Philips TSU3000 Pronto Next Generation Remote

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps satisfaction is a matter of perspective.....
Review: I am an owner of a TSU-2000, and I recently upgraded to the TSU-3000.

I upgraded because I felt that the TSU-2000 lacked perfection in only 3 areas. First, the graphics (specifically the contrast) on the 2000's screen are mediocre, although they are very usable. Second, the 2000 lacks a physical toggle/cursor. Third, the 2000 uses batteries and, like any device that does, they must be replaced (or recharged) from time to time.

The TSU-3000 does admirably solve the first 2 issues, and I never expected the third to be solved in my lifetime. The TSU-3000's graphics are very good, and it has a toggle.

The TSU-3000's performance on the third issue, batteries, is illustrative of my faulty thinking when I upgraded. It never occurred to me that the upgraded model would perform significantly worse than the old model in lots of areas, but the performance of the 3000 is significantly poorer than that of the 2000 in many, many areas. In other words, not only does the 3000 need its little batteries recharged too often, but its performance in other areas is also deficient when compared to the 2000.

I am woefully familiar with remote central dot com. The forums there are very helpful, and very informative. Evidently, when the 2000 was upgraded to the 3000, the starting point was the processor. The Motorola processor used in the Palm Pilot and the 2000 was discarded in favor of a processor made by Mitsubishi. Unfortunately, the newer Mitsubishi processor doesn't work as well as the old Motorola processor. The new processor required new graphic software for the 3000 and, you guessed it, the new software does not work as well either. The list of performance deficiencies goes on..... I'd recommend reading the whole saga at remote central. The problems appear to plague all the new Pronto models--the 3000, the 7000 and the iPronto.

So, older is better. Oddly, prices reflect this, too. As of a few minutes ago, refurbed 3000s sell for less than refurbed 2000s. Now, if that doesn't make you stop and think, nothing will. Hmmm..... Is this another case of a company building a great product and then cutting costs in a new model, hoping to make money from past performance?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know this: my 2000 is going to my bedroom, and my 3000 is going to my closet. For my living room, I'm going to buy a refurbished 6000, the one with the Palm Pilot processor.

Bottom line: When compared to the 2000, the 3000 doesn't make it. Perhaps satisfaction IS purely a matter of perspective, and maybe my views are too influenced by the fact that I already own the best, that being the 2000, and the 3000 does not compare favorably.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps satisfaction is a matter of perspective.....
Review: I am an owner of a TSU-2000, and I recently upgraded to the TSU-3000.

I upgraded because I felt that the TSU-2000 lacked perfection in only 3 areas. First, the graphics (specifically the contrast) on the 2000's screen are mediocre, although they are very usable. Second, the 2000 lacks a physical toggle/cursor. Third, the 2000 uses batteries and, like any device that does, they must be replaced (or recharged) from time to time.

The TSU-3000 does admirably solve the first 2 issues, and I never expected the third to be solved in my lifetime. The TSU-3000's graphics are very good, and it has a toggle.

The TSU-3000's performance on the third issue, batteries, is illustrative of my faulty thinking when I upgraded. It never occurred to me that the upgraded model would perform significantly worse than the old model in lots of areas, but the performance of the 3000 is significantly poorer than that of the 2000 in many, many areas. In other words, not only does the 3000 need its little batteries recharged too often, but its performance in other areas is also deficient when compared to the 2000.

I am woefully familiar with remote central dot com. The forums there are very helpful, and very informative. Evidently, when the 2000 was upgraded to the 3000, the starting point was the processor. The Motorola processor used in the Palm Pilot and the 2000 was discarded in favor of a processor made by Mitsubishi. Unfortunately, the newer Mitsubishi processor doesn't work as well as the old Motorola processor. The new processor required new graphic software for the 3000 and, you guessed it, the new software does not work as well either. The list of performance deficiencies goes on..... I'd recommend reading the whole saga at remote central. The problems appear to plague all the new Pronto models--the 3000, the 7000 and the iPronto.

So, older is better. Oddly, prices reflect this, too. As of a few minutes ago, refurbed 3000s sell for less than refurbed 2000s. Now, if that doesn't make you stop and think, nothing will. Hmmm..... Is this another case of a company building a great product and then cutting costs in a new model, hoping to make money from past performance?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know this: my 2000 is going to my bedroom, and my 3000 is going to my closet. For my living room, I'm going to buy a refurbished 6000, the one with the Palm Pilot processor.

Bottom line: When compared to the 2000, the 3000 doesn't make it. Perhaps satisfaction IS purely a matter of perspective, and maybe my views are too influenced by the fact that I already own the best, that being the 2000, and the 3000 does not compare favorably.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Universal Remote for Programmers and Techies
Review: I am not impressed with this remote, I personally don't own one. But, I know 2 people that do, and I have messed with theirs extensively. First off the unit is pricy, sure it's one of the only full LCD remotes on the market. But, for less money you could get a new full color Palm, and get the software off the internet to turn it into a remote. Which would oddly enough give you more power and control. The range would be much less, but most people use a remote while infront of the tube (right?)

Second, the PC software is pretty bad, it's hard to use and I've seen it crash with my own eyes. It's not as intuitive as Phillips wants you to think. You can do some pretty cool things with it, but I feel it's not where it should be. Especially for a product of this price.

Phillips has a full color Pronto on the market, and it's only about 4x as much money (wadda deal!)

