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 dwick from suburban Kansas City. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 101 made on Tuesday February 25, 2003 at 9:25 PM. Strengths: * Great, solid build * Powerful emitters * Very good flexibility and functionality * Above avg. WAF (I think!) * Ability to label "page" keys * Punch throughs are so easy to program Weaknesses: * Number pad awkward to use single-handed * To novices, can look a bit intimidating * Ditto: inconvenient to add discrete codes * Tad fussy learning oem remote codes Review: Kudos to Daniel and countless others for helping me discover this remote when my trusty Crisp Solutions 515 was broken in a wierd fall. For the price, this remote appears to be among the best values in terms of versatility, capability and materials/build. The free user support available here at Remote Central is icing on the cake. I'd like to say that I agree with prevalent consensus that this remote is dirt simple intuitive for the average non-techy user. My 2 teenage daughers who are very computer literate did not take to this unit as quickly as they did for the old touch screen Crisp Solutions 515. I admit that I do not have any macros set up yet, but still they didn't intuitively decipher the main menu-centric device control nor the multiple pages for each device. Once I showed them, they were able to use it without any hitch, except they don't like having to return to the main screen to access controls for another devices. Both say they liked the old remote's touch screen simplicity better, but perhaps they will change their views over time, and after I finally set up macros. On the other hand, the wife was unusually at ease after a 2 minute overview. (Hmmmm, then again, she's who broke the old remote!) I very much like the tactile feel - including those gemstone keys - and overall versatility of the RX500. It would be closer to perfection if it could intrinsically incorporate discrete codes not readily offered on oem remotes. I also wish that the number pad could somehow be less clunky to use one-handed. The RX500 was sometimes stubborn about learning oem codes on the first try, occassionally taking up to 4 or 5 attempts - all using fresh batteries and within a few inches apart. But, hey, these few niggling distractions are petty within the context of appreciating an otherwise terrific remote. Absolutely no buyer's remorse here! Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Marty Weinberg from Edison, N.J.. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 100 made on Monday February 24, 2003 at 11:48 AM. Strengths: * Combination of good hard key configuration plus configurable LCD lables for soft keys. * Easy learn mode * Very easy menu driven set up Weaknesses: Cannot use discrete codes without another remote to send signal Review: After searching long and hard I picked the MX-500 over the Pronto basically because I wanted to use a remote and not become a programmer. The remote is very easy to use and completely replaced all my remotes including the RF one for the Bose Lifestyle 35 Home Theater System. Learning was error free and simple to do following the menu driven interface. Most of the functions were on the hard key pad making the remote very intuitive for my wife to use. That fact that she gave it a thumbs up is the best accolade I could give the product. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by mskitty666 from GA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 99 made on Saturday February 22, 2003 at 10:19 AM. Strengths: Everything,it's the best remote ever! Weaknesses: touchpad center select Review: I go through universal remotes like a cat does kitty litter. That, plus the fact that I can never find a design that seems appealing,is why I try to spend as little as possible. Until now One for All has been very useful and each time I see a new version I try it hoping that it would be the right one. I just received the mx-500 last night and it is a GOD!!! This is the one. At first I thought it might be too big,but it is easy to hold, feels great and has enough learning and macros to cover my needs. Thanks to Remote Central and the previous reviewers. Without you I never would have known about the high end remotes that are never on store shelves or had enough info to feel comfortable spending over $100. Programming is so easy because of the lcd screen. I love that buttons can actually be named for the functions learned to them.Everything is beyond what you could imagine until you actually get one in your hands. I just wish the select button on the touchpad was more well defined. Because most of my equipment is multisystem other remotes have a difficult time controlling them and I end up running out of learning funtions.The extensive learning capabilities eliminate this problem. It is so easy to program that I wish I had more equipment! Before I avoided programming at all costs. If you don't own this remote you are not yet a complete person. Buy, Buy,Buy! Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Mike Young from Oregon. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 98 made on Monday February 17, 2003 at 9:31 PM. Strengths: Ease of operation and programing. Backlighting. Design layout. Weaknesses: Four way switch could have a more solid feel, with improved tactile feedback. To easy to press an arrow when enter was actually desired. Review: Best remote control on the market. Well thought out, good engineering. