Acoustic Research XSight: Discussion Thread

[mdavej]

That's too funny. Answering my AR tech support question a while back, "Lawrence" flat out told me the xsight didn't work with native D* RF at all. They are completely clueless. I'm certain he doesn't understand your question. Even if he did, he wouldn't know the answer. The fact that the same guy answered both our questions tells us all we need to know about AR support. The main problem is AR is just a name slapped on a one-for-all remote. They don't know the product at all. They just sell it.

[armophob]

Show of hands to kill this thread? The disappointment is too much to keep re-living.

[mdavej]

Lots of good info here for people who don't know any better. Plus you never know if the next version might actually improve. I say let it float (or sink?) to the bottom on it's own. I'll quit posting until something positive happens :)

[Drew2k]

Yeah, keep it open ...

If anyone ever posts about an update to the EZ-RC software I'll get notified via the thread subscription. :)

[dconfer]

I have tried reading thru this to find out if this remote works or not. Could someone please recap the thread. I need to buy a remote and would love to have the RF with my HR20-700. Or should I just buy another Harmony One? Sorry for asking this but I got confused when trying to read thru this.

[Tom Robertson]

I have tried reading thru this to find out if this remote works or not. Could someone please recap the thread. I need to buy a remote and would love to have the RF with my HR20-700. Or should I just buy another Harmony One? Sorry for asking this but I got confused when trying to read thru this.

If you hope to control more than 1 DIRECTV receiver via RF, you're outta luck. (Most unfortunately.) If all you want to control is one DIRECTV receiver, this remote very well might be the one for you.

Cheers,
Tom

[dconfer]

I only want to use it for one HR20 on RF. But I do need it to work with other components as well. Will it work on the other equipment like my harmony one does? Also will it work with my HR20 using RF without any other equipment?

[mdavej]

I only want to use it for one HR20 on RF. But I do need it to work with other components as well. Will it work on the other equipment like my harmony one does?Qualified Yes. It will work with all your other devices, but doesn't work quite like harmony. An activity on xsight is just a macro. The result is almost the same: it turns on your devices, switches inputs and maps the right keys for volume, playback, menus, etc. The difference is that if you run the activity again, it will repeat all the steps in the activity. This is how most universal remotes besides Harmony work anyway. Harmony will leave out the steps it performed before. This is usually not a problem if all your devices have discrete power and input commands (many do). If some don't, it will toggle them back off or switch inputs. That's the major difference. You won't really know for sure until you try it. If you post a list of devices, I can probably tell you if they all have discrete power or not.
Also will it work with my HR20 using RF without any other equipment?Yes

Although my xsight is for sale, I think it's a pretty good alternative to the D* RF remote. Although it's not quite as smart as harmony, it's fairly close.

[MBlue72]

dconfer (if you are still here) or anyone else that is interested:

I am considering purchasing this remote and have read through this entire thread (whew!). Here is what I take away from the previous 258 posts, as far as negatives of the XSight Touch:

1)… it can only control (via RF) a single DirecTV receiver
2)… it’s “a lemon if you have more than one device that changes channels” [see post #193]
3)… you cannot customize soft button placement [#193]
4)… Activity and Device soft buttons share the same screen. Soft buttons for one appear for the other [#193]
5)… "when you power off, it does NOT return to the home screen – it stays in whatever mode you were" [#193]
6)… it’s hard to program. This point was made in several posts, see #221 for example
7)… it may be problem with Toggle On And Off devices … This point was made in several posts, see #258 above for example.

In my case, issues 1 and 2 don’t apply. Issues 3 and 4 are “only” an inconvenience. Issues 5, 6 and 7 are significant, though. I need to understand 7 better (for my own specific equipment).

Anyone else like to add more shortcomings? Did I summarize all this well?

Of course there are plenty of pluses too. To name a few … seems solidly made, works natively (via RF) with DirecTV receivers (even includes colored buttons and “List” button), RF capable, has macro capability, good key layout, nice backlighting, etc.

Hope this helps,

Dave

Edit: (tom robertson) removed the font tags altogether.

