Howdy, new Outlaw from Maine. Took delivery of the 990 Thursday but 7500 hasn't come yet. Thought I'd jump on the upgrade right off, and realized that the minimum system is Windows ME. I'm running Windows 98. For fear of "not following the instructions exactly", has anyone upgraded their 990 using Windows 98 as the operating system? Hope to hear from someone on this very rainy day here in Maine.

I'm afraid that I haven't - although if I had a 98 box around the house I'd try it and let you know (main system runs XP and the old laptop has the dreaded ME). You might drop Outlaw a line and see if they or anyone they've talked to has done it.

Gonk, thanks for the quick reply. I've been reading this site for 4 months, been to your site, and feel I know you well. You're a great asset to Outlaw and to the hobby. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I begin this new world of "separates".

SUCCESS---FIRST TRY !!!!! Windows 98 with serial connection worked without a hitch! Now I just need the 7500 to hear this baby....

Gonk, I also bought the MX-850. I downloaded the manual and programing guide and it looks SO overwhelming! Hope with help from folks on this site I'll be able to get through it, but that's for another day.

Outlaw 990, Outlaw 7500 (soon), MX-850, Pioneer DV-45 DVDA/SACD player, Denon DCM270 changer, Boston Acoustics VRM-90 mains, VR-920 cntr, VRMXCH rears, PV-1000 sub, Sony KV-34HS510 TV & Reciever available, Denon AVR2800.

Excellent! I'm not surprised that the RS-232 route worked under 98 (USB might be a bit touchier, since 98's USB support was something of an afterthought), but it's good to hear confirmation like this.

Now that you've registered her and introduced yourself, be sure to come back as questions arise. As you've noticed, the crowd around here can be very helpful with helping folks out.

The MX-850's a very good remote. The software takes a little getting used to, but it's not as bad as it may seem at first - once you get a little familiar with it, you'll find that there are really only a few tasks involved with programming and that you just repeat as needed. Grab a few files from other people (such as the remote files in my sig) and see what others have done - it may give you some good ideas for your setup. You may have already come across my MX-700 review , which is directly applicable to the MX-850; my older MX-500 review has some comments that may help from the perspective of planning and organization.

You might also try this link for some suggestions

http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/34/t/000659/p/1.html#000004

I am sorry if the link doesn't work but try searching on MX700 on this board. You should find a lot of suggestions.