- Totally Customizable interface. - IR power! Man it works from almost anywhere in my house. :-) - 3 year warranty (if compared to the Pronto 1 year).

- Price. A little steep I would say... Especially for us, poor Canadians. - Stability. Many times mine reboots itself. If you press a key many times, it will 'lock' and reboot itself. At first I thought it had Windows installed on it.

Bought this remote back in 2001 as at that time the extra money for the color Pronto Pro, in my opinion, was not worth. Now that Philips is releasing the i.Pronto 6400 it may be worth. :-) Great product, although takes time to master its programming software. As I have no issues programming, I could do mine easily, even with very neat macros. But be aware! This is NOT for the average, non geek person. ;-)

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None

I have the Philips Pronto which is identical except for the color of the case. After owning various types of universal remotes, including the Marantz RC2000, I found this little gem in my local HT store. It was quite expensive ($350 for the Philips) but it was immediately obvious that this remote offered far greater ease of use than anything on the market. Even w/o the downloadable configuration editor this remote offers large keys with customizable labels.
The remote features a large, easy to read LCD touchscreen and 7 seven programmable pushbuttons. Five of the buttons are labeled for Mute, Vol +/- and Channel +/-. The final two keys have soft labels which can be changed for each device. All of these keys can be programmed to have the same effect on all devices (say receiver volume if you use your receiver for all audio) or they can be programmed for each individual device in the system. The remote is large, but common functions are controlled by the buttons and so are easy to use one handed. It generally takes two hands to use the touchscreen however.

Programming it is just like programming any other learning remote, a lengthy and tedious process which is not helped by the fact that Philips/Marantz only supply codes for their own equipment. Once programmed the remote is quite easy to use and has a decent macro facility which allows easy creation and editing of macros. Unlike the Marantz RC2000, the Pronto/RC5000 does not require you to press a second key after choosing a macro to execute it. This makes using macros much more convienent.

Downloading the Pronto/RC5000 interface editing software takes these remotes into a whole different league. You can download bitmaps to create your own buttons. Any button can be a macro. Buttons can be easily arranged and grouped together on the screen. You can load and edit IR codes from the net. This last feature allows you get discrete codes for things like input selection and power which many components support but which do not appear on the remote control, allowing the creation of macros for power and input selection which are more or less bulletproof. Just think, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination :-). All of this flexibility allows the creation of very easy to use interfaces for your system. Even your luddite friends will be able to figure out how to watch a DVD.

This is the best $350 I've spent. It is a really cool toy and makes my system much easier to use. And you really can put away all of your old remotes.

The RC-5000 is by far the best learning remote I have ever used!
It has a cool backlit face (like a Pal Pilot) that detects ambient light to determine whether or not the backlight should turn on. A software program can be downloaded from Marntz to fully customize the button sizes/shape. You can even put in your own bitmaps and icons! (Very geeky stuff). It comes with a rechargeable battery pack with dock so that you will never have to buy batteries EVER again. It is a truly stunning piece!

Comparing it to my previous remote, the Home Theater SL-9000, the RC-5000 has a lot more options, memory (a BIG problem with the SL-9000 because it forgot a lot of "learned" commands), custom features, and is rechargeable. However, the SL-9000 retails for only about $150 whereas this remote is $499. It's definitely a huge step-up and a BIG investment for a remote.

My only two minor gripes with this remote; (hence the 4-star rating) is that there is no software compatibility for MAC users and there are NO preset button configurations for non-Philips/Marantz components. This means that you will have to program each individual button one at a time. A little tedious but well worth it.

Aside from those minor complaints and if you are willing to fork out the dough, this is dfinitely the "NEW" REMOTE OF THE GODS!

this remote is functionally exactly the same as the Philips Pronto. the only differences are the gold coloring (instead of grey), the brand name (Marantz instead of philips), and the $100 mark up. these are both great remotes, i love my pronto, but i can only give this one 4 stars because of the mark up for brand name & color. if you don't mind a grey remote, the pronto retails for $399 & can be had for less.

Powerful, Easy to program, Flexible.

Colour (Why not supply a $1000Aus remote in a brushed aluminium case, or at least paint it black)

Am very happy with the product. Have totally customized the interface and am running my full system (6 components) through this remote. The memory in this remote is huge, have only used about 40% of available memory.
Programming through ones PC can be time consuming and addictivem, have spent a number of months refining my setup (Current setup can perform any function in three button presses or less)
Screen could be a little brighter. Excellent product!

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Yamaha universal remote

This device looked complicated at first startred to program it and it was a breeze. It came with a good manual and for more info you can download another product manual skimming through this was the only place I could find out how to add bitmaps to the remote. Yes $450 is alot for a remote but for me I wanted one remote that would control everything including remote shades and all devices I threw at it. It has unfortunetly it does not come with marantz sr-18 receiver or yahmaha dsp-a1 because it comes in a champagne color which would make a perfect match for either. WARNING: For those buying a sr-18 and this extremly cool device which will be the envy of many ,trekies in particular, I believe the sr-18 comes with the rc-2000 remote =( I have also been able to save my remotes learned codes to my computer if for any reason it reset I would be back in command in the same time it takes most to start there computer =) hold it in your hand once you will want to own it =)

The Pronto and the marantz are NOT exactly the same item...
The Marantz includes the charger stand and the nicad batteries. This is an additional $80 option for the Philips.

Roughly, they are the same street price if the charger interests you and it comes down to whether you want Grey or Gold. If the charger is not a feature you care about, then by all means, save the money and buy the Philips.

This is the BEST under $1500 remote control solution I have seen yet. the screen is very responsive and I like it much better than the Harmon/Kardon remote (I'm not a big fan of the 'wheel' design). I only wish there was an optional RF version of this product.

Depending on your price range, here is how I would rate the best remotes on the market under $1500:

$400 Philips Pronto or Marantz 5000
$200 Marantz 2000
$100 Theatermaster 9000

Best,
- Andy...

Flexible and completely programmable w/ configuration software

Should provide pre-programmed IR codes from other manufacturers other than Marantz

Just got this from Santa and found this to be very easy to configure and simple to operate. The software that you download from the Marantz website allows you to customize the layout very easily. Overall very satisfied so far in the first few days that I've used it.

Lot's Of Memory
Easy To See
Rechargable Batteries included

No written manuals for computer software

I bought this remote a few months ago and returned it. THe Software setup was very intimidating and I did not like it.

However after trying a good 1/2 dozen other remotes and not even finding one close to having the functionality of what I needed I decided to try it again

This time I stuck with the software and now I have a fantastic product that does what I want and then some. I had the RC2000 Mark II and that remote does not even compare to this. This is a great product and I recommend it to anyone with about $600 Canadian Dollars to spend :)

Similar Products Used:

RC2000 Mark II

flexibility, programmability

temperature dependent display

It rules.

Probably the most useful item of my H/T gear.

However, keep in mind that someone once described it as a hobby in itself. I agree with that statement, especially if you're going to build a killer GUI on your PC.

If an awesome GUI isn't your priority, you're also in luck cuz it's still pretty easy to use without complicated PC programming, although it'll still take you a couple of hours to program an average H/T system with macros, etc.