[Tom Robertson]

Dave,

Great job with the summary. It seems thorough and complete.

Cheers,
Tom

[mdavej]

dconfer (if you are still here) or anyone else that is interested:

I am considering purchasing this remote and have read through this entire thread (whew!). Here is what I take away from the previous 258 posts, as far as negatives of the XSight Touch:

1)… it can only control (via RF) a single DirecTV receiver. TRUE
2)… it’s “a lemon if you have more than one device that changes channels” [see post #193] FALSE. This was taken out of context. Each activity can have it's own channel changing device just like harmony. I believe the OP wanted several favorites lists for different devices, which is a different issue.
3)… you cannot customize soft button placement [#193]. FALSE. Soft buttons can go anywhere. There are restrictions though. Once you place them on a page, you can move them anywhere on that page. To move a button to a different page, you must delete it and place it again. OP is correct that they fill in reverse order, one page at a time. It just requires some planning to get the layout you want.
4)… Activity and Device soft buttons share the same screen. Soft buttons for one appear for the other [#193]FALSE. This doesn't make sense to me. An activity that uses 4 devices, for instance, certainly doesn't have 4 devices worth of soft buttons. It has whatever buttons you added to the activity.
5)… "when you power off, it does NOT return to the home screen – it stays in whatever mode you were" [#193]. TRUE. But all you have to do is press the HOME button.
6)… it’s hard to program. This point was made in several posts, see #221 for example. Sort of. It's more frustrating than harmony, but not by much. Once you understand how it works, it's not so bad.
7)… it may be problem with Toggle On And Off devices … This point was made in several posts, see #258 above for example. TRUE. Xsight, like most remotes, doesn't track device states. Harmony is somewhat unique in that ability.

In my case, issues 1 and 2 don’t apply. Issues 3 and 4 are “only” an inconvenience. Issues 5, 6 and 7 are significant, though. I need to understand 7 better (for my own specific equipment).

Anyone else like to add more shortcomings? Did I summarize all this well?

Of course there are plenty of pluses too. To name a few … seems solidly made, works natively (via RF) with DirecTV receivers (even includes colored buttons and “List” button), RF capable, has macro capability, good key layout, nice backlighting, etc.

Hope this helps,

Dave

Edit: (tom robertson) removed the font tags altogether.

Dave,

Great job assembling what's in this thread. No offense to the OP's, but unfortunately much of it is false. I'm no fan of this remote, but it does work fairly well. See my edits above.

This remote works differently from harmony. Activities are just macros on Xsight. They're not really states like they are in harmony. If you accept that, it works pretty well. If you expect it to be a harmony clone, you'll be disappointed.

I was disappointed in the battery life. But that may have been due to the heavy programming I did early on.

If you post your equipment, I can probably tell you if it all has discretes or not. Many devices without discretes have other commands that work just as well.

All that being said, I'd still take a harmony over xsight any day.

[MBlue72]

mdavej:

Thanks for your input.

Here is a list of our equipment:

AV Receiver: Denon 4308CI
Plasma TV: Pioneer PDP-5010FD
Blu-ray Player: Panasonic DMP-BD30
DVD recorder: Philips 3575H/37
DirecTV DVR: HR21-700
Network music player: Squeezebox Duet

For the Squeezebox Duet, the only functionality I need from the remote controller is on/off.

Thanks,

Dave

[mdavej]

mdavej:

Thanks for your input.

Here is a list of our equipment:

AV Receiver: Denon 4308CI YES
Plasma TV: Pioneer PDP-5010FD YES
Blu-ray Player: Panasonic DMP-BD30 YES
DVD recorder: Philips 3575H/37 NO. But Play for ON and Play - Power for OFF may work
DirecTV DVR: HR21-700 YES
Network music player: Squeezebox Duet NO

For the Squeezebox Duet, the only functionality I need from the remote controller is on/off.

Thanks,

Dave
Answers above. Yes means the device has discrete power codes. No means it probably doesn't have discrete codes. I just couldn't find them.

You can test the philips work-around right now. With the player off, press play and see if it turns on. If that works, then play - power, with a little delay in between will work for discrete off. Then you should be in business if you want to give the xsight a try.

