Customer Reviews

Universal Remote MX-900 40-Device IR/RF PC Programmable Remote (418 MHz)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I purchaed this remote in August 2007. I installed the software and did a live update all was fine. In October 2007 after purchasing some new equipment I did the live update and got a message saying URC was no longer supporting this software. How can this be. URC stated when I called them that if I purchased it from and Authorized Dealer to contact them to get the updates. Well I did and Amazon sent me to 6th Ave and 6th Ave sent me to URC.

Why? Well they will only let PRO Installers have the updates what am I going to hurt myself?

I feel that AMAZON and 6TH AVE should not be selling these unless they inform the customer up front that they are purchasing an expensive piece of soon to be obsolete equipment seeing as you can not get updates.

I guess I should have checked on the live update before the thirty day return policy expired.

OVERVIEW: A compact, very well thought out remote, offering more than enough features and versatility than the majority of home uses are likely to ever need. It defaults to IR mode, and can be switched to RF.

If you're a technophobe, want things straight and simple, and expect them to work hassle free right out of the box, then it's probably best you look at other remotes.

Should you be more technologically savvy and don't mind some trial and error and desire a high level of customization jump right in. This remote gets better the more you know what you want and the more you know your equipment.

So to begin, my setup:
*60" HD Sony XBR with 7 video inputs.
*Motorola Digital cable box with HD recording feature.
*Hamon/kardon receiver used for audio input (not video ) switching, and FM radio.
*Dennon DVD for NTSC.
*Phillips DVD for PAL DVDs and other video formats.
*CD player.
*Game console.

***NOTE**** You MUST connect the remote to a PC/Laptop PHYSICALLY located in the same room as your components***************
You certainly can program it in a different room, but you'll have to run back and forth to test any changes.

First, download the software (MX-900 Editor) from the manufacturer website after simple registration. The serial # is a bit tricky to find inside the battery compartment. You connect the remote to the PC via the included USB cable.

Now the fun begins (it sounds more complicated than it is): Almost any button is programmable and assignable to do whatever function you want. The included templates seemed thorough to me; (there was even one for my rather obscure Harmon/kardon.) So you scroll through the templates, find your match. If your specific model is missing in their database then try some of the plentiful generic templates for that brand. Once loaded, you can judge for yourself if you like the default button assignments for that particular component.

Programming the remote is a visual process. An interactive and exact image of the remote is placed in the center of the MX-900 Editor. The right pane lists all possible functions of your component template. You simply click on the button you want to edit, then drag a specific function onto that button and it's done. You can test any settings you've made directly from the Editor before you load it to the remote.

The screen itself is rather small, so you must scroll through different pages to see all the functions for any specific component. For each page there are six buttons on the right of the screen. The good news is that you can change the order of functions as they are listed on any page, so on the first screen page I have only my most used functions listed the way I want. Rarely used functions are set farther down.

Most of the buttons below the screen (VOL, GUIDE, MENUE, EXIT, etc) can also be programmed to do different things for each device.

Best to give EXAMPLES :

One button turns everything ON. The TV defaults to the CABLE BOX input, the RECEIVER switches to the CABLE BOX audio outs, the CABLE BOX turns on a specific channel!
The remote itself defaults to the CABLE page with the most used functions for the CABLE box right there.

Next I want to watch a DVD. I programmed a single button to 1) Change the TV input to DVD 2) Switch the RECEIVER channel 3) Automatically open the DVD tray. 4) The remote defaults to the specific DVD player mode.

I've set it up so that no matter what "page" the remote is on, the VOLUME and MUTE buttons stay assigned to the RECEIVER. This way I don't need to toggle or press other buttons just to get to the audio section.

The above are accomplished via Macros, meaning that several distinct functions from different components are all assigned in sequence to one single button.

And so on. An ALL OFF button does what it says. I've had no problems with any component not receiving the IR signal as I did with the Comcast remote.

QUALITY: Feels sturdy and solid in the hand, with good quality plastic casing. Haven't dropped it yet. The numbers buttons at the end are too small and almost impossible to use with one hand. So it's a bit too long for me. Nice blue backlight. Oh, and you can program how long the light stays on.

SERVICE: The template for my Sony TV was missing the VIDEO 7 (digital) input which I needed. I called Universal and was told that all the included templates are provided from the manufacturers. They did however have a fix and updated template for my model which was emailed to me within an hour.

ADDENDUM: Purchased this few weeks back for $224 through an Amazon seller

After struggling between purchasing various programmable universal RF remotes, I finally settled on the MX-900, and I'm glad I did! This is a well thought out product that does its job extremely well. I was somewhat annoyed at having to register to download the programming software, but once I did download it, it was an extremely pleasant experience to get the remote programmed and running smoothly. I was relieved to see an extremely straight-forward, yet powerful, interface for getting you up and running smoothly. The software was written with installers in mind, and it shows. (For anyone even slightly technically inclined, this is a very good thing!) Button and screen function programming are easy and flexible, and macro programming is a breeze. Learning codes from obscure remotes not available in the large provided database was also easy. Additional codes can be downloaded from various websites and imported easily as well. (I was pleased to find a discrete power off code for one of my more unusual components which made my setup much more reliable thanks to this feature.) And, perhaps my favorite feature is the ability to download the configuration from the remote onto the computer and save or modify it. This is a huge benefit for those times when I lose my configuration file and want to add a new feature without starting from scratch.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy this product again. In fact, I may just have to get another one for my parents this Christmas just to avoid having to rescue them several times a year when they accidentally change the video mode and can't figure out how to get their system working again. With a couple simple macros, almost any component setup can be made nearly bulletproof.

