What do you guys think? Good idea? We are URC dealer that mostly does Total Control just wanted people who do their own stuff would think of this. You do all the programming the remote and it’s RF.

I think it is a little pricey for the DIY crowd especially if you add a base station. However, there are not many good DIY options now that Harmony is gone.
For the Pros the extra money the 790 costs will easily be made up in time programming and I wouldn't use the 490.

Does anyone have a photo of this? My Google-fu is coming up blank (like the exactly two mentions of this model I can find besides this very post).

Here you go, Daniel:

[Link: urc-automation.com]

Agree.  The 480, while a nicer looking remote than the 780, was not worth it from an installer standpoint as it took 2 to 3 times as long to program and could not do some more advanced stuff.  The labor costs to program it would make up the difference and then some between the 480 to the 780.  I would assume the same holds true for the 490 and 790, but I don't sell URC anymore so I'm not up on its current pricing.

???
I think you mean MX-450. Never heard of a 480.

And that is even more so with this lineup. The new 490 & 790 are basically the same remote with only slight cosmetic differences. Looking at dealer cost, there is also only a slight difference. The MX-490 makes no sense what-so-ever.

They build what would otherwise be a nice remote and cripple it with no programming option, other than onscreen/on remote. In this day & age when even some cheap remotes can be programmed with an app, this is a fail product.
URC as a company has become so disconnected from reality it isn't even funny anymore. Which is such a shame because they have great products! The corporate greed and mismanagement has become insane. But then again, a lot of companies these days are like that and somehow still keep going.

Yup, sorry.  450.  The 450 never made sense to me.  The 780 was, I believe, just $50 more and gave you PC programming and some basic variables.  Like I said, the 450 looks a little nicer in my opinion (larger screen), but programming it was just a pita.  I agree about URC as a company though.  My numbers dipped due to the issues I constantly had with their hardware AND software.  Known issues.  I had to step back on what I was selling due to the large amount of service calls revolving around their product.  Their answer to the problems was not to fix the problems, but to just cut my dealership due to low sales numbers.  Whatever.  Years of selling there stuff, years of trouble calls due to failed products.  I moved on and my trouble calls dropped DRASTICALLY!!!!

So, it looks like the URC Control Room is gone for good.

Gone?

[Link: urccontrolroom.com]

Does it work for you? The old forum and posts, not the new dealer portal.

Can you get to:

[Link: urcportal.com]

That page just hangs.  No error.  Just won't load for me.

EDIT. Just got the Safari "Failed to open page" message.

Looking at the Owners Manual the MX-490 looks like it uses the same on-board programming methods as their old R40 Consumer Model. I had a few R40s 7-10 years ago but they were plagued with that OLED screen that grew dim within a few years (like on the early MX-780 before they switched to LCD). That R40 was discontinued in 2015 and it was their last good Consumer Model.

Sometime last year after Harmony exited the business, i'd emailed URC that they should re-issue the R40 to fill the void but with an LCD screen instead, and maybe call it the R80 but i never heard back.

This MX-490 would make a great Consumer Model.

Consumer yes, pro no way unless you like to waste time.

The challenge with the consumer market is support. URC programming concepts are based on the idea that the programmer has a pretty solid understanding of how all the hardware is interconnected, and that it's interconnected in ways that favor professional installation. While most consumers who frequent Remote Central are savvy enough to take these considerations into account, the majority are not hobbyists or enthusiasts; they're just regular folks looking for a turn-key solution. So far no one has arrived at the special sauce necessary to handle the complexities of typical AV and automation setups simply enough to avoid requiring massive amounts of customer support by phone or chat. There are just too many variables. Maybe Matter will change all of that, but that's a question still unanswered.