Great Idea.... Just came up short

I have been working on upgrading my home A/V equipment and one of the things I really wanted to do was eliminate remote cluter just as every other reviewer has stated. I have a Philips Plasma, Yamaha Receiver, Sony DVD changer, Philips Tivo, and XBOX 360. All of these are less than 3 years old so I thought this would be the perfect way to simplify all of this into: Watch TV, Watch DVD, Play game (period).

I thought $599 was a lot for a remote, since you can buy a full computer for that today. However, if it works and its SIMPLE then OK, plus it is a cool looking little device to have around.

I spent 5 hours playing with it and trying to get to the simple little macro functions that I listed above. I can't imagine the other reviewers took into consideration the cost of this device for what it does, or tried to live with it for a couple of weeks; because it just won't keep you from reaching for your OEM remote for certain everyday functions and that defeats the whole purpose of this device.

What happened?

The wireless function didn't work with my Linksys router although I went through the setup many times. Apparently, this device supports the 802.11b standard instead of the pervasive 802.11g standard. While the Philips website says it should work anyway, in my case it didn't so I was unable to test any of the network functions. The setup routine is easy, although entering your model numbers didn't seem to help at all and there is no database to choose from (I even updated the Firmware just to make sure). It's quickest to just pick the brand of device you want to control and let it search (just like entering the codes on your FREE remote that comes with other devices). All devices I had were able to be controled by this remote, although I expect that for this kind of money. Once you have the devices entered then you have to setup activities (another name for macros). This is the bread and butter of a single remote control and the WEAKEST part of this device. The activites are preset and NOT optional to setup. They also cannot be edited on a function basis and when they don't do what you want your only choice is to delete them. If you try to control your device individually then the buttons you use frequently could be on different pages for your TV or similiar device. This means you have to reprogram the buttons as best you can or use the eight buttons you have as optional functions for a given device. However, you have NO control over the layout. Compicated devices like a TIVO or DVD changer require many more control options and layout options than this device can do. Further, the hard keys are not configurable either. I just expected more for this kind of money. I would rather just use a PDA that I can download remote control files for my devices and setup any way I want.

Bottom line: Save your money this is not a well exectued product for $600.