Hello,
Years ago I had one of the original pronto black and white units, I loved it but my son stepped on it about 3 years ago. I replaced it with a harmony 880, which I haven't been all that happy with. The programming is nice, and it has the macros (er, "activities") that I need, but responsiveness has been very poor on it, and IR strength seems very weak. Sometimes I'll press/hold volume down and it'll be 4 or 5 seconds before the icon even appears on the screen that it is transmitting, and I have to be nearly pointing EXACTLY at my devices for it to work, if I'm even say 45 degrees off it won't work (whereas stock remotes will work fine in much worse angles). Its gotten to the point not where some buttons flat out don't work sometimes.

So I need to replace. Maybe I just had one bad harmony experience, so I'm open to considering the harmony one if it improves on these issues. I was also looking at the URC-R50 as the price is very nice (I don't want to drop another $150 and be dissatisfied like with the 880) and reviews seems to say it has what I need (but a PITA to program) and has good IR strength. Unfortunately I don't like the lack of rechargeable batteries.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is there another remote I should be considering? I really wish the R50 had a PC based setup, but I think I could live with the pain of setting it up as once its done its done, IF it solves my problems and can be set up to provide the macros I need (aka "watch tv" turns on the required devices, set to right inputs on tv, reciever; "turn off" shuts everything off), and is easy enough to use ONCE it is programmed. My devices are all fairly new so I'm not too worried about having the required codes.

I really WANT to believe I just got a dud 880 and the One will be MUCH better on all counts, but I was hoping for some opinions to confirm this before i drop that much cash on another harmony. Ultimately I want whatever remote will give me the best IR and reliability regardless of the effort required to set it up properly.

I'd appreciate any suggestions or insight you can provide.

THANKS!

Matt,

It sounds like you really want to go further up the food tree you just need to justify the cost. Try stepping up to the MX-980 at least. You will love the high resolution screen as well as the ergonomical feel in your hand. It's not a touchscreen and not as good as the MX-5000, but it is probably less prone to dropping and breaking and it's performance is rock solid. Of all the remotes we program and sell, this is one of the biggest sellers as well as positiive customer rewiews.

Good luck!
Vincent

That remote looks sweet, but it may be a bit out of my price range. I'll keep an eye on it and see if the price becomes more affordable in time. I appreciate the suggestion though!

Thanks.

Any suggestions for an authorized dealer on, or around, Long Island for the MX-980? The few places that I've called all want full list price and refuse to provide the software. With custom programming and tax this will be a $1,000+ remote. That's not acceptable as I had no problems programing my MX-700. I also don't want to fork over extra $$$ every time I add or change a component.

Try Surf Remote Control