In the market for mid-range remotes, there are several companies out there that offer good solutions, but it seems that there are some minor issues (some being different) for each of them. What can UEI do to contend or even surpass that of RTI, URC, and the Pronto line? Of course NEVO enthusiasts will say that the product is heads over the others especially in the design and ergonomic aspect, but what makes a remote a target seller for CIs and store owners? My opinion is:

- reliability
- ease of program, equal ease to control
- decent support for changes
- ergonmic, overall design and functionality
- cost

We probably know of the little things that UEI needs to do in regard to programming, but what can they do to combat the problem of poor RF performance (if that exists)? RTI and URC have addressed these issues by creating hardware that stores all macro commands , along with other misc pieces of hardware like video and voltage sensing, RS-232 control, and the ability to tweak the output levels of the IR. Storing the commands on the processor is the most reliable situation; the remote sends out a solo "trigger" which tells the processor to execute a series of commands. Since these commands are preconceived and located near the equipment, the success rate is much higher than that of a typical base station which executes each macro one command at a time from the remote to the base station to the equipment.

Pronto and soon RTI have even came up with ways of tackling 2-way communication or at least 2-way RS-232. Pretty decent for the price. Of course it will not approach what a Crestron/AMX or even C4 system can do, but you will get your volume, channel, and amp settings among others on your remote for the Pronto TSU9600. Not bad since that usually quenches most theater people's need for 2-way and under 2K. RTI is scheduled to release the XP-8 control processor at the end of this year that will enable 2-way RS-232 and another whole slew of features as well. That combined with a dedicated to the installer mentality has really been successful.

Obviously, the hardware upgrades are more significant than the controllers themseleves in most cases. Nevo makes one hell of a remote, but a remote is only as good as its control processor or base unit. So in addition to the programming capabilities that are needed for CIs and commitment to CI, the need for a better or smarter "brain" to the system is probably going to leapfrog this product.

Your opinions?

Vincent