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Jon Taylor from London, UK. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 97 made on Sunday February 9, 2003 at 10:15 AM. Strengths: Superb ergonomic design. Excellent backlighting. Quality feel. Excellent functionality. Intuitive use. Great adaptability. Great value. Weaknesses: (If you can call them weaknesses) Inability to enter discreet or advanced codes. Lack of PC connectivity. Review: Despite the two weaknesses described above, which can however be solved by purchasing the MX-700, I think this remote is probably the best single AV item I’ve ever purchased! I have long been considering moving to just one universal remote control to replace the nine remotes I presently have, but have never quite made the leap. Initially drawn towards the touch screen models due to their total flexibility my one reservation was the fact that I normally use these devices in very low light or total darkness and therefore like something more tactile. Seeing the excellent reviews here for the MX-500 finally won me over and I’m forever grateful to remotecentral.com for helping me towards making the decision the correct one. Not only the very good report on this remote but more to the point the user reviews. I would expect some remotes to get approaching 5/10 when there are only two or three reviews, but to obtain a 4.81/5 rating from 95 (at present) reviews is quite sensational in my view! Once again through this site’s feedback I decided to purchase my remote from www.BlueDo.com and am very glad I did. Despite residing in the UK my order was processed promptly and received within a few days at a very reasonable price. Following the recommendation of various people on this site I first started by entering all the labels that I would need for the various activities and then cleared out the pre-programmed commands by entering the AUX155 programme to each device. From there, I programmed the remote by learning from my original remotes on an activity based model thereby minimising the number of times I had to switch between devices through the Main screen. This probably took a few hours to finally complete and the odd adjustment since as use revealed better ways to assign tasks. On attempting the first learning from the remote of my Yamaha receiver the MX-500 would show ‘Good’ each time, suggesting that it had learnt the code, yet when I actually tried it, nothing happened. This went on for about the first ten to fifteen minutes and made me wonder whether the unit was defective. Panic set in ($40 each way for mailing made me reluctant to want to send it back!) until I tried the next remote. This time it was a total breeze. So then I went on to load all the other remote functions in leaving the Yamaha remote to last. This time it accepted the Yamaha commands more readily with only the odd miss-learn. It may well be that the batteries on the Yamaha remote were a bit low, so if this happens to you try replacing the batteries and persevere. Now, I’m in absolute heaven and boring everyone to death with how great this thing is! As far as the touch-screen v button debate is concerned, I’m really glad I made the decision I did, the layout of the buttons is most intuitive and if you really do have to look at the LCD part of it in the dark, the backlighting for both this and all the button is excellent. Finally, the macros are really useful and having the ability to assign them not only to five of the hard buttons but also each of the ten device buttons, is a real boon. To sum up then, this is probably the best $112 I’ve spent on anything! Well done Home Theater Master for a really excellent product. If the MX-700 had been only $50 more, I’d have gone for that, but at nearly three times the price on the street I just couldn’t justify it. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Yael from boston, ma. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.

Review 96 made on Wednesday February 5, 2003 at 8:28 PM. Strengths: Absolutely wonderful, easy to use, easy to program... I really miss it Weaknesses: Doesn't handle being drowned in a toilet very well. The lcd screen still works, but no commands get sent to the components Review: I owned this remote for over a year. This was after owning the Pronto, and Rotel remotes. This remote was the most convenient to use, and the buttons always worked.. and most of all, it was easy to operate for non computer savvy guests. However, as I mentioned in the weaknesses...it is not waterproof. I wish someone would invent a remote that was. It would help the parents of bored 15 month old babies. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Darren from California, CA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 95 made on Sunday February 2, 2003 at 12:16 AM. Strengths: Great backlighting Easy programming Great for wierd combinations of devices Has enough buttons to control a TiVo (DirecTV) Light and well balanced Weaknesses: Needs some way to clear a single learned code Needs some way to clear all labels for a device Can be difficult to get some codes learnt properly Review: It's a great remote. The LCD is excellent, especially after using the Sony RM-AV2100 narrow viewing angle LCD :-). On the whole it's an excellent remote. BlueDo seem to have them at a great price including a 2yr warranty. If you can live without PC programming then I can't think of a better remote. Quality: Features: Value:

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