Onkyo's own version of the Pronto?
It would appear that the home theater industry is starting to latch onto the Philips Pronto base model as "the" remote control. First there was the Marantz RC5000, then Yamaha customized their own version, the RAV-2000. Now, it appears that Onkyo will be packaging a restyled Pronto with their new RX-DS898 receiver. The RX-DS898 is a 7.1-channel THX Select certified with Surround EX technology. It features 150 watts into 7 channels, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS-ES 6.1 discrete processing. It also includes DVD Audio & SACD support, 3 audio and 6 S-Video inputs (with composite to S-Video conversion), 8 digital inputs, high-bandwidth component video switching, phono input, bypass mode, on-screen display and, of course, a graphical touchscreen remote control that looks very much like a stylized Pronto.

Although much information is offered on the receiver, almost nothing is said on the remote itself - even the provided photograph (above) looks like it came from the emulator, for the PC software (OnkyoEdit?). So, only time (and perhaps CEDIA) will tell exactly what features are offered on this variation.

Learn more about these remotes:

RX-DS898: Onkyo's website. RAV-2000: Yamaha RAVedit. Forum: talk with others!

Super-mega-colossal CCF file update!
Own a Philips Pronto, ProntoPro, Marantz RC5000, RC5000i or Yamaha RAV-2000? Then the following will almost certainly be of interest! That's right, it's time once again for an update of all the new additions to our file archive! Submissions have been flying in at a furious rate over the past two months and the archive has only now been caught up to date.

To start with, brand new or updated complete black & white system configurations are available from:

Andrea Whitlock Andreas Huster Adam Bursey Brent Southam Bryan Jones Dana Rodakis David Morgan Emilio Romero Franco Capizzo Gavin Peake Greg Ewan I. Hewitt Jörg Wißemann Jörgen Pehrson Jose Blanco Justin Hughes-Roberts

Leo Greene Lincoln Mennuti Luigi Palumbo Mark Lamutt Michael Bramhoff Michael Maguire Mike Conner Ofer LaOr Paul Miller Paul Rowlands Peter Droth Shaun Chapman Shawn Szilezy So Sh Steffen Maurer Torsten Baroli

A new section for color system CCF files has been created specifically for Philips ProntoPro owners. Right now, you'll find files submitted by:

Aaron Hughart
Bill Christian
Chris Lee
Hans-Peter Krummen
Neils Voigt
William Bates

As usual, dozens upon dozens of single device CCF files have also been uploaded. Here's a sampling to whet your appetite:

• Comfort-Aire MSS-018 Air Conditioner (John Pechulis)
• Dish Network PVR-501 DSS receiver (Mike May)
• Electrohome ECP4100 projector (Alberto Longo)
• Faroudja Native Rate Scaler (Thomas Allraum)
• Jerrold Impulse 7000 cable box (David Carson)
• Krell HTS-2, KAV-300iL & KCT Preamplifiers plus KAV-280CD CD player (Keary Plummer)
• Loewe Credo 7681ZP television (David Morgan)
• NEC LT-150 projector (David Dolby)
• Niles Intellicontrol IR codes (Ken Johnson)
• Proscan PS32130 television (Mark in Canada)
• RCA DWD-490RE DSS receiver (James Gravert)
• A nearly complete sampling of Rotel devices (Mike Sheehan)
• Sensory Science HDT100 set top box (Stanley Brown)
• Sony DVP-CX860 DVD jukebox (Wade Carpenter)
• Sony STR-V555ES receiver new discrete codes (Wade Carpenter)
• Technics RS-TR373 tape deck (David Emery)
• X-10 IR543AH codes (Bill E.)

Finally, the following files are also available:

• Updated collections of Dish Network, Fox Sports and Sky Angel logos by Andrea Whitlock.
• A new version of GenIRDB, which builds perfectly clean Pronto databases or text files of IR hex codes, by Barry Gordon.
• CCFTools v0.98 - a collection of very useful utilities for your CCF file - by Olivier Couvreur.
• 154 various color ProntoPro channel logos from Kabster.
• "The Great Homer", an entertainment CCF by Chad Terrell.
• 5 Photoshop actions for easy image conversion by Lincoln Mennuti.

As usual, keep those files coming in - here's the upload form!

Learn more about the Pronto:

ProntoPro: our complete review. TSU2000: our complete review. User Reviews: see what others think. FAQ: answers to your questions. Forum: talk with others!