Pronto Poll Good or Bad

[gram99]

I have had a pronto now for the past year and I am thinking about selling it. I think its a great way to do away with all your remotes lying about but sometimes I just feel its a bit fiddly and there are not enough hard buttons on it. What do others think of the pronto?

[Bapapapa]

Too bulky, lack of hard buttons, fear factor of dropping it on a wooden floor (esp. with small children), takes ages (if ever) to get the best from it, always found myself looking at the screen too much when I wanted to select something are just some of the downsides.

Missus made me reluctantly sell mine, but I'm not missing it at all, tbh, as my Yammy receiver remote controls *all* my kit anyway.

Still, if you like fiddling with gadgets, have money to burn, a load of kit with 7 or 8 remotes lying around & most of all a ton of patience to get the most out of it, then I can see the attraction.

[Urban Tiger]

Bit opposite to Baps :)

I have wooden floor + child (3YO) and have had mine for about 18 months. Found it invaluable and would not go back to standard remotes for any amount of money.

If you have the patience to program it properly, you will be justly rewarded. If you cannot be arsed, its pointless buying one as it will just frustrate you.

Before I bought mine (2nd hand), I had already downloaded the software and spent a few hours designing a CCF file from the ones available on RemoteCentral. Kept downloading DVD files until I got one I liked, then the same for amp, CD etc and hacked them all together. When the Pronto arrived I relearnt the buttons to my equipment, a few small tweaks and it was up and running.

In time I have put buttons from some equipment on other pages ie, some useful TV function buttons are copied onto my DVD page so you dont have to swap pages to use them.

I can fully understand some people not getting on with them, my mate had one and sold his because he couldnt be bothered with it.

Gram99, if you are not happy with it, sell it before its superceded by other models, your reasons for selling it are fully justified. The fact you have had it for a year and its annoying you is good enough reason :)

[Gizmo]

How much?;)

[Grizzo]

Gram - could be quite interested in it if you do decide to sell. I'm currently persuading myself that I need one :D

So if you do decide to get rid let me know the model details and how much you are after :)

Edit: bummer, beaten to it again :(

[AndyWilson]

Just realised I never use mine anymore!

Well, that was £350 well spent!!!

:(

[kcxdev]

I bought mine from the forum classifieds about a month back and have to say I'm glad I never paid full whack for it... no matter how I design the layout (big buttons vs less pages :rolleyes: ) I still find it a little too fiddly. But as Urban Tiger says its nice to be able to prgram different function from different equipment on the same page. I have everything programmed into it but still find myself using the original sky digital remote cos I scan the channels (favourites and banner stuff) and find hard buttons much easier. It would be nice if the batteries lasted longer as well.

[Edith]

Had mine for approx 6 months now. Paid £125 from Lets Automate and it has turned out to be money well spent, myself and the wife could not do without it.
I was a bit worried that i wouldn't get on with a touch screen at first but now its second nature. I don't miss the original remotes at all but thats probably cos their god-awful designs anyway (Pace itvDig - Pioneer 545 - Denon 3802 etc). For me the best things about it are:

1) Macro's, discretes and X10 control. For example - watch dvd - 1 button press to change 5 different devices to a particular state. Without discrete control of all devices it would become fiddly and lose all its appeal to me.

2) Ir Power - it NEVER misses!

3) PC Programming gives you flexibility & excellent support via 1000's of other users on the web - Remotecentral.com.

Bad things:

1) Needs hard cursor keys.

2) Screen could be brighter and higher res.

3) Tis a complete **** to learn to program (was for me anyway).

It is by no means perfect but i don't think theres anything to touch it for the price. Roll on the day when you can pick up a Marantz 9200 (hi-res, colour, cursor keys etc) for £500 and i'll be first in the queue.

[MikeC]

Had mine for about 6 months now and I'm please with it but as has already been said it could do with a few more hard buttons for the more common operations.

It'll be interesting to see if we in the UK get the new ProntoNeo (or something like that) which has more hard buttons but a smaller screen (I think).

[Just]

Couldn't live without mine having had it for 3 months. I spent about 10-15 hours programming the setup in it now, but it is as near to perfect as a remote setup can be - for me.

Things that make it essential for me other than the fact that it is a truly universal remote are;

Always up to date with new kit, supernudelist for my MP3 server, macros and then some.

[gram99]

I have not spent as much time as maybe I should setting up the various screens. I will give it another go and see if investing time in them makes it more intuitive.

[MartinC]

yes, you really do need to spend time on your layout,
and maybe work on what you want to do in
particular tasks (ie... watching a DVD, etc).

makes all the difference... otherwise you've just
copied the remote's functions directly
and have none of the advantages the pronto can give you.

e.g... on my start screen, I've got one button for watching
a DVD... (switch TV on to 9, TV sound off, amp on & to DVD,
switch DVD on & either eject for new disc or playing if one in...etc).
works a treat... sure my wife would enjoy doing this with 3-4 remotes!

Also similar to Just, I've also got mine setup with
Supernudelist for a 300 CD Changer down to track level,
and can use it from any of 5 rooms around the house...
makes using CDs completely different... really fun,
and impossible without a Pronto at this price level.

[threadkiller]

Jad one for nigh on 2 years now, 3 configs, and still experimenting. wouldn't be without it :D

[homerjhandley]

Had mine for over a year.

only the DVD, Ondigi and video are setup, the amp and tv are just basic buttons.

