I did a lot of searching, and there are quite a few threads, but I am still not sure, so I will ask anyway. I have an MX-850 on the way. With Directivo, if I enable the 30 second skip function, will that disable the FF function. If not, where is the best place to put everything. I was thinking of three things.

1) FF and REW on the hard buttons and skip+ and skip- on the CH up and CH down buttons. This would force me to put CHup and Chdown on LCD's, which I know sounds dumb, but I would use the skip much more often, and is intuitive to what I use the channel buttons for, for DVD's

2) I have heard some have created a Macro for these functions. I think I read, and would like to try putting the skip functions on the << >> buttons with a single push, and a push and hold Macro on these same buttons for 2X FF and RW. Can I do this and how?

3) Leave the channel buttons where they are and put either the skip or FF functions on the >> with the other ones on LCD screens.

What do you guys prefer.

Thanks

I've been using a 700 and 850 with TiVo for years, and here's what I have done that proves to be very convenient.

First, leave the ch up and down buttons as they are. If you re-map these for TiVo, you will forget where you are when watching some other device (VCR, DVD, TV etc. even my Receiver uses these buttons for changing radio station presets). You don't want to mess up a consistent key pattern.

Instead, I put the "Advance" button onto the key marked "Exit" on the 850. It's right above the forward button and easy to reach, especially as you use these together when you enable the skip function. (Push FF, then Advance to skip to the next tic mark.)

For the same reason, I put the "replay" (8 second skip back) on the 850 button marked "menu" for the same reason. It's right above the "rewind" button, and serves the same function in reverse that the advance button serves in forward. You will get accustomed to this very quickly.

This still leaves you the "info" and Guide" buttons in the center for "List" and "Live" and you probably won't use "Previous CH" much, so that is available also. Save the soft keys for buttons you use the least, like thumbs up and thumbs down, which I never use.

I also put various macros on page 1 for "Record by Time, by channel, manual, To Do list, etc." As a result, I never use a key for TiVo Central because I never go there. (If I really have to, I just use the To Do macro and then go left once.)

Finally, I would suggest against trying to incorporate either FF or skip ahead functions into a push and hold macro. First, you cannot easily put a macro on a hard button, and I'm not sure you can put a push and hold macro on a hard button at all. In any event, even if you could, having to hold the button for a second or two in order to FF or to skip 30 seconds is self-defeating. You waste too much time holding. I know because I tried a few things like this with my 950, and it's not worth the trouble. You want FF and skip to be instant reactions.

Of course, that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong, and you could use your TiVo differently, so just try different things till you find something that works for you.

My layout works for me and I like it much better than the original TiVo remote. In fact, I like it better than any original remote I have ever seen.

As noted above, however, I have found that the trick to quick use of a universal remote is to have each device set up as close to identical as possible to the other devices. (E.g.: the upper right soft button always turns off the room lights, regardless of the device -- so I can always hit that button without looking at the remote.) That way I don't have to think so much, which makes my ears hurt.