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

I checked back on that long MX-700 thread from several weeks ago to see if I could find answers to some questions and couldn't find what I was looking for. I thought I'd post a new thread with my questions since you guys like talking about the remote anyway….

The only "serious" remote I've ever owned/used is the Sony 2000 touch screen…. So I'm really pretty ignorant about remotes such as these. There were some things that I really liked about the Sony, but I found it couldn't do everything that I needed it to do. And really, if you don't have ALL of your functions consolidated and have to keep many other remotes nearby to use sometimes, what's the point?

For instance, I have two Sony Jukeboxes daisy-chained as designed. The remote would control most of the functions of the "Master" jukebox, but there wasn't any way to switch to the "Slave" Jukebox. So, if I had them in "crossfade" mode to continuously play as alternating units, the remote virtually became useless. I assume that a remote like the 700, being fully programmable, allows for situations such as this?

Also, in addition to the two jukeboxes, I also have a Pioneer 578 DVD player that I frequently use as a single-disc universal player. Further, I'd like to add a DVD recorder to the system someday. My old Sony remote would not be able to recognize 4 different disc players, are there any limits such as this with the MX-700? I'm already finding myself a bit frustrated at the seeming lack of input-labeling on my Denon 3805; maybe it wouldn't matter so much if the remote was user-configurable for labeling and I didn't have to look at the wrongly-labeled front panel on my Denon!

I'm a TiVo devotee, and that TiVo remote is one that generally doesn't leave your hands (you TiVo users know what I'm talking about! ). I really don't mind keeping the TiVo remote on the coffee table along with a universal remote, but for those of you who might have TiVo AND the 700, can the 700 fully and ergonomically replace the TiVo remote? It would be a nice bonus!

I frequently sleep on the couch in the living room. To head off the inevitable questions, my wife awakes at 5 AM for work, and it's not at all infrequent that I'm going to sleep at 3 or 4 AM after working late on a project (the joys of being self-employed!). The only feature (that I was aware of at the time of purchase, anyway) that my Denon receiver didn't have was a timer. I would really, really like it if I could listen to a CD on a sleep-timer-controlled system at night. (My TV has a sleep timer, but then I get involved in the program and stay up even later!) It seems as though the MX-700 doesn't offer timer features, but from some page on remotecentral where asked about features desired to produce a list of matching remotes, the MX-700 shows up. Can anyone confirm whether it has sleep and/or wake timers or not?

Finally, are there any current recommendations for dealers? There was talk of open box vs. new, authorized dealers and non-authorized dealers, and even discussion that the 700 looked like it was about to get replaced. Does anyone have any current recommendations on purchasing one?

Sorry if these questions are pretty basic… I think sophisticated remotes (much like the aforementioned TiVo) really can't be appreciated without actually using one for a month or two. I'll bop around remotecentral.com too, but I wouldn't expect to find these specific answers there and, besides, I like and trust you people more!

As if my original post wasn't long enough, I've thought of two more questions!!

Does anyone use the MX-700 in combination with the Denon 3805? Is there any comparison at all between the Denon's remote and the MX-700? It seems like some really like the Denon remote, but it might just be that they've never used a really excellent remote. (Neither have I, but it would be nice to know how they compare!).

A recently purchased PDA has NEVO software, which is basically a programmable-remote software program. I really haven't explored it much yet except to discover that you seem to spend too much time switching "pages" to get to additional functions and you really have to use the stylus if you have normal, man-sized fingers.

But out of curiosity, has anyone here tried NEVO as a universal-remote solution?

Mark,

Ya gotta download the MX Editor Software, and the MX Editor Programming Manual and fool with the software a bit. You'll get the best idea of what the remote can do by doing that.

In reply to:

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My old Sony remote would not be able to recognize 4 different disk players, are there any limits such as this with the MX-700?

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I'm not sure what you mean by "recognize," but the MX-700 can certainly control 4 different disk players. The "Main" screen has 2 pages. All 10 hard buttons along the screen, are fully programmable, and can be labeled anything you want, up to 5 characters. So, 2 pages with 10 buttons for each page, means you can control up to 20 different devices. You can have DVD-1, DVD-2, DVD-3, etc. Or you can label them "Sony1,"Sony2," etc. Whatever you want.

When you press your DVD-1 button, the screen changes from the "Main" screen to one titled "DVD-1." And, that screen has up to 4 pages, 10 buttons per page. That's 40 commands, PLUS all the other hard buttons on the remote, to control one device.

I have page one of my "Main" page set up to control specific tasks - "TV" (for just watching the news), "TV+
RC" (for watching TV with the sound coming from my receiver), "Mov-1" (for watching a DVD on my Bravo); etc. My "Main" page two is set up to control each individual component - cable box, TV, Bravo D2 DVD player, CD player, VCR, lights, and the all important "Switch" function.

