Hello everyone. I have enjoyed reading your posts, and think I have found the remote I want mx-950, (people here seem to like it). I am a little concerned about programming the 950. I have read that it is difficult, but some members here say it's not. It would be dissapointing to buy this remote and not be able to program it. Also, is Surf Remote Control a good place to buy? Their prices are very good and they are an authorized dealer. One more thought, I'm not understanding the difference betwen the mrf 250/300/350. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you

There is an impressive complete review of this remote on remotecentral.com here:

http://www.remotecentral.com/mx950/index.html

user reviews here:

http://www.remotecentral.com/ureview/109.htm

Another review here from remoteshoppe.com:

http://www.remoteshoppe.com/index.php?itemid=142&catid=22

There is a remoteshoppe user profile in these forums (under that name) so you could ask him any questions you might have. MikeSRC is from Surf Remote and I am sure he would be happy to answer your questions too (I do not know either member in any way, shape or form, but have read many of their excellent informative posts).

Concerning the complexity of programming, this is an extract from the URC website:

Custom Programming of a complex home theater and/or a multi-room
system is one of the most challenging tasks within an audio/video installation.
It involves an intimate knowledge of how the components interact
and exact details on the proper sequences of control.

Only a Complete Control dealer has the requisite experience and training
to quickly and effectively customize a remote control for true automated
operation.


That being said, if you are not technophobic, I would expect you to be able to overcome the difficulties of this task, (some even describe it as easy) though I do not have any personal experience (I would like to try the software for myself, but it is not freely available). It seems to equate to the complexity of using the advanced functions of MS Excel, for example (perhaps a user could confirm or clarify this assessment). There is a lot of help available from users here and at remotecentral.com too.

I think it really depends on what you want to control and how you want to control it (as well as your assessment of the ergonomics and quality of the product). If your system is fairly straightforward and all you want to do is avoid having several remotes, then this might be overkill. If you are good with somewhat complex software, then this might not matter anyway. I have not found a specific thread on the 950 here but there are a whole heap of user forums for URC on remotecentral.com. With any luck, this search result might take you to the right place:

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/forums/search.cgi?start=complete&num=0&terms=MX-950&author=&forum=complete&file=662933208836&wc=1&mm=&tt=3432&dt=180&ba=0&sm=0

Good Night and Good Luck! (I think somebody else once said that before me ...)

I bought a MX-950 from Surf Remote, and I must say:

1) The service was great.
2) The stuff arrived fine.
3) The price was great (just make sure you actually ask for a low price!)
4) It all works.
5) The included PDF manual was very thorough, and made programming easy.

You have to follow the manual, though! If you try to go it on your own, you'll fail. And the manual assumes that you already know what you want to do, so the hardest part is probably planning out what you want to do beforehand.

I have a MX-950 controlling a miscellanea of equipment, and it all came with entries in their database, and it's all been working flawlessly. I'm using the MRF-350 "narrowband" radio base station, which is an upgrade from the 250 -- I think it was worth it, because I can place the antenna where I want, and don't have to worry about interference.