Hi guys

Ive recently picked up a 3000, and am about to get started learning what to do.

After reading on here I decided to buy the ultimate pronto guide to help me on my way.

Ive read a few pages and straight away spotted the differences in the software shown in the guide and what I've got on my pc, meaning it's not a straight forward follow-the-guide-task

(eg, Im only on page 18 and it's talking about Button properties, and yet I've got no way of showing that screen when starting from scratch. Not ideal to be feeling a little lost already!!)

So, my question is - should I get hold of an older version of peng, so that I am insync with the guide, or are there advantages of having this newer version and trying to puzzle out the differences between the guide and the software myself ?

It's a little disappointing to spend $25 (much more than your average hard back book) only to find it is way out of date I gotta say.
I'm just hoping it won't cause me too much grief.

To see button properties, create a new page under the Home Device or any other Device. Double-click the new page to open it. On the right-hand side of the editor, left-click the new page. From the Keyboard, press Alt-B or from the Menu, click Insert->Button. The new button will appear on the page. Double-click the new button and voila, Button Properties.

The ultimate guide is a culmination of many best practices gathered from this site into a single location. Since you are new to this, I might suggest pressing F1 from inside PENG and reading the help text about inserting buttons, modifying buttons, etc... as the guide was written to build onto existing documentation.

After you've programmed/used the remote for 3 months, I hope that you will reassess your opinion of the guide as there is a tremendous value there.

And, if you do want to complain, you have the option email Dave D'Arche directly as his email addy is on his profile here.

Your complaint is the first I've seen about the value of the guide. Dave has also specified that he has been working on an update but I hope that you do realize that software typically moves faster than documentation.

Lyndel

Download a file from the files section and start playing with it that way. There are so many variables when it comes to configurations and styles. The guide gives you a good underlying foundation to what is going on.

Very little has changed as far as using the editor is concerned. Some of the property screens have changed to support some extra functionality or to make then easier to use. There are lots more shortcut keys - but you can look that up in the online help.

Thanks guys, I will stick with current software and suss out the differences then.

And to Lyndel - I was hardly putting in a massive complaint was I ? Just merely pointing out that almost immediately I have found things not tying up between the guide and the reality.
After persisting I have since gone on to understand how the screen mentioned early in the guide works.

I do not doubt the value of the guide. But that said, at the cost of it, I dont think its much to expect the author to keep it up to date with the current software situtation.

Then, maybe you should take that up with the author directly. Or better yet, ask him for a refund and go it on your own... The guide you now have will provide guidance and save you many hours of time researching and developing processes.

You just spent at least $400.00 on a remote. You'd spend $20 on a good DVD. IMHO, you are nickel and diming the little guy who wrote the guide as a consolidation of much info throughout the Pronto and Pronto NG forums on this site.

Just my 2p.

I'd love to see Dave D'Arche's comments to this thread.

dubster,

I don't think you can really expect the author to have a crystal ball. He will not know what features/enhancements/changes are included in any new release until after it is released. Then, testing will be done on the new release and generally you'd need to get to know the software inside out before you can write a guide for it. As such, there will definitely be a somewhat lengthy time lag between updates to the guide, on technical grounds. I believe that the author does mention that an update is in the works.

On economic grounds, you can only update and reprint every so often and remain profitable. This is not on the NYT bestseller list. He doesn't have "over a million copies sold". Sales volumes are not that high and production and printing cost need to be spread over a lower quantity.

My advice is to recognize this guide for what it is: an excellent tool that enables you to maximize your Pronto's usefulness to you, despite a few differences with the very latest release here and there. Be patient and take the time to familiarize yourself with PPENG and the guide a little bit, and then judge what the guide can do for you.

IMHO you are being VERY defensive of something you didnt create. I really cant be bothered to argue with you about it.

Im aware its a very good guide, I was merely pointing out that it is perhaps in need of an update, so that complete novices such as myself dont find themselves getting to page 5 and thinking "hang on, this isnt the same".

