Does anyone have one of these? Could it possibly work with the empeg? Thanks...

i dunno but it's a very interesting question...saw one in a store and found out more about it. it's a neat gadget!

Interesting. Good idea, but a bit pricey. $199 is a lot of money for a remote control.

I'm assuming you have checked this:
http://remotecentral.com/harmony/index.html

Ok, I read the review I linked so I could comment.

I have to say, I arrive at a different conclusion than the reviewer. Perhaps if I saw the remote in person and used it, I might feel otherwise, but I don't like what I've seen.

A couple downsides:
1) Internet
Why the hell did they make the thing completely internet dependant? In my mind, that is enough to pass up the product right there. No furthur discussion needed. What happens later on? maybe the company folds. Maybe they decide to stop supporting this product before you're willing to give it up.

2) discrete codes
For those who don't know, discrete codes are nice...when you have them. Instead of a "Power" button, which toggles the power (press once for on, press again for off, repeat ) discrete codes have a button for On and a button for Off, and in the case of the receiver have individual buttons to let you select a specific device input.
Unfortunately, in my experience you've got to have devices that have this functionality in order to do macros well. It seems this device is relying heavily on that assumption. If you have old components, you will likely not be able to use this remote very effectively, IMO.


As a Pronto owner, I can tell you that Philips has made an incredible remote. It's more expensive, but you can do anything you can imagine with it. Because it's LCD-driven, it beats the hell out of the Harmony LCD, although more hard buttons would be nice. Sure, you still have to have discrete codes in order to make convenient macros, but you can customize them to no end and have pretty much as many codes as you want.

Given that I have a lot of old devices, I don't use macros too much. However, I am able to control all those devices. I've even got an IR to X10 receiver that I can use with the Pronto to control my lighting.

Basically, it gives complete control.

$199 isn't a lot to spend on a remote, provided it is the right remote.

$199 isn't a lot to spend on a remote, provided it is the right remote.

Yeah, I'm very new to this Universal Remote thing. I thought 200 bones for a remote was expensive, until I saw a Marantz remote for about $1200!! It's looks like the Pronto is the way to go. Does anyone know if the Pronto will work with an Xbox (DVD)?

I've been using a sony clie with omniremote for my universal remote functions. it emulates the empeg nicely and the jog dial allows for extra hard key presses that other pdas don't. it is completely customisable and surprisingly easy to set up. For similar money to the harmony I have a universal remote and a few games to play with during commercials. it's a beautiful thing.

Can I toss out that the Pronto black and white is awesome, but the Pronto color is an absolute waste-of-money-piece-of-crap? I loved the B&W one -- best remote I've ever used. I sold my B&W and bought a color one thinking "oh, it must be better". Nope. Cheaply made, twice the price, flaky button press detection, and really poorly constructed hard buttons (compared to the older one).

Just wanted to toss this out

Mike

Really!?! I'm suprised to hear that. That's unfortunate. Yeah, I've got the old TSU1000 and absolutely love it. I also have timers set up to turn on my TV in the morning as an alarm. Love those timers.

I briefly thought about trading in for the 6000 (color), but hell, a quick look shows them going for $630 plus! Now that's too much for a remote.

What would I absolutely love to see? I'd love to see a cross between the Pronto and the ProntoNeo. I was considering the ProntoNeo until I saw that the software was a really crappy version of the Pronto. Basically, I love my Pronto, but would love to have more hard buttons. It's nice to have absolutely everything at your fingertips, but at the same time I would like to be able to do some things more quickly. Maybe that's just me, but 2 buttons aside from the volume, channel, and mute buttons isn't enough.

I paid 199 for my TSU2000 (plus 45 for the charger) which was a hell of a good price.

Oh, man. I don't know if I can wait for the new pronto or not. TSU2000 owners, do you know if it is worth it?

Damn, that's f'in sweet. I almost switched to the ProntoNeo for more hard buttons until I realized it was a piece of crap. I'm not sure how they can charge almost the same for that as they do the regular Pronto, but anyway.

That definitely is one thing that I wished my Pronto had. I mean, the LCD is great, but I want to be able to fast forward, rewind, play, stop, etc. without looking at the screen of my remote. It's really handy to be able to control everything in your system, but for the most common controls, hard buttons are just the way to go. The current Pronto also isn't very handy when using Tivo. I've switched back to using the Tivo remote because it's so much better.

I have the same problem with my TiVo and my Pronto... I never fully appreciated the benefits of tactile feedback before.

I've been wishing for a Pronto with a screen made of movable pins, like those silly executive toys. I have a feeling that tech will not be available soon...