Acoustic Research XSight: Discussion Thread

**Stuart Sweet** · 08-28-09, 02:05 PM

I'm surprised none of you has one already!

TheRatPatrol · 08-28-09, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart Sweet

I'm surprised none of you has one already!

We were all waiting for your review.

**Stuart Sweet** · 08-28-09, 02:08 PM

I appreciate the vote of confidence, but as my press contact is ignoring me, it might be a little late in coming

RunnerFL · 08-28-09, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart Sweet

I'm surprised none of you has one already!

If there were somewhere local to me that I could pick one up I would but no one has confirmed that they can be found at Best Buy and Best Buy does not list them on their website.

MicroBeta · 08-28-09, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armophob

My Sunfire TG-5 came with a RC-500. It is a learning remote, but I use the RF on my DVR's

I thought the RC-500 was a relabled MX-500.

I believe the TGP-401 uses a relabled MX-700

Although, I could be wrong.

Mike

bonscott87 · 08-28-09, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdavej

As bad as I want one, and try as I might, I just can't bring myself to spend more on my remote than I did on the DVR it would control, no matter how cool it is. Sadly, my $29 refurb harmony 360 is doing all I need

. I am looking forward to some reviews though.

If you don't have multiple equipment to control then a universal remote may not be for you.

My wife thought the same as you and though I was nuts spending $250 on our first MX-500 10 years ago but she agrees to this day it was the best money we ever spent (have since replaced with an MX-700 which is now getting old with massive use).

Replacing 8 remotes with 1 remote that controls everything.....priceless!

mdavej · 08-28-09, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonscott87

If you don't have multiple equipment to control then a universal remote may not be for you.

My wife thought the same as you and though I was nuts spending $250 on our first MX-500 10 years ago but she agrees to this day it was the best money we ever spent (have since replaced with an MX-700 which is now getting old with massive use).

Replacing 8 remotes with 1 remote that controls everything.....priceless!

It's not that I don't need a universal. Quite the contrary. I couldn't live without it. I've got 10 devices, 12 activities and several sequences on my harmony (even more on my JP1 remotes in other rooms), which replaced 2 drawers full of remotes. My point is the cheap universal I have does everything I need, including RF. Although I'd really like a shiny new toy, beyond that, I just can't think of a compelling reason to spend more money.

My sig is a little misleading as it only has stuff directly related to watching tv. It doesn't include my home automation, cameras, switches, htpc/media server, game consoles, etc. I'd go nuts without a good universal remote.

mdavej · 08-28-09, 08:54 PM

DirecTV RF confirmed on another forum.

armophob · 08-28-09, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicroBeta

I thought the RC-500 was a relabled MX-500.

I believe the TGP-401 uses a relabled MX-700

Although, I could be wrong.

Mike

I just looked up mx-500 on remotecentral.com. You are correct that is what I have. I am pretty blown away that this thing has a 13 page rave review and after initial system setup, I basically just use it to change input sources and volume control. Too bad it does not have rf capability.

TheRatPatrol · 08-28-09, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdavej

DirecTV RF confirmed on another forum.

Yes sir, also confirmed on page 22 of the owners manual.

Quote:

DIRECTV® RF
The Xsight™ Touch remote can control DIRECTV® satellite receivers with RF capability even when the satellite receiver is hidden in a closed cabinet or in a different room. The Xsight™ Touch can control DIRECTV® receivers with RF capability without using the ARRE433B RF extender.

RunnerFL · 08-29-09, 11:05 AM

Now if I could just find one locally....

RACJ2 · 08-29-09, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunnerFL

Now if I could just find one locally....

If you have a Frys in your area, they might have them. I looked at them at my local Fry's, the color was $179 and the touch was $249. They didn't stock the RF extender though.

inkahauts · 08-29-09, 05:31 PM

SO does this remote do Macros? Hoe about timed operations? Can I set it to run a macro at a given time? How many steps per macro?

This remote has potential, but I need more info before i can determine if its even worth really considering.

RunnerFL · 08-29-09, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RACJ2

If you have a Frys in your area, they might have them. I looked at them at my local Fry's, the color was $179 and the touch was $249. They didn't stock the RF extender though.

Closest Fry's to me is in Atlanta, I'm in South Florida.

Curious... Why would one need the RF extender if the remotes handle DirecTV RF natively?

TheRatPatrol · 08-29-09, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunnerFL

Closest Fry's to me is in Atlanta, I'm in South Florida.

Curious... Why would one need the RF extender if the remotes handle DirecTV RF natively?

For your other IR devices, if they should be in a closet or cabinet.

I held one today at Frys and I really liked it. The color and guide/menu/info/exit buttons are easy to press, which was one thing I was worried about. The overall layout is good, although I didn't actually see it in action because the display model wasn't working, no battery in it. The list button location isn't in as bad of a location as I first thought after looking at the pictures.