If you don't need RF, PM me and I can give you an excellent deal on an Xsight Color.

[MBlue72]

mdavej:

I checked the Philips and it passed your test (it turned on when I hit "play").

I am still thinking this all over and will keep your XSight Color in mind. The native RF interface with the DirecTV DVR is pretty appealing, though.

Thanks again,

Dave

[RCharles]

I just bought the XSight ARRX18G and started playing with it.

The remote, out of the box, seemed to work. I set the language, etc., and defined my TV; it found the codes and could operate the TV.

then I tried the CD software and web configuration service, EZ-RC. What a disaster. The CD software did not autorun so I had to screw around to get it installed. then I registered on the web site, which promptly downloaded new firmware into the remote. Other problems, like defining three devices, which then got lost. Now the PC software cannot talk to the remote and the remote display is three colored stripes; nothing is working.

My background is software design and this is the worst piece of crap I've seen in a long time.

I've sent AR three problem reports but they all come back with 72 hour commitments. Next step is to pack it up for a return trip to the dealer.

Ray

PS: wish I had found this web site before I ordered it.

[TheRatPatrol]

So those of you with this remote, how are things going? Any software or firmware updates?

[av8er]

I have the xsight touch arrx18g and it's working great. I think most people don't need to have more than one Directv receiver in a room/per remote... so seems like a useless point for the masses. I use it to control several components including the directv receiver via RF and a PS3. I have a Nyko USB ir converter for the PS3, which they don't have the codes for yet... took about 10 minutes to have the remote 'learn' them (purchased for $20 at bestbuy if I remember right). The only negative I found so far is that it doesn't remember power states but all my components have a definitive on and off button so it's not an issue for me.

Maybe I missed the directions, but turning on the RF for the directv took me a bit to figure out..... was watching tv at the same time though.... anyway for anyone else that missed it. Set the receiver back to IR if in RF mode. Setup your device and and activies as normal, than just goto the home button on xsight... slide over to settings... slide over make sure rf on ...slide to directv rf on... enter rf code that you get from directv when you turn on rf on receiver... and bang....works perfect. very easy once i found it.

Somebody mentioned there was no help button to fix a state that is wrong, but there must have been a firmware update because my has an assistant on each activity that does the same thing more or less...

I saw a post a couple back that they had problems.... mine did a firmware update first time I plugged it in... no problems. Setup multiple devices and activies, no problems...maybe he just had a bad one... I searched a lot of posts and didn't see problem like that b4 i bought it... i guess when u make a 1000 widgets..there is always going to be a bad widget or 2.... (assuming he or his computer didn't interupt the update)....

Overall I like it much better than my Logitch Harmony.... hope this helps someone....

[TheRatPatrol]

I have the xsight touch arrx18g and it's working great.
How long have you had it? Just curious to see if there actually was a firmware update.

Thanks for the info.

[av8er]

well the firmware i'm using is 1.3.12. Each activity has an "assist" soft button. not sure if it's new. i haven't played with the the custom setup much yet, so far though it does seem like it needs a tweak.... but I just got it recently, and haven't spent that much time with it...might be missing something.

I actually haven't needed to hit it, but for instance in 'watch tv' if i press ''assist", it asks audio, video, or power problem then takes steps to fix it...which works fine, but I can't see how to get the damn thing off the screen without restarting activity.... maybe my mistake, maybe that's just the way it is now... the remote does function as normal, but still show's the assist mode on the soft buttons.

Lol, I haven't even read any documentation yet.

Heading out for the day... i'll try to check it out more in next couple of days.

[quickfire]

My wife bought me the XSight Touch & RF Extender for Christmas......(cant have it until Christmas)

I have only 1 DirecTv HR21-200 in the LivingRoom......along with a Sony Mega 995 dvd changer,Sony BDP-CX960 BluRay Mega Changer,Onkyo 606 7.1 audio receiver,PS3 & Xbox 360 being displayed on a Sharp AQUOS 65SE94U.

