# Best Non-TiVo TiVo Remote



## HeatherA (Jan 10, 2002)

I was going to purchase the Glo Remote for my new HD TiVo, but think we need a decent universal remote to clean up clutter in the family room. I have a Harmony Xbox remote that I can appropriate and use, but I'm wondering if there's a better alternative out there. 

What universal remotes do you use and why do you like it? Do any have specific TiVo buttons such as the thumbs?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

The Harmony One is pretty popular, I have one and like it, but it's no Tivo peanut, even with the Harmony I go back to the glo-peanut for Tivo use.

Diane


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## snarler (Feb 4, 2009)

Harmony One, and all other remotes are locked away somewhere. It currently controls a vcr, dvd jukebox, blu-ray player, TiVo, and TV and probably something else I've forgotten. The Thumbs up / down buttons are on the touch screen if you want em. And with the PowerToggle tweak I can put the TiVo in standby when I turn everything off or switch to something else, and bring it back out of it when I come back to the TiVo.

Used to use an 880 but after my third one with button problems I went One.


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## edge64 (Dec 23, 2006)

snarler said:


> Harmony One, and all other remotes are locked away somewhere. Ditto. Harmonly One is fab.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

I'm a fan of the harmony 880/890

others like various other harmony models.

I think harmony is hte way to go- just figure out which one has the buttons arranged the way you think you would like the best.


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

I'm still old school and love my MX-500, I've tried 880 and didn't like it and went back to the 500.I love the layout and how it feels balnce wise.


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## NotVeryWitty (Oct 3, 2003)

dianebrat said:


> The Harmony One is pretty popular, I have one and like it, but it's no Tivo peanut, even with the Harmony I go back to the glo-peanut for Tivo use.


Diane, what is it about the Tivo peanut that makes you use it even when you have the Harmony One? Is it the layout, or the feel of it, or something else? [I've been considering spending the money on the Harmony One, but I'm concerned about giving up what I consider the perfect layout and feel of the peanut.]


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

NotVeryWitty said:


> Diane, what is it about the Tivo peanut that makes you use it even when you have the Harmony One? Is it the layout, or the feel of it, or something else? [I've been considering spending the money on the Harmony One, but I'm concerned about giving up what I consider the perfect layout and feel of the peanut.]


I LOVE the TiVo Peanut remote. However as an opposing opinion to Diane, I also LOVE the Harmony One remote. I would only get rid of my peanut if I found another remote that did everything the peanut did and as well as every other remote I have.

The One succeeds in every effort. It was very easy to program and has a nice feel. Button placement is very logicial and feels very similar to the way the TiVo remote is layed out. I've tried various universal remotes before and this is the first one where I've actually liked the button layout and it didn't cause me to go back to my original remote. I've now got six remotes in the drawer and never once have I gone back to them.....every button from every one of those remotes is available.

For TiVo users who like the peanut, I highly recommend the Harmony One.


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## iamnotmad (Feb 15, 2003)

buddhawood said:


> I'm still old school and love my MX-500, I've tried 880 and didn't like it and went back to the 500.I love the layout and how it feels balnce wise.


MX-500 here also. GREAT remote.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

NotVeryWitty said:


> Diane, what is it about the Tivo peanut that makes you use it even when you have the Harmony One? Is it the layout, or the feel of it, or something else? [I've been considering spending the money on the Harmony One, but I'm concerned about giving up what I consider the perfect layout and feel of the peanut.]


The Harmony One while nice just isn't the peanut, I adore the peanut, it does everything I want it to. It sounds like a broken record, but it's my gold standard of remotes, there's nothing I don't like about it. The only minus is that the Tivo TV power codes don't work right for my Kuro, they turn on the DVD/VCR combo at the same time.

I will say that if there's any remote that I like other then the peanut, the Harmony One is it, I test drove a Harmony 700 and it just felt like a cheap knockoff Harmony One.. (which it is)

I've also never really had an issue with the OEM remotes being difficult to use or figure out, badly designed, yes, but I can find my way through them to get what I want on and set, I don't require the universal remotes to assist me which seems to be the target market of so many of them.

Diane


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

I bought a harmony 880 on line. Big mistake. The buttons were too small for my fingers. Itnow sits in a drawer. Often thought of trying to sell it.


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## drey (Jul 21, 2008)

Another vote for Harmony One.

Ability to hide TiVo commercials during pause, as well as do 3 or 4 minute skips is very neat.


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## thomb (Jan 22, 2008)

Tried a lot of remotes. I haven't found anything I like more than Universal Remote MX-700.


