It's Remotely Possible...!!!

[Muffit]

Hi all!!!

Well, if you're like me, you have acquired a GAZILLION remotes for your home theatre setup. It's so crazy, they ALL say "universal", and /none/ of them are even remotely (sorry ) useful for controlling anything but the device they came with. This daggit has finally HAD IT - I got me a REAL universal remote last night!!!

Yes, Virginia, they DO exist, you just gotta be prepared to shell out anywhere from $200 to $2,000 - just for a stupid twitch switch!!! I sprung for a Sony AV3100, onsale just about everywhere (I got it at Best Buy) for about $200. I wanted to compare it to the Pronto TSU series and a few others, but alas, nobody in sales cares about "low dollar" items enough to show them to ya. (Big sigh). Oh well, so I had to bring it home just to try the darn thing out (the batteries were dead in the display model, not a good sign).

The good news is, yep, it can control just about anything you've got. And despite internet reviews that try to scare you away with "difficult to program" nonsense, it takes about 5 minutes to figure out, which is a far cry from my sprinkler system which takes a degree in quantum physics(!) What I like most are the system and component "macro" keys - you can program up to 32 "steps", so all you need do is press one little key, and whammo, receiver's on, TV's on, cable box is on, all inputs are switched to the desired device, and away you go!!! FINALLY I can get some work done on my computer without my family calling me every five minutes asking "which remote is for the receiver? where did you leave the TV remote? How come the cable remote turns on the VCR instead of the cable box?", yadda, yadda. And it has a nifty cool blue LCD touchscreen with configurable text and buttons. Ah, one remote to rule them all and in the infrared bind them!!!

Now for the downsides, and yes, there are downsides. Despite the best intentions of the remote designers, they have no control over the "features" of my other components. My beautiful TV for instance. It has this /stupid/ Net COmmand system, advertised to be the "future in home theatre control", and the darn thing doesn't recognize ANY of my components - not one!!! Anywho, gone are the nifty input buttons for each video in, now you get this pretty iconic menu you scroll thru. The problem? The Sony remote has no idea which ICON the TV is on to know how many times to press LEFT and RIGHT, etc. to change the TV to DVD or CABLE (and the dumb thing wraps, shoot). Big problem. But this daggit is not to be beaten -- having programmed flight recorders for video games and such, I know there is ALWAYS a way!!! So I simply created a ton of DUMMY video icons till I got 2 vertical lines - cuz when you press UP it always jumps stupidily (ie luckily) to the left margin -- and voila!!! I just program the Sony for MENU, INPUT, RIGHT, UP, UP and it /always/ ends up on the TV icon. And of course UP, UP, RIGHT for the DVD which I placed strategically right next to it. Problem solved!!!

More downs though, it is after all an LCD, and I don't know about you, but the ever popular Gameboy is absolutely unreadable to my middle aged eyes. So too the tiny dim labels on the Sony. Oh well, reading glasses to the rescue. Another thing about touchscreens, there's such a thing as FINGERPRINTS, which after a few uses obscure nearly everything unless you turn the backlight on. Plus they neglected to backlight /any/ of the fixed buttons - good luck finding them in the dark! Last but not least, they do not tell you that only a handful of screen items are re-label-able - that is, the LCD is not a true fully addressable pixel display. The actual screen buttons you push are those annoying "choose one of these or nothing" hard-painted LCD pictograms, so you can't create a button that says "Setup" for instance. Oh well, what do you expect for the price of a 25" color TV???

All in all, though, it succeeds at doing what it sets out to do - eliminate that gaggle of unsightly remotes piled all over your couch. And that is worth two big simoleons .

Some day I'll save up for one of those incredible color plasma, full screen, fully addressable, PC configurable, wonder remotes -- that is, when I have a 308 GTSI tucked nicely in my garage and a Synclavier resting on my desktop... hey, I can dream can't I???

[BST]

Ah, one remote to rule them all and in the infrared bind them!!!

Dare I say, "Precioussssssss"

O

[Muffit]

ROFTL BST!!