If I can get the XSight Touch to control all my equipment.......Ill be happy....I have 5 remotes on the end table :-(

I have tried the 900 Harmony...and hated it......I DO NOT LIKE ACTIVITY BASED REMOTES AT ALL....

Ill set up the activities for my wife(mostly for the Mega Bluray player)......but Ill toggle between my equipment the old fashion way(I can toggle them alot faster than having a remote do it).......IM HOPING IT WORKS FOR MY SETUP...LET YOU GUYS KNOW IN A COUPLE OF DAYS!!!!


p.s....my wife told me she bought the XSight Touch & RF extender for $213.00 at Amazon......not a bad price if it works the way I need it to.....crossing my fingers.

[quickfire]

Well,after spending 2 days tweaking my XSight Touch.......I have to say this is a GREAT remote----> for my setup.

I absolutely love the Favorites button..I didn't think I would use it,but I find myself just hitting the logo more and more.

Keep in mind I only have 1 Direct HDDVR in my LivingRoom......

The software is buggy.....but if you have patience you can program this remote anyway you can imagine.... :-/

This remote has replaced the following 7 remotes......Directv HDDVR,Sony Bluray Mega Changer,Sony DVD Mega Changer,Onkyo 606 receiver,Sharp 65Se94u HDTV,Sanyo Z4 PJ,& PS3! :-)



There are some faults with this remote.....It is a finger print MAGNET!

It only controls 1 DirecTv receiver at a time!

When setting up Soft buttons..you have to remember that it adds them from the bottom up!

[RunnerFL]

It looks like AR has lost faith in this remote also. It's now $100 cheaper than it was when it came out.

[TheRatPatrol]

It looks like AR has lost faith in this remote also. It's now $100 cheaper than it was when it came out.
You think they're going to discontinue it then?

[mdavej]

It looks like AR has lost faith in this remote also. It's now $100 cheaper than it was when it came out.Somebody forgot to tell everybody but Best Buy. Looks like it's time to get a great deal on a very good RF remote.

[quickfire]

MDAVEJ.......I Love this remote!!!!!!!!!

[DexterMorgan]

New forum member and new ARRX18G Owner. I have an IR to BT convertor for PS3 control with the XSight, but I can't find an appropriate 'device' to use during setup. Anyone have any thoughts?

[chuck5395]

I purchased the ARRX18G along with the Wireless Extender (ARRE433B) at BB this weekend for a bundled price of $199. Slowly working my way towards getting it setup on my system. This is my first programmable remote, so it is taking me some time to figure it all out.

[mdavej]

I purchased the ARRX18G along with the Wireless Extender (ARRE433B) at BB this weekend for a bundled price of $199. Slowly working my way towards getting it setup on my system. This is my first programmable remote, so it is taking me some time to figure it all out.That's a great deal. Be aware that you don't even need the extender to control your D* receiver via RF. That's the beauty of this remote. It's like a D* RF remote on steroids. If you have more than one D* receiver or other devices you want to control via RF, that's another story of course.

[chuck5395]

That's a great deal. Be aware that you don't even need the extender to control your D* receiver via RF. That's the beauty of this remote. It's like a D* RF remote on steroids. If you have more than one D* receiver or other devices you want to control via RF, that's another story of course.

mdavej,
My intent for the RF extender is so that I can control other components, such as the CD player from other rooms.

[davephan]

It took quite awhile to read through 279 posts! I am still deciding between the ARRX18G and the Harmony One, or possibly the Harmony 900. The main downside seems to be the inability to control multiple DVR set top boxes, all located in the same room. I only have a TV, Blueray, one cable box, one media extender, and a VCR that is almost never used.

It took awhile for me to figure out what people were doing with 2 - 4 DVRs in one room! The answer to that logistical problem might be to consolidate the physical DVRs into one computer based DVR system. I have one SageTV computer based DVR system that can record five programs at once. The computer based system can be expanded to 12 or maybe recordings at once. The tuners feed into the SageTV system. A HD media extender is located at each TV. The recordings are stored on a pool of hard drives, which is expandable. The IR commands travel between the HD media extenders and the computer through Eithernet cable. The video/audio content also flows through the same Eithernet cable. The computer can be located anywhere in your house, such as a basement or closet.

