From: THIS THREAD, (Post #7), at www.aximsite.com.

"pdaWIN uses CCFs and there are an awesome amount of CCFs over at RemoteCentral Files Section.

You build CCFs in ProntoEdit V4.0.5 and can merge CCFs and select out those devices (read that as CODES, if you will) that you want to keep and weed out the rest.

Granted, it's not quite as simple as that, but the point is that there are codes available at RemCen if you look for them and ask for help there.

A really REALLY good hint, is to read the FAQs (and re-read them), most all questions are answered there. If not, the Pronto Forum is an EXCELLENT resource. Lots of friendly folk there who like to help (and have fun doing so). Usually if you mention PDA, though, you'll end up getting sent to the RemCen PDA Forum, NOT a very active Forum at RemCen. But if you need help in understanding how PE V4.0.5 works, the place to go is the Pronto Forum, just go easy on the PDA type questions, keep it ProntoEdit, and you'll be fine.

If you're no good at graphics there are galleries available too, or just surf through the Files and find something that looks good and use them.........that's what we post 'em there for. So folk don't have to keep reinventing the wheel."

If you want HELP with PE V4.0.5
Do NOT
use the Term PDA in this Forum

!!!PERIOD!!!

(RemCen Regulars.....there is a program (pdaWIN) that uses CCF files DIRECTLY and many PDA questions here are actually requesting help with PE4.0.5, PLEASE use caution when sending these folk straight to the PDA Forum.........it's really quite dead there, and they are probably wanting HELP with PE4.0.5).

This message was edited by star50fiveoh on 06/10/03 23:36.

Hey Star,

So before I send you back to the PDA forum, how about a little mini-review of your new toy. I know it's more compact, cheaper, better display, more memory, but as one of the few who knows both sides of the fence, what are the downsides (if any). Serious question, I've never played with Dell's latest and am not familiar with any possible limitations of pdaWIN.

Jim L

I know of no other way to put it, other than:

!!!!I LOVE MY AX!!!!

it is such a superior device to my HP548, I cannot BEGIN to explain the differences!!!

* Faster.
* MUCH better screen.
* FASTER!
* A much better Remote than my TSU2000....(it's COLOR, and does everything the 2000 did, for $250!!!!........and it's a PDA!!!!!, to boot!!!
* did I mention how much faster it is than my HP548?
* and that it's much, MUCH less expensive than ANY COLOR Pronto -or- Marantz??!!

Well.....I could go on.....but, I think you get the idea....(do you not?)!

....If you've got a workable CCF and $250 (or less.....NOW)....get a Dell Axim X5........you won't be sorry.

Some few have had some probs 'learning' into the AX/pdaWIN, but if your CCF works now, "Just Do IT!!"

This is one wonder of a machine. And there is a new (supposedly 'thinner' version to come out soon. (but this version is very compatible with the form-factor of the HP548, right now, completely "Shirt-Pocketable".

This message was edited by star50fiveoh on 06/11/03 03:48.

Star:

A couple of questions if you don't mind. I have a TSU2000.

How does the screen size compare? Same?
Any known glitches? The Prontos have a few, some models worse than others.
Is there a rubber grip on the sides? I can't tell from the picture. That's one of my complaints with the TSU2000. Hard not to drop.
You're pretty positive about it being better overall. In which areas is the Pronto better? There must be something. I always like to know what I might be giving up in order to improve something else.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Deane

Star,

Thank you very much for the education & advice. I had no idea about using PE4.0.5 for programming a PDA and find it quite fascinating... Also, appreciate your review of the AX.

Regards,
Ken

The TSU2000, I believe is a 3.7" screen. The Dell Axim has a 3.5" screen, so just SLIGHTLY smaller.


I've been using the Axim/PDAwin for about 5 months now (and added the PDA-ir IR Extender about a month ago). The only glitch that I'm aware of is a pretty major one, but PDAwin says that they will have it fixed soon. It is that the signal is sent on button RELEASE instead of on button press. Makes it seem a split-second delayed, and also makes it hard to use Volume (and similar functions) because you can't just hold the button down to turn volume way up. This can be overcome by assigning these functions to the hardware buttons. The Axim has 4 hardware buttons, a D-Pad, and a "jog dial" on the left side. Many users prefer to assign the Volume to be controled with the jog dial, and use the hardware buttons for channel surfing.


Yes, there is a rubber grip on each side that extends almost the entire length of the Axim. Gives you a very secure grip on the unit.


