I looked at the Sony remotes briefly before I bought my Pronto. I thought the price was attractive, but didn't like the idea of the limited customization of the buttons on the touchscreen and limited macro capability. Sony has seemed to eliminate the advantage of a touchscreen (customization) while saddling it with the disadvange inherent in a touchscreen (no tactile feedback).
I may be prejudiced and nonobjective, but I think my 3000 is great and the 3100 is even better. Of course there are some drawbacks, but there are also a lot of positives. It really depends on what a person wants in a remote, because individual tastes vary, but if you like a large touch screen remote, these are for you.
I recently got a 3100 and it seems to work pretty good. From what I understand, the previous models did not let you customize the LCD buttons which was a huge gripe. The 3100 does have customizable LCD buttons (albeit limited), and it's more than enough for what I need to do with my modest setup (TV, DVD, 2 Receivers, HD tuner).
Things I like:
Price
Aesthetics (geek factor)
Easy to program/learn/use
Things I wish it had:
Fully customizable LCD buttons
I've never owned a universal remote before, so I guess in this case ignorance is bliss.
A forum community dedicated to home theater owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, TVs, projectors, screens, receivers, speakers, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!