User reviews for the Home Theater Master MX-500 from Universal Remote Control Inc. Ratings Reviews MSRP (USD) Average: 4.80/5.00 Median: 5.00/5.00 157 $149 The MX-500 is a 10-device all-buttoned remote control with an LCD screen for custom labels on 10 adjacent buttons. It includes full infrared learning capabilities, a preprogrammed database, 5-way joystick, macros and more. Message Forum Our Review Clicker Picker Specifications Add Your Review Get it at:

Written by Dick from Michigan. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 66 made on Sunday July 14, 2002 at 12:30 PM. Strengths: Easy to use and effective. Have not found anything that it will not do. I like the auto scan feature to find the three digit device number. Macros easy to setup. Very user friendly in the feel of traditional remote with the LCD for device features. Weaknesses: None so far. Documentation very brief for such a function rich product. Need this website's user forum to plug the gaps. Review: Overall it is an excellent value and available on websites by several retailers under $115. Universal is responsive to calls with questions. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by DXr from Dallas, TX. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 65 made on Saturday July 13, 2002 at 8:55 PM. Strengths: Easy and flexible programmability Support and tips from RemoteCentral! Sturdy and reliable Strong emitters Macros Weaknesses: Awkward ergonomics No native support for discreet/advanced codes No programming backup Manual needs improvement Review: I've been lurking and reading the forums and reviews about this wonderful remote. Thanks to everyone for their tips and comments. It allowed me to make a very informed decision to buy the MX-500. STRENGTHS: With some planning, programming was easy albeit somewhat time-consuming. I used Daniel Tonks' Excel spreadsheet to plan the LCD layout and then noted what macros and punchthroughs were needed. I cleared the devices with AUX 155, added the preprogrammed codes, and labeled the LCD buttons. The remote learned the remaining codes from other remotes quickly and easily. The support and tips from RemoteCentral were invaluable. You can't take full advantage of the remote's capabilities without them. They also saved lots of headaches. Kudos to you guys! The plastic case is sturdy with no flex. The finish is smooth, doesn't show fingerprints and doesn't have any annoying burrs in the seams. Why they chose dark blue is beyond me. I happily pretend it's charcoal/black. ;-) The center button on the joystick is rather stiff, but it's almost 100% reliable and I'm sure I'll get accustomed to it. I chuckled after reading Daniel's Menacing Thick Fluffy Blanket (MTFB) emitter test and thought, "That's nice". He was telling the truth... I don't even have to point the remote in a large living room! Macros are plentiful, powerful and easily programmed. A timer is noticably missing - especially on a remote with such powerful features. WEAKNESSES: The remote's ergonomics are somewhat awkward, but that's an inherent problem with such a large remote. **** The most glaring weakness is lack of native support for discreet/advanced codes. **** Using another remote to teach the MX-500 these codes is unnecessarily cumbersome in such a feature-rich remote - especially when my cheapie OneForAll remote has such capabilities! It rubbed me the wrong way even though I already had an OFA remote. Who in their right mind wants to buy two remotes when the goal is to eliminate all remotes except one? I wish the remote offered a way to backup programming. However, this isn't much of a weakness since it's not reasonable to expect a PC interface on a remote at this price. The manual is decent, but could stand improvement. There were several tips from RemoteCentral which were missing from the manual. Without these tips, you can't take full advantage of the remote's powerful features. HTM would be wise to include these tips in a future printing. SUMMARY: The MX-500's features would be rated "excellent" if it supported discreet/advanced codes. It replaced all six remotes and guests find it easy and intuitive to use after a minute's explanation. No more horrified looks when you offer to let them change the channel. ;-) If you're looking for a full-featured hard-button remote at a reasonable price, this one's for you! Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Tom Hock from Philadelphia. The reviewer has used this remote control for 6-12 months.

