Any dealers get word on the MX-900 shipping sometime soon? I think the last I saw on here was an April release. Thanks.

Jeff

We are getting a batch of production models shortly. We are then going to do as much rigorous testing as possible before we ship them to the public. April is still a great target and I (or Eric) will post a more precise date when can be certain to abide by it.
BTW, we will be teaching two classes at EH expo on the software for the MX900 and TX1000. Plan to attend the class if you are at the show (we have some fun swag for attendee's) and learn how to program these new controllers - then you'll be really prepared when they ship!

Jeff Wagner

Jeff- Is the programming software going to be significantly different then the current offerings?

No, one of the great things is that is very similar to programming a MX-850 or MX-950. Since it is Watch and Listen based it should be set up similar to the MX-950. We're actually calling the class "Speed" because all of the newer models are so fast to program!

Jeff

Hey Jeff,

Firstoff, thanks for the prompt reply. Secondly, I think you and I had some back and forth a couple months back about the 950 and the upcoming universal editor. Although I really did like various aspects of the 950, I wound up returning it mostly because of the slight delay from button press until command issuance. This was in comparison to my 700 and 800 units. It made menu navigation a bit less smooth and less snappy. Someone had suggested that the fundamental additional complexity and capability of the 950 may be the root cause. I wouldn't say it's a bug or anything and might not even be noticed by someone who hadn't used a previous design. It wasn't a huge lag, but again, enough to be noticeable in comparison.

My hope is that the 900 will be closer to the 700/800 in this respect. Of course, it doesn't have all the capabilities of the 950, but it does improve upon the 700/800/850 enough for me to get it. Can you comment on this based on any experience with pre-production models? Thanks.

Jeff

With the exception of the Watch and Listen setup, the MX-900 software is pretty much the same as the 850. The most welcome addition is the IR database navigator of the 950 and 3000. Device files can be imported and exported like the 850.

Mike
www.SurfRemoteControl.com

Does it have push and hold or variable macros?

The MX-900 does do true press-hold (i.e. One event before the hold time is reached and a different event once the hold time has been reached) Not like the 700 800 850 where you put a delay as the first step.

No variables.

I'm just glad someone else is even more impatient than I ... I've been thinking about posting this last question for the last three or four days :)

Thanks Jeff, for sparing me the trouble

-Neil

No problem Neil. I'm always impatient about new tech and am not shy about asking (pestering ;-) ) about it. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Jeff

I'm excited about the 900 as I think it will be a nice replacement for my current 700/800. It has a few compromises which I think I can live with but the improvements are welcome. Here's my short Pro/Con list:

Pros:
- USB interface is a very welcome improvement. This is one of the best things I liked about the 950 when I tried it out.
- Hard buttons for Skip+ and Skip-. This is great for Tivo and while the rocker buttons on the 950 did the same, I think entirely separate buttons is even better and easier for new users to figure out.
- More pages per device and more devices. Always welcome and certainly needed here as the number of LCD buttons drops from 10 to 6.
- Character count for LCD buttons increases from 5 to 7. Still a little short for some functions, but an improvement.
- Separate Select button. I like this better in comparison to pushing the whole 4-way rocker on the 700/800.
- Didn't think I would like the Listen/Watch main page separation but I got used to it while playing with the 950 and like it

Cons:
- Only 6 LCD buttons. Will require more page changing for common functions on some devices.
- No Fav button

Unknown:
- Is command issuance as fast as 700/800 or slightly delayed like the 950?
- The advanced "Jump To" page commands on the 3000 are supposed to be coming to the 950 via an update soon (by end of this month according to Eric Johnson's timeline given in late December). This effectively lets you create your own Fav button. Will the 900 have this capability as well?

Jeff

rgbyhkr, your pro list is right-on. As for there only being 6 buttons per page, it really isn't bad for 90% of the people out there. A real power user may want more buttons per page, but a real power user would probably want variables and other advanced functions in the 950 and 3000.

Think about the functions you use on a daily basis, you could probably get away with 6 in addition to all of the hard buttons, maybe you'd need 12 but remember there is now a page + and page - so you don't have to scroll through all the pages to get back to the first one. Switching between two adjacent pages is easy and you can still have many other functions available on pages 3+

How much of a delay are you referring to on the 950? I really am not seeing a delay, as a matter of fact when scrolling the cable guide it is impressively quick. Were you using an MRF as I am? Which MRF? Did it happen with IR directly from the remote?

I just tried my 950 against my 800 and if there is a delay, it is barely perceptible.

Commands are issued as fast from the 900 as the 700/800/850 because again it is their own OS as were the previous models.

I haven't heard for sure, but I doubt the advanced "jump to" features will make it to the 900, after all the 900 is still kind of an entry level PC programmable remote.

The 900 is really going to be a geat addition to the lineup.

I think I'll be able to live with the 6 buttons per page limit. As you say, scrolling between pages is easy with the page + and - buttons. As for the delay, it was using IR (even changed the 950 to output IR only) and no MRF. I even tried reprogramming the 950 by using commands from the IR library vs import from the 800 and separately re-learing the IR codes on the 950 from the original remote. All results were the same.

It was a very slight, but noticeable delay on the 950. We're talking fractions of a second, but enough to be noticeable by me after having used the 700 and 800 for years. It's most noticeable when navigating through a list where i might send a string of commands like up, up, up, etc. The response using the 700/800 is noticeably snappier then it was with the 950.

Jeff

What's the MSRP on the MX-900?

Is the MX-900 shaped like the MX-950 or the MX-850?

Is the MX-900 a scaled down less expensive version of the MX-950?

Is the backlight activated like the MX-950 or the MX-850?

Gotta picture?