing.... ANYONE who has a good WAV that works... I would love to retract the above statement. Send me a copy so I can see how to properly empliment a wav.

You can't program the left and right buttons under the screen.. now that sucks. If you really plan out your screens you really need access to a screen you don't want to browse from one to the next looking for the the right one. On a 7000 you can set any button to do anything. For instance I often use the keys below the screen to move to specific pages in the devices menu. Like a button for transport controls and one for # entry. If the 3000 would let me assign left button #s and right button transport that would be a huge step forward. ALSO THIS IS VER IMPORTANT... the buttons should be able to issue a command. This would be extremly helpfull in getting real functionality that can be a "Here you go to clients."

Is that enough rambeling for now...?

Umm where was I going with all that??? Ohh yeah

I prefer the 7000... that was what I was getting at.

Thanks guys all opinions and advice much appreciated.
So far seems everyone for MX-3000, except one. But one has some interesting points!! Anyone got any views on that post?
Thanks

The Pronto is a nice unit first off. Feels good in the hand, nice screen and what not. THe programming isn't something you just pick up though. The biggest problems with the 7000 are the flaky and mostly useless RF base and the fact that for some reason, they will not work with my fingers. Seriously. I can sit there and tap a button and get nothing. Nothing at all. I gave my 2000 away for that reason.

That said, I prefer the 3000 for the reasons others have already listed. And I actually found the MX software more to my liking. It just clicked with me, I never had to be trained on it or anything, I just got it, which for me, is rare.

I used to do alot of prontos, but they are so damn unreliable.

The software is super slow when downloading,and unstable.

I've had a 100% failure rate in the sense that i've had to go back to EVERY job, at least once, to reset the remote when they lock up.

I also apreciate the fact that URC actually listens to the custom install community. Want something changed, (like those unprogrammable page buttons), email or call them, and it has a pretty good chance of happening.

Call Philips, and you wind up in India.

I'll never sell another Pronto again.

Just my 2c

Thefish... Ohh I covered it with them... I cover a bunch of bitches I had when I first got my claws on it. Some got fixed right quick. But I sent them a bunch of IR codes that they never bothered to add to the database. That was a little annoying... I mean there they are the REMOTE PEOPLE and I was trying to get them good usefull codes and the made me jump through hoops to do so then they choose to ignore it... water under the bridge.

I my opinion the unit needs to be a little bigger and not have the time out issue. Fix the screens to be more sensative and make it taller to accomidate things like
123
456
789
*0#

Because of the lack of vertical height it gets hard to make easily tapped buttons that look OK and are FUNCTIONAL. I could really not care that much about all the artwork that I Spent time getting into my systems. Most important is can A person understand it at a glance and can they use it. I have been using the 3000 in my home system and I really try to enjoy it but that wake up really sucks.

Some times I have to hit the key 3 times for the first IR code to go. This is from sleep mind you but if I just want to bump the volume there is no reason to kick on the LCD. Especially if kicking on the LCD is gonna take up that much in the way of system resource that I have to hit it 3 times.

Just my opinion... and BTW the Rip on the MX is better than the Pronto and from what I hear the RF is a order of magnatude better. But interface is the FIRST AND FOREMOST THING. Once you have a interface that is workable then you can start to address making it control stuff.

Untill I can get a good base line screen and OS apperance it will remain a amusement to me.

FIX the time out issue and a big grip of mine will go. Then I can start on the rest of the list.

:)