MCE/Vista remotes

[flamingo]

I realise this issue has been done to death but when I received my MCE remote with my computer I could not program any devices with it and I would be able to do one fucntion with the remote then it would stop working. I posted here about 6 months ago and the conclusion was that I may not have had a genuine MCE remote, the green button was there with a lovely little picture but it does not have a DVD Menu button or the word Microsoft anywhere on it.

Anyway i am looking at buying a new remote to program in a Samsumg tv, MCE and a Yamaha amp. I have heard bits about harmony but not keen on an lcd screen on the remote or sepending that much $$.

Do Vista remotes work on MCE?

Are there good cheap remotes out there? are there any that i need to steer clear of (other than the one I have already got!).

Thanks

[GlenR]

The reason your non-genuine remote only does one thing then stops may well be because of "debounce". See my thread How to get a learning remote to play with the MCE receiver for details and how to turn it off.

This may well be a problem even if you get another learning remote, but the fix is in that thread. It was for MCE2005 (which I assume you have) and I'm not sure if it's still an issue with Vista.

[philzgr8]

Unfortunately I can't comment on other remotes but I can say that the money you might spend on a Harmony 880 is well worth it IMO. I also have a harmony 1000i sitting in a drawer gathering dust because it promised plenty and delivered little so the same cannot be said of all models. Frankly the 1000i is an overpriced piece of junk IMO since its main issue is that it is a bit awkward to hold and use at the same time. The 880 on the other hand is one of the best things I have spent money on and I can't imagine how you could make much improvement.

[logifuse]

I agree with Phil re the Harmony 880 - excellent. The current model that has essentially replaced it is the 785.

The 525 works for MCE too - can be had for less than $100 according to Static Ice.

Justin