Recommendations for a Universal Remote? 62
cpritchett asks: "I'm starting to work on my home theater system, but am wondering what to do in the way of a universal remote. Yes, touchscreen remotes and ones that give you TV listings may be nice, but they are also pricey and the touchscreen doesn't offer the nice, familiar, tactile feel of a remote we've all grown to love. So, what's your recommendation for a good universal learning remote for under $50?"
The MX-500 (Score:3, Informative)
I've seen this one touted for years on AV and home theatre fora. It's $189 retail but it's been around long enough that you might find it under $50 used.
Alex.
Re:The MX-500 (Score:2)
And the MX-600 [hometheatermaster.com] appears to have more range.
Re:The MX-500 (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The MX-500 (Score:2)
I was also surprised at the battery life. It has a backlight button, as well as a small LCD display [to show you what mode you are in], and yet the batteries last for well over a year with "normal" use. Not bad at all.
And yes, you want a remote with
SL-9000 - no seperate navigation/play keys (Score:1)
My new receiver (Denon) came with a very nice remote that is very similar to the SL-9000, but has a seperate navigation circle and play control keys. Highly programmable as well. So that's my current universal remove.
Re:The MX-500 (Score:4, Informative)
I _love_ this remote. You won't be disappointed.
Might I also suggest you check out Remote Central [remotecentral.com]? Very good reviews and user forums...
a used palm? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:a used palm? (Score:1)
-Peter
Re Your Sig (OT) (Score:1)
Re:Re Your Sig (OT) (Score:1)
-Narrator, Fight Club
JP1 (Score:5, Informative)
You can start your research into JP1 at the Yahoo JP1 Forum [yahoo.com].
I 2nd this option (Score:1)
Re:I 2nd this option (Score:1)
Not under $50 but... (Score:5, Informative)
Amazing battery life, great IR output, excellent display, nice combination of hard-buttons and programmable soft-buttons.
I also have a number of friends who have all learned the same thing about the MX-500. Buy it and never worry about remotes again.
$97.52 + shipping (Score:2)
Re:Not under $50 but... (Score:1)
I love mine.
Jensen (Score:2, Informative)
Sony RM-VL900 (Score:3, Informative)
It is truly universal - the codes in the manual covered all of my equipment except for a few buttons on the DVD changer and the Receiver. They were absolute cake to learn with the original remotes, though.
The range is solid for a remote in this price bracket, and it's taken more abuse over the last 4 months than many of my previous original and universal remotes. Dropping, sitting on, stepping on, etc.
I've had a few touch screens in the past and even allowing for their superior flexibility in programming and button labeling, etc etc, this is my favorite of all the universal remotes I've tried. Just can't beat the tactility of the hard buttons, anyway.
Check it out!
37.08 + shipping (Score:2)
Re:37.08 + shipping (Score:2)
Re:Sony RM-VL900 (seconded!) (Score:1)
This is a great remote! I've had one for a few years. It helps if some/all of your gear is Sony since it works out of the box. However the lack of soft keys can be daunting when programming devices with "unusual" commands such as a Tivo. (Where the *&^* did I put "Thumbs Up!" key?). When it croaks I'll proabably spring for the $80 MSRP RM-VL1000 that has a few soft keys.
BalamRe:Sony RM-VL900 (Score:2)
Re:Sony RM-VL900 (Score:1)
For even less money you can pick up the RM-VL700. I had one of those before I got the 900 and it was able to learn my TV, DVD, and stereo (a weirdo Yamaha with no preset) no problem. The only thing it couldn't do wa
IPAQ 5900 + (Score:1)
Re:IPAQ 5900 + (Score:1)
I have been programming my 2215 with codes from my DV camera's remote ('course, Canon had to put some functions on the remote that can't be accessed elsewhere. Grr!)
Disadvantages: Costs a fair bit (2215's on the order of $400), limited "tactile" buttons, shorter battery life, other uses (you're
Radioshack was my compromise (Score:2, Informative)
I only have to juggle three components; RCA TV, Panasonic Receiver/DVD/CD/Tuner, and a ReplayTV with my
Re: (Score:1)
one4all (Score:2, Informative)
I got a one4all non-learning remote from Wal-Mart for about $10 and have been completely satisfied. It comes with a booklet that allows you to easily program it to control a wide variety of common TVs, VCRs, DVDs, etc. It also allows for custom programming of individual buttons, so if you want to build your own keymap if basically allows that. Even better, their email tech support will send you undocumented codes for even more units than are described in the booklet. It includes a couple "macro" buttons
Re:one4all (Score:1)
I have an "anti" recommendation (Score:3, Insightful)
Most learning remotes include a "database" of IR codes for popular a/v systems. I had mixed luck here. For instance, my VCR was recognized perfectly. My TV was recognized partially, meaning that I can change channels, but not use the setup menus. Fine, I programmed a few additional buttons using the learning feature, and was good to go.
