Review on 📺 Revolutionize Your TV Experience with the Universal Remote Control MX-850 IR/RF Aeros Remote Control by Laura Jones

I'm a little unsure how to rate this. The remote works almost flawlessly, especially compared to the Harmony remotes I've had before. On the downside, since the manufacturer obviously favors professional installers, there are a number of artificial obstacles that make it difficult to get started, although programming the remote is a fairly elementary exercise once you finally get started. Based on my previous experience with two Harmony remotes, the majority of this review is mainly comparing them. The remote itself works much better with my devices than the Harmony remotes. In particular, the interface with my Moxi DVR has become much better, and the central ring buttons feel much nicer. It's really like day and night. It also doesn't have the pesky Harmony "feature" of storing so many "volume up" keystrokes in memory and then slowly but surely relaying those requests for a few seconds, increasing the volume to a level where the user desperately tries to change it and lower the volume (all to no avail, as Harmony must first reliably transmit any volume up request before it recognizes the volume down request). This little Harmony feature is a real problem when the remote is being manipulated by young children. Also, this unit seems to have a much better build quality than the Harmony remotes I've had. They tend to wear out and need replacing (I've worn out 2 of these in about 3 years). I haven't had it long enough to know, but I suspect it will be a lot longer. It also doesn't drain the batteries as quickly, but I can only imagine that. In terms of functionality, I am very satisfied with this remote control. I would give 10 stars for this part if I could and I don't even use the RF function. The only functional complaint I might have is that the device libraries aren't as extensive as Harmony's, and at least one of my devices (the Cary CD player) has discrete on/off codes (rather than toggle codes) . ) that didn't have this library. no But in general I feel that the code libraries for this remote are more accurate and reliable for the devices included since the Harmony libraries are said to have been provided by the users themselves. So that's a compromise I'll accept. I might think differently when there are new devices that aren't covered by software or libraries that I can download (see below for more on this). First, there is no software in the box and the instructions for getting it are pretty cryptic. In fact, if memory serves me, I wouldn't know how to get programming software if there weren't online reviews. Second, the programmer's guide is not downloaded with the software and is not available on their website. I had to search Remote Central for a manual. Finally, the lack of a USB interface meant I had to spend quite a bit of time figuring out how to communicate with their serial COM port. As others have said, the software you can download doesn't seem to have an auto-update feature that updates the product libraries for you. I don't know if that means I can just re-download the software to get a more up-to-date library, or if I'm sure. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong. Anyway, once you get comfortable with the presets, programming this remote isn't as bad as others have made it out to be, but it's just a pain at first. Once I started and got used to the software, I found programming more fun than the Harmony remotes. It is more flexible and allows the user to trust their own intelligence a little more. It's also much better to work with the software on your own computer (instead of interacting over the internet for every little change). Downloading it from the internet onto my Harmony for each timing setting was a hassle, especially since I had to constantly experiment with delays and such to try and get the Harmony to work better as a volume control and Moxi. The ability to save different configurations in different files is also a plus, as it may require going back to an old device rather than having to start from scratch. As far as hiring a pro to code, I would recommend that you try your hardest yourself instead. Everyone has different preferences and your page layout preferences will change as you get used to it. Also, most of our attitudes change over time. Calling the installer callback for every little tweak would be a royal pain and probably costly. The value of the remote would be greatly diminished for me if I didn't program it myself. If you're not tech savvy enough to be comfortable with this, this remote control might not be for you.