In my opinion, the Pronto is better if you intend to use ONLY as a remote. The Axim is a good choice because it gives you a high-res color screen, much better display than that of the TSU6000, for as low as around $200 for the Basic model. Also, the Axim allows you to use it as a PDA for MUCH more functionality in your life while you're away from the home theater. As soon as PDAwin fixes the "button press issue," I feel that it will be a good comparison for the Pronto.


p.s. I agree with star50fiveoh about trying to help some of the PDA users that have ProntoEdit questions. The PDA software uses the EXACT SAME CCF files that the Prontos use, so they are created in ProntoEdit. Because the PDA Forum is pretty dead most of the time, many PDA users aren't getting the ProntoEdit help they are looking for. I (and star50fiveoh, and others) try to help all of these users as much as we can on Aximsite.com and also on the PDA Forum here, but most of you have a lot more expertise with ProntoEdit.
_____________________
Jordan M. Wigley
Aximsite.com Moderator
[email protected]

I have no problem helping people who have PDA's, I don't care what remote they have. But assuming that this post [Link: remotecentral.com] was the one that brought up this topic, you must admit, that you need to know something about the interaction between PDAwin and the PDA. And that I don't feal qualified to answer. And in all honesty, someone that is in the PDA forum would have a better idea of the answer.

Anthony,

I agree that the pointed thread is best suited in the PDA Forum. The ONLY questions that I feel should be posted here from the PDA users are those related to ProntoEdit. I'm just aware that in the past, if anyone even posted something like "How do I use ProntoEdit to make a CCF for my PDAwin remote?" or something like that, they are generally pointed to the PDA forum. However, since CCF files are the same as the ones used for Pronto, it would be nice to get a little extra help answering these type of questions. There are just a handful of people in the PDA forum that have a LOT of experience with ProntoEdit, but tons of people in this forum that know a ton about it.

But again, if any users start posting PDA-only-related questions (not ProntoEdit), I agree that it should be forwarded to the PDA Forum.
_________________________
Jordan M. Wigley
Aximsite.com Moderator
[email protected]

Jordan,

We'd all be happy to help, but Anthony has a good point. The Axim has different (and more) hard buttons than a Pronto Pro. We have trouble answering questions (like Anthony's link) because we don't know how the Axim makes hard button assignments with pdaWin/Pronto Edit. If I assign an action to the channel up hard button in PE - where does that end up on the Axim? Since PE has no cursor pad - how do you assign actions to the cursor pad on the Axim?

I'm sure there are other such areas as well. Such as, does the Axim display the drop down Macro Menu and Device Menu that the Pronto does? Many ccf's navigate by this system. If we edit the action list in device properties, does this even show up in the Axim?

Again, we need to know a little more about how pdaWIN incorporates a ccf for use on the Axim (or other PDAs).

Jim L

All of these questions go together. Here is how the buttons are layed out:
Channel-Up in PE assigns to D-Pad Right on PDA.
Channel-Down in PE assigns to D-Pad Left on PDA.
Volume-Up in PE assigns to D-Pad Up AND ALSO Jog-Dial Up on PDA.
Volume-Down in PE assigns to D-Pad Down AND ALSO Jog-Dial Down on PDA.
Mute in PE assigns to D-Pad Center (Press Down on Center of D-Pad).


Yup, sure does show up. I'm telling you, this is identical to the Pronto Interface. :)


Don't think that I don't want to help these users as well. I (and others) always try to provide as much help as I can to all users on Aximsite.com and the PDA Forum here at RemCen. There are always some "expert" ProntoEdit questions that go unanswered, though, because I don't know EVERYTHING about PE. Again, I wouldn't expect you to answer all PDA questions, but ProntoEdit answers would be quite helpful. Thank you very much for being so cooperative. Also, if this has intrigued any of you, and you have questions about PDAwin, the Dell Axim, or the PDA-ir IR Extender.....please feel free to contact me.
______________________
Jordan M. Wigley
Aximsite.com Moderator
[email protected]

YEP it is quite dead there in the PDA forum!
I'll repeat my question here as it's just as much a Pronto Edit question as a PDAwin question! (Should I have started a new thread?)

Star50fiveoh didn't you just transfer from Pronto TSU2000 to a PDA with PDAwin?

Here goes my question again (from the PDA forum):
[Link: remotecentral.com]

Can anybody help?

