I really want to buy the Marantz RC9200 but one thing that has put me off is that it doesn't have a timer function.

Does anyone know if there is some sort of software upgrade to have this function?

Thanks in advance.

Milan

Nope, no such animal for the Marantz. Doesn't have a displayable clock either.

Jim L

So is there an option for me?

I need:

lots of hard wired buttons
timers
colour screen
lots of memmory
rf is possible
total programmability

Any remotes out there that would suit my needs?

Milan

not all of them on one

color remotes =ProntoPro and RC9200, the 9200 has the hard buttons the Pro has the timer

if you don't want color, then there is the 3000, it does not have timers yet, but does have a clock and timers are promised

Is the 3000 a marantz model?

Say if I didn't want timers, which would people go for, Prontopro or RC9200?

Cheers

The Pronto TSU-3000 is a new remote made from scratch. There is also a forum for it at PENG

This remote does not have the timers,YET. But it will. It just came out last month. However, you can buy it from the link above every forum's main page on this site. Well the one's that I go to.

The 3000 has more hard buttons than any other "Pronto". And it has 16 shades of gray, which is 14 more than the ts-1000, tsu-2000, and the Maranatz line of black and white.

It can be used with a RF station, avabile in the near future. As well with a new ProntoEdit program, called PENG.


Rob

This message was edited by King of typos on 02/14/03 14:58.

The 3000 is a Pronto. Marantz to my knowledge does not have anything like it on the roadmap.

If timers/beeps are not a requirement, the Marantz is definitely the way to go. The restrictions on HardButton use on the MacroGroup Side of the Prontos (See the FAQ)is not present on the Marantz. All hard buttons are fully useable no matter if your panel is in Home, Device, or MacroGroup.


Marantz also offers the ability to do multiple jumps in a single Action List. This gives you the ability to do crude animations.

The rc5000 series from Marantz does indeed have the clock like the Prontos.

Marantz 9200 Pros

Larger Screen
Full use of hard-buttons
Multiple Jumps

Marantz 9200 Cons

Menu/Macrogroup menuing not as nice as the Pronto Pro

No Clock

Only 269 of the 270 advertised pixels in height are useable.

White area beneath each panel (No Man's Land). The 269 pixel panels do not cover the full height of the screen between the top menu and bottom navigation bars.




All things said, I'm glad I bought the Marantz instead of the Pronto.

Lyndel

I'll second what Lyndel has to say, and I owned a ProntoPro before getting the RC9200.

The larger screen-room is more than what initially appears. On my ProntoPro, I invariably had to put a joystick on the touchscreen, which takes up most of the room. However, on the RC9200, since you've got a hard button joystick, you not only have the benefit of those hard buttons, but it frees up that much more screen space for design flexibility.

Nick

Lyndel,

I agree with your comments, but didn't understand about the Menu/Macrogroup menuing being not as nice as the Pro. What's the difference?

I might have also added as a PRO - the Marantz has a jump back/jump forward function, and as a CON - TouchScreenSetup is not as good as PE v4.05. Doesn't remember where you were in an alias list, doesn't allow global replacement of an icon (at least I think I remember reading that PE has these features) and a few other things.

Jim L

Jim,

The Menuing I was referring to was the animation. The Pronto Pro has quite a bit of area dedicated at the top for Home/Device/MacroGroup menu area. These areas are color-coded so that you know where you are at all times. The Marantz simply has around a 19 pixel bar and things slide onto and off the left/right edges of the bar. If you are on 'Home', both 'Device' and 'MacroGroup' hang 2/3 on the screen.

With regard to the Marantz line, I also like the ability to disable menus (Mode, MacroGroup, Device)(available on all Marantzes)

Lyndel

But on the tsu-3000. Everything of system managment can come off of the screen. So that the user can have total access the whole screen.

Rob

Rob,

You are correct, but you only get a shitty 16 level gray-scale display. I admit that it does allow for cleaner B&W graphics which is a welcome addition, however it's like moving from CGA to EGA. Whoopie, 4 colors to 16. Isn't it time that Philips moves out of the Dark Ages?

Lyndel

Lyndel, not everyone can afford 600 or 1000 for a remote. I think there will always be place for a cheaper B&W remote.

Anthony,

You opened a can of worms with your comments. My comments below are NOT directed @ you, only the situations with the Pronto/Marantz remotes in general.