Oh, btw, I posthumously researched the other remote (online) that the store didn't have in stock - the Pronto. After half an hour reading reviews and descriptions, I was green as a leprechaun's liver - and promptly brought back my Sony for a refund(!) If you read the corollary notes at Amazon (I think it was there), it notes that 84% of everyone who viewed both the Sony and the Pronto, ended up buying the Pronto. Say no more, say no more!

The Pronto TSU3000 is much smaller, fully addressable, and infinitely customizable (there are even web sites devoted to sharing mods!). Bring on le fromage de la belle Phillips!!!

Silly daggit

[Muffit]

Hello all!!!

Well, I'm having a ton of fun over the holidays playing with my Pronto TSU3000 home theatre remote. Geez, this thing is fun!!! Thought I'd bore -- err -- share some of my experience with you all. If YOU are tired of your coffee table being covered in remotes, and always misplacing the one you need most, you might wanna consider getting one like it too -- after all, if you just spent $6,000 plus on your TV and audio system, it's awfully silly to control it with a $12 remote when there's such awesomely better solutions around!

Here's a pic of the $199 Sony AVM3100 I tried at first:



There's also a cheaper model, the 2500, for only $149. Hey, these'll do it for ya, and they're a piece of cake to program, but read on if you wanna have FUN too...


Here's some pics of my Pronto TSU3000:



It's no harder than a paint program to design your screens with the free PC software, and there are thousands of free device configurations already programmed which you can download, plus a very active chat community. It's only $50 more than the Sony 3100, and way more powerful -- although you will HAVE to buy the recharger/docking station for an extra $70 cuz otherwise it eats batteries like I eat mushies! Oh! Did I mention it can output either infrared OR RF??? That means you can stick your messy audio stuff in a closet anywhere in the room, and even control lights and other stuff in every room in your house.

But... if you REALLY wanna go all out, you can always spring for the $900 top of the line COLOR TFT models (you can find them for as low as $650):



Happy holidays all!!!!!!!!!!! Power off please... err, End of Line... err, ah heck, now if only my PC took IR codes....

[thomas7g]

HOLY CRAP!

Can that thing order pizza?!?!?!

I think you may need a bachelors degree in remote controls to use that!

[Muffit]

Originally Posted by thomas7g

HOLY CRAP!

Can that thing order pizza?!?!?!

I think you may need a bachelors degree in remote controls to use that!

Actually, once it's set up, it's /way/ easier than a regular OEM remote. I set ours up so the main screen has just 3 buttons - "Watch TV", "Watch DVD" and "All Off". After that, it simply emulates both the appearance and functionality of our original remote(s) (minus all the dumb buttons we never need anyway).

Ooh, Thomas... there's also a growing market for graphic artists/layout designers for these...

Thanks for replying!

[thomas7g]

I was actually looking at a job that was similiar to this an hour ago on the web.




I know how you feel with alot of remotes. I got a ton of them! And I also have some univeral programable ones that are being used cause the originals have a few buttons that don't work. But then progamable ones don't always have every button you need so you still need the original.....

[Muffit]

Originally Posted by thomas7g

I was actually looking at a job that was similiar to this an hour ago on the web.




I know how you feel with alot of remotes. I got a ton of them! And I also have some univeral programable ones that are being used cause the originals have a few buttons that don't work. But then progamable ones don't always have every button you need so you still need the original.....

Cool!!

That was exactly my difficulty -- too many "universal" remotes and /none/ of them had special buttons like "setup", and "format", and "wide" and so forth. Every OEM remote has at least 5 or 6 specialty buttons that are never on any universal remote. That's why the Pronto is so cool!!! You can put ANY buttons you want on the screen... and program them to do ANYTHING. In fact, I put some of the TV and receiver control buttons right on my Pronto DVD remote screen - that way EVERYTHING I might possibly need while watching a DVD is grouped together on one single, glow in the dark, clearly labeled screen. You know, kinda like a DESIGN YOUR PERFECT REMOTE in an hour or less! Virtually unlimited screens, drop in graphics or draw your own, buttons as big or small as you want, I even got mine to play music!

It's like having Adobe Photoshop for your home theatre -- change it as often as you like to make it better and better, just like all the cool and wonderful things you have done here at Fleets. I think it's a whole new undiscovered world people need to try to believe...

