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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Home Theatre & HDTV => Topic started by: balou2 on December 14, 2008, 04:53:26 PM

Title: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: balou2 on December 14, 2008, 04:53:26 PM
Anybody have a personal favorite?  I'm ready to get a new one.  The touchscreen Sony remote I have is getting a bit old, so I'd like to get something more up to date.

(http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/SONY/RM-AV3100-Universal-learning-remote.jpg)


My current setup is:

Toshiba Regza 47" LCD TV
Onkyo TX-SR806 receiver
Toshiba HD-XA2 HD Player
Sony BDP-550 Blu-Ray Player
Sony SA-CD 5 disc changer
DirecTV box

Thanks.
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: sparkey on December 15, 2008, 10:30:12 AM
My buddy who installs AV programs a lot of the Home Theatermaster units.  I'd get the RF unit so you can stash your equipment in another room and still control it from the theater room.

Josh
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: eric.B on December 15, 2008, 10:35:10 AM
my uncle has been using this one and loves it..

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/372&cl=us,en (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/372&cl=us,en)
http://reviews.cnet.com/remote-controls/logitech-harmony-880/4505-7900_7-31337419.html (http://reviews.cnet.com/remote-controls/logitech-harmony-880/4505-7900_7-31337419.html)
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: Brian Skalinder on December 15, 2008, 10:44:18 AM
I have the Logitech Harmony 880 and like it a lot.  At first, I found the buttoms a bit small, but have gotten used to it over time and really, at this point, do everything almost entirely by touch.  Nice layout, easy to program.  Two minor beefs:  programming it requires installing software (IMO should be a pure web app) and last I checked (months and months ago) there was no way to save my profile locally to my desktop without going through customer support.  I don't trust Logitech (or any 3rd party) to ensure my data is safe.  Both small nits, really.
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: pigiron on December 15, 2008, 04:56:03 PM

...programming it requires installing software...

Bingo!

I paid mega-bucks for a universal remote many, many moons ago and the company long since went out of business... turning the remote into a doorstop.

This time around I looked for something with no computer involvement. Call me paranoid, but since I don't even trust that I'd be able to get one of those custom lithium-ion replacement batteries for it years from now, it needed to use the old skool type.

Ended up with a "Universal" remote (just try Googling for that)  :-\

http://www.universalremote.com/consumer/products.php (http://www.universalremote.com/consumer/products.php)

Damn near every button can be customized with the "Learn" function and it does every thing I need it to do. Including working on some old esoteric stereo gear of mine.
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: pjdavep on December 16, 2008, 01:51:31 PM

I love my Logitech 880.  If feels great in my hand and using the DVR controls can be performed fairly easily without even looking at the thing.  I've had mine for about 18 months and have had no issues and the battery still stays charged for about 5-7 days of use.

You can find refurbished 880s on buy.com's eBay store and coupled with the live.com cashback, they can be had for a pretty nice price.

Later,
  pjdavep
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: sparkey on December 16, 2008, 05:16:09 PM
With the MX-800, it comes with software.  You can simply plug in which components you have and it will configure the device according, as well as program macros to send commands sequentially, including "discrete" commands.

Discrete commands are used to, for example, send a TV directly to Input 3...whereas with a remote you'd have to toggle through each input until you reached the one you want.  This allows the remote to send a command to your receiver to switch to the DirecTV input on video three and then automatically switch the remote to control that device by executing the macro.

The other thing I like about the MX-800 is the mix of tactile and video in the remote.  Pure touchscreens require you look at it, while with tactile buttons you can locate the volume and channel buttons in the dark without having to look.

Josh
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: sparkey on January 02, 2009, 11:11:45 AM
Dunno if you ever bought a remote, but there's a site called remotecentral.com that is a great resource for this....

Josh
Title: Re: Recommendations on a Universal Remote
Post by: John Kelly on January 02, 2009, 03:16:09 PM
I have the Logitech Harmony 880 and like it a lot.  At first, I found the buttoms a bit small, but have gotten used to it over time and really, at this point, do everything almost entirely by touch.  Nice layout, easy to program.  Two minor beefs:  programming it requires installing software (IMO should be a pure web app) and last I checked (months and months ago) there was no way to save my profile locally to my desktop without going through customer support.  I don't trust Logitech (or any 3rd party) to ensure my data is safe.  Both small nits, really.

I agree - the software sucks but I *love* my Harmony.  I have the 550 and prefer it to the 880 due to the longer battery life.