Is the RAV-2000 a Pronto with Yamaha's name slapped on it? It looks very similar although I have not owed either. I am looking to buy a univerla remote as well as a Receiver. Currently I can get both buy purchasing a RX-V1 by Yamaha. If it is the same inside and works as well, the RX-V1 may draw my purchase more so. Side question, can I use the same software and programming downloads that I see so much of for the Pronto?

Thanks.

I have both the RX-V1 and RAV2000. I believe Yamaha hired the Pronto folks to build the RAV2000. In fact, before RAVEdit was available, I used Pronto Edit to make modifications to the RAV. Hope this helps...

Danny

Is it relatively easy to program or would I be better off having someone else do it for me?

Some of you might already know this, but Yamaha will GIVE you a RAV2000 free with the purchase of an RX-V1...check their site...
[Link: yamaha.com]

Michael,

The RAV2000 is very easy to program if you are happy with the "look" of the buttons and the "feel" of operation. By following the instructions that come with the remote you can make it duplicate all of the features of your original remote controls in one convenient remote. This will probably take you less than an hour to get going.

However, that is just a small taste of what the RAV/Pronto is capable of. Any button on any panel can look like anything you can imagine! Any button can "play back" a recording of hundreds of complex button pushes and hard to remember procedures(that's called a "macro"). Programming a "macro" is very easy in process but requires a detailed understanding of what you have to do, to say, turn on and configure your system to watch a DVD in Dolby Digital. Often, if you are not a real "gear head" this understanding is difficult to gain quickly.

If you really try to customize your remote and make it possible for a complete stranger to use your system via automated macros takes at least 20 hours, and often more than a hundred. It's a challenging hobby really.

Many Yamaha dealers will provide custom programming of a RAV2000 for a nominal (compared to the time do it yourselfers put in) fee of $300 to $500 in labor (above and beyond the cost of the remote). However, they will have "canned" a solution for navigation and macro programming that may not be what you had in mind (for the fee to make sense, the dealer cannot spend 20 hours programming, they have to limit programming time to 4-6 hours). Ask to see an example of a Pronto/RAV that they have done and let them explain how you would use it to operate your system.

Evaluate if you have to do too many steps or it seems otherwise clumsy. You get what you pay for and although many professional dealers create a smooth intuitive system, some do it yourselfers have created configurations that exactly minimize the number of steps for some very complex operations that a professional dealer might say "Well, if you want to do that, just pick up your original remotes. The RAV/Pronto is for basic operation without frills."

The RAV and Pronto do have some differences. The RAV2000 does not have as an option a powerpack and charger (the internal contacts are not there. Some of the buttons are different, and I think (but not sure) that you cannot make the light turn on automatically.

It replaces the channel up/down buttons with power and standby.