Well I called another local dealer today and luckily (well sort of) he had an IRIQ in stock. So finally I could touch and feel at least one of these two touch screens. But understandably he didn't even have to have one open to sell them and he was on his last one. I told him I had every plan to check out the pronto before I make my final choice. So he made a deal he had in the past with me that has worked out well. That is, a promise to buy some remote and he'll let me try them all and he gave me a 10% discount (when most dealers are getting list at the moment). He said he'd have pronto's in a few days.

So I brought the IRIQ home and it was a small disaster. The way I tend to try out a new toy is to do a dry run first to get a feel for thing and then "reset" (what every that might mean depending on the toy) and then start from scratch and do the serious install (for a new laptop that would be format the disk :-)). So I just wanted to setup a couple devices with preloaded codes and a get feel it. First I try the Pioneer DVL-700 (DVD/LD) player. Go to the DVD list and Pioneer was not even listed (even though they have had several players since they were first available). So I try the LD list and Pioneer was listed. It went through a test procedure to see which I had of the two. It passed a test for one and failed another so I thought I was all set. About the only button that worked was the power button used in the test. Then I did my Sony TV which seems to work fine. As expected my Meridian 561 preamp was not even listed. I did not bother with the VCR yet and usually have to find a JVC equivalent to get my Yamaha VCR to work (I'll do that on the "real" setup when I'm done with the "dry run". I had no problems learning IR codes for the Pioneer DVL-700 (just disappointing it did not have this rather popular player [I imagine all the Pioneer combo players use the same IR codes]).

Learning the Meridian was where it started to really go down hill. First it would not learn at all. But the Meridian remote has 2 IR emitters and I think the IRIQ was getting confused. So I covered one emitter and it started learning okay. Then when I went to go use it and it did not work. I've had problems with "weak" IR signal even with the standard Meridian remote (I was hoping a "super remote" would improve things). So I got only 6 feet away from the Meridian 561 and the IRIQ worked. This is great it's weaker than the already weak meridian remote. Maybe it's still a learning problem.

So then I tried to use it. The wheel is pretty nice and the back light is not bad. The unit is about 25% larger than the already large and heavy RC2000 remote (similar shape and feel in your hand). I seem to have to often push buttons twice or harder than you feel you should have to. I tried re-calibrating and it helped a little. The "famous" bitmaps (icons or symbols) are NOT button shapes but are small symbols that sit on the button with the text about as tall as the letters (similar to the Pronto but I think the Pronto Icons might be larger seeing Daniel's screen dumps). This was a big disappointment that could be fixed in the future with software perhaps. The screen was not great for reading. Since the Buttons are not "Icon Shaped" you have to look a little closer to pick them. It's sort of the same complaint as the "thin font" problem on the original RC2000 Mark-I. The fonts are not "thin" but is has similar reading difficulty. The back light has very similar color and brightness of the RC-2000 as well.

Once you know something did not pass some rather simple tests (I had not done much of anything very hard yet) you loose motivation to dig very deeply.

So regarding PC software I only glanced at it. Real strange though (especially where Microsoft is associated with it). It did not have an install procedure, you just sort of run off the CD. I just glanced at a few screens and it looked a lot like what was on the unit (just more extensive). The software on the unit was pretty well done with lots of detailed instructions and walks you through everything.

Oh yeah while I was learning the back light timed out. The unit locked up and I had to remove a battery to bring it back to life. I did not loose anything and I extended the timer a little to prevent it from happening again. The unit, as stated elsewhere can be sluggish at times.

The primary reason it's going back is the touch screen itself.

Cons:

Large (for screen size you get)
Heavy
Lack of IR codes for any Pioneer DVD player
No charger
No Stand
Not the easiest to read
Small "Icons"
Problem with my Meridian 561
Problem getting reassuring response from touch pad
Sluggish

Pros:

Wheel
PC Software exists
Activities or Device oriented
The procedure for learning keys was done very well

Not sure and don't care:

Didn't even get to the Macro capabilities.
Didn't really even get into the PC software.