I would not recommend this to anyone, the price is ludicris. The backlite is poor, the battery life is horrible. You'd do better to buy a Palm off Amazon and use the remote software to turn it into a remote. a 640x480 full VGA remote owns big time :)

Rating:
Summary: can we say overpriced?
Review: I am not impressed with this remote, I personally don't own one. But, I know 2 people that do, and I have messed with theirs extensively. First off the unit is pricy, sure it's one of the only full LCD remotes on the market. But, for less money you could get a new full color Palm, and get the software off the internet to turn it into a remote. Which would oddly enough give you more power and control. The range would be much less, but most people use a remote while infront of the tube (right?)

Second, the PC software is pretty bad, it's hard to use and I've seen it crash with my own eyes. It's not as intuitive as Phillips wants you to think. You can do some pretty cool things with it, but I feel it's not where it should be. Especially for a product of this price.

Phillips has a full color Pronto on the market, and it's only about 4x as much money (wadda deal!)

I would not recommend this to anyone, the price is ludicris. The backlite is poor, the battery life is horrible. You'd do better to buy a Palm off Amazon and use the remote software to turn it into a remote. a 640x480 full VGA remote owns big time :)

Rating:
Summary: Universal Remote, good and bad but worth the effort
Review: I bought this remote to replace 6 remotes of my new system.
Bought 4 months ago, and had trouble getting it to work right.
The default interface is horrible, and no wonder an earlier reviewer thought so badly of the image in a bright room. Don't expect to use the default programing, you MUST add a prerecorded interface to make this remote worth the effort and money. Go to http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=prontong&db=systems&br=&fc=
There are over 50 setups that people much smarter than me share. These formats are MUCH MUCH better than the default program.
Found Windows ME does not work well when programing system. Windows NT and XP work fine for programing. You can cut and paste from the various files posted to make a very readible and useful remote. However, I could NEVER get the progamming to recognize my components. I had to teach the Pronto EVERY button's function by teaching from the originial component's remotes. Fortunately, this is pretty simple and I had all buttons programed in about 20 minutes for 5 components. Now I have a very nice and useful remote. I can actually retire 5 remotes.

Unfortunately, I have not learned to program my new VCR/Hard drive component, and when I do, and want to program the Pronto, I will loose all learned formats for all components. Mickey Mouse, but worth the effort to get rid of so much clutter. The Pronto has an upload feature to upload existing formats into your PC. That feature does not work, and is a waste of time. Accept the fact you will have to relearn all buttons when making programing changes.

Bottom line: great remote if you are willing to spend the time to learn and program.

Rating:
Summary: Impossible to program
Review: I found this remote impossible to program. They talk about the easy PC interface, but that does not help you in the least. Of the 6 components of my entertainment system, the remote only had built in codes for three of them. Since they are all top end Sony, this was very disappointing. For the components that did have a code, only the most basic of buttons were automatically programmed. The store offered to come out and program it for me for an additional $400.
The display is poor with terrible contrast. This makes it tough to see in bright light.
Mine is going back if the store will still give me credit.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: I have had no problem with programing the remote. all of my top end sony products are bulit in to the remotoe and with the site www.philipspronto.com the remote has endless potential. the other reviewer must not be able to follow instructions.

Rating:
Summary: Works well if you put in the time, devours batteries
Review: I've likely put in no less than 100 hours configuring this remote using the PC software, and this is after I reused artwork and icons from many others who share on remote central. The result is a an attractive and easy to use display which can drive everything in my home entertainment system. Unfortunately, even with all the effort babysitters may still struggle to make everything work right. This remote and its software provides you great flexibility, but you have to really put the time in (on the order of weeks and months)to set everything up nicely. I rather enjoy doing all that, but I believe most people will not.
The greatest drawback with this device though is the battery life. I went through a set of 4 AAAs every few days. I therefore went to rechargables which I have to recharge every 2 days. I want to recommend this remote, but given the difficulty many will find in programming it and the battery life I have to stop short.

Rating:
Summary: Works well if you put in the time, devours batteries
Review: I've likely put in no less than 100 hours configuring this remote using the PC software, and this is after I reused artwork and icons from many others who share on remote central. The result is a an attractive and easy to use display which can drive everything in my home entertainment system. Unfortunately, even with all the effort babysitters may still struggle to make everything work right. This remote and its software provides you great flexibility, but you have to really put the time in (on the order of weeks and months)to set everything up nicely. I rather enjoy doing all that, but I believe most people will not.
The greatest drawback with this device though is the battery life. I went through a set of 4 AAAs every few days. I therefore went to rechargables which I have to recharge every 2 days. I want to recommend this remote, but given the difficulty many will find in programming it and the battery life I have to stop short.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Universal Remote for Programmers and Techies
Review: The Philips Pronto is the ultimate universal remote for those who want total control and flexibility, and are willing to invest the money and time. Although not required (but recommended), Windows based PC software is provided for designing and programming your screen/button configurations. A USB cable is included to exchange (download and upload) configurations between your PC and the Pronto. IR codes for many products are included and/or can be learned from your existing remotes.

There are a few downsides. The Windows based ProntoEdit software although good, does not have all of the tools that one might like to have for designing and tweaking the screen/button configurations. As a result, button alignment and distribution (consistent spacing between buttons) can be very time consuming. The software is a little quirky, has been known to crash and to corrupt configurations. You can avoid problems though by being careful and making backup copies of your configuration files.

The manual isn't great but 3rd party programming assistance is out there, for instance a better design/programming reference is available on the Pronto Wizard web site. The battery life is very short especially during programming cycles so I recommend purchasing the DS3000 docking station which comes with a rechargeable battery pack and acts as a charger. The IR range is very good, but if you would like to control devices from a distance of more that 30 feet or in a different room, the RFX6000 RF extender is an excellent product.