I'm hardly telling the guy his work is crap am I ?

In my experience, when software is updated, there will often be a change to books being printed and sold to reflect this. If you go into a book shop and pick up an old copy of the book, fine, you expect there to be differences. But by buying the latest version of the book you expect it to be the same as the latest version of the software is all.

I have to say, my first post to this forum has been met my a bit of an unfriendly response to a passing comment about something which I'm right - the guide not reflecting the current software.
I do hope it gets friendlier from here on in, it's not as if I was slagging the guys work off !!

Understood. Not trying to be unfriendly, just asking you to offer professional courtesy.

In my first reply, I attempted to give you instructions on how to see 'Button Properties'. I sure hope it helped.

Peter DeWildt, myself, Archer, and several others were Beta Testers for the 7000. We've logged many hours with the remote and spend tremendous amounts of time in this forum and the Pronto Forum answering the questions, sometimes the same questions over and over. I personally have reviewed Dave's guide and feel that it is consistent with the thoughts of many of the "so-called experts" here.

I consider Dave is a friend and professional colleague. As a professional courtesy, rather than first blasting him or his work publicly, I personally feel that you should contact him directly as his email is on profile and ask when an update might be available. He's discussed it over the past 6 months but I don't know the timeline. And, as I said earlier, if you are unhappy, I bet he'd give you a refund.

I do understand your "newbie" frustration with thinking that you've got a guide and thinking it should give you step-by-step operating instructions. That's not the intent of the guide. The intent is to illustrate patterns and best practices. Pressing F1 in the software and reading Help along with possibly the Pronto NG FAQ should be used as the step-by-step operating instruction guide for the software, not the UPG.

And last, but not least, if you have this kind of passion about the remote, then I surely hope to see you get on board and become an "expert" as well so that you too begin helping others and can enjoy the remote you just purchased.

Welcome to the addiction.

Oh well, apologies if I came across as blasting the guy, that wasnt the intention at all.

The Guide was originally written for the 3000. Despite a few very small differences in the version it was written for versus the current version, you should not see any significant differences in the screen photos or the instructions and should be able to follow along quite well.

If not, I would really like to hear about your specific issues.

I have updated the Guide about a dozen times already, to keep up with changes in ProntoEdit, over the years.

Unless there is something odd happening, I cannot see you feeling it is out of sync, as ProntoEdit has not changed that much since 2003.

A few new features have been added but that should not disturbe you on page 18.

Possibly you mis-interpreted the instuctions?

If you have specific issues, please let me know directly at [email protected].

We have sold several thousand copies of the Guide since its 2003 release and have had very few negative comments.

I am working on a new release for 2006, to bring it up to date, but again, the differences are less than 5%.

Thanks and feel free to contact me with any issues you might have.

Thx Dave

Update: I did look at the section which was mentioned and it turns out it is not a update issue. However, it looks like a design oversight. When following along with the Guide, you cannot see a "Button Properties" screen at that point because there are not any Devices, nor any pages or buttons. heheee...3000+ users and no one has written to me about that before!! I will make a note to fix that in the next release. A few pages deeper in the Guide, the button properties box becomes available, after you add a Device, Page and then a button.

I purchased the guide when I got my remote (3 weeks ago - I have a RU990) and read and followed it through almost completely - I didn't spot any real problems with it. It's actually an excellent piece of work that did help me understand many concepts quickly and easily - it's a good starting point that will save you heaps of time. It saved me at a least a few hours of trial and error, which is very price-efficient (my pay per hour versus the price of the guide).

Definitely. Its helped me a lot so far.
I dont regret buying at all.

It was my first time through though, and I straight away spotted differences, so rather than wade in and find loads more and get confused, I thought it better to check up front whether I should get older software or persist.
As was, it looks like I hit one of the only differences straight away !
The rest has been fine.

Is there anyone that are willing to share this ultimate pronto guide to me? So I can evaluate before eventually buying it? As the threadstarted said, its much money for a bit of paper.

Anyone doing that would be breaking copyright law.