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## djwilso (Dec 23, 2006)

NotVeryWitty said:


> Diane, what is it about the Tivo peanut that makes you use it even when you have the Harmony One? Is it the layout, or the feel of it, or something else? [I've been considering spending the money on the Harmony One, but I'm concerned about giving up what I consider the perfect layout and feel of the peanut.]


I am the same way. We have a Harmony One as well as the TiVo Glo remote.

For TiVo use, the Harmony One just doesn't transmit the button press commands as quickly and reliably as the Glo remote. This is even after tweaking the delay settings according to bkdtv's excellent setup guide. Link to guide: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7097286#post7097286

Plus, it's nice having two remotes when watching TV because then my wife can have a remote and I can too.


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## megory (Jan 23, 2003)

The only remote I have ever liked was the Sony TiVo remote. I like the location of the buttons, the weighted bottom, the ability to discern top from bottom, and my ease at using the FF/REW easily as well as easily pressing the buttons. In the early 00s, I remember how thrilled it was and figured I'd find another as satisfactory to me.

Not so. Since graveyarding my Sony TiVos, I have searched for one that fits my preferences. I have about a dozen disliked universal remotes that sit in a drawer. 

I wish I could find the same layout and feel on some other remote or get someone to make the old Sony (I have 3-4) work with my HDTiVo, but I'm stuck with the Peanut that I hate.

The Harmony and the MX-500 look interesting, but not particularly appealing, and I sure don't want to spend enough for a new TiVo on a remote that will probably end up in yet another drawer.

I still dream of the Sony remote . . .


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## vccat (Oct 21, 2009)

I love the Harmony Xbox 360 with the 4 extra colored buttons. (Yellow,Blue,Green,Red)
I use Yellow for Guide, Blue for Recorded shows, Green for Replay, Red for 30 second skip. 
I made a macro in the LCD that lets me turn on and off the 30 second skip any time I want too.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

I have a One For All URC8910 and URC8820. They are decently programmable with some DIY remote knowledge, and extra hardware (programming interface).

The 8820 is closer to the Tivo remote than the 8910, and is a form cousin to the URC6131n, which is even closer (it has specific thumbs and other TiVo buttons).


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## [email protected] (Dec 1, 2007)

I nearly bought a Harmony recently, to get everything onto one remote. But by the time I'd added in the adapter to control a PS3 it got fairly expensive. The main reason we were shopping for a remote was because the old DirecTiVo remote from the HR-250 was beginning to show the signs of having been knocked off the table by the cats once too often; channel down only worked if you pushed the button just right. I eventually ended up buying two new genuine TiVo remotes (with the dual DVR control option) for around $40, shipped. That lets my wife leave one on her desk and one on the table, and still lets me keep one by my chair 
Most of the time that's all we need; the TV and A/V system are both Sony, and are hooked up using the Bravia Theatre Link HDMI control, so turning the TV on automatically turns on the A/V system (and switches it to the Satellite input). Only if we want to watch a DVD (or a Blu-Ray, or play a PS3 game) do we need to play games with additional remotes.


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## slude (Feb 9, 2008)

megory said:


> I wish I could find the same layout and feel on some other remote or get someone to make the old Sony (I have 3-4) work with my HDTiVo, but I'm stuck with the Peanut that I hate.


The Sony-Tivo remotes can be made to work with the HDTiVo. 
http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101136 explained that the Sony-Tivo remotes are so-called "JP1" remotes and can therefore be re-programmed to send the Tivo-Tivo remote codes.

Hacking of "JP1" remotes has progressed a bit since the days when that archived post was made and now you can get (small web stores, ebay) a pre-made kit that lets you avoid breaking out the soldering iron.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

buddhawood said:


> I'm still old school and love my MX-500, I've tried 880 and didn't like it and went back to the 500.I love the layout and how it feels balnce wise.





iamnotmad said:


> MX-500 here also. GREAT remote.


I have an MX-600 which is basically the RF version of the MX-500. So far, I've not found a better remote for TiVo viewing. You can do almost anything you need without having to look at the remote. It works from any room in the house too. It actually even works from the backyard. For when I'm listening to music outside.


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## Edmund (Nov 8, 2002)

bareyb said:


> I have an MX-700 which is basically the RF version of the MX-500. So far, I've not found a better remote for TiVo viewing. You can do almost anything you need without having to look at the remote. It works from any room in the house too. It actually even works from the backyard. For when I'm listening to music outside.


remotes models mx-600 & 800 were RF versions of the mx-500 & 700.


