I just purchased an MX-500 from BlueDo today. I am doing some preplanning. I have read through lots of the threads and they are very informative. Here is what I have. Hitachi RPTV (No Discretes), Onkyo receiver (Yes Discretes), RCA Directv Ultimatetv (No Discretes?), JVC DVD Changer (No Discretes), Panasonic VCR (Discretes?) and a Cambridge Soundworks Subwoofer with a remote control for volume. As you can see, unfortunately most of what I have does not have discretes. (correct me if I am wrong).
What I am thinking of doing is the following:
The "Power" button is a (system-wide) macro that powers on just my TV and Receiver and switches both to their respectivce Ultimatetv inputs. That macro ends on the Ultimatetv device. So because the Ultimatetv is always on, simply pressing the Power button sets everything up to watch the TV (via the Ultimatetv).

The "System Off" button is also a (system-wide) macro that powers off the TV, Receiver, and DVD player.

I will then put device macros on the main page with the hold down feature for each device, and put a seperate on/off keys on the first page of each device.
With my DVD Player I will add in a "Play" entry to turn my unit on if it is not already on.

I know with so many non descreet units, this is not perfect, but my question is the following. I would like to include the DVD in with the "System Off Macro" (I did not include it with the "On" macro because I have it already in the device macro) The only way that I can think I can do this it to put "Play" then "Power" entries into the Macro. If I do this, will it cause unusual wear and tear in my dvd player by turning it on and suddenly off when I am not even watching it most of the time.

Thanks
Greg

I don't think it's going to really break anything, but doing that every day, or a few times a day, can certainly take it's toll. If you're not using the DVD player often, don't turn it on, and then off, with every SYSTEM OFF macro. Just turn it off manually when you use it.

David
www.BlueDo.com

I have a Hitachi 53UWX10B RPTV. I have also never
been able to find discrete on/off codes. I did,
however, find a work-around. My TV has a
setup field that allows it to turn on (iff off)
when an input is detected on input video4. I have
my DVD player hooked to video4 via component cables.
The DVD player does not have discrete codes either,
but will turn on (if off) when "play" is activated.
So my discrete TV on is "dvd-play" and my discrete
TV off is "dvd-play, tv-power_toggle."

Here are the TV menus/steps:

Menu / Customize / Video Input Sensor
(my only option for the sensor is video 4 YMMV)
Auto (as opposed to remote or off)

If your hitachi is a UWX12A or SWX12A or later, then it does in fact likely support discrete on and off.

I dont worry about the wear and tear on my $50 dvd player. My time is valuable, and I love to be able to
hit one button and leave the room, knowing everything is off.

Chris