Looking for a display/remote for home theater

[lolasdaddy]

Just looking to round out my home theater. I am looking for some type of remote that I can control my projector, receiver dvd player which is easy enough, but I also want to be able to dim my lights which I am guessing I will be using an X10 solution for those. One thing I was thinking about getting is maybe a small touch screen display that I can mount in between the theater seats into a table. I will settle for just a regular remote control if that would be easiest to do. I dont have a ton of money in my budget for the remote, I figured in around $500 if that helps. Thanks for the help!

[topspeed]

Just looking to round out my home theater. I am looking for some type of remote that I can control my projector, receiver dvd player which is easy enough, but I also want to be able to dim my lights which I am guessing I will be using an X10 solution for those. One thing I was thinking about getting is maybe a small touch screen display that I can mount in between the theater seats into a table. I will settle for just a regular remote control if that would be easiest to do. I dont have a ton of money in my budget for the remote, I figured in around $500 if that helps. Thanks for the help!

Check out this site as it's dedicated to remote controls and there are some good forums discussing pros and cons.

http://www.remotecentral.com/

FWIW, I like my Sony RM-AV3000 pretty well and it does everything you'd want, including dimming the lights. It's been replaced by the AV3100(?) this year so you might want to check it out. They can be had from B&H Photo online for around $100 so they're relatively inexpensive. It doesn't have a color screen like the ever popular Pronto remote, but if I want to see color I'll watch my freakin' tv. I dunno, for the prices they charge for a Pronto, I could buy a LOT of tunes, dvd's, hell even a very good cd player! It's just a remote, not an extension of one's ego.

Let me add that touchscreens aren't all they're cracked up to be. You can't do anything by feel anymore because, well...there's nothing to feel. Therefore you have to look at the remote to do a lot of commands that you could otherwise do blindly on a conventional unit. This may sound insignificant but believe me, sometimes it's annoying.
Hope this helps.

[IsmaVA]

Just looking to round out my home theater. I am looking for some type of remote that I can control my projector, receiver dvd player which is easy enough, but I also want to be able to dim my lights which I am guessing I will be using an X10 solution for those. One thing I was thinking about getting is maybe a small touch screen display that I can mount in between the theater seats into a table. I will settle for just a regular remote control if that would be easiest to do. I dont have a ton of money in my budget for the remote, I figured in around $500 if that helps. Thanks for the help!

Your best bet I think would be a good remote (not more than $100-$150) and an pc running the X-10 controlling software and some automation software (like Girder).

That is what I have and my lights are controlled automatically by whatever I choose to do with my remote control (e.g. light dimming out when I press "play", or gradually turning on when I press "stop").