remote controls?
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,235
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,235 |
I'm not very knowledgeable about remotes, so there are probably many here who can give me guidance. With any ordinary universal remote, you can turn a receiver off and on and control the volume. But, I have yet to find one that will allow you to change the receiver settings, such as speaker levels and switching modes. Is there such a beast?
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,016
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,016 |
Enter Ray, and his amazing MX700.
it will seem like he is trying to sell you some snake oil or something, but its all true, trust me, it is!!!
bigjohn
EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE SINGING BUSH??
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,854
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,854 |
Bruce,
Search here for three major threads in the following forums:
"Home Theater Master MX-700" (Advice )
"More MX-700 Questions" (Home Theater)
"MX-700 Questions" (Home Theater)
The unit is amazing and these trheads will give you all the detail you could want. Note the information about the incredible functionality for Denon receivers.
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,056
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,056 |
Now, I know that ray has become the local guru on this stuff, and plenty of people have bought this unit on his recommendation. And for good reason.
But don't forget about some of the other options out there either.
If your system is not too complex, and mostly, you're interested in having your components spring to life at the press of one button, and have some macro capability so that when you press the button to "watch tv" you tv switches to the TV inoput, the receiver does the same, the cable box turns on, and everything turns off, I would check out:
harmonyremote.com
They've got some great stuff. You can set up everything on the internet and have it working flawlessly in 30 minutes. Your wife and strangers will have no problem negotiating the unit, etc.
For example - I have a neighbor come over once in a while to check on my puppy. I've found her a number of times staying longer and just hanging out, watching TV. My system is fairly complex (inasmuch as if you wanted to get everything to be on the correct input, etc. and have channel changing capability, voume control, etc. without toggling between devices, it coudl be confusing) and she had no problem turning everything on and sitting back and relaxing with the pooch.
Shoot, the buttons are even labelled 'watch tv' or 'listen to music'
you don't get much easier than that.
I'm nto sure about the price on the 700 that Ray will have you buy, but the Harmony, "family remote" it is called, can be had for about $125 online. check out bluedo.com. they are an authorized dealer.
Happy remote hunting.
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,016
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,016 |
is this kinda like cock-blocking, but with remotes?
bigjohn
EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE SINGING BUSH??
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,854
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,854 |
Not really. Harmony makes a nice product as well. I've owned the Sony RM-AV300, the MX-500 and the MX-700. I've seen/used the Harmony. Pronto is also availble (a tad pricey).
Like other pieces of this HT habit, these things all boil down to personal preference.
I have a Jones for the MX-700 because, in my opinion, it is the best combo of price, power, ergonomics, flexibility - value out there. Others will like something else. That's cool. The key message is that if you have multiple remotes/expensive equipment - you should have a universal remote.
For those who want to chase the MX-700, I can offer a bit of information and a bit of help. The MX-700 (open box) is available for about $180 (MSRP - $349) for Surf Remote Control.
Not too much different than chili recipes!!
Last edited by Ray3; 02/22/05 06:27 PM.
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,056
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,056 |
No "cock-blocking" intended...
Just wanted to let our friend know that there are otehr options out there.
My father-in-law bought a really fancy-schmancy LCD backlit remote that probably has more computing power that the space shuttle. But, for all of its $400 price tag and $600 programmer's fee (the guy came over and set it up for him), the thing don't work for sh!t. I hate the interface, its about ten times more complicated than it needs to be, and the programs have a couple of annoying bugs that neither of us are savvy enough to fix (that will cost another couple hundred for a visit from the programmer).
Anyway, cheap, easy, simple to use, very flixible, tweakable, and its internet based, so there is the ease of sitting at your ocmputer and figuring things out rather than punching in codes and nonsense on a tiny keypad until it works right.
As a bonus, they have a really great tech-support team who will trouble shoot for you (they can do this really easily because the program for your remote is accessible to them over the internet).
Just another option. Like Ray said, your taste/needs may differ.
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,016
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,016 |
i was completely joking ya'll.. i dont want ya'll thinkin my intent was anything more than that.
when i read the post, i got this stupid mental image of ray and pickard, facing off with remotes in hand, ala OB1 and Darth Vader. thats what eventually evolved into my completely out of context "blocking" comment.
i truly didnt mean to get ya'll riled up. hope i didnt? or maybe i am just reading the posts wrong. i sense animosity. multi purpose/function remotes are good!!
bigjohn
EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE SINGING BUSH??
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,501
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,501 |
As much as I love my MX-700....for people like my Parents, a Harmony might be a better route. Then again, being the good son that I am, I could spend the time with my Dad and really tweak the MX-700 for him.
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Re: remote controls?
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 425
devotee
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devotee
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 425 |
BigJohn-
I about fell off my chair laughing at that one.
"is this kinda like cock-blocking, but with remotes?"
That's a classic! I wish there was a thread that had quotes on it like this. In fact I will start on. A good place to get a laugh.
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