I got mine from dougtheaterman on eBay, had no problem. Brand new. It was here in good time and I love the remote. Still programming it to walk on water..

If it last a year, its worth the $200. By then it will be obolete anyway..

Dougtheaterman is a good guy. I have bought 6 mx-700's from him. One was DOA for somebody on the AV123 board and he exchanged it, but I can't speak for long term support. Fortunately the mx series are so well made that if they work out of the box you are probably good for a long time.

thanks for your replies guys i think i will go the ebay rout then.

Why was the "off" added to page 2 instead of the real off button for the 990? AKA MX-700 file above...

Gonk, you have mentioned using the MX-500. Do you think that it is one of the better remotes?
I found one for $85.00 on BlueDo and I am considering it. I am new to universal remotes and programming them so I am somewhat concerned about my ability to effectively set it up. What would be the major advantage in moving up to the MX-700? I would appreciate hearing about your experience with the remote.

I know you didn't ask me, but I'll put in my two pennies anyway. I just bought an MX-700 (open box from BlueDo). It shipped today so I'll have it Wednesday. Anyway, I went with the Universal Remote series over the Harmony series because of the layout. Specifically, the shuttle controls and directional pad in the center closely resemble my Tivo remote and I really like the way those work.

I chose the 700 over the 500 for two main reasons, the added macro flexibility and the software programming capability. I've been playing with the software and have it mostly configured, but I have to wait to get the remote to test a few things before I can finish it up.

This is my first foray into the "real" universal remote scene and I chose one that I thought would not only be easy (and fun?) to program, but that also seemed pretty future proof as the software can always download new codes from the net. Plus, if you have a device that isn't in their database, you might be able to find a file (such as on Remote Central) where someone else has done the work for you.

I've used an MX-500 for almost two years, and recently upgraded to an MX-700. While I've moved up to the 700, I still think the MX-500 is a great remote - especially for the price offered at BlueDo (which is where I got my 500). The interface on the MX-500 is very user-friendly - a co-worker was able to set his up with very little coaxing from me. You can teach the 500 to control most any system, even if you've never used a universal remote before. If you want a detailed summary of my experience with the 500 and some tips on setting it up, try my review of it.

The MX-700 uses a different interface for setup - instead of directly programming it, you have to use the Windows software. The MX-700 offers more macro support (basically any button on the remote can store a macro), support for more devices (20 instead of 10), and two extra pages of commands for each device.