I have had an original Pronto since the first month they came out and have been looking forward for the color version to come out. Although I like the looks of the color Pronto, I am not totally sold and now I have an opportunity to pick up a RC5200 for a very good price. I love the looks and the addition of a few hard buttons but I have read about the issues that people have. What I would like to know, are these issues such as the backlight not coming on, fixable with software or will the remote never be able to do this. Also, from those of you who already have the remote. Do you like it and do you feel you made the right decision. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I like the 5200 alot...the screen image is crisp and bright, and the screensize, and wheel are great features. I personally doubt whether a fix for the light will ever be made, and believe it would involve BOTH a software and firmware change. It is very easy to hold, and the quality seems to be decent. It is just very frustrating at the lack of response to these problems.

Thanks, you were the guy I was hoping to hear from.....one thing I do not understand is Eric's description of the pad programming. It sounded like you would have to remember to hit down when you wanted up or left when you wanted down.....what am I missing. It does seem crazy that there is no auto on. My prehistoric pronto has that feature...just tap the screen and it is on. Oh well I hope it gets fixed because my price is too good to pass up on this.

joneser,

You compensate for the problems with the pad during programing. For example, you program the right pad with whatever you want the down pad to do or you program the home key with whatever you want the ex key to do. The remote itself will then function normally. Kinda a pain, indicates pretty slopply QA, but at least it has a workaround.

Jim L

Thanks for explaining that. Pretty amazing to me that a product could go to market with that kind of an issue. I would be interested in knowing which of you has owned a Pronto before the 5200 and your comments about making the change

joneser,

I don't own a 5200, I've had an original Pronto TSU1000 for almost 2 years. I'm interested in acquiring a 9200 when it debuts so I've been playing with RCEdit since it was released. I will however probably wait a little and see what comments surface after the 9200 is available.

Jim L

I have the 5200, and could not justify the more than double the price for the 9200, even at a discount. I don't need or want the rf module, and would be forced to pay for it. As well, discounting for either the 5200 or likely the 9200 is minimal, and the list on the 9200 is I believe 1299. You can get the 5200 for between 458 (the list is 499) by mailorder from a place called OneHitWonders. By that price, one would think the 9200 would have a street price of around 1150, still too steep for my budget......

This message was edited by drhb on 12/23/01 12:21.49.

I have had the 5200 for a couple of weeks now and love it. This is my first purchase of a pronto-type remote so I am sure that any of them would have been a major improvement over what I was using. I love having the extra hard buttons. I have most of my commonly used commands aliased to one and really enjoy the flexibility that they offer. When I initially started looking for a remote, I thought about the prontopro but could not justify giving up the extra hard buttons and paying considerably more just to gain the color display. The 9200 provides the best of both worlds but at the price...

Just my two cents.

I own a pronto (TSU2000) and just recently bought a RC5200. I like the better display (crisper and does not drift between dark and light as much as the pronto)of the RC5200, the extra hard buttons and the weight and shape. The RC5200 is easier to hold and lighter than the TSU2000.

It was fairly easy to setup the RC5200 out of the box. All I had to do was setup RCEdit, open my TSU2000 confconfiguration, program the hard buttons and download to the RC5200. It was after I used the RC5200 for the first time that I discovered the alias mapping mismatch issue, with the RC5200 cursor pad. I simply learnt the cursor keys for each device as a work around.

However, the function I miss most in the RC5200, after using the TSU2000 for a while, is the lack of backlight when tapping the RC5200 LCD screen. Although by pressing the backlight button on the left side of the remote, the screen is illuminated as required. Of all the current issues with the RC5200, this I find to be the most significant. Overall I like the look and feel of the RC5200 more than the TSU2000.

Paul

drhb

Are you confirming that the 5200 does not have the tilt sensor??? It was speculated in another thread as to whether this was the case or not.

Also, in light of the comments in the other thread on the RC9200 vs the Pronto Pro I am wondering how "One Hit" can sell these things on the web without being bothered by Marantz.

It's kinda unfair to the authorized dealer network if there is no enforcement and in some ways that is a reason they should tie the warranty into the authorizaton.... or simply open the market and let the dynamic run as it should but I guess that would make them afraid of having to increase pricing to do all the support that the moving boxes sites would most likely not provide.

-Bruce
alpha2data
on eBay


This message was edited by alpha2data on 12/23/01 20:03.37.

Bruce,

Daniel confirmed no tilt sensor for the 5200 in an earlier thread, he has one apparently.

As far as the earlier thread warantee comments, I don't believe (but don't know for sure) that this is an issue with Marantz. Although they told me I must buy from an authorized dealer, according to comments from people who have seen the warantee, the "language" isn't there. The only provision is that a receipt is required for warantee work.

Jim L

There are just too many bugs in the current firmware and software to be within normal limits for a new product (see the post on RCEdit bugs). Also, I have to wonder how much support for the advanced consumer/purchaser of this product there really is. Finally, the update is here...can't wait to try it!

Addendum: The only apparant fix was for the misassociated hard buttons. The other bugs remain...

This message was edited by drhb on 12/24/01 23:25.57.

I just purchaed the RC5200 remote and also downloaded the Rcedit software from the Marantz web site.As I am somewhat of a novice I would like to know if I can set up all my remotes (none of which are Marantz) on the computer and than download these to my RC5200.

Morris,

Absolutely, that's what it's all about. The software can have a steep learning curve however. I would suggest you download the FAQ, read it, and then download some ccfs and become familiar with the layout and programming philosophy. When you have specific questions (and you will) this forum can provide answers.

Jim L

Yes. But I would recomend that you do the graphical setup on the PC but the learning on the remote.