Monster MCC AVL300-S Home Theater and Lighting Controller

Product Description

Monster Cable's AVL300-S A/V and Lighting Controller offers you a multi-room controller works through walls, ceilings, and floors, giving you whole-house control. The AVL300 is also a powerful lighting controller. Using Monster's IlluminEssence lighting modules and Z-Wave technology, the AVL300 can create customized lighting "scenes" throughout your home. The built-in RF wireless technology, even works for multi-zone systems. One-touch access to Monster Central Home Lighting System functions Page up/page down buttons for quick scrolling through satellite and digital cable program guides A/B system button allows control of multiple systems in multiple rooms Picture button accesses picture controls like aspect ratio and Picture-in-Picture Surround mode button selects Surround Sound while listening Can be used in different rooms to control local and main systems Monster Controlnet Technology means no more need to aim the remote Monster Omnilink extends operating range up to 130 feet Internet-based set-up wizard - makes system configuration fast & easy Package Size(WxHxD) - 9.25 x 11.75 x 4.13 Package Weight - 1.75 lbs

From the Manufacturer

Monster Home Theater Controller AVL300

Monster Home Theater Controller AVL100

Unique & stylish ergonomic design.
Black remote control

Table-top charging station allows use of remote while charging the supplied lithium-ion battery.

The AVL300 Remote from Monster Cable has the capability to replace all of your existing remotes. Unlike other remotes on the market, the AVL300's Component and Activity buttons send multiple commands to multiple devices automatically, allowing true one-touch control. You can control even the most complex AV systems, and extend their functionality with the special feature buttons. The unique ergonomic design of the AVL300 features an intuitive layout of easy-to-read large tactile buttons. Thanks to the special illuminated backlit buttons, this remote is easy to read in the dark.

LCD Screen

One-touch control of any home entertainment system!

Easy to Use

Best of all, there is no complex programming required to use this remote. Use your computer and the online setup wizard to easily configure home theater functions to create home entertainment activities. The Intelligent Monster Tracking Memory remembers what each component is doing, so when you switch activities your gear responds accurately. This functionality is easy enough for the whole family. You don't have to be a technophile to use the AVL300. Everyone from the kids to the babysitter can command home entertainment with ease!

Convenient One-Remote Control and Functionality

The AVL300 provides convenient one-remote control and functionality. This means that you can control multiple systems with one remote. Use in different rooms to control both local and main systems. With maximum versatility, the AVL300 easily commands all of your AV gear, even your room lighting!

Monster Central Omnilink

Control Link Extender Set Works Through Walls, Cabinets, and Floors
Monster Controlnet Technology allows freedom to move around the house and never aim your remote again. Included Monster Omnilink extends operating range up to 130 feet. (Reception and performance may vary based on location of device, and environmental and structural conditions.)

Function Buttons

The AVL300's large tactile function buttons allow complete control of your components. From basic page up and page down functions to Picture-in-Picture and surround sound/DSP mode switching, this remote has you covered. You can even get one-touch access to your lighting system!

Lighting button

Get one-touch instant access to Monster Central Home Lighting System functions. System switch button

Control multiple systems for multiple rooms. Page up and page down buttons

Quickly scroll through satellite and digital cable program guides. Picture button

Allows direct access to important picture controls like aspect ratio and PIP. Surround mode

Allows convenient access to surround sound and DSP modes while listening.

Monster Central Control

Monster Central Control is the world's most advanced remote control setup and information source. The web-based setup is fast and easy. The remote congfigurator walks you through your remote setup by simply asking you what home theater equipment you have and how it is connected.

The exclusive online content ensures that you get the most from your remote and home theater experience. You can obtain easy-to-understand technical assistance and advice at Monster Central Control, plus important software downloads and updates.

Make the best connections by downloading the Monster Connnection Guides for everything from PVR to iPod hook-ups.

Web-based setup Whole Home Setup Lighting

Lighting setup

Online content

Connection guide

What's in the Box
Monster Home Theater Controller AVL300, long lasting lithium ion battery, tabletop charging system, Monster Central Omnilink, control link extender set.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent remote with minor issues.......2007-11-26

I purchased this remote recently after comparing this one to the Harmony 890. I have since had a chance to use the Harmony and as such will provide a bit of comparison.

Pros: Wide ranging support of devices, good button ergonomics, good lighting support, flexible configuration

Cons: Clumsy and slow customization interface

Overall I am very happy with this purchase. The remote controls all of my devices (including a DVD player purchased in Japan) and has the flexibility to allow me to control them in the way I want.

The configuration software provided is very poor. It is essentially a limited web browser used to connect to www.myremotesetup.com. I assume they use the client to allow seamless updates to the remote via the USB interface, but it is very slow and cumbersome. I have found that using the web site directly with a browser is much faster, and you can then use the software simply to perform the update to the remote.