My conclusion from reading all the posts, is the web based software is pretty flaky. The concept of the remote is good, and it might work in my situation to consolidate five remotes. However, after reading all the posts, I'm still undecided!

Dave

[anubys]

It took quite awhile to read through 279 posts! I am still deciding between the ARRX18G and the Harmony One, or possibly the Harmony 900. The main downside seems to be the inability to control multiple DVR set top boxes, all located in the same room. I only have a TV, Blueray, one cable box, one media extender, and a VCR that is almost never used.

It took awhile for me to figure out what people were doing with 2 - 4 DVRs in one room! The answer to that logistical problem might be to consolidate the physical DVRs into one computer based DVR system. I have one SageTV computer based DVR system that can record five programs at once. The computer based system can be expanded to 12 or maybe recordings at once. The tuners feed into the SageTV system. A HD media extender is located at each TV. The recordings are stored on a pool of hard drives, which is expandable. The IR commands travel between the HD media extenders and the computer through Eithernet cable. The video/audio content also flows through the same Eithernet cable. The computer can be located anywhere in your house, such as a basement or closet.

My conclusion from reading all the posts, is the web based software is pretty flaky. The concept of the remote is good, and it might work in my situation to consolidate five remotes. However, after reading all the posts, I'm still undecided!

Dave

not to make your decision harder but if you can keep it to 6 devices, consider the Harmony 700 (http://reviews.cnet.com/remote-controls/logitech-harmony-700/4505-7900_7-33770451.html) :)

also, check out the MRV option (came out in beta) see this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=171262)

so the need for multiple DVRs in the same room might not be as urgent, especially after you upgrade what you have with eSATA to 1 TB HDDs (or bigger!)...

[anubys]

not to make your decision harder but if you can keep it to 6 devices, consider the Harmony 700 (http://reviews.cnet.com/remote-controls/logitech-harmony-700/4505-7900_7-33770451.html) :)

also, check out the MRV option (came out in beta) see this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=171262)

so the need for multiple DVRs in the same room might not be as urgent, especially after you upgrade what you have with eSATA to 1 TB HDDs (or bigger!)...

oops...I see you mentioned cable box...so the DirecTV solutions I offered would not mean anything to you!

[davephan]

Thanks for your response!

My SageTV computer based DVR system has four 1.5 TB Sata2 drives and six 2.0 TB Sata2 drives, plus an older 750 Gig IDE drive. The Sata2 drives are all setup in RAID 1 pairs, so I have 9 TB of disk space. Most of the disk space is protected from disk failure, which has happened. I also copy my more important files to separate 1 TB USB hard drives for more redundancy.

Each hour of SD consumes about 2 gigs, each hour of HD consumes about 6 TB. Both of these are set for the highest recording quality. Compressed video consumes about 1 TB per hour. My diskspace is about 90% full now, and I have about 5,700 hours of recordings. My system could be scaled up much larger, both in simultaneous recording and disk space. The system also automatically skips commercials without manually fast forwarding through commercials. The system also learns what type of programs you like and don't like, and records those programs without scheduling them manually. I can watch any of the recording on 4 TVs at the same time. The system can stream into far more TVs at once by scaling up further. When you scale up a computer based system too large, you'll never be able to watch much of what is recorded, since there just isn't enough time in the day to watch enough TV to make a dent in the number of recordings.

Now, the upside to setting up the computer based system from the remote control standpoint is you only have one media extender to control instead of many DVRs.

Dave

[TheRatPatrol]

Heres a review (http://www.remotecentral.com/news/521/acoustic_research_xsight_touch_reviewed.html) of the XSight remote.

Those of you still using this remote, how are you liking it?

[inkahauts]

SO has anyone figured out how to get this remote to control multiple directv receivers via rf?

[TheRatPatrol]

SO has anyone figured out how to get this remote to control multiple directv receivers via rf?
I don't think it can, it would need a firmware/software update in order to do so.

