Hi All,

Getting ready to upgrade from my useless harmony remote and have narrowed it down to these 2 remotes. Any thoughts? I am a software engineer so i am not too concerned about programming the remote or learning to do so. Anything but that website wizard argg. Both are fairly new so there are hardly any reviews that i could find.

It seems on paper that the Q50 looks a little sexier with the scroll wheel, touch screen etc although i have heard that the device in general is still a little buggy/iffy? Also does the Q50 also have wifi or did they drop that?

And the the 980 is simply an upgraded 950 although it is very well tested and solid.

My setup is really not that extensive at all, mostly one room actually. I obv want rf and something that works well with girder to control lights/pc.

Has anyone played around with both? Im curious about how the remote feels in hand as well as the buttons, display etc.

thx

Just got a Q50 yesterday. Have had everything from the old TSU2000 and 3000, to a MX-700, 800, and 950. It a little different. I like the fact I can customize the backgrounds and buttons easily. I just played with the Nevo Connect (z-wave) receiver. I walked all the way accross the office (about 150') and it worked flawlessly. I'll take it home tonight and test it out on my system. I really like it so far. I think I would definatley set it up as activity based for a homeowner, where I just placed icons on my home page. I like the feel of the remote a lot better than the 950. Don't get me wrong. Other than some RF issues the 950 is the best remote I have ever used, but this Q50 is winning me over.

Sc0tty,

Any update on your opinion on the Q50? I have an MX-700 and was also looking at the Q50 and the MX-980 but am leaning towards the Nevo. Do the hard buttons on the Nevo light up in the dark?

Thanks,

Jon

Yes, they do. Mild backlighting, not overly bright.

Dave

Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you guys. Yes..as Dave said they do have a low level back light.

The Nevo Connect is outstanding. I have 3 kids, and I have always used stick on emmitters. Soon they became hot glue gunned on emitters, and soon there after they needed replacement. The IR flasher on the Nevo connect is unbelieveably strong. I placed it on my kitchen counter (out of reach of the kids), and it floods the entire room with IR. It works perfectly, and I really have come to love this little remote.

S.newave, I'm not sure if you have already made up your mind, but I have to agree with Sc0tty; the Q50/Connect combo has been just rock solid for me and I can't imagine this solution being a bad choice for you.

Although I have to admit that the MX-980 isn't bad at all, it's just that the Nevo solution is better in almost every way.

Have fun!

Hi guys, believe it or not i just made the plunge and bought the 980 two days ago and i am sad to say i am starting to regret it. The remote is better then anything i have ever used however the RF controller is completely useless. I am flooded with interference regardless of where i put the receiver. Besides that the mx software is by far the worst piece of software i have ever used bar none. I am currently troubleshooting the rf problem and if i cannot resolve it soon i will be returning the mx980/mrf 350.

This brings me back to the Q50. I have heard that the display is really lacking and that the resolution/clarity is more on par with a cheaper logitech etc. Any truth to this and how bad/noticeable is this? Also the one thing i do love about the 980 is the flexibility to do almost anything. Does the Q50 offer the same flexibility? Lastly RF performance. I believe they use different rf protocols but does anyone think I would get the same interference on the Q50 as the 980/MRF-350,RFX-250?

thx

I have the color Harmony remotes you are referring to (Harmony 890, etc.) and trust me, the Q50's screen is nowhere even close to being as bad as that. If you put pictures on the Harmony's screen you can't even tell what it is most of the time. Sure, if you put the Q50's screen side by side with some of the QVGA remotes out there, then it's not going to look as nice, but I wouldn't say it's a bad screen.

I mentioned in another post that using certain themes and graphics (like the football and golf themes) actually look pretty darn nice on the Q50's screen.

As far as everything else you said, I would still have to go with the Q50/Connect solution on this. I mean, the software is hands down the best out there and the RF is absolutely rock solid (running perfect in several of my installations so far). Also, the NevoConnect base station has much more functionality than the MRF-350 base station because it can not only do IR, but it can also do sensing and serial control. In order to do that stuff with the 980, you need to bump yourself up to the pricey (and not to mention incredibly hard to program) MSC-400.

You are right in that both remotes are using different RF technologies; URC is using 418MHz and Nevo is using 908MHz (Z-wave), so maybe they'll behave differently in your environment. So far I haven't had anything interfere with my Q50 projects.

Yes, I still do some URC solutions on those rare occasions, but for nearly all of my jobs, the Q50/Connect combo are my go-to solution because of so many reasons.

i havent read all the posts here, so sorry if this is a useless opinion, BUT, i just went from the Nevo SL to the MX 980, and far prefer the 980. the screen resolution is better on the 980. (i dont know the specs off hand, so it may due to it being a smaller screen that it looks sharper). the programming isnt quite as intuitive but there are quite a few things you can do that make it better than Nevo's SW IMO. (press and hold commands, toggle commands, variables, to name a few - mind you for all i know the q50 has these features where the SL didnt)

Stealth
You are right that the 980 has a better screen (320x240 compared to the Q50's 240x240), but NevoStudio Pro has added a lot of new features (such as some of the ones you mentioned and then some), plus it has the benefit of being so much easier to deal with.

i will say the Nevo was an absolute breeze to program in comparison to the 980. the MX SW seems to require alot more little cumbersome steps to accomplish things that were very simple drag and drops with Nevo.

I am in the camp that the Nevo Q50 is just superior in so many ways, over the MX-980. The MX-980 is great remote as well but I just love the way the Q50 works, programs and operates with the NevoConnect.

The NevoConnect has all of the features the URC MSC-400 has, but the price for the NevoConnect is just $299 versus $599.

Dave