Hi, I have been doing some research on here about the mx-700 and I have seen an inordinate amount of information regarding the 1 year warranty. Regardless of who likes buying what from whom, does the mx-700 have a long history of being faulty in the first year? If that is the case I would assume just not buy it with or without a warranty. I personally would like a warranty but I would just skip a product altogether if it really is this problematic. Is this something I should be concerned about? Why is there such an issue with this remote and its warranty and none of the others I have researched?

I have owned the mx-500 for about two years and I love it. I have never had a problem with it so I naturally thought the mx-700 would be a logical step up, but I don't want it to be in the shop 5 months a year. Can someone shed some light please?

The MX-700 and MX-500 both feature the same excellent build quality.

I have had my mx-700 since shortly after it was released and I have never had any problems with it.

If you're referring to the threads about warranty coverage and unauthorized dealers, the issue was whether HTM should provide warranty coverage to everyone, no matter who they bought it from. It has nothing to do with concerns about quality of the product, which has generally been acknowledged to be excellent.

haven't heard of any brocken remotes

I own 2 MX-500s and a 700. All function just peachy. The warranty issue is as Tom mentions. It's not about the remote itself...

Thanks for all the responses everyone, that is what I figured. I still don't understand what all the fuss is over the warranty if its anything like my mx-500, so I had to ask.

This message was edited by Jed M on 06/24/03 23:13.

The fuss is all about dealers who jump through all the hoops (such as using the mfg's suggested price structure) to maintain a good relationship with the manufacturer and in return the manufacturer says it will not honor warranties of dealers who do not follow their rules.

The dealers who don't follow the rules become the grey market & the argument is if you buy from them & get a bad unit your sol & will have no warranty support from the manufacturer.

This came to a head here not because there have been any bad units, but because a few unscrupulous (grey market) dealers have been trying to pawn them here.

Personally I don't give a rat's ass, but if I was a dealer I probably would - er care.

I understand that not buying from an authorized dealer will void the warranty, which I agree is OK. I just didn't (and I guess still don't) realize why there is such a fuss about this product's warranty compared to any other similar priced products I have researched. Either way, I am in and I should be receiving my mx-700 tomorrow. Thanks for giving me reassurance.

I'm seeing more and more companies adopt the internet=no warranty approach, not less. The fuss is because HTM decided to try old school marketing with a low priced product while most of the end users on this forum are used to the ebay marketing plan

This message was edited by Ted Wetzel on 07/01/03 15:58.

The fuss is also because authorized retailers were being held to a price which many, myself included, found unrealistic. While some were willing to pay $500 US for a MX-700, many others felt that at twice the price of a Pronto, the MX-700 was providing substantially less than twice the functionality. Similarly, the comparison to the MX-500 left the $500 MX-700 looking more than a bit overpriced. I don't think anyone minded the idea of paying a bit more for warranty coverage - it was the premium which was being asked. It very much appeared that HTM had absolutely no interest in the hobbyist market, which obviously is the key constituency here on this web site.

Now that prices have reduced to the $350 US level online, these complaints will, I suspect, be less common. At Ebay prices of $200 US, though, the MX-700 is *extremely* competitive with Prontos. At "authorized" pricing of $350, it's not quite competitive but not totally out of line either.

I agree but I question your comparison to the pricing of the Pronto. The MX700 has never been close to twice the price of the Pronto unless your comparing whosale to Retail. More expensive yes, but not twice. I believe MSRP on the TSU2000 was $400 with similar wholesale pricing between the two remotes. In my quotes there was $75 bucks between the two and if they get rid of the sidekick they will be even closer.

This message was edited by Ted Wetzel on 07/01/03 17:39.

Ted, up until May 1st, the only authorized price on an MX-700 was $500. True, Prontos were similar on wholesale - but the very same authorized dealers who were selling MX-700's for $500 were selling Prontos for $250, also with warranties.

The whole point of the price controls they've put it on is that MSRP is retail.

True, the difference in the "real" market price, as seen on eBay, was substantially less, which is exactly my point. People objected to paying through the nose to get the warranty pricisely because the wholesale / eBay pricing on the remotes was so similar.

Somethign else to consider. I suppose this applies to everything as opposed to just remotes.

Who's going to answer your questions when something isn't working the way it's intended? You buy a remote off Ebay because it's a good deal, thats fine. How much support are you going to get when for some weird reason the serial port isn't communicating with the remote properly, or you cant quite figure out how to get that macro working properly. There is more to just selling you a piece of equipment at a retailer tha they are providing. You get the support and service that is combined with that.

You don't need the support? Excellent. Buy it online and I wish you the best. But there are those (the vast majority actually) who will still have questions, who will still need to be walked through setup, use and day to day operations of an item.

This isn't to say people are stupid. Far from it. We are fairly well versed in the use of the computer and most home theatre aspects. Thats why we are here, in this forum. However, how many posts are out there that someone asked a question on how to do something, an intuitive reply was offered, and 2 posts later, the same guy is asking the same question?

Bottom line is, you are not paying for just a product, you are paying for service. I for one, have always been willing to pay a little bit more for convenience and piece of mind.

Of course, I will only pay so much, lets be realistic now!

Jlegge, I have no problem with your argument - but that doesn't explain the significant price difference between a MX-700 and a Pronto. If anything, it furthers the argument since HTM will not support an end user for the MX-700 regardless of where it was purchased from (or so I understand) while Philips most specifically does support end users of the Pronto.