My stereo reciever was not recognized at all. ARG! That got me a little peeved, but I spent a few minutes and started programming individual buttons again. However, I ran into a problem where certain buttons could not be programmed in! After troubleshooting this problem, I realized what the real problem was: The remote can indeed learn individual keys, but it's got to store that info somewhere, and the "640k-should-be-enough-for-anyone" stick of flash they put in there apparently wasn't enough to program in an entire remote! So while my remote was sold as a 5-function remote (replaces 5 remotes) it couldn't handle even two remotes worth of individually programmed keys.
My final frustration was that my DVD remote could not be programmed at all. Even if I removed some of my pre-existing codes to free up needed storage space, It was a no go. The learning feature flat-out wouldn't work!
I don't believe my dissapointments are tied to my particular remote. Its a common trap I (and other electronics consumers) fall into. Moral of the story; unless 100% of your components are between 1 and 3 years old and all from the exact same company making the universal remote, treat a universal remote as a vital component of the system and spend accordingly.
Philips $20 Learning Remote (Score:2)
It's a bit of a pain to setup, but it can assign whatever you want to whichever buttons you want. So, for instance, I've assigned the volume buttons to always go to the receiver, n
Yes, but... problems (Score:2)
This is what I have (Score:1)
BigBangElectronics has a ton of remotes. Check em out. [bigbangelectronics.com]
Sony Clie (Score:3, Informative)
sadly i'm starting to find some newer devices that it doesn't work with - notably all-in-one DVD/Radio/Speaker systems.
there are some good 3rd party Remote programs that work with the Clie (and other Palm OS PDA's but the IR Port on most PDAs suck for long range remote functions) such as OmniRemote [palmgear.com] (a good program, but you have to teach it everything - it comes with no codes!) or NoviiRemote [palmgear.com] (a good looking program that i have not used yet - i'm happy with the Clie software)
Re:Sony Clie (Score:2)
to answer your question, if you Clie didn't come with ClieRemote, then that is an indication that you only have a plain old PDA IR port rather than the supped up IR port on the T665
OmniRemote used to make an IR device that clipped onto a Palm III (and older) style serial port, and from what i've read, that worked bette
Radioshack 15-2116 (Score:2)
Re:Radioshack 15-2116 (Score:2)
Re:Radioshack 15-2116 (Score:2)
RemoteCentral (Score:2, Informative)
I bought the Sony VL900 a year or two ago and I've been really happy with it. http://www.remotecentral.com/vl700/index.html
From my experience (Score:5, Informative)
My wife hates touchscreens. So, as a holiday present to the both of us, I bought the Harmony 659. It's got tons of real buttons. In under 30 minutes, I had it controlling EVERYTHING, including some fairly obscure (for remote manufacturers) equipment: My plasma TV, my SliMP3, my Zektor component switcher, etc.
It's activity-based, and configured via a java applet loaded from their website. You tell it the make and model of all your equipment. Then, you tell it what you need set to what to do things like watch tv, listen to music, watch a DVD, and so on (these are all customizeable). When you're done, it downloads everything via this java applet to your remote, using a USB connection.
30 minutes, and I've done with a $150 remote what I've yet to be able to do with a $500 remote.
And my wife LOVES the hard buttons.
Re:From my experience (Score:2)
The answer to all home theater questions... (Score:5, Informative)
All of that said, probably the best remote control is out of your price range -- the MX-500 (or the MX-700, which I have and prefer) is about $100 (the 700 is about $170). It's a button remote w/ a small LCD screen that can be programmed with text entries of what the related LCD buttons do. Most of the remote control buttons are marked though. I've had several universal remotes (Marantz RC-1000, Pronto TSU-1000, and MX-700) and the MX series is by far the best. The MX-700's center joystick is a bit wonky (which my wife dislikes), but it's not bad. I've heard that the MX-500 and MX-800 joystick is better.
For your price range, your best bet is a JP1 compatible remote. I'm not familiar with the range of remotes available, so look at either of the above sites, or the JP1 Home Page [hifi-remote.com].
$59.99 but it's still the best remote for the pric (Score:1)
X10. (Score:2)
Just another remote (Score:2)
What I'd prefer is a fixed broadcast point somewhere in the room that can be controlled from, say, my Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. Even then, it has to cope with a weird range of remotes, including ones for a
One that works (Score:1)
Tactile Design (Score:3, Informative)
Sony has always been good in this regard, with the sloped up/down buttons for volume and channel and "sticky feel" (don't know what rubber compound they use, but it's good) buttons.
One thing that might be nice would be remotes that light up the buttons when touched. Some of my remotes have glow-in-the-dark buttons, but that doesn't always help at 3AM after the glow fairies have been asleep for a couple of hours.
Harmony (Score:3, Informative)
Folks setting up a home theater should get these instead of the traditional all-in-one remotes just for the WAF (wife acceptance factor).
Highly recommend the One for All URC-8811 (Score:1)
Cost me $20 US, replaced six remotes from six completely different manufacturers (sony tv, toshiba dvd, y
The best universal remote? (Score:2)
URCs compliments of Froogle (Score:1)
You can get the Sony RM-VL900 Here [google.com] for $37.08
PC RF Remote control suggestions? (Score:1)