I am a long time user of the Universal Remote Control remotes beginning back with the SL-8000 and SL-9000... to the MX-700 and MX-800. I have appreciated their MX-Editor software for programming the latter two MX models.
I have patiently waited for the arrival of a remote from Universal that had a USB interface as well as one using a Lithium Ion battery. It seems like I would have to swap out for freshly charged batteries too often with my current MX-800. Plus I haven't figured out a way to connect the cable to my laptop due to the cable interface, although there is probably a way to do it and I've just not asked the right person to tell me how.
The MX-810 appears to give me what I've been looking for from Universal, so I ordered up one for myself the other day when I was ordering one for a customer. I finally get the Lithium Ion battery with charging cable… just plug her up as I walk out of the HT room all along and she's always ready to go. Then the downloadable software and USB cable allows me to easily use my laptop to do all the programming. Plus, as an added bonus to me… it comes in a sleek black with silver trim style that I really like vs. the lighter colored units of the MX-700 and MX-800 that always seem to get the dirty look about them rather quick. (Makes me wonder if I wash my hands enough... and I'm already a fanatic about clean hands.
).
After unpacking the remote and inserting the battery (fully charged to my surprise), the first thing I noticed is the MX-810 is a little smaller and slightly lighter than the MX-800. It fits in my hand better and the top half is not wide and bulky like most of the previous MX remotes from Universal.
One feature I particularly like is the "Select" button being distinctly separated from the directional buttons that surround it. That was one thing I always disliked about the MX-700 and MX-800... I would occasionally and accidentally press one of the directional commands when trying to press the select button, being all on one toggle type joystick button.
Another feature I like is each button is backlit and the letters labeling the buttons are lit as well. When you touch the remote, the LCD display and the buttons light up. Of course there is also a Light button on the side that can be pressed anytime to activate the display and lights in the same manner as picking up the remote does. The buttons will stay lit for 5 seconds and the display for 20. I did not pay that close of attention when I programming it earlier, but I suppose the light times are programmable.
One other feature I always missed on the previous MX models I have used is they had Skip buttons. The MX-810 gives me hard buttons for REW and FF as well as SKIP + and - buttons.
I was very curious about how difficult it was going to be to learn the new software, already knowing that the ProWizard software was going to be completely different than the MX-Editor software I had been accustomed to. I was very happy to learn that it was extremely user friendly and took most of the guess work out of programming my remotes. I gathered up my various remotes and started up the ProWizard.
All of these screen shots will be shrunk down a little to better accommodate viewers with lower screen resolutions.
Here is the opening screen of the ProWizard.
In many instances it will give you an opportunity to watch a demo. I watched a little bit of one and it was very thorough, but I found myself able to figure things out easily enough not to have to use any demos.
Pressing the Next button gets you started selecting the various components that you plan on programming into the MX-810. What you see here is more than my actual setup… I’ve included more just showing you the capabilities. Of course it can handle up to 24 devices.
I’m simply going to go through some of the screens to give you an idea of how the program is laid out. You can read the text on the screen shots which tells you what to do.
Of course at anytime I wasn’t completely sure about what I was doing, I could click on Help and it would explain in more detail.
You can search the database to see if your particular device is listed or you can learn button for button. I basically just programmed the buttons I use most frequently after getting my system setup.
You can name the LCD buttons for each device 2 lines high x 7 characters each line. You can label up to 8 pages of buttons for a total of 48 custom labeled commands in addition to the hard buttons.
After labeling the LCD buttons like you want them, you then get to learn all the various commands for each button, if you selected to learn each button instead of opting to download the commands from the IR database of products. After learning all the commands for each device, you can then customize the remote further with various options.
The backgrounds and buttons are very customizable… including the ability to upload your own designs for background and buttons in addition to the already wide selection of pre-installed themes.
You can even create your very own slide show.
Rearrange icons or pick new ones.
Program Macros and Activities.
All in all the MX-810 software was extremely easy to navigate and understand. If I made a mistake I found it very easy to back up without losing what I had already completed, fixing the mistake and then going back to where I left off. Downloading to the remote was simple and fast. The flexibility of what can be done is phenomenal to say the least.
I give it a
rating…
Seen in the
Shack Electronics Store for as low as
$234.