Rugged in the extreme. Beautiful full color display, Easy to find in the dark. IR, RF, and WiFi make it likely to control almost anything you can think of. Includes control codes for Escient servers, Lutron Lighting, Windows Media Center PC's and many other types of equipment, from the mundane to the obscure. There are so many cool things this remote can do that I can't even begin to list them all. Control volume level of remote sounds. Can even customize sounds to go with button presses. Can be very wife friendly.

Priced above level of average consumer. Difficult and time consuming to program. Professional programming can cost almost as much as the unit itself. Will only "learn" codes while connected to a PC through USB cable. No wireless web surfing capability (yet). WiFi control of Escient servers lacks many functions and customization at the end-user or basic programmer level. Stylus was probably not necessary and rarely used, and falls out easily. Not particularly easy to use with one hand. IR range is better than many remotes I have used, but not as good as some others. Light in base unit cannot be switched off or dimmed.

While there is still not a universal remote that will wash my windows or bring me breakfast in bed, Philips is probably working on it. The pronto really will control almost anything that can be controlled by remote. The VGA touchscreen allows for complete customization to a users tastes, including custom graphics, text, button layout, and anything else you could think of. The most commonly used hard buttons are also intuitive to use and well layed out. It is also very rugged, as I am finding out through it being dropped on a hard tile floor numerous times, and it doesn't even show a scratch. This remote is not for the faint of heart, nor for the average consumer. The sticker price on this alone will deter many users, as at a suggested retail price of over $1000, it may cost more than some listeners entire systems. On the upside, the Pronto has the highest POTENTIAL WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor-assuming you don't tell her how much it cost) of any remote I have seen. The reason I say POTENTIAL is because it must be programmed correctly, and most likely the end user will NOT be the one to program it. While most universal remotes have 1 button macros to allow you to turn on the proper gear in the proper sequence, the TSU9600 goes even further, with a well marked icon on the screen that says "Watch TV", "Watch DVD", "Control Lights", etc. And, you can customize or change what it says or how it looks. You can add or delete or rename functions, macros, etc. to achieve exactly the remote you want. To give an example, if you are a big "Star Wars" fan, you could have a background of the Death Star for your home page, a background of Tatooine for your "Watch TV" page, sounds of lightsabres for activating macros, and make the on screen buttons look and beep like R2D2. The potential is almost as limitless as your imagination. The downside is that it really takes a fair amount of programming using a windows based PC, and may be best left to professionals if you are not very programming savvy. This remote can even be programmed to tell the weather forcast or play video games.

Customer Service

Philips has a website dedicated to the Pronto, but is more for the support of Programming professionals than to end-users. Help is available on RemoteCentral.com from professionals and other users.

Similar Products Used:

Media Center PC with wireless keyboard/mouse would be the closest approximation in control capabilities. Pocket PC based PDA's/Smartphones can control equipment through IR and WiFi, but the display and buttons are too small to be convenient. Other far less universal remotes include the Sony RM/AV series, Logitech Harmony, Universal Remote. Nothing is really similar.