[inkahauts]

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be able to, there for it sucks.. it'll be going back shortly... Can;t believe they built it that way

[mdavej]

It still does one more via RF than any other universal remote. So every other remote on the planet must REALLY suck.

[Mike Bertelson]

It still does one more via RF than any other universal remote. So every other remote on the planet must REALLY suck.Well to be fair, if I wanted I could control every component in my house, including all four of my DirecTV receivers, via RF with my universal. It requires an RF base but it will do it. And no, my universial does not suck. :D

However, don't you think it a bit odd that it would provide native RF support DirecTV receivers...but only one. It really doesn't make any sense to me. That is unless you actually only have one receiver but with whole home on the horizon that's not really practical. :shrug:

Mike

[mdavej]

The xsight has a lot of unnecessary limitations I don't understand. If I had to guess, I think the problem is the experts at UEI make a great piece of hardware then throw it over the fence to some contract developer who knows nothing about remotes. The same thing happens at logitech - great hardware crippled by terrible software. I wish both companies would at least ask potential developers if they know what a universal remote does before they hire them.

So, I have major problems with xsight too. But show me another universal that controls multiple directv boxes via RF before simply declaring it sucks. This thread is full of posts relentlessly condemning the xsight because it can't control 20 DVR's at once, but I have yet to see another remote that can. Sure xsight has some problems, but calling the whole remote worthless for this one oversight is a little unfair (especially if you knew this before hand).

If you want to control 20 DVR's (18 actually) with this remote, get an RF base and it will do it just fine. I can control every component in my house via RF with my $5 remote which happens to be way more capable than a $250 xsight. But I can't do it without an RF base. So xsight deserves a lot of credit for that IMO.

[Mike Bertelson]

The xsight has a lot of unnecessary limitations I don't understand. If I had to guess, I think the problem is the experts at UEI make a great piece of hardware then throw it over the fence to some contract developer who knows nothing about remotes. The same thing happens at logitech - great hardware crippled by terrible software. I wish both companies would at least ask potential developers if they know what a universal remote does before they hire them.

So, I have major problems with xsight too. But show me another universal that controls multiple directv boxes via RF before simply declaring it sucks. This thread is full of posts relentlessly condemning the xsight because it can't control 20 DVR's at once, but I have yet to see another remote that can. Sure xsight has some problems, but calling the whole remote worthless for this one oversight is a little unfair (especially if you knew this before hand).

If you want to control 20 DVR's (18 actually) with this remote, get an RF base and it will do it just fine. I can control every component in my house via RF with my $5 remote which happens to be way more capable than a $250 xsight. But I can't do it without an RF base. So xsight deserves a lot of credit for that IMO.No doubt they deserve kudos for including native RF support for DirecTV. It’s a great first step. :)

It’s pretty danged phenomenal that a universal remote supports DirecTV RF. I hope it’s a view of things to come. IMHO, without native support for multiple receivers, the XSight is just another programmable universal remote. :)

Heck, DirecTV’s own remote will do more than one receiver in RF. The current model has two-way communication with the 24 series receivers making TV setup a breeze. In that regard the RC65RX is a more capable remote than the XSight Touch.

What really baffles me about this is that UEI makes DirecTV’s remotes so supporting native RF should be a piece of cake...I guess not. :grin:

Mike

[TheRatPatrol]

I think future remotes either need to be all RF or Bluetooth. Then all you have to do is sync whatever remote you have with whatever devices you have. Would make things so much easier.

[Mike Bertelson]

I think future remotes either need to be all RF or Bluetooth. Then all you have to do is sync whatever remote you have with whatever devices you have. Would make things so much easier.RF, bluetooth, Wi-Fi I don't know which it will be but I can envision a remote that will connect to our devices and download the code set. No more programming, no more having to teach the commands, just have it search for devices and get the codes.

I guess bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both technically RF. :scratchin

!rolling

Mike

[dooski3]

Hi im trying to get my xsight remote to work a kenwood vr-4700 with no luck. The remote had the model in the setup but it doesn't work. I think it had something to do with the ir/rf issue, but im not well educated about remotes. Any and all help would be very much appreciated thanks.