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## megory (Jan 23, 2003)

slude said:


> The Sony-Tivo remotes can be made to work with the HDTiVo.
> http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101136 explained that the Sony-Tivo remotes are so-called "JP1" remotes and can therefore be re-programmed to send the Tivo-Tivo remote codes.
> 
> Hacking of "JP1" remotes has progressed a bit since the days when that archived post was made and now you can get (small web stores, ebay) a pre-made kit that lets you avoid breaking out the soldering iron.


WOW! That's great. Maybe WeaKnees could do it! I think I heard that years ago, so I'm glad to hear it again, and to have the info on the kits. Any more info appreciated too!


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## megory (Jan 23, 2003)

Well, I asked WeaKnees, and they said they "Sorry, we can't help you and don't know anyone who can."

Does anyone know of any company that can handle this technology?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

slude said:


> Hacking of "JP1" remotes has progressed a bit since the days when that archived post was made and now you can get (small web stores, ebay) a pre-made kit that lets you avoid breaking out the soldering iron.


You still need to add the JP1 connector to the Sony remote, and it isn't as simple as the 6 pin connector either; you have to wire to the EEPROM chip that the JP1 adapter/software reads.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Edmund said:


> remotes models mx-600 & 800 were RF versions of the mx-500 & 700.


Doh. I guess I could have just looked at it and read the label. It's an MX-600. 

Question for the folks with Harmonys. Can you operate most functions without looking at the remote?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

bareyb said:


> Question for the folks with Harmonys. Can you operate most functions without looking at the remote?


On the Harmony One/900, yes. On others, not so much.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

bkdtv said:


> On the Harmony One/900, yes. On others, not so much.


What buttons do you guys use for "Menu" and "Guide"? Do you use the << >> ?


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## atlynch (Jan 7, 2005)

You can now get the Home Theater master MX-850 on Ebay for about $250. It's worth every penny. The software to program it on the PC is reasonably good. It's PC only, which is the only reason I own a copy of Windows. Mine a is set up to handle 3 tivos, receiver, a CD player a DVD Player, an Apple TV, an XBOX, A BluRay Player, an HDMI switch, a Component video switch, a DVDO Duo, even a VCR, and oh yeah, the television. When I first got it, I programmed it, and my technophobe (ex) wife picked it up and started using it without instruction. My kids use it as well. I've had it about 5 years now.


For the bedrooms, I like the Sony RM-VL900. You can set one up, and then clone it to others. This way each bedroom has the same remote. These can be found for dirt cheap now.

-Drew


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

bareyb said:


> What buttons do you guys use for "Menu" and "Guide"? Do you use the << >> ?


I have the Guide button set to bring up the guide. Yes, I use << and >> for FF/REW.

My menu button is set to display the NPL. Harmony has a discrete code for that.

I have the TiVo menu on the LCD, but rarely use that.

















If you've never used a Harmony, you customize the buttons as seen here.


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## snarler (Feb 4, 2009)

bareyb said:


> What buttons do you guys use for "Menu" and "Guide"? Do you use the << >> ?


"Menu" is "TiVo" for me. "Guide" maps to pulling up the channel guide. << and >> are rewind and fast forward (as opposed to |<< and >>| which are seven second skip back and 30 second skip forward with that enabled or jump to next marker if it's not)


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Ah I see... I use the << >> buttons for Guide and Menu on the MX-600. That way I never have to move my hands around on the remote. You could do the same on the Harmony too I suppose. I like the Harmony. I could get used to that button layout fairly quickly and it actually has a couple more hard buttons on there that look like they'd come in handy. It's good to know there's something else out there if for some reason my beloved MX-600 ever gets discontinued.


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## balboa dave (Jan 19, 2004)

HeatherA said:


> I was going to purchase the Glo Remote for my new HD TiVo, but think we need a decent universal remote to clean up clutter in the family room. I have a Harmony Xbox remote that I can appropriate and use, but I'm wondering if there's a better alternative out there.
> 
> What universal remotes do you use and why do you like it? Do any have specific TiVo buttons such as the thumbs?
> 
> I look forward to hearing your thoughts.


Another hard core fan of the Harmony One. I set the ^ and ν buttons under the screen as thumbs up and down, even though I rarely use them. I control an A/V system, 2 TiVos and 2 TVs in different rooms, an Xbox 360, a PS3 (w/adapter), and a CD/DVD jukebox.


snarler said:


> Harmony One, and all other remotes are locked away somewhere. It currently controls a vcr, dvd jukebox, blu-ray player, TiVo, and TV and probably something else I've forgotten. The Thumbs up / down buttons are on the touch screen if you want em. And with the PowerToggle tweak I can put the TiVo in standby when I turn everything off or switch to something else, and bring it back out of it when I come back to the TiVo.
> 
> Used to use an 880 but after my third one with button problems I went One.