BUT

The dvd :D from the control i can control the dvd (all functions) change the volume (amp) and change the aspect and TV input if needed from just the dvd screens.

the ondigi - basically the same as the dvd

video, same again

the TV - I just found a ccf on the net that would control my tv. with the bonus of direct control of brightness/etc with no need to go the the pic menu unlike normally. Its a sony TV so most sony ccf's should work.

the amp. I just have the radio stations set up, so i press the station logo and the amp goes to the relevent preset. I dont fiddle with the settings so nothing more ios really needed.

The best use is when watching a dvd or ondigi. I only need the one control next to me (instead of 2 or 3)

[Paul.B]

Love mine, i couldn't ever use the originals again. Fair comment about the hard buttons but it doesn't really bother me, but hey nothing ever is perfect.

As others have said if you are willing to put the time into arranging a good ccf great, if not then its not worth it.

[mardyChris]

Bought One from the classifieds and my new GF nocked it out of bed onto the onto the wooden floor. I tonly broke the backlight button. Then last week after the Office Crimbo Party a glass of waterwas nocked onto it, so there is now water in the touch screen.

Arggh! I wouldn't buy one again as they're too easily broken.

[MikeToone]

I've had one for about a year and just love it.

I'd endorse what has been said before, you have to spend time setting it up.

Before mine arrived I was checking out the various pronto sites for CCF file that related to my kit, then merged various CCF's into the CCF I wanted, then spent time editing this.

All together I probably spent 1 - 2 weeks getting it right, but since then I have had very little to do except add new Sky Digi icons when new channels arrived.

I control the Philips TV, Mitsubishi Video, Tosh DVD, Yam Receiver, Panasonic Sky Box and Panasonic Camcorder.

[MarkyD]

I've had mine for about 6 months and like it. However I've done some tweaking but not enough which means I know how to use it but other people get confused.

Does anybody know if you can use discrete codes or macros to select the external device button to Ext3 regardless of what channel it is on. (normally it's a toggle ie ext1 Ext2 Ext3 etc)

Also does anybody have a pronto ccf for the Pioneer NS-DV55 if so any chance of getting a copy.

[kcxdev]

Originally posted by MarkyD
Does anybody know if you can use discrete codes or macros to select the external device button to Ext3 regardless of what channel it is on. (normally it's a toggle ie ext1 Ext2 Ext3 etc)

If its a Sony TV that you have, remotecentral have discrete codes for external AV channels

[MarkyD]

I'm afraid not it's a toshiba 32ZD98B however it's given me hope that it may be possible. Thanks

[kcxdev]

Originally posted by MarkyD
I'm afraid not it's a toshiba 32ZD98B however it's given me hope that it may be possible. Thanks

http://www.remotecentral.com/files/sysd48.htm

Chris Bowie's Pronto
Complete UK based system using many ideas/buttons from others, plus some new ones. Includes macros for selecting specific inputs on Toshiba TV...

His TV is a 40PW8DB (UK), if tosh use generic codes like sony do then its worth a try I guess...

[MarkyD]

Thanks mate downloaded it will have a look for ideas. I got one earlier that included a macro to change to the tv channel first then up n number of times depending on which external you wanted. Not the best way but should be good enough.

[mbuckhurst]

I love mine... if I ever dropped it I would replace asap.

Like everyone else it's value can only be realised by spending time programming it.

For me the best bit is the ability to control several devices with a single button, now if phone rings (or the wc beckons) and I'm watching a DVD, a single button pauses the DVD, turns the lights on/up and mutes the amp, pressing pause again then puts the lights back to the preferred DVD watching ambience, unmutes the amp, rewinds the dvd a few frames and play continues.

And my partner loves it aswell.

mike

[pjweston]

Originally posted by MarkyD
Does anybody know if you can use discrete codes or macros to select the external device button to Ext3 regardless of what channel it is on. (normally it's a toggle ie ext1 Ext2 Ext3 etc)
Not entirely sure if this is what you're after, but on my Tosh. the trick is to first enter a TV channel number - which drops the TV back to its internal tuner - and then issue the appropriate number of AV presses. For example, to always select my DVD on EXT3 I issue '0 - AV - AV - AV'. Note that this sort of trick can be a great help when programming the Pronto...
Originally posted by MartinC
and maybe work on what you want to do in particular tasks (ie... watching a DVD, etc).As Martin suggests, I found that the key to using the Pronto successfully was to avoid using it as a direct replacement for each remote. Try instead to mix the various remote functions into a combined 'watch DVD' device (for instance) so that all the major functions you use when watching a DVD are together on a single page (or two).

Overall I find it a great gadget and all of my remotes have finally been consigned to a distant drawer. I'd like an extra two hard buttons, though, if only because they'd save using the backlight (which eats up the batteries).

Finally, a tip which has been of great help to me when programming (my apologies to those for whom find this is terribly obvious): For each device, create a few hidden pages on which you store all the device's functions. Don't make these pages at all tidy - as they'll never be viewed - but do label the buttons meaningfully. Then, when designing your layout, simply use the 'alias' function to refer to the buttons on the hidden page(s). This way you really will never need the original remote again as you never run the risk of erasing the learned codes. It also encourages you to design better layouts. ;)