Others say...

"Fantastic Monster remote"
The Monster MCC AV100 remote control was easy to set up, is easy to use, and best of all,operates all my TV/video & stereo equipment from my new Sony plasma to my 20 year old Carver stereo components. I'm very pleased and would highly recommend it. And Amazon's price can't be beat.

"Better luck next time (I hope)"
Opened the package and loved it immediately. Well, as soon as immediate gets, after having spent 5 minutes overcoming the nearly bullet-proof marketing packaging that is designed to resist professional safe crackers.

OK, what a cool design. The remote nests easily into the horizontal recharging station, which itself has a very cool blue 'continuity' light which indicates it's plugged in. The wall-wart is slim and oriented so it can fit into just one space of a multiple outlet strip. Also very cool.

The back lighting is gorgeous, the size and weight is just right. The buttons feel good. It lights up when you move it and can operate while charging. Wow, huh?

My AV system currently has eight remotes, and I was looking forward to getting it down to just one like you might imagine. And buoyed by the positive reviews here, I was (yes was) set to hop into remote nirvana ASAP. Last night I let the battery charge overnight, got all the equipment model numbers written down in the meantime, and woke up today ready to get 'er done! WooHoo!

Meh.

After creating the on-line ID, and listing the gear and model numbers, things started to veer off the pathway to joy. I started to discover that the Monster on-line configuration application would insist on keeping some basic settings, like:
("which input does your VCR use when playing a tape?" --What do you mean which input does it use? It doesn't use any inputs, for playback they're all outputs... Maybe they mean the receiver? ...no they didn't, but it's too late now, the VCR is now associated with a VCR2 input that is actually on the back of the Denon 2708 receiver, whoops you can't change it now!) Wah-wah. Onward!

So, it got worse. After setting up the "Activities" which as other reviewers have said, are macros for equipment sets and inputs, into the AV room we go with our Monster 100 Light Saber, ready to take on Darth Boredom and throw out those evil remotes. Heh, well, not so fast.

Turning on the DVD player was good, but when checking out the hard-wired buttons (the ones grouped together in the square with the central select joystick-button in it's center) I realized that the Next Chapter >>| Last Chapter |<< buttons didn't do anything. This was confirmed by watching the top of the display which makes a little "wave" animation when the remote is sending a command. The little animation looks like this ))) It does it when you push any of the other buttons, but shows nothing when you push >>| or |<<.

Oh, oh, kids, this is putting a damper on the celebration, so it's back to the on-line configuration deal. March back to the front room.

Finally we find the Device reconfiguration dialog. You'll see that the database has loaded >>| and |<< for your Denon 3930Ci, but it's not in the remote. So I did a manual "teach" session, back into the AV room, and at least the Next and Last chapters are in the virtual 'soft keys' but the hardware buttons, still nothing.

Now for some reason the Monster database has configured my single-disk DVD player as being a 5-disk. Back out to the computer, delete the Disk 1 Disk 2, etc, reload the remote, back to the AV room, but now the Virtual >>| and |<< are gone. The Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Disk 5 selections are still there. So I have lost what I gained and didn't get rid of what I wanted to lose. It gets worse!

Turns out that you can't reboot/reformat the remote. Once you stick in an equipment set, they are in there. I tried manually deleting all devices, reloaded the controller again, and nope. Did a controller firmware update which is supposed to delete everything, nope.

Four hours later, the unit is back in it's shipping box, I'm writing this, and we'll try it again with a replacement. One very nice thing is how easy Amazon has made doing an exchange. They even send you a link to a pre-paid UPS label and set you up for a reshipment at no charge when your device comes bad on arrival. This is a very nice touch.

So why does Monster have a database that has gotten a premier piece of equipment like the one-disk Denon 3930Ci wrong? Why can't you erase/reboot the remote? Does the >>| and |<< work for anybody?

Here's my advice if you're going to go this Monster 100 route.

1. Do it on a weekday. Monster has no phone support on weekends, and no email support is listed. There's a place for the link but there is no link or address.

2. Drag your computer into the AV room so you won't spend 15 trips going back and forth, or have WiFi on a laptop. Get the two in the same place.