Just saw that the link didn't work so here goes my question again with good old copy/paste technology:

Hello,
As I understand star50fiveoh's message ([Link: remotecentral.com] should be looking for help in this forum(?)It's a TV remote control 5.4 question, but requires significant ProntoEdit experience.I hope I'm in the right forum...

Background Info:
I have an RU940(=TSU2000 in the States)with a CCF which works perfectly.(Here I'm pretty experienced)
I also have an IPAQ3800 with TVRemote controller 5.4.
(here I'm newbie)

Goal:
I want to transfer my CCF to my PDA and get the same performance as with RU940.

Questions:
1)Should I save my CCF in PEdit as a TSU6000/RU970 file in order to get the hard button alignment right (the 4 buttons on the PDA = the four lower hard buttons from the TSU6000)?
2) How do I assign the right hard buttons form the RU940 to the cursor buttons (left/right/up/down/center) on the PDA? Is it done within PEdit (in this case how) or directly on the PDA by learning?

3)My CCF has ca 150 devices (300 CD changer etc) but when transferred to TVRemote controller 5.4.I only can see the 49 first ones. The rest is not availiable on the rolldown menu (like in PE up in right corner of the screen)
Is this normal? Anyway around it? Where did the rest go?
4)While transferring all Macro panels have also disappeared (on PE you have them on the left upper corner as a rolldown menu) Do I have to change my CCF so that all Macro panels are moved up in the Device section before transferring to PDA?

5) Why do some IR commands not work on the PDA as they do on the RU940? Exemple: VCR-Play (RC5) just does not work. I checked, the IR command is there.
I also used the PDA from VERY short distance/all angles to make sure it's not a signal problem. Other buttons like Forward, backwards buttons work OK.

6)Most discreet codes don't work on the PDA (but the corresponding toggle commands have survived the transfer just fine) I can’t understand the reason behind this.

Generally: what’s the best way to transform a RU940/TSU2000 CCF into an equally smooth running PDAwin Remote?

thanks for the help!

I also used the PDA from VERY short distance/all angles to make sure it's not a signal problem. Other buttons like Forward, backwards buttons work OK.


Don't know if this is it, but the Pronto has several different type of codes. There are the traditional codes, that have a full description (i.e. what we usually call Pronto HEX) then there are a few codes that refer to several internal DB's that are in the Pronto (RC5, UDB, 9000, 7000....) These codes lack the full instructions, and are just the equivalent of short hand. So even if it keeps the string, PDAwin probably does not know what to do with it, and if it treats it as a regular string, then it would definitely not work

From Jordan's post above, it looks like whatever is programmed in the right side hard buttons in PE, is transferred to the pad on the PDA. The mute (bottom button) should automatically be the center push.

Assuming this is true, then you could modify DEVICE properties to change the commands and make the pad do something else, but just for a specific device. Say, scroll up/down and page up/down, and then the center push a select (OK) for a set top box device.

Jim L

Thanks,
Anthony you where right. I relearned the IR command from the original remote and now it works. So PDAs/PDAwin have a problem with RC5.
Bomberjim, I checked the hard key layout and found out the problem is I have been using an RU940 CCF. The PDA having 4 buttons and the cursor pad get things a little mixed up. Solution was in transforming it into a PRO CCF file and then it works.PRO has 4 "lower" hard buttons and so have most PDAs. The cursor PAD on the PDA (up/down/left/right/center) gives you the remaining hard buttons from the PRO.

My question nr 3) is maybe out of place in this forum but I was hoping star50fiveoh (usually answers virtually all threads)who has gone from TSU2000 to PDA could give me some hints on that one...If one can't load more than 49 devices in the PDA it still isn't a fully compatible remote in the Pronto class.

Anyway thanks for the feedback on the other questions!

All in all I love my RU940 (will keep using it as I also need my agenda...)But I was unaware and amazed to discover, that the IPAQ PDA I have owned for 1,5 years can do pretty much the same! Can't wait to start working on my new layout (changing the whole CCF into colour will take some sleepless nights...)

For anybody who has a Pronto and, like me, just happens to have a PDA, do this: go to www.pdawin.com and download the trial version of TV Remotecontroller 5.4. Then just copy your existing CCF the way it is to the PDA and test! It will have some flaws in the beginning, but I guess it will take you 15 minutes to decide to buy the full version for 15$. The cheapest remote I ever bought...(if you allready own a PDA)