When I push the Mov-1 button, the screen is switched from "Main" to one titled "Mov-1." Then I push the "ON" button, that one button turns on my DVD player and opens the tray; turns on my receiver and switches it's input to "DVD"; turns on my HDTV and pauses for 25 seconds while the lamp warms up and turns on, then switches the input from S-Video 1 to the DVI input, and turns the TV volume down to "0." All I have to do now is put the DVD in the tray and close the tray. Viola! Movie!

If I finish my movie, and want to watch TV, I hit the "Main" button which takes me back to the "Main" screen, hit the "Page" button, which takes me to Page 2 of the "Main" screen, then hit "Switch" which takes me to the "Switch" screen where I have macros programmed to switch me from one function to another. It takes just 2 seconds to hit those 3 buttons, bing bang boom. Then I press the "RetTV" (Return to TV) button, and that one button closes the DVD tray; turns off the DVD player; turns on the cable box; switches inputs on my receiver and shuts it off; turns up the TV volume and switches the TV input from "DVI" to "S-Video 1". Viola! TV!

The MX-700 has the ability to program a time delay into a macro, but the longest delay you can program is 60 seconds. So, I don't think you can use it for a sleep timer.

I'm seeing an open box special on bluedo.com for $189.

What's your experience with battery life, Jack? Does it eat through them pretty quickly?

one thing to remember is if the different CD players use the same codes, there is no way to differentiate which CD player you want to receive the code.

For instance....if you have two Sony jukeboxes, and choose to hit "play"....both those jukeboxes will get that command.

Dealers:

BlueDo.com: Authorized Dealer; $187.41; free shipping with code MX7OB2

SurfRemoteControl: Authorized Dealer; $189.95; $8 off shipping with code SHIPDISC

Consumer-Direct.com: UNAUTHORIZED DEALER; $179.95; shipping $12.67

Battery life has been good. I haven't really tracked it, but I've replaced them once, just a few weeks ago, since I got the remote in May. And I'm a fairly heavy user. The remote was still working when I replaced the batteries, but the light was VERY dark, so I put new ones in. You can probably figure on, at least, 4 months per battery change, give or take.

Not bad at all. I would have guessed much worse for such a powerful device.

I think the light takes a lot of power, but I find I don't use it all that much. If I used it more often, the battery life might be shorter. Don't really know for sure.

In reply to:

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Is there any comparison at all between the Denon's remote and the MX-700?

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I have the 3805 and the MX-700. Once I programed everything that I needed into the 700 I put the Denon remote in the drawer and never looked back. The Denon remote, while looking kind of cool with it's blue lights, is no match for the capabilities of the MX-700. It's like going from a Dodge Neon to a 500 series BMW. The Denon remote was ok for operating the receiver but not very intuitive for the rest of the HT gear and I grew tired of it very quickly.

By programing the the MX-700 using the MX-Editor program, I know exactly where everything is when I need it because I set it up myself. The MX-Editor is easy to use even for the computer illiterate like me. There is seemingly nothing this thing can't do (although I haven't figured out what to do about devices that don't have discreet on/off codes but I'm sure there is a work around. I just haven't taken the time to look for it.)

I didn't like the psuedo touch pad of the Denon remote (not really crazy about touch screens at all). I absoultly love the hard button layout of the 700 and it is easy to speed through the pages for each piece of equipment that you've setup. You can program up to four pages of functions for each device if you wanted to. I find that I can get all of the most used functions on the first page and use the remainder of the pages for the less used functions. I don't have to spend a lot of time switching pages for day to day operation.

I hated the way the backlight on the denon would go off as you were trying to figure out what you were going to do next and then have to shake it again to get the light to come on. The 700 has a hard button to turn the backlight on/off and if you leave the light on it will turn itself off after a generous amount of time. It does not burn batteries like the Denon remote did either.

I like the way the 700 feels in the hand but because it is a somewhat large remote it is sometimes easier to use two hands. It has a hefty feel to it (unlike the Denon remote) and the surface texture of the 700 feels good to the touch.....no touchy/feely jokes please.

I bought my 700 at bluedo.com as open box for $189.82. I have spent a lot of crazy money on HT/audio gear over the years and I can honestly say that the 700 is one of the top 3 best purchases I've ever made.

Before I bought mine (and even after), I got a lot of help at the remotecentral.com message boards. Lots of very remote savy folks (and a few bonafide experts) over there willing to help.

Having said all this, and at the risk of stating the obvious, I don't think this remote and many others of it's high end ilk (Pronto,Harmony, etc.) is for everyone. I think it would be hard for the nonaudiophile to appreciate the capabilities of these kinds of powerful remotes as they are designed for the true enthusiast who is passionate enough to put in the time and effort on these things. Most people if not all in my circle of friends are just as happy with the 8-in-1 "universal" that they bought at Wal-Fart.

It's too bad there is no try before you buy 30 day return policy on these things.