SNJpage1 said:


> I bought a harmony 880 on line. Big mistake. The buttons were too small for my fingers. It now sits in a drawer. Often thought of trying to sell it.


I thought the 880 was the bee's knees when I bought it on the day it came out, but now, I agree with your assessment. Even after paying big bucks for it, I still used the TiVo peanut as my go to remote. And it's now retired since I got the One.


dianebrat said:


> The Harmony One while nice just isn't the peanut, I adore the peanut, it does everything I want it to. It sounds like a broken record, but it's my gold standard of remotes, there's nothing I don't like about it. The only minus is that the Tivo TV power codes don't work right for my Kuro, they turn on the DVD/VCR combo at the same time.
> 
> I will say that if there's any remote that I like other then the peanut, the Harmony One is it, I test drove a Harmony 700 and it just felt like a cheap knockoff Harmony One.. (which it is)
> 
> ...


I think the TiVo peanut is the best remote the was ever invented. You'll love this link about it's history. Still, after just an hour of using the H One, the peanut went into the drawer. Not only is the layout and feel remarkably similar, and that's not by coincidence, the buttons light up. Absolutely and completely usable in pitch darkness. It's thinner, lighter, and the keys feel very good. I've set up things like the To Do and Season Pass menus to be one-click. The hidden settings that start with thumbs up, down, up and select, play, select are now a single button press away.


[email protected] said:


> I nearly bought a Harmony recently, to get everything onto one remote. But by the time I'd added in the adapter to control a PS3 it got fairly expensive...


I know you hate to hear this, I would, but the Harmony One and PS3 adapter were for sale together on Amazon for $150 just a week or two ago. I did paid full retail for the 880 when it came out.


bareyb said:


> What buttons do you guys use for "Menu" and "Guide"? Do you use the << >> ?


I use the buttons labeled "Menu" and "Guide."



bareyb said:


> Ah I see... I use the << >> buttons for Guide and Menu on the MX-600. That way I never have to move my hands around on the remote. You could do the same on the Harmony too I suppose. I like the Harmony. I could get used to that button layout fairly quickly and it actually has a couple more hard buttons on there that look like they'd come in handy. It's good to know there's something else out there if for some reason my beloved MX-600 ever gets discontinued.


Since every single button is reprogrammable based on your activity, if you want to use the << >> buttons for Guide and Menu, you can.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

How easy is it to move around on that thing? For TiVo use, it seems you have to move up and down the keypads quite a bit. Can you operate the Menu and Guide buttons without looking at the remote? If not, has it turned out to be a big deal? I really am liking this one more and more... Anyone using the 900 model with the RF capability? Works well? Good range?


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## Dan S (Aug 8, 2007)

Another die-hard Harmony One user here. I previously owned various Sony universal remotes as well as a Harmony 659 and never liked any of them, whereas with the Harmony One I was loving it immediately.

My wife instantly liked it a lot better than the original peanut, and she usually hates it when I switch us to a new remote.

For me, besides the obvious reasons of activity based control and ease of setup, the reason I like it so much is the ergonomics. It's so light and thin it just feels great in the hand, and they really did their homework on separating out the "groups" of buttons, making them nice and big, and making them different shapes and textures so that you learn it all by feel very, very quickly. I have never used any other remote that has come close in quickly developing "muscle memory" for using it. This remote is expensive, but it's just worth it.

For anyone else using, or thinking of using, a harmony one, here are some strategies I use for the button assignments, with the goal of having as little as possible on the color touchscreen (again, to take advantage of muscle memory and feel).

The ^ and &#957; buttons, as mentioned by another poster, can be used as hardware thumbs up and down buttons. But if you are like me and do not use suggestions, you have no need for thumbs up/down, and can use them for other important functions. For me, I use the ^ button to go straight to the "now playing" menu, and the &#957; button as the "live TV" button. True, you wouldn't know what these do just by looking at the remote, but you learn them very quickly.

Another button I'm not sure if I saw mentioned is the + button, which has a sub-label on the remote of "clear". This inspired me to assign it to the "delete" command, which lets me delete shows or folders of shows in the now playing list with a single button press, much quicker then selecting the show and then doing additional presses to delete the show, saying yes I'm sure, etc. 

For the "E' button on the lower right, I assigned this one to the "last channel" button for those times when you are trying to toggle between two channels and watch two shows at once. You know you've done it 

Lastly, I have assigned the "back" button to the "aspect" command, since Tivo uses the left cursor diamond to go back and does not need a dedicated back button. This is useful when you are watching some letterboxed show on a standard def only channel (quite common these days). On a 16x9 set, using this button to change the Tivo from the "panel" aspect ratio to "zoom" will allow the letterboxed program to fill the screen just right and get rid of the black borders on all 4 sides of the TV.