While the customization interface is poor, its functionality is quite good. I have been able to define a number of "Activities" (think macros or series of button pushes) which involve all of my entertainment components. The Activities set up both your components and your remote for a given purpose, for example "Watch Cable" or "Watch DVD". For each Activity, you have the ability to "punch through" buttons. That is, you can map any command to each button, for example, the Channel Up button might change the channel on your cable box while the Volume Up button changes the volume on your receiver.

An important feature is that the remote is aware of the state of any given device that it controls. This is very helpful when switching between Activities. For example, say there is an Activity for "Watch Cable" that turns on the TV when you start it, and turns off the TV when you go to another Activity called "Play CD". If you were to click "Watch Cable" and then press the button for "Play DVD", you do not need to worry about the TV being turned off first (as it stops "Watch Cable") and then turned on again (as it starts "Play DVD"). The remote knows that the TV was on because you were using "Watch Cable" and simply leaves it on for "Play DVD".

Comparison to Harmony 890

To compare this remote to the Harmony 890 is fairly straightforward. The only item that is not well-known is that there are two versions of the Harmony, the 890 and the 890 Pro. The former is the version that is most commonly purchased. The "Pro" version is exactly the same as the 890, but it has better support for the Z-Wave protocol used by many light controllers. As a result, it has slightly better features for controlling outlets and light switches. For controlling regular entertainment devices (TVs, DVD players, etc) they are identical.

The Monster remote is based on the Harmony 890 Pro, so it has better support of the Z-Wave protocol. If that is something you care about, it is worth noting. The rest of the differences are primarily cosmetic. The Monster remote is a bit heavier, with more of it's weight above it's centerline, it is also a bit wider, owing to its rectangular, rather than peanut, shape. As a result, for those with smaller hands, it may not be quite as comfortable to use. The button arrangement is very similar, but there are slight differences.

The Monster remote is centered on a joystick which has the same functions as the "D-pad" style on the Harmony 890. However, surrounding the joystick are the Pause, Play, Fast Forward, Rewind, Stop and Record buttons. On the Harmony, the D-Pad is surrounded by the volume and channel controls as well as Page Up/Down. For those who make significant use of the former set of buttons, this setup is much more convenient. For those who don't use those buttons as often, they are still available on the Harmony, but are located two rows down from the center (under buttons such as Guide, Info, Menu and Exit).

Finally, the software for customizing the Harmony 890 is faster, more responsive and easier to follow than the software for the Monster. That said, it has exactly the same functionality and, in fact, uses the same web site to retrieve and store data.

Cheaply built, EXPENSIVE, poor customizing abililty, poor interface.......2007-11-15

Pros:
Lighting control

Cons:
Flimsy. Internet connection required to program. poor interface for programming control

Full user opinion
I bought this remote (at a premium) thinking it would be the best universal remote available, and inexpensive compared with RTI, Crestron, or Universal Remote. That couldn't have been farther from the truth.

First of all, the remote is not built well. The buttons are the flimsy, "raised" hard plastic type, not the firm plasticized or rubberized type, and the center "joystick" control protrudes much to tall--enough to where you could accidentally snap it off. The remote's plastic creaks when you press certain buttons. Not what I'd expect for $350!

If you are an A/V enthusiast, and you want complete control of your multiple components, consider a remote by Universal Remote Controls (URC), or if you have the money, Remote Technologies Inc (RTI), but not this. Although you have a cute color screen, the appearance of the "soft buttons" cannot be customized. You can simply change the text in them, that's all.

You MUST have an internet connection to program your remote because the software (and your configuration) resides completely on their website. If their site is "experiencing difficulities" (which I've had occasionally) or your connection is down, you can't program the remote.

The "programming" of the remote is very rigid. You cannot assign whatever you'd like to the soft buttons, nor macros, nor delays. The programming website asks you a series of questions about your components and it pretty much sets up the remote how it believes you need it based on what components you have and what are called "activities". "Activities" seem to be the dumbed down way of programming many of these remotes (such as those by Logitech & Harmony) where you answer a few questions about which A/V imputs are used by your components (to watch TV for example), and it figures out all the component switching and assigns it all to a button titled "Watch TV". This is great for grandpa and grandma who have no idea of how to work remotes, but when you want to control other components briefly, then return to "Watch TV" it becomes problematic.

The lighting control is a nice touch, but the in-wall dimmer I replaced in my master bedroom RARELY receives its commands from the remote, and it's not more than 40 feet, through a few walls (which they claim RF is supposed to allow for up to 120 feet).

