I just ordered and received the Harmony 550.

I am a bit disappointed with the lighting and smallness of the buttons.

Searching around here and Remote Central I have become intrigued with the URC MX-900.

Of course it looks to be a bit pricey, but it is still calling me.

This is my equipment:

Sony KDF-E42A10 HDTV
Pioneer Elite VSX-82TSX Receiver
Oppo DV-970HD
Tivo Series 3

What do you guys think?

About the URC MX-900 itself?

About how it would work with my equipment?

Well I bought a Harmony 890, downloaded the software and had it all programmed before the unit actually arrived. The Harmony came DOA so I never really got to try it out but I did see how easy it was to program. After dealing with Amazon for the return and reading more about Harmony's web based software, I did some thinking and decided I didn't want to pay that much for a remote with web only based software. Personally I'd rather have any version (old or new) of software loaded on my computer to use with or without web access, than be at the mercy of Harmony's web servers to program my remote. But I digress.

After my Harmony experience, I read more here about different remotes. I ended up purchasing the MX-900 & MRF-300 combo. I have to say this is one great remote! It is very very flexible..... but at times I almost think it's too flexible. I can see why this remote is marketed as a CI remote. You really need to have a vision of how you want to accomplish tasks and program the remote. I figure CIs do this over and over so they have a good vision of how to set things up. I've been reading here, downloading sample files and am starting to get a vision about how I'd like it set up. The thing is I have had mine for a little over a week now and barely have it set up as I wish.

So, is it a great remote? YES
Is it easy to program? Yes & No. Yes the software is easy to work with but no getting the vision of how to set things up can be a challenge.
Would I recommend it? Yes & No.... it really depends on your comfort programming remotes. If you thought ANYTHING about the Harmony was challenging then I would recommend you get it installed by a CI. If you had no problems with the Harmony and understand what you are getting yourself into, then yes! It's a great remote.

Hope this helps.

The MX-900 is an excellent remote.
It can be programed to do anything you want without limitations.

As a CI, I've programed and sold 2 or 3 a week over the past year with zero problems.
No defects or failures of any kind.(knock wood!)

Operating you equipment would not be a problem.

Really? Isn't the Oppo a Toad? They fix this? Or was I misinformed?

Your correct, the Oppo doesn't have a discrete power on/off wich makes a reliable 'power on' macro hit or miss, even with the Harmony(wich bases the on or off status from the REMOTES last commands. If you power it up manually, it will be out of sinc).

The only solution is to select 'DVD' and then press the 'on' button(or put a dvd in the player)
The 900 will still send out the proper comands for the display,receiver,etc. and control the player.

The Oppo is his 'weak link' but shouldn't cause too big of a problem.

wont it respond to a play command when off?

Both the Oppo 970HD and 981HD have discrete On/Off commands (the same ones actually). The older 971H does not. I posted a file here awhile ago if you do a search for Oppo.

Mike
www.SurfRemoteControl.com

I'm pretty sure it is in this site somewhere, but could someone please give the link to the MX-900 Editor software. I know I can't see how the live update works, but I would like to see how this differs from the MX-700 Editor.

Thanks

I do not believe there is a link to the software on this site anymore. Although, I assume the software is fairly close to that of the MX-700.

Nevermind I found it.