hey guys, i've heard alot of people talk about the mx500 remote, and it looks pretty cool, but has anybody heard of the Sony RM-AV3100, it can be bought for the same price as the mx500, and to me looks like alot more remote for the price, has anyone compared the two ?

I used a Sony RM-AV2100 prior to getting my Model 950. The disadvantages I found with the Sony were the size (it will take two hands to operate most functions except volume control, even for someone with big hands) and the limited customization capability of the touchscreen (each button space had between one and three labels to choose from, and in many cases none of them quite fit with my needs). Plus the cats tended to walk across it and change things very easily (input, volume, mute, ...). We actually preferred the SL-9000 remote that came with the Model 950 to the AV2100, and the MX-500 was a nice step up from the 950's remote.

Never used the Sony but I did use a Pronto for about 2 years. To this day its always been my favorite remote, but unfortunately I could never get used to it not having hard buttons. Its so nice to be able to use a guide or tivo without having to look at the remote first. I originally switched to the mx-500 and eventually moved to the mx-700. The mx series, IMO, is the most functional line of remotes I have ever used, but if touchscreen is your thing I would whole heartily recommend the Pronto.

i guess by "alot more remote" i was mainly looking at the size of the touchscreen, kinda laptop-esque, plus from what i've read the 3100 has upgraded alot of features since the 2100 and 3000, mostly with the customization, (you can actually create your own labels with whatever you want them to say, and then teach them whichever function you want. I haven't checked out the pronto, i'll had to look at that one. thanks for the replies.

The Pronto offers a lot of customization for the touchscreen - you can draw your own buttons and arrange them any way you like. If you aren't thrown off by the touchscreen in lieu of hard buttons, Pronto's are from all reports great remotes (although a lot of people had trouble with the Pronto Neo, as I recall). My household tends to run smoother with the hard buttons of the MX-500 and MX-700, however.

thats good info. thanks again for the replies. anyone elso please jump on in with your experience.

I made a quick stop over at Remote Central to see what their reviews might tell me. I heartily recommend that site if you are remote shopping - it's a great resource for information and files. The labels on the 3100 (and the 2500) are still somewhat restricted - Remote Central has pages showing all of the labels options available for both the 3100 and the 2500 . The MX series has different limitations, of course, since the labels for its buttons are restricted to five characters or less, but a little creativity can make that go a long way.

I owned a sony Rm-AV 3100 briefly and had to return it because it ept freezing up for no apparent reason and the only way to unfreeze it was to remove the batteries wait a while and reinsert.Extremely inconvenient.According to several consumer reviews a lot of people have had this problem including freezing up when the volume control is pressed with the result that the volume goes haywire which might be rather unhealthy for the equipment.I now have the MX-500 and am quite happy with it.
Hope this helps.

I use a pronto, and I really like it. As it has been said in another forum, it was the best upgrade as far as my wife is concerned. We have it configured to control all of the tvs in the house and even the ceiling fan in the bedroom. So....it is very useful. The only "down side" is that with all the custom stuff that you can do, comes a learning curve. After having taken a look over at remote central, I was able to have my pronto working in about 4 days. I am sure that some get it done faster, but for me about 4 days to get things really where I loiked them.

I recomend the pronto series..

nemos, how does it control your ceiling fan ? do you have a infrared remote on your fan ? my universal learning remote that i have now, will not control my fan because my fan uses rf remote instead of infrared.