This remote simply isn't worth the money or aggravation. If you are an A/V enthusiast, consider RTI, URC, Pronto, or if you have the money, Crestron.

Monster AVL300 is the way to go.......2007-11-10

I looked high and low at reviews of dozens of remotes. I previously used a Logitech Harmony 688 remote that was good, but didn't give me the flexibility I wanted. Also, I needed RF capabilities for my home theater. The Monster AVL300 has exceeded my expectations once I got it setup. I would buy another if I needed it.

Pros:
-RF works great and has made a huge difference in reliable control of my components
-I like having hard buttons to press, instead of touch screen. Easy to find your way around the remote without looking at it.
-Nice to have a charging cradle, and it lights up when you pick it up...no need to touch a button, like some other remotes
-Supports Z-Wave lighting, although I haven't tackled that yet
-Comfortable feel, easy for the whole family to use
-You can setup Favorite Channels with icons of the channel. The only issue is that it's not well documented where to go setup the favorites. I just had to hunt around to find the option to assign the channel and a small graphic (You can download graphics for many channels out on the Monster website)

Cons:
The documentation is too simple, and doesn't go into detail. It gives you the first layer needed to setup the remote, but not a lot more. Luckily, it's pretty straight forward to set the remote up for use. Key Issue I Found: If you have a Harmony Remote, uninstall the software and delete and folders associated with the HArmony Remote before you install the Monster Central Control software. It looks as though Monster licenses the Harmony software, and it will get confused if the software is associated with a Harmony remote before you setup the Monster remote.

[...]

The one big issue I had was setting up the Omnilink RF-IR bridge that's included. It's easy to setup, but there are options for each component on how the Omnilink talks to the components, which is confusing: The options are All Ports, IR Blaster, Port A, Port B, Port C and Port D. I assigned each component to the appropriate port, as it seemed the best thing to do. There is no documentation for this feature that tells you anything but that you can assign a port. I got it working and didn't play around with it to exactly figure out what all the port assignments do.

Issues with software but customer service was excellent.......2007-10-21

Previously I used a Harmony H659 remote. Even though all of my AV equipment is outside of cabinets and generally in the line of site for use of a conventional IR remote such as the H659, I would occasionally get the equpment out of sync with the remote. So I bought the AVL300 more for the RF capability.

Monster apparently licenses Logitech's software so I expected setup to be simialr to the Harmony. However, I spent several frustrating hours last weekend and could not get the remote to work properly. No help from "help" on the software or Monster's web site. On monday called Monster. There tech support was excellent. I was only on hold 2-3 minutes before getting someone. Since the software is web-based and all remote settings are stored on their server, he was able to see exactly what I
was doing. Turns out, the Monster software was conflicting with the Harmony software that was still on my PC. Once I deleted that (and turned off my firewall and ant-virus) everything worked perfectly. I was able program the remote easily.

My major complaint is the lack of good online help. I would have had a less frustrating weekend if Monster had simply stated somewhere in their help or FAQ that you need to do these things. The tech support guy knew immediately what the problem was so it can't be that rare. In addition, there is very little little documentation for the software so you basically have to play with it for a while in order to figure out how to work all the features. But the good side of this is that the software is very intuitive and helpful.

I especially like the ability to program macros (which wasn't available on the H659). For instance, I have a macro soft key that goes through a series of steps to turn closed captioning on and off (normally requires 5 steps on my cable box). I am going to program in soft keys for my favorite channels. Next step is to get some light controllers.

In summary this is one cool remote. Some frustration initially but Monster's telephone support was excellent. I chose it over the Harmony 890 because I liked the styling and button size and layout better and over the Harmony 1000 because I prefer to have more hard keys and the conventional look and feel.

Pretty good product, I need to get into it more........2007-10-11

This product worked pretty well, it downloaded the appropriate info for my components, and the settings for the various activities worked pretty well. The only thing is, you really want to use this thing exactly the way the software wants to be used. If you want to customize the commands you have to go through this wizard deal and it is not all that intuitive.

Monster CI Pro Home Theater and Lighting Controller 300 featuring OmniLink

Average customer rating:

Monster CI Pro Home Theater and Lighting Controller 300 featuring OmniLink

Manufacturer: Monster CI Pro
ProductGroup: CE

Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray]

Product Features:

Wireless Technology: Infrared/Radio Frequency

ASIN: B000UTO1CY

Product Description

Customizable Lifestyle Activity buttons simultaneously set IlluminEssence lights and send commands to AV componentsEasy Web Setup Wizard: plain language setup with no complex programming or codes to enterCustomizable AV Activity buttons instantly send complex macro commands to multiple audio and video componentsControls AV equipment through walls floors and doors: roam around the house and never point your remote againIncludes charging cradle with rechargeable lithium-ion battery

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