3. Have all of your remotes with you when you set up the Monster 100 because you may need to do some "Teaching" and it's handy to refer to the original buttons when setting up the remote configuration.

4. Save the box, paperwork and packaging when the Monster 100 arrives, because you may have a similar adventure.

Finally in case some of my Review Readers might wonder if the problem might lie in user error, first please consider that I am a radio producer with 16 years in the business, proficient with digital production using Pro Tools, I own my own recording studio, built my own computer from parts I bought, and can even run an iPod.

I hope to come back to this soon to bring good news about how all is now well. In the meantime I still have my 8 remotes to keep me warm...


************************************** The Update*******************

So I sent the original Monster remote back using the handy UPS-return label Amazon thoughtfully provides us.

A few days passed, then I received an email from Amazon stating Whoops! These are no longer in stock! I checked the website and it looks like there are plenty. While we went around that issue in several emails it gave me time to think. Did I REALLY want to try another one of these?

Finally I decided to just throw in the towel on this MMC-AV100 and wait for the Philips TSU-9200, which was announced at the time to be released in the USA "in the Fall of 2007". If I'm not mistaken, that's pretty soon (I'm writing this on November 4th.)


"Best Remote on the Market"
I was very skeptical when buying a universal remote. Most are not very compatible with basic components. I was very particular this time because I have a 400 disc DVD Changer that has an internal catalog. I looked high and low for the best bang for my buck. I found it in the Monster MCC AV100 universal remote. The WAF, Wife Adaptability Factor, is relatively low. My wife was greatly impressed with teh remote, the only issue she has with the remote is that it doesn't cook hotdogs.

The over quality is good and sturdy. There is one issue with the select button; I see it as the first thing to break because of how it protrudes, but it is still good quality. The rechargeable batteries are a good convenience. There was only one issue with the remote. I had to contact the customer service because there was an issue with the software communicating with the Monster server. I had to disable my firewall and anti-virus software along with ending the process in the Task Manger ccApp.exe. Then I was able to update the firmware and software. After all that it worked like a charm.

This remote is the best universal remote that I have ever used and would recommend this product to anyone with multiple components. It is by far the best remote on the market.

This is a follow up. 11 Dec 08
I have owned the remote for over a year and it no longer works. I had to replace it due to it constantly resetting and freezing. If I could change my star ratingi would give it three stars. I would not recomentd this remote there are far better universal remotes on the market.

"Good, but defective."
I bought this to make life easier for my wife since she has complained for years that she misses the days of just turning on the TV to watch a program.

Overall this does what it says. I have tried many controlers over the years and never found them as user friendly as this one. Creating complex macros to make things work is a thing of the past with this remote.

The only faults I have found is the software is not as clear as it should be for adding or changing functions/buttons. It can take a few tries to find the area you need to be to make changes.

The biggest fault and the prime reason I did not give it 5 stars is the charging base. You have to fiddle with the angle you set the remote into the base before you get it into charge mode. This seems to be a design flaw, but I am contacting Monster to see if that is the case.

After contacting Monster and debating on the phone for quite some time I came away frustrated. They refuse to do anything about it. Now after only about 6 months I am going to have to replace it. I just do not have the patience to fiddle with the thing to get it to go into charge mode.

All I can say is beware, and I hope you don't have any problems.

"Expensive, but worth the investment"
This is my third attempt at a "universal" remote and this is the only one that operates as I had hoped.

Setup
The programming was relatively straight forward. I had enough flexibility to do what I needed, but most of what was required was done automatically. All I had to do was have the "old" remotes (8 of them -- can you believe it?!?) on hand and the software walked me through what was needed. When I got stuck, the representative on the phone was terrific, helping me iron out the problem in just 10 minutes.

Operation
Heaven! When I switch from watching TV to a DVD, it turns off and on all of the correct components. The automatic Help system fixes any unplanned interruptions (like my daughter shining a flashlight on the TV infrared port) easily.

Form Factor
This is the first remote that compares favorably with Tivo's award winning hand-held (although I'd still take the Tivo remote over this one -- if only it had the power!)

Buy this thing. They really ought to drop the price, but if you have a complicated system (as many homes do these days), it makes life much easier. Not only are my wife and I happy, our babysitters have been much easier to deal with!