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Click here for part 2 - RemoteShoppe's Review of NevoStudio Pro Programming Software

From the second I first laid eyes on Universal Electronics NevoSL, I was in love with the physical design. It had everything I thought I wanted in a remote with the color touchscreen, hard buttons for popular commands and soft buttons for other functions. The only thing missing was hard buttons for the transport keys (Play, Pause Rewind, etc.) which, in the age of Tivo and DVRs, I’ve found that I can’t live without. Apparently someone at Universal Electronics felt the same way because they took everything good about NevoSL and added a set of hard buttons on the bottom for the transport commands along with another row of buttons for the popular Guide / Info / Menu and Exit commands. And now, without further ado, let me introduce you to the new Universal Electronics NevoQ50

(applause)

NevoQ50 is just slightly longer than NevoSL and although the touch screen is physically smaller the additional hard buttons more than make up for the lost space. NevoQ50 is also the first of two models that make up the second generation of products in the Nevo family (NevoS70 is the other model) and the first to use the newly designed and vastly improved NevoStudio Pro programming software.

Pros
• Very attractive design!
• Great ergonomics combines a touchscreen, a stylus, labeled hard buttons (including transport keys and menu keys), soft buttons and additional navigation controls including a scroll wheel and home button.
• Easily accessible standard mini-USB connection for PC programming
• New NevoStudio Pro programming software includes many different templates, buttons and background images
• Huge IR library with advanced code sets and updated models available online by logging into mynevo.com from directly within the programming software
• Perfect slide and fit in charging cradle
• Greatly improved battery life. Especially with wireless RF operation thanks to Z-Wave implementation with the new NevoConnect NC-50, as opposed to the Wifi of NevoSL with NevoLink

Pros for the Pros

NevoStudio Pro adds many programming features for professional custom installers (CIs) including:
• Ability to program multiple NevoQ50’s, S70’s and NevoConnects in one Job
• New Nevo Personal Library lets you easily store the codes for your most often used components in one easy to find place
• PCF/CCF quick convert for Philips Pronto programmers who want to add NevoQ50 to their product list
• SuperFast Device Swapping and batch editing lets you quickly upgrade a component, change devices, or just switch images or templates
• Improved job view and site map functions for increased workflow speed in even the most advanced professional design
• NevoConnect wireless Z-Wave extender was released with various accessories to address every application including IR emitters, serial RS232 modules, video and voltage sensors with IR pass-through

Cons
• No tilt activated backlight or dedicated backlight button. Requires you to “activate” the remote first and then press a command to use the touch screen controls.
• NevoStudio Pro software is not backward compatible and will not program the NevoSL – just NevoQ50 and NevoS70.
• Uses Microsoft Active Sync software for PC connection, which may time out quickly when trying to program NevoQ50 on a laptop unless you change Windows default power-saving options.
• Color touchscreen resolution is less than NevoSL and some other remotes on the market today but still high enough quality to look good.
• Z-Wave technology with NevoConnect is not yet activated for full home automation or lighting control. UEI has said that they will be able to add features with firmware upgrades but as of now the Z-Wave network is exclusively for communication from the Nevo remote to NevoConnect NC-50.

Unboxing NevoQ50
I appreciate the extra effort Universal Electronics made packaging NevoQ50 in an attractive 4-color, gloss black retail box even though the controller is being marketed primarily to custom installers. The pros I talk to don’t necessarily need to show up at their clients house with anything more than a brown box but when attractive packaging is available they love to show it off and even display it in their showrooms. Inside this nice box is the well-packed controller, charging cradle with AC adapter and USB cable. I make it a point to charge all new electronic devices overnight before using them and apparently this is a good habit because inside NevoQ50 box is a notice to charge NevoQ50 for at least 2 hours before downloading a configuration to the remote. As difficult as it is to stare at a new toy or wait a couple of hours before moving ahead on your client’s job it’s best to listen to the warning. NevoQ50 uses Microsoft Active Sync to connect to your PC and it’s been my experience that you do not want your device to crash or time out during the initial connection to Active Sync. In fact, I won’t connect my NevoQ50 to my computer with anything less than a full battery.

Physical Design
While NevoQ50 is charging I can’t help but admire its physical design. At the top is a 2.5” color touch screen that is fully customizable (like all good touch screen remotes) with NevoStudio Pro. Not only can you add a button for any command you can imagine but you get as creative as you’d like with images, graphics and layout to truly personalize the remote and its user experience.



Just below the touch screen are 4 “soft” buttons. My definition of a soft button is any button that is not labeled and is therefore freely programmable. NevoStudio Pro gives you the flexibility to assign any command or macro to these 4 buttons and label them at the bottom of the touch screen, Think of it as an extension of the touch screen itself with the added bonus of having the tactile feedback of hard buttons.

Next, below the “soft” buttons are row of popular and much needed hard buttons that are new to NevoQ50 These are Guide, Info, Menu, and Exit. I love knowing where these buttons are at all times and anyone who uses a newer satellite receiver or cable box will appreciate these as well.

The channel, volume and directional-pad are all arranged in exactly the same high-tech configuration as NevoSL and these are followed by an all new key group of hard buttons for the transport controls. If you’re using NevoQ50 with a Tivo or other DVR these hard buttons will make you fall in love with the remote! The group includes the standard Play, Pause, FF, Rewind, Stop and Record keys as well as a replay, skip, and LiveTV button… all in comfortable reach of the thumb.

The right side of the controller also includes a scroll wheel for touch screen page navigation and a home button so you can easily jump back to your main page from any other page in your program. There is also a stylus tucked away on the bottom right corner for ease of use and for users that like to jam pack the touch screen with small buttons or just prefer to keep their greasy fingers off the remote. The left side has a small rubber flap that protects the mini-USB programming port and the remotes power switch.