The overall feel of the remote is good, and I think its about the same size (maybe shorter?) then the Harmony One, its quite comparable.

I think if you have an HR and use RF you'll be happy with this remote. But then again, I wasn't actually able to use it, so I could be wrong.

One thing, Frys didn't have the RF extender. But if I was AR I would have included the RF extender in the $249.00 price tag. If you need RF you can get the touch, if you don't need RF then you can get the color.

Sorry I can't give more info about the overall workings of the remote.

armophob · 08-29-09, 07:43 PM

With all the IR extender talk, can I assume this means this remote does not work with ir and rf simultaneously like the Directv remote?

TheRatPatrol · 08-29-09, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armophob

With all the IR extender talk, can I assume this means this remote does not work with ir and rf simultaneously like the Directv remote?

I'm pretty sure it does both IR and RF at the same time.

The D* remote control does both IR and RF at the same time, its the receivers that can't do both.

armophob · 08-29-09, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRatPatrol

I'm pretty sure it does both IR and RF at the same time.

Good, because I spent a pretty penny on this plasma proof ir system, that could be a deal breaker to have to change up.

oenophile · 08-29-09, 11:31 PM

Would love it if someone could post a quick spec/feature comparison between this and the Harmony 890 (the one w/RF).... :>

RACJ2 · 08-30-09, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inkahauts

SO does this remote do Macros? Hoe about timed operations? Can I set it to run a macro at a given time? How many steps per macro?
This remote has potential, but I need more info before i can determine if its even worth really considering.

When I looked at them at Fry's, I read everything on the outside of the package. I didn't see any mention of macros.

On the post asking about IR and RF simultaneously, the online manual says it will.

Quote:

Your Xsight Touch remote (sold separately) sends two signals when
you press a key: an infrared signal (IR) for the devices you can see and a radio frequency signal (RF) for the devices you can’t. This Xsight RF Extender receives those RF signals and translates them to IR signals the hidden devices can understand.

And if you are thinking it will do the native D* RF, from the post below I don't believe it will.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdavej

Take this with a huge grain of salt since it comes from AR support (via email), but they tell me the xsight can't do native DirecTV RF. I don't know if they really understood the question or not, but that's what they said. The email was signed "Audiovox Customer Care", which owns the One-For-All and RCA remote brands. UEI is the OEM for them. So AR just slaps their name on them and sells them (ok, if they actually existed, they'd sell them). In any case I wouldn't expect AR to know any technical details about the xsight.
The new nevo does sound promising. Their other models are serious remotes (wifi, web, ip device control, etc). The xsight isn't even in the same league as the nevo.

TheRatPatrol · 08-30-09, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RACJ2

And if you are thinking it will do the native D* RF, from the post below I don't believe it will.

Yes it can. This is from the owners manual:

Quote:

DIRECTV® RF
The Xsight™ Touch remote can control DIRECTV® satellite receivers with RF capability even when the satellite receiver is hidden in a closed cabinet or in a different room. The Xsight™ Touch can control DIRECTV® receivers with RF capability without using the ARRE433B RF extender.

RACJ2 · 08-30-09, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRatPatrol

Yes it can. This is from the owners manual:

Excellent... I guess I skimmed over a couple posts above when I replied to the other question.

MicroBeta · 08-30-09, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRatPatrol

Yes it can. This is from the owners manual:

That's very cool. Top posted the manual a while back and I was very glad to read that.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.ph...61#post2196461

We can now put the native support question to rest. The XSight does in fact support native RF for DirecTV receivers without the need of any other equipment...Very, Very Cool

I'm going to get this remote. It seems like exactly what I need. I do have a bunch of custom icons for my MX-810 but I'll get over it.

Mike

mdavej · 08-30-09, 11:35 AM

TheRatPatrol,

The response I got from AR support about D* RF was obviously wrong. Their response actually was almost an exact quote from the manual but was changed to state the opposite. There's no doubt it works. In addition to the manual, we even have reports from actual users who've done it.

Although I don't have this remote, there are a few things I've seen from users of the Eurpean version that probably apply to this one. Compared to harmony the device state tracking is lacking. If things get out of sync, there's no help button to set them right. But usually running the activity again should do the trick. You do have more flexibility in building activities since you can more easily add any function from any device. Like harmony, you can put any command on any button. Someone reported they did a 10 step macro, and although they didn't know what the limit was, they didn't reach it.

TheRatPatrol · 08-30-09, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdavej

Someone reported they did a 10 step macro, and although they didn't know what the limit was, they didn't reach it.

So does this mean that indeed it can support macros then? Because the online owners manual doesn't mention it at all. I wonder if the online Ez set up page covers this in more detail?