G'nite Thomas!!

[thomas7g]

ya know... YOu could be like Al on Quantum Leap now.



But I know what you mean by all those buttons being hard to replace. That thing sounds pretty cool!

Though I'm scared of it!!!!!

Though.....if you can program it to do anything....how about programming it on the same frequency of that neighbor who plays his stereo too loud?

[Muffit]

ROTFL Thomas!! Now THAT would be a useful feature! Of course, the neighbor would have to have an RF receiver attached to his equipment for that to work (uh, give him a Christmas present?? ).

Don't feel bad if it seems daunting, my entire family, both immediate and remote (aargh, sorry), feels the same way you do.

It's so funny we as Americans in the most technologically advanced place in the world, are, for the most part, techno-phobic and even "techno-ignorant" if I might say so. In 1980, I saw a documentary on Japan, and technology was so well embraced and understood, you could find logic components at the corner Quicky-Mart! At that same time, it took me HOURS scanning the yellow pages to find even ONE electronics store with anything more advanced than simple resistors! Too weird. The Japanese people embrace things so much quicker than us, like HDTV which took almost 12 years to get here (and still isn't, for the most part). The rationale was that we didn't want people to be forced to go out and buy a new set - umm, hmm!!! Then why do we force people to buy a new PC every year just so they can run a GAME? A nice 32" console TV is what? like $450. Your average PC video card costs that much, not to mention the whole system. That's why I don't understand that kind of reasoning. It seems we are just trying to cover our hidden fear of change.

I love classical Greek teaching methodology, I really do, but if we as the proletariat and bourgeoisie collective ( ) are to compete in this ever changing world, we need to spend /a lot/ more time teaching our youth technology, and a lot less time on sociology, anthropology, history, and the like. Ask any 8 year old how Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity, and every one will tell you kite, jar and key. But ask those same kids how a transistor works, the fundamental building block of modern society, and you will get blank stares.

I know I'm a bit daring myself (foolhardy?) when it comes to techy stuff, but I wasn't always that way. I guess it's all about changing trepidation, not to acceptance, but actually to an embrace... transforming our negative fears and reluctance to positive optimism and expectation. Ooh, SOAP BOX ALERT!!!! Crazy daggit yapping again!!!

Btw, if you think THIS is crazy, wait till you see my New Years Rez for this year - building a talking kitchen!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bsg1fan1975]

around Thanksgiving last yeart when we spent it with my parents they gave us a tv they were given by a friend of mine. They had no use for it so they gave it to us. We had two tvs, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. The one in our bedroom only got 45 cable channels so we were in the hunt that would allow us to continue to watch a movie or tv show we had started in the living room prior to going to bed. So we took the tv we had been offered the only down side was that we needed to get a remote for it. so we got a universal remote (a cheapie) and hubby went off trying to program it. Now mind you he is around computers all day and could not get the remote to program so I took over and withing 5 minutes of taking over I got it to work!

[Muffit]

Wow, that's great Bsg!! You must be the SMART one in the family!

It's funny, I've been perusing the web on feedback from users of these new fancy remotes, and ya know, it's amazing how many people just give up and send 'em back, posting nasty comments about needing a degree in quantum physics and the like And some are even network people!! (Which is weird, cuz all the network folks I know could run circles around me).

I can't understand it - it's incredibly easy! I still get lost trying to remember how to do stuff in Word and Excel, yet remote programming is like riding a bike - ya just get on and pedal, duh!!! Just type in your component's 4 digit device number (from a list), (or on the Pronto select it from a dropdown menu), and away you go! Or worst case, put your OEM remote front to front with the universal remote, and just press LEARN. As McCoy would say, "A child could do it... a child!!"

As far as "programming" the menu screens, there is NO programming at all -- just drag your pictures from your computer onto the simulated Pronto screen, and attach an action by selecting it from a goof-proof menu. It's more like laying out a high school yearbook than anything else!

Anywho, thanks for your reply!!!

[bsg1fan1975]

Well it was just that hubby never had to deal with using or programming a universal remote before.

