OK, So I took my Pronto home last night and played and played and played . . .

THIS IS THE MOST BITCHIN' REMOTE MAGINABLE . . . .

I spent about 2.5 hours programming the remotes from my:

TV, VCR, DVD, CD, RECEIVER, and CABLE Box

Into it. Programming is a breeze. Both through the Pronto itself, and through the Prontoedit software. After all the basic functionality was programmed, I went and tested all the components. I missed a couple of commands, but adding them in was cake. Also, through Prontoedit, if a components screens don't happen to have the buttons you want, or they are not in the right place, just make a new one, or move an existing one. AWESOME. Once I made sure I had all the basic features down for each component (On/Off, channel, play, stop, etc.) I decided to try out a couple of macros. This is where the Pronto REALLY shines. With other "universal" remotes I've tried, you put it into programming mode and sit in front of your stuff and start pushing buttons. If you screw up, you've got to go back and start all over again. The pronto kicks ass. Through prontoedit, you create a macro, and start pushing virtual buttons, and every step is shown to you right on the screen of your PC. My first Macro was something like this:

Turn TV On
Set TV to Channel 3
Turn PreAmp On
Set PreAmp to TV
Turn Cable Box On
Set Cable Box to Channel 63 (Scrolling guide)
Set Prontos focus to Cable box

I had to adjust the delays between commands a bit, but once I downloaded it to the Pronto, walked into the family room and pressed the macro button, everything worked perfectly!!!

So, here is the skinny:

Pros:
COMPLETELY customizable remote.
Easily programmed
Literally get rid of ALL of your other remotes.
AWESOME Macro features
High GEEK factor.
Really ties my Home Theater together . . .

Cons:
No "Get me a beer" button
High GEEK factor.
Price.

Web Sites:

http://www.pronto.philips.com/
http://www.prontoedit.com/

Future Plans:
Get an IR controlled robot, teach it to get me a beer, and program the "get me a beer" button on the Pronto . . .

- John

LOLOL, you go dude :)

Im a newbie at this also. When I started an action list, I have been using alias's from the list of buttons. Is their a different way?

Thanks

I have been working on a voice-command for "Get me a beer." So far, the receiver works-- it hears the commands, but there are bugs in the system. I often get error messages like "Get it yourself." or "What do I look like?" Other times, it works just fine. I'm hoping to upgrade the system to fix these bugs to get more consistent results. If anyone has any suggestions or can point me to the availability of an upgrade, let me know.

Now c'mon this is all in fun. :-)