Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater More MX-700 Questions from an ignorant remote user

Well, program the remote the way it will work for her. That's the great thing about the MX-700. You can program it the way YOU want it. I've got no W, so I don't need to worry about the WAF. So, my setup is a little complicated for others, but not for me.

Mark
Are you on a Mac? If so, this remote is not Mac compatible. Sure wished it was though.

Hi Mark,

Sorry I'm late to the party. It looks like everyone basically took care of you. Ray and Jack were "on call" for MX-700 this weekend; I had to officiate a swim meet. But I digress.

As Jack said, you can have 20 devices of ANY kind. I seriously considered loading devices from the bedroom into the Main-page-2, but then the remote would leave the living room, and no good can come from that. Have as many CD players as you want.

That Sony thing could be trouble. As Curtis observed, it may be the limitation of the equipment, not a limitation of the remote.

I have DirecTivo - the MX-700 swallowed it up in one gulp. No problems at all.

I had the Denon 1804 - the remote now gathers dust.

I'm unaware of timer functions specifically on the remote (I wish it had a clock), but if the other equipment DOES have a sleep timer, the MX-700 can learn it.

I got mine at Surf. No regrets.

I also just replaced my first set of batteries after about four months.

One good tip that Ray gave me was to "store" the remote face-down. I'd never thought of that before, but it does seem to help keep the buttons clean.

I programmed all my devices with press-and-hold macros that include turning off other things. So all you have to do is go to main and "hold" DVD (or whatever) and it not only turns on the DVD player and TV, switches the inputs, goes to the DVD page, but also turns off/stops the other devices. It works for me, and more importantly, for my wife.

Good luck!

Jack - LOL. That buck never had a chance to get your finger prints on it as you passed it to me. .

Mark - I'll be happy to help you. Send me a PM with your email and I'll drop my MX-700 file to you with some information. It will give you an idea of how I set mine up and how easy the programming is. Hopefully, you are reading the programming manual while the 700 is in transport.

Tom:
Thanks for your input as well!

I have a question for which some other MX-700 users might have the answer.

I believe I read somewhere that when, for instance, you use a Macro to turn on all the necessary equipment to "play a DVD", the remote will do so accurately even if some of the equipment was already turned on.

Is this true? It doesn't seem to make sense that this is possible based upon my knowledge of how the power switches work in conjunction with a remote (I thought that it would switch the component to the opposite state of on/off that it was currently in).

Make sense?

That's generally correct. However, if you have a toggle command (DVD tray command opens and closes the tray), you might get a couple of quirks. The better answer is to build a "switch" macro that accomplishes all with a single button push.

In reply to:

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I believe I read somewhere that when, for instance, you use a Macro to turn on all the necessary equipment to "play a DVD", the remote will do so accurately even if some of the equipment was already turned on.

Is this true? It doesn't seem to make sense that this is possible based upon my knowledge of how the power switches work in conjunction with a remote (I thought that it would switch the component to the opposite state of on/off that it was currently in).

Make sense?

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A lot of devices now have "discrete" codes. That is, a specific code to turn on the device, and one to turn off the device. These are the codes you use to get that "smart" functionality.

Without these discrete codes, you are correct, it is a toggle and you would encounter problems.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I'm expecting my remote in on Wednesday and hope to spend a little time doing the programming tonight or tomorrow!

Wht really sold me on the remote was a few people (I'm not sure "who" at the moment) that spoke of the remote the same way TiVo users talk about that device: "It's hard to describe how great it really is until you've got one in your hands and actually use it a bit". To me, there's not much higher praise!

I'm looking forward to it!

LOL! Ray, there ain't a buck alive that's stayed in my hands long enough to pick up any fingerprints. They's all jus' passin' thu.

In reply to:

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I believe I read somewhere that when, for instance, you use a Macro to turn on all the necessary equipment to "play a DVD", the remote will do so accurately even if some of the equipment was already turned on.

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Mark, If I remember correctly, that is a feature of Harmony remotes. If I'm correct, it's not as functional as it sounds. The remote will tell you it assumes a device is off, and asks if this is correct. If it's not, then you tell the remote that the device is on, or something like that. I have a 659 that I could never get to work well for me. I'm sure one of our Harmony owners can clarify what I'm trying to say.

Mark, Curtis has got it right. Ray and Jack are, well, nice fellows and snappy dressers.

When Ray sends you his files, you'll see that there are discrete codes for Receiver-On and Receiver-Off. MANY other contemporary components will have the same codes available. These are different codes than the "toggle" that is on the one on/off button on your existing remote. The MX-700 can use not only the (large!) database of codes that come with the software, but also Pronto files. Be sure to run "Live Update" or whatever they call it after you install MX Editor so that you get the most recent, comprehensive set of codes.

The only one I had trouble with was a 13 year old Mitsubishi VCR. I can't remember the last time I used the stupid thing. I was able to find discrete codes for everything else I own.

Ray and I have a philosophical disagreement about the best way to switch between devices. But that's okay, because his setup works great for him, and my setup works great for me. It's probably because he has cooler gadget boxes than I do. The other thing for me is that I have my (old) CD player on the switched outlet of the Denon so it comes on when the receiver does. So, when I'm going to other devices, my remote actually just "Stops" the CD player.

Remember to buy some IR light switches when you're at Home Despot.