I researched several different remotes by reading many reviews. The top three complaints about this remote and others made by Universal Remote are that they are difficult to program, you cannot get software updates, and the manufacturer's support is bad. I have not found any of these to be issues.

This is the first remote I've ever programmed so it's not like I knew what I was doing beforehand. The remote was easy to program primarily because I have some experience programming computers but also because I read the programming manual before getting started with the program. I would warn you that there are a few places where I think that the manual could have been better written to avoid some confusion, but the necessary information is there.

Some people complain about not being able to get software updates. Granted I've only had the remote about one month but I don't see why I might need a software update in the future. I've programmed my remote to do everything that I want it to do. I imagine that if I bought new equipment for my home entertainment system that I would easily be able to add it to the program, worst case by learning IR codes. Learning many IR codes is time consuming but not hard. Perhaps some of the reviews I read referred to earlier software versions that had issues? The current state of the programming software and remote features is very good.

I can't comment on Universal Remote support because I didn't need any. It is possible that they do not have good support. Their policy on software updates makes you wonder about a lack of concern for their customers. If you do not have any programming experience of any sort I would be somewhat hesitant to recommend a Universal Remote to you in case others are right about poor customer support. I think that with some computer programming experience and some time reading the manual that most should get by without needing support.

In summary, I am very happy with the MX-900. It controls an Epicenter media PC, Denon AVR-2089CI receiver, Sony KDL-46XBR4 TV and a Toshiba RD-XS32SU DVD/HD player, all without issue, exactly as I hoped it would before purchasing the MX-900. I've written a number of macros so that with one button press many pieces of equipment are turned on/off, correct audio and video inputs are selected, and the volume/mute and channel up/down buttons switch between controlling either the TV, receiver or media PC as desired. With some computer programming background and having read the manual the program was easy to create. I am glad that I didn't let a few negative reviews influence my decision to buy the MX-900.

First, the good. We've had this remote for about 16 months. It was purchased through an authorized dealer who did a good job setting up the remote to work with our TV, our cable box, our DVD player, and our Wii. I instantly fell in love with the fact that I didn't have to point the remote at the device I was trying to control. The range was sufficient (we sit about 12 feet away from the entertainment center), the battery life was good, and the backlight worked well. In short, when it was new it was a good (but pricey) remote.

The only design issue I can complain about is that the remote is quite long and requires a long reach between some of the commonly-used buttons. I prefer to not reposition the remote (or even look at it) while I'm watching TV, and this remote did not fit that bill for me. But between the "hard" buttons and the "soft" programmable buttons, I had near total control over all of my devices.

Now, the ugly. A couple of the buttons no longer work at all, and some of the others work only with extreme pressure. It seems that our remote has fallen victim to the same problem other reviewers have experienced. That is, the pads on the buttons simply wear out and stop functioning after a relatively short amount of time.

Had I paid $29 for it, I would still be disappointed. But at about $400 including the base station (I actually paid more when I bought it), I am EXTREMELY upset. I recommend you look for something different.

This remote was terrific when I first bought it. Yes it was expensive, especially given the professional installation costs. At the time, however, it seemed like the best combination of flexibility and ease of use.

After about a year and a half I noticed that the keys were quickly losing their responsiveness. By two years the product was completely unusable, with most of the keys entirely unresponsive. I found this quite surprising for a product this expensive, particuarly because it gets limited use as I travel 4 months of the year.

I took it to the dealer, but they said the only option was to buy another remote. They said it was a typical problem.

This is entirely unacceptable to me. How can a generic Comcast remote last for years, but a crazy-expensive custom remote can't last more than 18 months? What a shame -- it was a nice remote when it worked, but I'm certainly not going to spend $500+ on a remote and installation every 18 months. In short, absolutely terrible product quality.

The manufacturer has changed its support policies to discourage end-users from buying this remote - the software and firmware updates for it are no longer freely available on their website. They are only available through authorized dealers - God forbid you buy a used one or that your dealer goes out of business. Their website also clearly indicates that this remote is intended for use by custom installers, and states that even "advanced hobbyists" cannot possibly program it effectively. I guess they're convinced that end-users are all incapable, yet I found it pretty easy to tailor to my home theater. For the first few months that I owned the remote, I'd have recommended it to anyone willing to learn the programming or hire someone to help. But having learned of retroactive changes to support policies, I can't recommend it at all.

This remote was part of my new home theater set-up designed by a professional installer 3 years ago. My first clue why it was a mistake to use this remote was when the installer pulled out his laptop to program it. Yikes! It didn't concern me at the time because I was so giddy over my new toys but over time I knew involving an installer to re-program later would cost me plenty.

On the positive the remote has worked fine since the first day except it does seem to go through batteries often (or maybe I watch too much TV). I also don't have the button problems that others report but after 3 years I'm wondering if its around the corner. BUT the big negative, and the reason I gave this remote 2 stars, is because the day I've been postponing and dreading is here. I bought some new components (Blue-ray and Apple TV) and there is no way I can re-program this thing myself. I detest the idea of paying the installer to come back and re-program it for many more $$$. Instead of rewarding him with another payday, I'm dumping this remote and hunting on Amazon for a new "user" friendly universal remote. I would rather pay a few hundred $$$ one time for a new remote that I can program (and re-program) than reward the installer and Universal for an unfriendly product. No more Universal products for me!

Too much money for a keyboard that fails within two years. I have two of these expensive remotes and both have failed with two years for the purchase date. Going to try Logetech. I am now back using three remotes. NOT GOOD!!!

Great remote and very advanced programming features.. all good until the buttons stop working after a couple of years. Everything becomes very hard or impossible to press.. My remote is as good as trash now even after cracking it open and cleaning it.

Don't waste your money. I'm shopping for a new remote now.