[TheRatPatrol]

I know many of you are Harmony fans (I have an older one) but I saw the Xsights on clearance at Best Buy for $80.00, unfortunately they didn't have any left otherwise I would have gotten one. Now that they've cleared them out, do you guys think they might be coming out with a newer model? Why else would they be clearing them out?

I wish Harmony would come out with one that could control the HR's in RF.

[David Ortiz]

Holy thread bump, Batman!

I found a very slightly used XSight Touch on eBay and won it for $34. I've had it about a week now and continue to tweak things to get everything just right.

I discovered for myself what's already been discussed: the remote can control only one DIRECTV box via native RF.

I was able to add a second DIRECTV box by adding it as a generic PVR and learning the codes from the remote. So I have one DIRECTV box controlled using native RF and a second DIRECTV box controlled using IR.

I am waiting for the RF extender, which should be here Thursday. :)

David

[mdavej]

Welcome to the club. Actually Xsight has codes for address 2 built-in, so no learning required. Address one is C1377 (or is it S?) and address 2 is 1378. There may even be a 1379 code for the 3rd, but I haven't tried it.

My closed caption macro was a breeze on Xsight compared to harmony.

Much of the initial hatred of the Xsight has gone way down since the prices have dropped dramatically. I took my harmonys out of service over a year ago and haven't missed them a bit. I love the speed, the battery life, programmability, multiple favorites lists, etc.

One more thing. If you used squareeyes favorite channel icons on your harmony, they work fine on Xsight too.

Enjoy

P.S. Remember those long press commands for DirecTV (slomo, skip to tick, etc.) we collaborated on years ago? Well, after years of trying, I finally got them added to the public harmony database, only 2 years after I cancelled DirecTV and a year after I cancelled harmony. How's that for customer service?

[David Ortiz]

Welcome to the club. Actually Xsight has codes for address 2 built-in, so no learning required. Address one is C1377 (or is it S?) and address 2 is 1378. There may even be a 1379 code for the 3rd, but I haven't tried it.

My closed caption macro was a breeze on Xsight compared to harmony.

Much of the initial hatred of the Xsight has gone way down since the prices have dropped dramatically. I took my harmonys out of service over a year ago and haven't missed them a bit. I love the speed, the battery life, programmability, multiple favorites lists, etc.

One more thing. If you used squareeyes favorite channel icons on your harmony, they work fine on Xsight too.

Enjoy

P.S. Remember those long press commands for DirecTV (slomo, skip to tick, etc.) we collaborated on years ago? Well, after years of trying, I finally got them added to the public harmony database, only 2 years after I cancelled DirecTV and a year after I cancelled harmony. How's that for customer service?

If I were trying to control both boxes with IR, the codes are the right ones. However, when the XSight Touch controls a DIRECTV receiver via native RF, any additional DIRECTV receivers must be added as generic IR devices with learned codes. This isn't a big deal, as the remote makes it very easy to learn multiple keys. So, I suppose you could use this remote to control 9 DIRECTV receivers. (Codes 1-8 and RF.)

I'm looking forward to setting up the extender and getting the long press codes added.

[dettxw]

Since the HR34 has been working better I retired an HR22-100 and HR20-700 that were in the same location. I'll have to dust off the AR remote and start using it again with the single DVR in the living room. Might as well use it, sure won't get for it what I paid. :lol:

[mdavej]

I just picked an Xsight Plus (ARRX12G) for around $20. It's a great little 12 device remote that can really give a harmony 650 a run for its money. While it lacks the Touch's (18G) RF capability, it has the same programming and macro/activity capabilities. It has more than double the devices of a similar harmony for a fraction of the price. It also has a physical List button that harmony lacks, making it more DVR friendly. And unlike harmony, I can manage all my Xsights with a single login. Most everything harmony can't do (no macros, multiple logins, low device count, no activity editing, etc.), Xsight can do. The only thing missing is state tracking. But you only need that if your devices lack discretes. DirecTV and Dish have discretes.

[TheRatPatrol]

Just curious, for anyone that has one of these remotes and an HR34, have you tried doing a macro for the PIP on/off function, how well does it work?

Thanks