URC is coming out with an MX-880 that appears to be an MX-810 only with MX-980-type programming. With an MSRP at $500, this looks like a potential winner.

Completely new, the MX-450 will debut at the MX-650 pricing of $250. It also has a color screen, but doesn't appear to be PC-programmable. Here's a picture:



Both are supposed to be available some time next month.

Mike

Wait, what? You mean they actually listen? I had heard that URC didn't care.

The 880 could be winner. At that price point, do you think people would spring for that over the 980 to save a $100?

Sounds great.

Mike could you email me that picture with the email in my profile? I want to zoom in and get a better look at the hard buttons...

Thanks

The 980 isn't that old... I don't understand why they would offer something that would compete so closely to another model in their line up. Does anybody have any info regarding feature set with this 880?

I think the MX-450 will be more popular. I think the MX-350 is a very reliable remote and can be quickly programmed to suit a simple system's needs. Strangely, it is very reliable in terms of RF interference. The other day we had a situation where an MX-900 was not performing well, but the 350 was.

Creating a more attractive version of the 350 will be a big seller for me.

The MX-880 does not have all of the abilities of the MX-980. It's limited to 48 devices and 8 pages per device. Like the KP-900, you can import MX-900 files and save them, making for a quick transition from MX-900 to MX-880. The Activity and Device buttons of the MX-810 are replaced by "Watch" and "Listen". There is also a FAVs button.

[Link: universalremote.com]

Seems good so far. I like the look and feel of the 810 so MX editor style programming is a win/win. What? only 48 devices and 8 pages per device? If you are going over that you better be stepping up to a different control system anyway. :-)

The 8 pages per device with only 6 buttons per page is a bit restrictive, but you can always go with multiple devices for receivers etc. like we did with the MX-700/800/850.

The 48 buttons per device is fine and you can create a link to another device for extra buttons. If you cannot get the commands down to 6-12 important buttons, you are just flat out not doing it right.

I didn't mean to make an issue out of the number of pages. It's really no big deal. My post was in response to the question of whether the MX-880 would compete with the MX-980. It appears that you won't have the customizability of the MX-980, both with graphics and macros, and that would make it less of a competitor for only $100 less.

Mike I know I was just speaking in jest. Because really, who is going to actually have that many devices in ANY system and like Joe said, the pages/buttons should really be trimmed down due to you only need about a third of the buttons anyway. LOL most people can't even name 48 manufacturers let alone controllable devices.

So, what's the deal with the text based color graphics only? I don't have one in my hot little hands yet.

I probably misspoke when I said MX-980-type programming. Looks like it's more MX-900-type programming (since you can directly open MX-900 files) with graphics backing the text and only the text is editable. I wish they made a charging station for this remote, rather than keep the plug-in charging of the MX-810. Oh well, maybe I'll make my own. ;-)

A section for the MX-880 has been added to the URC Control Room forum and hopefully the software will be added soon.

I just moved up from an MX-850 to an MX-980 and so far one thing I really miss is the FAV button that was on the 850.......looks like they've gone back to it for the 880...that's good.

I used the FAV button for GOTO commands to devices hidden on the second page......very handy.