Hi all,

Since I posted a help request, I figured I'd share my experiences so far in case it helps anyone else. Fortunately I found this website while I was shopping so I had read up on the Neo before buying it. When the price dropped to $150 at Best Buy, I decided to take the plunge.

My home theater system is pretty entry-level, but juggling remotes and helping the kids all the time was still a hassle. I have:
-- Panasonic 32" flat-screen TV (model CT32SX31 with remote model EUR511500)
-- Sony AV receiver (model STR-K502 with remote model RM-U305)
-- Sony 5 disc DVD/CD player (model DVP-NC600 with remote model RMT-D130A)
-- Sony VCR (model SLV-575UC with remote model RMT-V575A)

The Sony receiver and DVD/CD player came from buying one of Sony's "home-theater-in-a-box" packages (DAV-L8100).

Guided by what I've read here, what I've done so far is:
1) Downloaded the latest firmware and NeoEdit
2) Downloaded a bunch of NCF files for bitmaps and ideas
3) Deleted all of the devices I don't have
4) Configured all of the remotes

My experience so far has been pretty good.
-- I haven't had any problems with the NeoEdit software. I'm using it on a Windows XP PC. It's a little rough around the edges, but not too bad. It would be nice to be able to change a button with a learned IR code. Since you can't change the size or bitmap on an existing button, I've had to delete the button, create the new one and re-learn the code. I haven't tried NeoHacker yet and think it could help. I was in the middle of learning all of my remotes anyway, so it wasn't a huge problem. I did like designing my own remote layouts.
-- The Neo learned all of the Sony remotes without any problems. It was very easy. Per my other post, the Neo wouldn't learn any commands from the Panasonic remote. The brand code worked so the only thing missing is the PiP commands.
-- I saw someone complain in another post that the Neo backlight doesn't stay on when you press a button, but this wasn't a problem for me. I created a button that activates the backlight and then added a link to that button for every other button on the Neo. Clunky solution? Yeah, maybe. But it only took me about 15 minutes to set up in NeoEdit. Hard on batteries? Probably, but I use rechargeables anyway.
-- I've called Philips customer service twice. The delays in getting through are about average. I've waited anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 or 15. While nice and friendly, they haven't been much help with solving my problem learning the Panasonic commands.

What's left to do is:
A) Get the PiP commands added to the Neo.
B) Review all the NCFs I downloaded and see what bitmaps I want to incorporate.
C) Add macros
D) Use NeoHacker to make my macro page the startup page.
E) Post my NCF to the web site.

So far I'm still happy with the Neo. I looked at several other models and like the Neo's ergonomics, especially the hard buttons and the size. At this price ($150), the Neo seems like a great value. Of course, if I run into any insurmountable roadblocks I may be singing a different tune. ;-)

Comments? Suggestions? Questions?

Thanks to RemoteCentral.com for a great site! It's been invaluable.

As far as the backlight try this, hold down the mode button for 5 seconds until the screen changes, select set up, increase backlight until is says "on", turn down lcd to a smaller number, hope this helps

Thanks for the suggestion! That's a much better solution, especially considering mine didn't work. Note to any other readers--this capability isn't documented in the ProntoNeo user's guide and can't be set in NeoEdit. You have to set it on the ProntoNeo itself.