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Posted by Gunther Gloop on 10/22/06 22:07
POD {ҿ} wrote:
> Thinking of splashing the cash on one of these, but all the reviews
> over at Amazon appear to be placed by newbies who all claim
> difficulty in setting it up, is is tough or are they lame?
If I was living in a house with no children I'd have 2 Prontos and
nothing else.
Most people seem to swear by the Harmonys, but I think this is more a result
of them having spent 100+ and not wanting to face reality.
The website is good. The support is good. But there are waay too many
"little niggles" that drive me demented.
I have the 885 and the cheaper/older 650 (both in the living room). I was
intending to replace the 650 with the 885, but there really isn't much of an
improvement to warrant the replacing.
As a result we use both regularly... ie. when one is "lost" behind the
radiator or down the back of the sofa, or when the baby has hidden it at the
bottom of a toybox... we then use the other.
The 885 is nice -feels well, looks gorgeous, but the buttons are flush and
are often hard to find without looking -which is the biggest plus that is
_should_ have over, say, a Pronto.
"Style over functionality" I'm afraid.
The older one has almost all the same options and last I heard they were
being sold in Dixons bargain bin for 20quid.
The "extras" on the 885 are almost all unuseable anyway... you need to press
a button to get to a screen that does 'macro-type' channel switching -ie.
presses a series of numbers to switch to a channel direct... but it's not
possible/easy to do it for more complicated channel switching like to those
that are not part of the default SKY range of channels.
And that extra button-press means it is never used... much faster just to
key in the digits.
If I had a standard telly, with standard vcr and dvd player and never had to
do anything "silly" like change aspect ratio or sound setup on the tv, I'm
sure a Harmony would do the job great... maybe I'd even manage to throw away
all the other remotes in the room (something I haven't done to date), but I
know I'll always be adding "up n' coming" things that always bring their own
problems anyway.
Prontos are old looking now. I'm surprised there aren't _real_
competition/alternatives to them just yet (there are new Prontos coming that
look more like Harmonys... I'm unconvinced) -or at least revamped more
stylised Prontos (I know there are colour ones, but far too expensive...
better off with a PDA I'd say).
In short... I haven't been happy with any remote control apart from my
Pronto -but I have spent the time to "develop" my Pronto screens a lot,
so that makes me somewhat more attached to it.
I'm sure you'd get along ok with the Harmony... much easier to use for
quick-access -and it might look nicer in the living room.
My older (now broken) Marantz 2000 Mark II (or whatever it was called) is a
pretty ugly top-heavy beast of a thing, but I would rate it a close second
to the Pronto -a lot higher than the Harmony.
I'm not sure if they're made any longer. Mine doesn't work at all. Not sure
what happened. I suspect that my daughter might have dipped it in Lucozade
or something.
Oh and one more thing I just remembered... I can't use my 885 anymore, since
it doesn't recharge when placed on its dock (the dock comes as part of the
package and its the only way to charge the 'non-generic' batteries. I think
non-generic batteries should be outlawed.)
I think maybe the 'metal strips' on either the remote or the dock have
"fallen in" too much so they no longer make contact
Must go back.
These are my views. You'll have to judge for yourself what's right for you.
:)
-Kevin.
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