[martok2112]

Good Lord, Muffit.

Judging by the looks of those remotes...if you buy enough of them, you could literally make your favorite seat look like a frackin' Captain's chair from Star Trek: TNG.


BTW, can those things fire phasers and photons?

Irreverently,
Martok2112

[Muffit]

LOL Martok!

Can they fire phasers? Hmm... I suppose if your enemy is susceptible to infrared radiation, they might just work in a pinch...

On that same note (light frequency?), I want to get some guides on infrared do-it-yourself stuff now, cuz it seems to me I could have a BLAST with this thing -- you know, program it to ring the doorbell so my family can go crazy, teach it my daughter's laptop IR codes and make her mouse go nuts, innocent stuff like that

These things have built-in timers as well, so you could use it with X10 stuff to randomly cycle your lights while you're away, turn the radio on an annoying station so the burglar covers his ears and runs out screaming, etc.

Can you tell I'm having FUN with this???!!!#$%^&

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by Muffit

LOL Martok!

Can they fire phasers? Hmm... I suppose if your enemy is susceptible to infrared radiation, they might just work in a pinch...

On that same note (light frequency?), I want to get some guides on infrared do-it-yourself stuff now, cuz it seems to me I could have a BLAST with this thing -- you know, program it to ring the doorbell so my family can go crazy, teach it my daughter's laptop IR codes and make her mouse go nuts, innocent stuff like that

These things have built-in timers as well, so you could use it with X10 stuff to randomly cycle your lights while you're away, turn the radio on an annoying station so the burglar covers his ears and runs out screaming, etc.

Can you tell I'm having FUN with this???!!!#$%^&

Most definitely, Dearest Muffit.

hmmm...me thinks some Muffitry is at work.

A remote control version of "Ding Dong Ditch." Oy, I can see the hair pulling now.

Muffit, did you ever see the TNT original "Pirates of Silicon Valley" about Bill Gate$ and $teve Job$? There was a scene where (in their college days) one of $teve Job$ friends had a small device that he could interfere with a television's reception. He was using this to amuse himself at the expense of one rather rotund tv viewer. He would jam the signal. Frustrated, the viewer would get up..and the signal would miraculously clear itself by the time he got 3/4 of the way to the tv. Funny scene.

Irreverently,
Martok2112

[thomas7g]

Originally Posted by Muffit

(Which is weird, cuz all the network folks I know could run circles around me).

Trust me... we are dumber than our webpages look.

Don't look at the man behind the emerald curtain working all the magic!

[Muffit]

Originally Posted by thomas7g

Trust me... we are dumber than our webpages look.

Don't look at the man behind the emerald curtain working all the magic!

ROTFL THomas!

Hi again dear Martok!! I'm not sure if I saw that exact special, but I did see one like it. I do know the well-beloved Steve Wozniak used to play all kinds of pranks like that, some of them hilarious!

I remember lots of nifty tricks fluttering around the fledgling techie industry back in the 80's, like using an Oscar Mayer Wiener whistle to hack free long distance calls, and building a little pitch-emitting box to use pay phones for free. People used to post modem phone numbers on bulletin boards for all sorts of naughty things - banks, airlines, even defense numbers(!) (And NO! I did not try any of them -- hey, I may be crazy, but I'm not THAT crazy!! ).

Mostly back then, it was all in fun. Nobody meant any harm, it was really just a mental challenge thing -- "Can I figure this out and be smarter than people who get paid for it?" And it was mostly kids and young adults, just trying to explore the bitstreams in a pre-Internet world. Some of them even got $$$ jobs out of it, as net security!

I never did anything naughty like that -- well, don't look at me that way -- okay, I DID write autoexec and other boot programs on management's computers when they were away to make them laugh and help folks relax at work. Never anything harmful, just games and tunes and lots of silly jokes like talking cats, and of course, I added my share of menu options to their work software which let you print out fake layoff announcements and breaking the rules punishable by death signs.

Just to make people laugh. And only that. Hey, what's the point in being alive if we're not having fun???

[martok2112]

LOL...it's funny you mention those particular things about Steve Wozniak...because they actually cover those things in Pirates of Silicon Valley.