Just bought a Sony AV3000, so questions related to this...

New to discretes. What would be the least expensive way and what equipment would I need to go about getting discretes into the AV3000?

From reading forums it LOOKS like I need to go out and buy another remote that can be jp1-connected to a PC?

I have both windows PCs and Linux PCs here so either platform is ok.

I have a real strong feeling that simply getting the AV3000 to get rid of a multitude of remotes is not going to be enough and that I'm going to want (and possibly NEED) to learn how to do discretes in otder to take advantage of the remote's capabilities and features. This sound like a pretty normal way of thinking?

Last question... if I need to buy a cheap remote to teach my expensive (relatively speaking) remote some new tricks.... how do I explain to my wife why it is that I didn't just buy the cheaper remote in the first place? :)

Thanks,
Charlie

Charlie,

I think your assessment is correct. Look at the URC-8811. I think they are ~$20 plus shipping. You might not open the Sony until you see what the 8811 can do with a JP1 cable. Frankly, most people are astonished. It does take a little work reading the FAQ's and getting beyond the lack of a comprehensive user instructions but the tools have gotten so good that most people pick it up right away. Everything is PC based but you will need Excel use some of the the tools.(Office 97 or later with the analysis tool pak and analysis VBA tool pak installed).

Great support group, but they do expect you to have read the FAQ, JP-1 for beginners etc. There are also some really good files there for a lot of equipment.

BTW, my experience is that the WAF is pretty good.

-Jon