Overall, NevoQ50’s design is reminiscent of NevoSL’s but under the hood there are some pretty significant improvements. NevoQ50 has a new operating system with Windows CE 5 (as opposed to 4.2) and has been upgraded to 16MB of usable memory.

Programming Nevo Q50 with NevoStudio Pro
NevoStudio Pro is a completely new version of the Nevo programming software and offers several significant improvements and greater stability. The only unfortunate issue with the new software is that it will not program the older NevoSL – just the new Q50 and S70 controllers. Obviously this is only a problem for programmers who need to support their current customers with NevoSLs as well as new customers who choose NevoQ50 or NevoS70. These installers will need to have both software versions on their computer but, since they are very similar in overall use, bouncing back and forth as needed is not an issue. This is a great reason for installers to upgrade current NevoSL owners to NevoQ50 or NevoS70 and, if you have a good salesperson that can accomplish this you’ll be happy to know that NevoStudio Pro will import your NevoSL set-up so only minor tweaking will be needed. This is a great time saver.

NevoStudio Pro walks you through the entire set-up operation in a step-by-step approach while still maintaining its efficiency and professional feel. They don’t dumb the process down to a “Wizard.” Instead, they make assumptions that you have a basic understanding of remote control systems and the equipment you need to control. This is truly refreshing for professional installers and advanced home users alike, and it allows you to quickly get the raw information you need on the remote so you can charge ahead to the fun stuff – the tweaking! I have posted a complete step-by-step walk-through guide of NevoStudio Pro as Part 2 of this review so click here to read more.

Using NevoQ50
It was a bit strange at first to pick up the newly programmed NevoQ50 only to see nothing happen. There is no automatically activated backlight and there’s no power button so I’ll admit that I froze for a second and just stared at the remote before pressing a button. I froze even longer when I pressed some of the buttons and still nothing happened. Then, I finally discovered that pressing the touch screen, soft buttons, side Home button or scroll wheel all activate the remote. The screen and button backlights all turned on. Whew… I was relieved! It’s a bit strange to me to see a remote of this level not have a tilt sensor that activates the backlight but my guess is that this was done intentionally to comply with European ROHS standards which forbid the use of mercury switches often used in these devices.

I programmed my home page with Activity Macros on the touch screen and after just a few days I’ve gotten used to what I refer to as the “double touch.” I pick up NevoQ50 and press once to activate the screen and then again to press my command – like Watch TV. NevoQ50 initiated the macros with ease and strength. In fact, I was surprised to see how reliable it was as an IR only device – excellent IR strength! I don’t plan on using a controller of this caliber as an IR only solution and will be installing NevoConnect as soon as possible to evaluate the Z-Wave RF communication of NevoQ50. I fully expect the NevoConnect IR emitters, RS232 communication, video and voltage sensor modules to be an integral part of the Nevo control system and will post yet another supplement to this review. Look for complete details on NevoConnect in Part 3 of this review some time around CES in January.

Using the hard buttons are self explanatory and using the soft buttons are the same only their function may vary depending on your programming and customization. All buttons have a great “click” that gives you the tactile feedback you need to know that you actually pressed a button. NevoQ50 buttons are also spaced and contoured so once you get used to the layout its easy to find the button you need – even with big fingers like mine!

Battery Life and charging
NevoQ50 slides into the charging cradle horizontally and at a slight angle and falls right into place every time I tried. Unfortunately I can’t tell you exactly how long it takes NevoQ50 to charge since I have a habit of placing the remote in its charge every night when I go to bed. NevoQ50 is equipped with a LiIon battery which means you can place it on the charger at any time, and for as long as you want, without worrying about decreasing the battery life. The battery is not user-replaceable so there is no opportunity to have a spare on emergency standby so good charging habits will only help you enjoy the remote as much as possible. When I decided to intentionally not charge the controller to measure its battery life I was pleased to find that it lasted almost an entire week with average to above-average (thanks to Tivo time shifting) usage each night. This is significantly better than the Nevo SL. The battery has been upgraded from a 1300mA battery in NevoSL, to 1320mA in NevoQ50. So with a smaller touch screen to light up and a less power consuming two-way RF technology, the battery savings in NevoQ50 is a significant improvement.

Why you should buy NevoQ50?
NevoQ50 looks awesome!
I’ve always been a fan of the Nevo product design and NevoQ50 has the same high-tech look with even more traditional hard buttons.

I like the idea of a touch-screen but I never really liked using one.
The crowning jewel of every media room is the touchscreen remote that sits in the center of the theater seating and offers complete control of your devices and more. However there are now many home theater systems being configured in other rooms of the house and the need for advanced controllers is becoming necessary in the living room, den, rec room and more. A lot of people have found that they prefer traditional hard button remotes in these areas because the viewing habits are different and much more demanding. After all, you’re a lot more likely to want a remote in hand when you’re watching the season finale of Survivor from your Tivo hard drive so you can quickly scan past the commercials but when you watch a movie in your media room you get your popcorn, close the shades, press play and sit back and relax. But, as systems get more and more complex in these rooms and components continue to pile up the flexibility and customization of a touch screen simply can’t be beat. NevoQ50 (along with several other controllers coming to market) offers a great solution to that problem. I love the way NevoQ50 offers the most needed hard buttons with a decent size touch screen and the configurable soft buttons.

I need a reliable control solution that never misses a command!
NevoQ50 with NevoConnect uses the state-of-the-art Z-Wave wireless RF communication to get the commands directly to your devices in the most reliable and efficient means possible. Check back soon for the NevoConnect full-review for more information.

Universal Electronics Inc Nevo remotes and accessories are now available in the Remote Shoppe store.

Click here for part 2 - RemoteShoppe's Review of NevoStudio Pro Programming Software