One thing I do make sure to do, for all of these extra button assignments that do not have "intuitive" button labels to go with them, is to ALSO map those last few commands to the 6 buttons of the touchscreen. That way my wife, who has not memorized all these extra mappings, can get to those extra commands, when she wants them, by touching their corresponding touchscreen button, while I can get to them quicker by using their hardware equivalents.

Thanks!


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## balboa dave (Jan 19, 2004)

bareyb said:


> How easy is it to move around on that thing? For TiVo use, it seems you have to move up and down the keypads quite a bit. Can you operate the Menu and Guide buttons without looking at the remote? If not, has it turned out to be a big deal? I really am liking this one more and more... Anyone using the 900 model with the RF capability? Works well? Good range?


I'm not sure why you need to use this without looking; you've repeated the question so it must be important, but this remote is 100% usable in complete darkness. But to address your concern, I'd say 90% of TiVo functionality can be done without looking, as the core button placement is so similar to the peanut. The touch screen isn't reachable with the thumb without shifting your hand, but I can live with that.

And to add to Dan S's mapping suggestions, I assigned Slow to the square Stop button next to Pause. Placing the Live TV and Now Playing to the ^ and ν buttons is a great idea. That would make this have 100% of the peanut functionality within reach of your thumb.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

I'll echo other responses and say get a Harmony. I have an 880 and after remapping a few of the buttons I can use it very easily without looking at it. I do wish at the time I had paid a little more and gotten the 890. I hate having to have line of sight to my components, the RF would have came in handy. If the One had RF capability it would be very tempting, but I'll stick with my 880 for now.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

brettatk said:


> I'll echo other responses and say get a Harmony. I have an 880 and after remapping a few of the buttons I can use it very easily without looking at it. I do wish at the time I had paid a little more and gotten the 890. I hate having to have line of sight to my components, the RF would have came in handy. If the One had RF capability it would be very tempting, but I'll stick with my 880 for now.


The new Harmony 900 is a Harmony One with RF

Diane


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## Brute (May 14, 2004)

We've had an 880 for about 3 years now. We've loved it. Sadly, but buttons are starting to become unresponsive. I don't know if that's a normal issue on the 880s or if its because I spilled beer on it a couple of years ago.

I think I will be upgrading to a harmony one in short order.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> The new Harmony 900 is a Harmony One with RF
> 
> Diane


Thanks, I didn't realize that. I guess when my 880 dies I know what I'll be purchasing.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

balboa dave said:


> I'm not sure why you need to use this without looking; you've repeated the question so it must be important, but this remote is 100% usable in complete darkness. But to address your concern, I'd say 90% of TiVo functionality can be done without looking, as the core button placement is so similar to the peanut. The touch screen isn't reachable with the thumb without shifting your hand, but I can live with that.
> .


Just trying to get some long term user impressions. Being able to operate the remote by touch is very important to me. It's one of the reasons I've stuck with the MX-600 for so long. With my luck, they will undoubtedly "improve it" some day and ruin it. If that happens and I'm looking for a new way to go, it sounds like the 900 would be my best bet.


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## Poochie (Dec 27, 2003)

Brute said:


> We've had an 880 for about 3 years now. We've loved it. Sadly, but buttons are starting to become unresponsive. I don't know if that's a normal issue on the 880s or if its because I spilled beer on it a couple of years ago.
> 
> I think I will be upgrading to a harmony one in short order.


I had a similar experience with my 880 and replaced it over a year ago with a One. My 880 was bought (for full price, ugh) when it first shipped. After a few (3?) years, the volume keys and a few others became unreliable.

When I used my 880, I felt like it wasn't as nearly as good (layout-wise) as the peanut but was willing to live with the inferior layout to keep myself only using one remote for 7 devices (projector, HDMI switch, receiver, PS3 with Nyko IR receiver, HTPC, a series 1 and a series 3 Tivo). Now that I have the One, I feel like it's only slightly less appealing to me layout-wise than a peanut but so much better than the 880 that I'm quite happy with it.

Another bonus for me was moving from the 880 to the One was much easier than starting from scratch. I did tweak a few button assignments, and the "what goes on the LCD screen" assignments, but the overall programming of my somewhat complex system ported over easily.

I can easily use my One by feel to operate common Tivo functions in the dark - the FF/Rew, skip-forward/skip-back, play/pause keys are logically arranged and easy to find by feel for me. This is more than I could say about the 880, IMHO.


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