Touch-pad remote

Aside from Smart Interaction, the other major step-up difference between the PNE8000 and the significantly less expensive PNE7000 is the remote control. In addition to a standard clicker, there's another that omits numerous buttons in favor of a touch pad that's supposed to ease navigation of the menus and Smart TV functions, especially the Web browser. It's a great idea in theory, and I loved that its Bluetooth connectivity meant I didn't need line-of-sight to the TV.

In practice the touch pad is frustrating to use, alternating between too twitchy and unresponsive. The clicker is denuded of most buttons, relegating the number pad to a kludgy onscreen version and eliminating the Menu key altogether. Lack of buttons also necessitated selecting from annoying onscreen mini menus for things as basic as Pause, Menu and Chapter Skip. In short, I'm not a fan, and defaulted to using the standard clicker when I could. For using the browser, the 'pad is better than gesture control, but not by much.