First, my old remote still works but can only be programmed via a serial port, I have an old laptop hanging around for just that reason but the battery life is getting shorter, screen harder to see, etc. and of course its black and white. Time for a replacement. :) (Yes long overdue)

What I like:
1) Flexbility of the Pronto, the ability to make the screen look like a TiVo remote with button shapes, sizes, the customizable interface is something I've always really like with the Pronto, heck I made some buttons on the computer and transferred them into the remote, I liked that.

2) Good battery life but getting shorter these days, and with buttons and codes that just worked, no hammering on the screen or hard buttons multiple times to get something to take or work correctly, it just worked, and with good range too.

3) Soft and hard buttons, nice layout to the design of the remote, not trying to be pencil-like, but more of a widebody with more screen real estates, much better than say something like a Harmony 1 that has a tiny little screen at the top.

What I don't like:

1) Weight - a bit bulky, although I like wider screen / larger screen format remotes like the 2000, it is a bit thick and heavy.

2) Serial port programming (Also want a remote that works with Vista or Windows 7 in terms of programming, I'm assuming USB these days)

3) B&W, I want the new remote to be color.


Any suggestions on what to buy? I looked at a Harmony 1100 in the store and it was wide format, thin, color screen, usb/web programming, but you can't change the look/feel of the interface at least not as far as I can tell. So I'm here asking for suggestions! Thanks in advance!

How about sticking to pronto?

Well I went to the Philips site and everything is "Prestigo" now, no mention of Pronto at all. Aren't those outdated models that you are showing?

No. You are looking at current products in the images above. Prestigo is the consumer line. Philips makes it a bit difficult to navigate to their good stuff i guess. Here is a direct link.

[Link: pronto.philips.com]

Prestigo = Philips consumer. Philips bought out the old Gemini some years back, but I'm not sure if the advanced models are still designed by that team.

Pronto = Philips professional/high end. Sometimes there it a little bit of crossover between the two, for example the Pronto TSU9200 also has a slightly less customizable Prestigo version (though I wouldn't really recommend that model - go for the TSU9300 at the minimum).

Those are looking like complete overkill though, I don't have a Lutron lighting system, don't need 802.11 wireless control of anything, just have components that I want to turn on/off, switch between, change channels, volume, etc. basic stuff. I always like the customization capabilities of the old Pronto that I have and ability to set up one button for my wife or kids to press to get what they want. Having the remote look like the TiVo buttons, etc. was always a nice effect too, but if it takes $1500 to do that these days then I'll pass, not worth that to me especially since I have no need for all these other items. It would seem that something like the Harmony 1100 would be a better fit for what I want?

The TSU9300 can be found online for under $500, which is a far cry from $1500... so maybe it would be best if you gave us your budget?

Well ok, yeah I guess I'd like to keep it to under $500 and I thought one of the Pronto devices I looked up was $1500. Isn't the screen on the TSU9300 rather smallish like the Harmony 1? One of the things I liked about my old Pronto was that it had a larger size screen, this one is 2.8 inches diagonal and has a resolution of 240x320 pixels, for example on the home screen on the 9300 they show 6 icons, on my current home screen I have 9, 3x3 instead of 3x2 and since there are no hard number keys on the 9300 wouldn't the soft number keys be a bit close together on the 9300 screen? I guess I should find a store near me that carries it but the locator on the Philips site isn't working at the moment, and that way I could check it out first hand. One last thing, what do I do about Bluetooth and controlling the PS3?

Make sure you look at the street prices of Pronto remotes because they vary quite a bit from the list prices.


You will need an adapter. You can get an inexpensive USB adapter but you not be able to turn the unit on(or off easily) and you will not have access to the PS button.

A better solution is a IR to Bluetooth adapter specifically made for the PS3.

There is a review of all these devices one the reviews page.

The TSU9300 has a 2.8" 240x320 screen (same resolution as your TSU2000 but in color), and the Harmony One has a 2.2" 176x220 screen. There's a significant different.

For a larger screen you have to step up to the TSU9400 (although it remains the same resolution as the TSU9300).

I did a couple of searches on the 9400 since it appears to have a bit larger screen and I cannot ascertain why I would want/need the 9300 over the 9400, anyone?

Where do you suggest I look for the best street prices? I tried Ebay and some Google searches and on the 9300 prices were just north of $500, in other words I could get a Harmony 1100 for less.

You definitely could get a harmony for less but I can't imagine going from a Pronto to a Harmony. The Harmony is not going to give you any of the flexibility of your Pronto. It basically does what it does the way it wants to.

The TSU9400 has the same resolution but a 3.5" diagonal screen and since a larger screen is something our family would likely prefer then I'd probably opt for the 9400, any suggestions as to where to find the best street price?

Why don't you get one of these for less than 10 bucks and continue to use your Pronto but program it from newer computers?

[Link: microbarn.com]

After installation, you have to go to Device Manager and change the unit to use COM1 or COM2 (it deafults to COM21) in order for the ProntoEdit software to see it, but it works like a champ for me. Very fast data transfer.

Well then I'd be missing the color and as I said my battery life on the rechargeable battery in the 2000 is getting shorter and shorter and the unit is a bit bulky. I'm surprised that no one has pointed out a good place to buy a 9400...