I was wondering what is the Best universal remote out on the market that has a touch LCD on it. Any answers would be helpful...Thanks to all

Wow. You have no idea of the number of responses this could get.

What does "Best" mean?

First we need to divide the market between integrated control systems (like AMX or Crestron) and remotes.
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the first is a modular system that uses an interface device (touch panel or button) that talks to the central device (where the intelligence resides) that controls everything. they start at a few k$ and can go to a few 100k$

I don't know much about this category, so I will not discuss it further
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the second category has all the intelligence in the touch screen device and can control things directly, some also have the ability to use an RF base to relay the commands to the equipment.

this has gotten a bit more murky these past few weeks. Until now there was no debate ProntoPro TSU-7000 if you wanted colour, Pronto TSU-3000 if you wanted cheaper (16 shades of grey). But HTM finally made the MX-3000 available and Sony just released the Navitus RM-NX7000. The Prontos are great remotes and have been the kings (older models) since 98 when Philips introduced the Pronto TS-1000, it is now on the third generation of B&W and second in coloured (and that is without counting the Marantz remotes that are slightly different but made by the same people). HTM has a great reputation in button remotes, and the MX-3000 is their first generation coloured remote, feature wise it is around the same as the ProntoPro, I think the bigger difference is in layout and that might be where the game is played. As for the Sony, there is not much info on it and what it can do. Also you can download the editors for the ProntoPro and the MX-3000 from the file section on this site, so you could try programming them and see what they are like using the emulator.


Also Philips has the iPronto if you prefer a tablet form of the PC

You can't neglect the hybrids either. Without getting too stupid (RCA), I would have to consider the RTI TheaterTouch T2 in the lineup.

I am not a fan of the T2 :-) and even though it does have some cool accessories, i don't think it has the price or the features of the remotes I mentioned (i.e. display is limited in size and what can be on it).

I put the Sony, because it has the lowest MRSP of the 3 so depending on the features that are not clear and you cannot test without a public editor it is hard to say how it competes to the rest. The
MX-3000 and the ProntoPro have the same MRSP, but the Pronto can be had at a much lesser street price then the MX-3000, on the other hand it does have some simple sort of variable structure to be able to program if things are on and off, so in that respect I do think it is worth looking at if someone is looking for a touch screen remote.

Well, currently I have the ipronto, but its just too much for me to monkey with, so I want to down grade. I have it currently for sell in the marketplace. But I was wondering what the next best thing would be other than the ipronto?

I would pick ProntoPro or MX-3000. But to get full value of any good touchscreen remote will require some time on your part. The strength of a touchscreen remote is that you can make it look like you want, but the other side of that coin is that you will need to take the time to do that.

Thats it...I just don't have the time thats why I'm getting rid of the ipronto, Thanks for all the input though.

If you don't have the time to program a Pronto, maybe you should re-think whether you really want a touchscreen. If you're really stuck on the idea of a touchscreen but don't want to do any programming, maybe you should take a look at one of the UEI Kameleons (ie, the One For All URC-9960 or the Radio Shack 15-2133 and 15-2138).

If you are open to the idea of a buttoned remote, check out the HTM MX- line of remotes. These have a non-touchscreen LCD panel which you can use to create custom labels for those non-standard button names.

Rob
http://www.hifi-remote.com

Or the new URC-300 which has a touch screen, but only displays five alpha-numberic characters.

I would really like a touchscreen, but I think what you are saying that I will have to spend some time and program what ever is touchscreen..Correct???

There's basically 3 kinds of touchscreen. There are the ones like the Pronto, where you can totally customize the screen, using your own bitmaps, etc. These are the top of the line but they have a steep learning curve when it comes to programming them.

Then there's touchscreens like the Sony AV2100 and numerous other models where the screen is divided into squares and each square can only display 1 or 2 or 3 different button names. These are not usually PC programmable but they're also not very flexible.

Finally there are the Kameleons, which aren't really touchscreens at all, but they do look somewhat like touchscreens. They have a fixed sheet of virtual buttons, that feel somewhat like real buttons. The Kameleon processor only displays the buttons that it thinks are relevant for the device mode being used, and it changes how some buttons look, so while a given button might display as PIP in TV mode, it might also display as ANGLE in DVD mode, etc. The display on these remotes cannot be customized at all, so these are the absolute least flexible.

So, bottom line, if you want a touchscreen that's worth having, you either need to learn how to program it, or you need to pay someone to program it for you. Seeing as how you were willing to shell out for the iPronto, it doesn't sound like money is an issue, so I would suggest that you find a custom installer who'll program it for you.

Rob
http://www.hifi-remote.com

I agree with Robman. Also if you want a screen but that is easy to setup (LCD text) then I will add the Harmony to the mix. Also at the price of the iPronto you can get a ProntoPro/mx-3000 plus some programing