Universal remote

[CCM]

I realize this may be the wrong forum, but does anyone have a recommendation on a good, easy to use universal remote. My wife is a little overwhelmed with all the remotes! I would want it to run my Toshiba 50H82, receiver, digital cable box, DVD player and VCR.

[Classic57]

Hi, I had the same issue. I purchased a Sony RM-AV3000. It controls my Mits 55909, a JVC 1080 Reciver, a SA 3200HD digital set top box, a Jerrold analog set top box, a Sony VCR, a Pioneer 414 DVD player, 2 Sony 400 CD players, and a Channel Master remote antenna. I took me less than an hour to program and cost about $120.00. Money well spent in my option.

[CCM]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll check that one out. One more question though (sorry if it's a dumb one!), but does the remote control all aspects of the TV? Like stretch modes and inputs?

[Classic57]

You can train the Sony to do anything your other remotes do.

[FreckleBoy]

I will second that... the Sony AV3000 is awesome. It can be programmed to do it all, and the backlit LCD screen is great when you have to pause a movie in the dark to go to the little boys room.
I paid $107 from a dealer on shopping.yahoo.com

-= Henry =-

[Bingman]

Great site for remote reviews. Based on user reviews I decided against Sony. More information provided than most people need; just enough for the rest of us :-)

[jerryhicks]

You may also want to look at the specs and reviews for the Home Theater Master MX-500. After much research, this is the one I bought. I've had it for about 6 months and it does a very good job.

[Rusty]

Found these guys on remotecentral.com forum. They were cheap and answered questions.

http://www.surfremotecontrol.com/

Returned my $149 Sony 2100 to Best Buy and bought the newer and better AV3000 from surfremotecontrol.com for a lot less.

Remotecentral.com will also be a great place to find dicreet codes for your devises (I needed them to change the picture input without scrolling).

Bottom line is a learning remote that lets your family change the amp's audio input, and the TV's video input to the correct devise set-up with the push of one button is a great investment. Press DVD and everything is set for DVD. Press STB and everything is set for HDTV. Maybe the best $110 I've spent as since my wife and daughter are now able to use the home theater without help. (I never hear the "I can't get the VCR to work." anymore.) I'm sure there are lots of good choices. Have fun.

[AdminJoe]

I have the sony RM-AV3000 as well..
So far, so good, but lemme tell ya, the manual is in greek..

[BadCamper]

Shoot...I just use my Yamaha A/V receiver's remote control to operate about 80-90% of what I need a remote for.

The only few buttons it lacks for the HD-world would be functionality for an HD tuner STB, a TIVO or RePlay and cable boxes, and for 16x9 TV's the "Format/Widescreen/Pic Size" button.

[57U]

I use my Yamaha's learning remote and since it's "learning", it does everything I tell it (unless it's RF, which none of my stuff is.)

I use it also about 90% of the time. I keep my VCR remote handy, just because I've used it for so long I can use it more intuitively.

The Yamaha remote doesn't have an LCD screen, so it's not quite as "fancy" but you also don't need to "drill down" to get to any of the functions....

[Jester]

I bought a Sony RM-VL700 learning remote for $35 at Best Buy and could not be happier.

Just about every button can be retrained from your old remotes, so you an set up cross functionality (like having the TV mode volume actually control your receiver).

The best part is that it is not too intimidating for my wife to use (it is important to keep the wife happy for future electronic additions!).

[CCM]

Well, after taking a look at http://www.remotecentral.com/index.html and doing more research, I decided to go with the Home Theater Master MX-500. I should have it today or tomorrow, I'll let you know how I make out.

[CCM]

Just thought I'd post a follow-up. I got the remote late last week and programmed it over the weekend, and let me say I love this remote! The manual is very well written and easy to follow. Most of the functions of my original remotes worked after entering their code! The functions that didn't work were a breeze to setup using the remotes learning finction. I set up macros to turn everything on and off and to switch between 'dvd mode' and 'tv mode'.

The best part is now my wife can watch a dvd when I'm not home! :D