Review 64 made on Friday July 5, 2002 at 9:28 AM. Strengths: Sturdy, concise, well layed out in general, excellent pre-program code search (when your wife "puts away" your manual for you), does it all. Weaknesses: Slightly annoying when the button you want is on the opposite side of the LCD screen (I have small hands), but I can't see any way around that... the screen is KEY to this remote's success. Review: I've owned it for about a year. It's great. It really does it all and is tough enough to handle drops off the couch and being sat on. I've only had to change the batteries once so far (first set lasted about 10 months). The preprograms are pretty good and the learning is a snap. The favorite Channels feature is great too when you have how many hundered B.S. channels to sift through? The book claims that I can macro the device buttons to not only select the device on the receiver but also trigger the selected device and ready the remote to operate the device all with one touch, but for some reason I couldn't get that to work. But that's not a huge deal for me. Best of all is that after properly programming and learning and labeling the buttons, I have a stack of 7 remotes hidden away that I never have to touch (except of course when I decide I need to improve the layout of the MX-5000 a little and move somestuff around. A feature that would really be handy on this remote is a "swap commands" program mode where I could swap all commends from one button with another, but hey, I'm not complaining about that one.) The remote even has a pretty good spouse acceptance factor. A great remote in general. Shop around cuz I found it for $99 - of course that was a year ago tho. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Mike Hamilton from Ottawa, Canada. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 63 made on Friday June 14, 2002 at 7:15 PM. Strengths: -excellent organization to button layout -backlight is phenomenal -joystick is easy to manipulate -macro options are useful -can be learned to in very short time -use of the AUX 155 code to clear devices is simple -easy to edit labels -easy to use even for a new user Weaknesses: -none -the manual could use some work. It would be great to have examples of how to program specific functions. Review: -this is an excellent product...easy to program and use, and if bought from online dealers is very cheap. The pirates here in Canada wanted $225 U.S. and I got mine through Bludeo for $100 cheaper including the UPS shipping. If you want a great product for your home theatre, get this now! Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Shawn Parker from Michigan, USA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 62 made on Wednesday June 12, 2002 at 8:29 PM. Strengths: Programmability, LCD contrast is great, Backlight is very bright, Very strong transmitter! Weaknesses: None that I can really think of. Other than the center select of the joystick is a little stiff but workable. Review: I owned a Sony AV2100 and even though it was a great LCD remote, I must say I am a hard button person and this remote really does the job for me! It learns functions that the preprogrammed codes don't cover and its so easy to program! I highly recommend this remote, and it even comes with batteries! Well at least mine did.. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Jeff Summerville from New York. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 61 made on Wednesday June 5, 2002 at 5:21 PM. Strengths: Hard keys for almost every function. Programmable keys for customized functions. Good build quality - keys and case are solid and comfortable. LCD contrast is excellent. Weaknesses: None that I could find - and I am really anal about my gadgets. I guess a rechargeable battery would be nice. Review: Over the last five years I have had about 5 universal remotes. Previous to the MX-500 I had the Pronto, which was great from a flexibility and programming perspective. But the touch screen and the LCD display really slowed down my ability to navigate through the screens. Further, given that you have to make the buttons fairly large on a touch screen so your finger does not hit two keys, the amount of buttons I could put on one screen was very limited and I found myself having to navigate through 2 or 3 screens for each device. The MX-500 gives you the flexibility to program and name certain commands on the LCD screen, but gives you high quality buttons for the most usual commands. This difference is really important for the five way knob in the middle. Navigating this kind of button(s) on the Pronto was really a pain in the ***. I did think that the inability to program the MX-500 on my PC would make the entire programming more difficult, but it is actually easier in that I don't have to run upstairs and boot up the computer each time I want to tweak the programming. The programming is very easy right on the unit itself. You can even program it to change screens at the end of a macro - something I was concerned it would not be able to do. Each of my remotes was better than the previous and the MX-500 is definitely the best I have had. I am a real gadget snob, but this things does everything I need it to do - and it does it well. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by jim westoby from UK. The reviewer has used this remote control for 3-6 months.

Review 60 made on Wednesday June 5, 2002 at 6:02 AM. Strengths: Hard & some soft keys Ergonomics are almost spot on Simple to program and use Weaknesses: Slightly restricted No colour keys (had to use soft keys for these) Some keys are close together (cursor and transport) Manual needs to be read VERY carefully Review: I'd previously bought and been enamoured by a Marantz RC5000 but got frustrated by having to look at it to drive any piece of equipment. My spouse used to point it at the celing which never worked! Looked around saw reviews of this and bought it from the US specially. Love it. It's the ONLY remote we have lying around. Sometimes it's a bit annoying having to select the device but it's just so easy to use and the labels are 95% correct for ALL of our devices. I very rarely press the wrong key and I've got large hands. Cheaper than the Marantz (still have as a reference and for special codes however) and much more usable than I believe ANY fully soft remote can be. Quality: Features: Value:

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