After have read the posts about the TSU7500 and also the manual, I don't see a lot of improvement. In my opinion, TSU7000 works great !!!

Therefore if there is going to be a different firmware and software for the 7500 and with all the problems that a new remote control will have in order to work properly (software, firmware). I don't see a chance to change it in the short and medium term.

People at CEDIA please try to explain the good reasons.

Thank's.

3000/3500 and 7000/7500 are essentially the same, although the 7500 has more memory. The soon-to-be-released 3000/3500 editor will be the same, and I assume that an update 7000/7500 editor will also be made available.

The 7500 should be available very shortly, and the 3500 in November/December timeframe.

I have to say I am disappointed. At CES last January, the Philips Pronto rep said that a "huge announcement" for new product would be made at CEDIA. From what I've read here, strikes me that "huge" is a bit exaggerated.

I talked to someone just returned from CEDIA who claimed that the only things truly exciting at the whole conference were Crestron's announcements of new control products designed to compete at much lower price points than its previous offerings. (Note to Daniel: Is a Crestron forum in the offing?)

mburwen, it's a bit over the top to say that price drops from Crestron are the biggest news out of CEDIA. Go over to HomeToys.com to see a list of PRs. There are some impressive things that I saw, and you might want to go through my photos at [Link: schalliol.com] I really liked seeing the Sony Blu-ray prototypes and the 4K (4x HD quality) projector. There were some impressive improvements regarding offerings, such as with the Yamaha RX-V2600 with its XM tuner and HDMI switching/upconverstion at its price, etc.

I'm anxious to see if the TSU-7500 has solved the sad hard-button backlighting problem... for certain...

I can tell you that it has not. I spoke to one of the enigneers from Belgium and he admitted that it was a forgotten feature that the 6000 had but the 7000 (and 7500) somehow missed. He said that he would look into it and that someone else had complained about it earlier in the day. Not exactly a guarantee that the feature will be added, but it can't hurt. I went into great deail on why it was a problem, how the 6000 had it, how the newest Marantz (basically same hardware) had the feature, etc. Maybe we'll see a firmware update with this featue.

I didn't say it - I wasn't there. It is the opinion of a man who owns a high-end Home Theater company, so he would naturally be biased towards things he perceives are going to have a positive impact on his ability to sell systems.

GAAK, sounds like Philips really *likes* to be out of touch with its userbase? I refer to two problems: the EL backlighting of the TSU7000 is dim (mine has even lost half the original dimness) and would benefit from white or blue LED lighting... then there is the addressability of preferences for hard button backlighting in itself (duration, any hard-button keypress or any touchscreen press, etc.)

I can't believe they didn't think about all this. Daniel, do you ever talk to your peers at Philips???

Am I the only person who would have REALLY liked to see a button in the center of the 4-way pad in the new unit? I have always thought that a central Enter button was the most obvious missing feature in all of the next generation Pronto units (TSU3000 and TSU7000).

when can we expect a price drop in the tsu-7000? and how much?

Me too. That is the one thing I like about my NEO (along with the shape). The "OK" (or enter) button in the middle of the cursor pad is really handy.

I don't know why you miss so much new hard buttons. I almost don't use them, for my is better the layout I created on the screen. I think that there are more important things that Philips must put his efforts on, like all the "new features" we are requesting in this forum (in the related theard).

iHome

I started a thread here some time ago re a wish list for Pronto. As far as I can tell, the 3500/7500 don't add any of the things that users on this forum said were on thrir priority list.

Me too. After using other devices with 5-way navigation, it is missed with the Prontos.

Hi all. This is my first post at remotecentral.com. I've been lurking on the Prontos for a long time and I think I may actually pop for one this time. Thank you to everyone making this forum and website a great resource for the rest of us.

I've seen the TSU7000 on sale for much less than 600 US Dollars at Buy.com and eCost.com. Buy.com has a 10 percent coupon available to anyone that makes them cheapest for me at least. I don't know if Buy.com is an official Pronto retailer so becareful there may be warentee coverage questions to be answered. Using shopping search engines like mysimon.com, cnet.com, tomshardware.com, etc. will help you find the TSU7000 that is priced best for you...

I was disappointed to learn that the Prontos and Marantz are not being sold anymore at my local high-end hi-fi store. They've gone Crestron only. This is a real shame especially if Philips implements the rumored internet sale ban.