IMHO, Affordability? That what the Neo was for. Remember the movie "Field Of Dreams"? "If you build it, they will come..." Is the motto at Philips/Marantz "If you build it, they will buy?".

Where is the Neo? I don't even seem them any more @ Best Buy....

Does it have a nice UI? Solid software? IMHO, if a user pays the MSRP of $249.00USD for a device, they should expect it to be:

1) Flexible (Not the Neo Software)
2) Easy to use (Neo remote, not software did succeed there).

Remember the Philips jingle? In fact, It's embedded in the PE software as a .WAV but no longer used in the software. "You have to admit it's getting better...." To that, I say. "WHEN??? WHERE???".

If you want a competitive edge, release something that others don't have. For example, the ability to generate nice graphics on the Prontos/Neos competes nicely with the Sony AV2100 et. al. However, there's a new Sheriff in town and he's called the MX3000 and it's my understanding that he did not originate from Philips. Not only will this remote do transparency, I've heard rumors of support for other Web-based image formats. Animated GIFs? Maybe? We'll have to wait and see.

Maybe when the MX3000 takes away a bit of the market share, the Philips' and Marantz's of the world will wake up.

Philips has sat on their laurels a bit too long. FYI, If they'd released the 3000NG with color, I most likely would have held off and purchased it over my Marantz RC9200. Like the look, like the feel, just don't want to have to dither all my graphics down to 16 colors.

I have not been following the 3000NG that closely, but I highly suspect the price point will be at within $600.00 +/- $100 USD.

If it were not for wonderful graphics and utilities provided by several of us... Daniel T. , Dale C. , Olivier DeC., Leo D., Peter D., Mr. Tonto-Stewart and all the others including myself who write code/design graphics to make peoples' mouths water when they see what can actually be done with these remotes, the Pronto market would dry up.

Now, Standing tippy-toe on my soap box...

Also, I'm a firm believer in better software through use. In short, I eat my own dog food. I'm an avid user of SuperNudelist and hence, all the enhancements that others benefit from as well.

I have to ask. Do the PE/TSS engineers own a remote and use the software they write?

Take the "copy list actions" Shift-Drag for example. Look how long it took Philips and Marantz to provide this feature. With no competition, we as users are at the mercy of the "non-user" engineering community inside Philips/Marantz.

I have to go so far as to ask the question... Do Philips/Marantz engineers ever use the software provided by these companies other than to verify that "Yes, the colors change as expected and I have a colored box button on my screen"?

"Actions, we don't need no stinkin' Actions. Simply slap a Delay .1s in there for sake of testing."

"Software compiled? Good, Release it!!!"

Example: Did you know...

When the Marantz TSS software upgrades a Pronto/RC5000 CCF to an RC5200/RC9200 CCF, all the hard button definitions get switched around?

When the RC5200/9200 was designed and button locations changed, no one tested whether the hard buttons were remapped appropriately, only that the 4 gray-scale colors could be mapped into 4 pretty colors.

Thanks to Olivier, this was a no-brainer for me. CCFTools and a text editor and 15 minutes later I was up and running. Once again, a feather to Olivier for providing a tool that makes up for the weaknesses of the software we are forced to use.

My apologies for the tyrade. However, I feel ten times better having gotten that off my chest.

I think I'm gonna go take a cold shower and pop the blood pressure medication now and hit the sack.

Have a good weekend; or what's left of it.

Lyndel

Lyndel,

I agree with what you've said for the most part. The fact that the 9200 has been out a year, and still has the lockup bug associated with a macro side jump is ridiculous.

On the other hand, with respect to the HTM Mx-3000, my best guess is that your postulated price is quite low. I suspect HTM will market this just like they do the Mx-700, to custom installers. Since the price for the 700 is $500. I doubt that the 3000 will be priced within $200 of the non-touchscreen, LCD display, 700. I suspect the price will be more like $1000 minimum. HTM has also made a lot of noise lately about if you don't buy from an authorized dealer (full MSRP, no discounts) there is no warrantee. Not exactly a consumer friendly position.

Additionally, this will be HTM's first forray into the touchscreen market, will their inexperience be a factor? By the time the 3000 is released (better part of a year) will Philips be releasing a color version of the NG, with what features and at what street price? When touchscreens first appeared, there were 3 contenders, the Sony 2000, Pronto 1000, and the HK Take Control. Many people (probably a majority) thought the HK was the most promising. Later, the Aktis was the next "Pronto Killer" it also was a relative failure.

I'll be interested to see how this all shakes out.

Jim L