I received my HK last night, and here is my opinion:

1) great back lighting--this was a major concern for me having the 50ES from Sony whose remote is pathetic.

2) love the roller--I think the roller is the neatest feature on the remote. You can set it to do anything. I have mine set for changing channels on TV, changing stations on tuner, skipping songs on CD, and skipping chapters on DVD. I will admit that it is a bit slow to respond, but when scanning stations I love to get about 3 seconds per channel.

3) programming is easy--I like the software and it appears straight forward enough. I would like to be able to add icons and change button size and layout. I don't know how the touch screen is laid out, but this might be addressable in software.

4) no range problem with HK--I've read tons of posts about IR range problems, but I've not experienced that. Maybe the HK was built from a different LED lot (I have no idea), but it appears that it is much better. I tried it at about 20ft. at an angle of about 30 degrees from my equipment without any problems. I don't have much room to characterize it, but I'm satisfied so far.

5) battery life--I have no idea how long the batteries will last. I would like a charger stand, which it appears (my guess only) by design that the battery location lends itself nicely to a table top recharge stand.

6) feel--I think the remote is perfect for my hands. The shape allows the base to be held from either hand with easy access to the roller (about the only button I use).

7) touch screen--I think the touch screen is very pliable. This seems great for reliability, but makes the touch screen a tad difficult to use. Sometimes you have to push a little more than you migh expect which causes the screen to "flow" away from your finger. I don't use the screen that much right now because of the fantastic roller.

8) codes--I haven't found codes on the net yet, but I'd like to know if they can be imported. If not, then this is the most serious flaw within the software. I'd also like to be able to remove the existing, built-in codes which I don't use. I'd rather have them all on my PC an off of my remote.

Summary: I like the remote. I would like to test the Pronto to see if it overcomes the short comings of the HK, but without the roller I don't know how much I'd like it. It seems that all the problems mentioned above (except battery life which I don't yet know about) can be addressed in software. I don't know if they will be, but they can be. The response time may be an issue; only time will tell if this will become a problem. I'll post more on this as I can. Please feel free to comment on your experiences (good and bad) with this remote. I can't yet compare it to the Pronto, but I hope to soon.

Cheers,
A.S.

Very good "FAIR" review !! The roller is a great feature. Like you, I am using it for several different functions.

The most important "hard" button (or control) for me is for FF and REW. I don't want these functions on the touch screen because I may hold them down for very long periods. Scanning through commercials or trying to find a scene I left off from the night before on a DVD.

With that said what hard buttons would you map these functions to on the IRIQ? I don't think the wheel will work. And all the other "hard" buttons have designated functions. I use the two "generic" buttons on the Pronto for this. I "scan" with FF/REW much more often than I "surf" and +/- channel buttons which work fine for channels anyway.

George: I have to disagree. For some reason I use FF/RW quite a bit yet I have no problem using the touchscreen on either the Pronto or the AV2000. It's all personal preference. There is choice in the remote control market because market demands it and not every person feels one particular model is best for all applications.

With that said, I still haven't received my review IRIQ yet, so I'll have to leave the actual discussion of this remote to those who actually own it or have owned it longer than 24 hours...

Interestingly enough I use the roller for Next >>| and Prev |<<. If you mean scan FFW >> then I agree that it doesn't seem realistic to use the roller for these. For me, scanning isn't that important. I still would like to play with a pronto just to see the differences.

Cheers.

I agree, it is personal preference. I don't know how rugged these touch screens are in the long run and don't like the idea of holding down a button on the screen for like a full minute. I know it works. Note also some VCRs don't require that you hold it in for scanning, you just hit play to resume. But I think most DVD's do.

FWIW, I did own the IRIQ for 24 hours. It only took one evening though to make my choice without a ever even seeing a Pronto. I must say though I'm glad it completely failed within a few hours that saved me a lot of time.

George, I wanted to take mine back too in the first 24 hours. After a day and programming the thing correctly, my mind changed completely. I really like it. Sometimes things are different enough that the initial impression is to dilike them. After a little acclimation time, well the new idea settles in.

Craig Luna

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it" I have to give you credit, George. You stick to your story even in the face of a mountain of evidence.

I've been watching the Pronto forum and participating in the IRIQ forum for a few months now and a few things are brutally and painfully obvious:

You hated the IRIQ before you even saw it.

You're out here just to cause trouble.

Now I'm sure you'll counter with "I owned an IRIQ!" It doesn't count when you went into it knowing you'd hate it. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, George.

In addition, you've championed yourself here as "try the Pronto before you buy." I agree. I'd rather have someone out here who'd tried a lot of solutions and picked the best. Unfortunately you've carried it to such an extreme that it's obvious that you have some other agenda. I don't know but it appears to me that you're in the Anybody But Microsoft camp.

It's the only rational explanation I can come up with. Your name appears in virtually every thread on this forum, and almost none in the Pronto forum. Why do you spend so much time here if the IRIQ is as bad as you think it is?

I think your reputation is preceeding yourself somewhat. I was lurking out on the DC-1 SMR forum for the past year or so and we know how that turned out.

With your extremely limited experience with the IRIQ I cannot see how you would have anything positive to add to the content of this forum. So, tell the truth George. Why are you really here?

Charles

Actually the truth is I love Microsoft products, I love their Mice, Keyboards, Operating systems, Office Products and Developments tools. I don't like their internet exploder.

I was totally blinded by that and assumed the IRIQ would be a great unit. I don't know why you say I hated the IRIQ before I bought it. I had a lot of questions on both units. I was much more skeptical of the Pronto because it did not provide a way to assign macros to any button and I liked and persisted in the idea of activities (later I learn ProntoEdit solved both those issues).

I won't stoop to digging up dirt on you Charles to make my point. Yes, a lot of lexicon folks dislike me too. You can see my comparison of the Lexicon with some other products (even with Madrigal Proceed AVP) at [Link: softronix.com]

I just tell it the way I see it, nothing more, nothing less. I was definitely in the minority on the Lexicon but I'm quite sure I'm in the majority with the IRIQ vs Pronto.