URC R6 Learning Remote Control Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was really excited about getting this remote because it was a decent price, looked good, and had the ability to learn functions for remotes that weren't coded in. I'm tired of the pile of remotes I have on my coffee table, and I wanted to be able to store them away while I had a single remote do most of what I needed.
Unfortunately it's not listed anywhere in the specs that I could find, but the memory on board is only good for about 30-40 buttons. I have a few devices that either had no codes available, or didn't have all of the commands listed. This includes my Samsung DLP, my Samsung HT system, and my DVR, none of which had full command sets pre-programmed in, so all of them needed to have the commands added through the learning function.
I only bothered to have the R6 learn the commands I actually used on the remotes, but even before I was half way through programming the codes for my home theater system, the component button would just flash an error command.
I dug around online to figure out what the problem was and finally found the 30-40 button limitation not listed on Amazon's site. 30-40 buttons is not enough to program in more than one or two incomplete or non-existent remote profiles.
If you're not sure this remote will have all of the codes you need in order to use it on all your devices, look into the R5 or R7 models instead, which are listed at URC's website as having memory for up to 160 commands. I'll be returning this and looking for another learning remote.

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Learning remote control combines 6 remote controls into 1. Operates virtually all brands of Audio, TV, DVD, VCR, Cable and Satellite devices.Quick and easy setup allows customization to satisfy specific user needs. Thousands of pre-programmed device codes assure it will control your components, and it's learning capability means it will never be obsolete. 4 My Favorite Channel Buttons. MacroPower and SimpleSound Volume Control.

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One for All URC 8910 Universal Remote Control Review

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(More customer reviews)After considering the highly respected Unifier URC-100 by Universal Remotes (which sells for nearly $100) I decided, on a whim, to give the OneForAll 8910 a shot. I was replacing an older, simpler Sony universal remote because I'd recently purchased a Samsung Home Theater unit (DVD/Tuner/Receiver/SurroundSound) and I knew I'd need a new universal remote to have any chance of success with this new breed of component.
First lesson - the "learning" function of the 8910 remote really does work, and is very simple to use. The LCD screen at the top makes all the difference - it walks you through the process and lets you know exactly what's happening. No guesswork involved. So, even though there was no code included with the remote for my new Samsung Home Theater Unit, I was easily able to "learn" the most important functions. The catch is that the remote can only hold about 25 commands total in its "learned" memory - so you're not going to "learn" all the buttons from several remotes.
Second lesson - the "upgrade" system really works! I was dubious, but I called the OneForAll customer support number early one morning, and the phone was answered so quickly I thought I'd dialed a wrong number. A very friendly and capable service agent immediately looked up my Samsung unit, had me type in a code and my remote reponsed with an error message. So he said, "Right, I'll have to upgrade you. Please hold the back of the remote to the speaker on your telephone headset." There's a modem microphone hidden behind the plastic, and after playing modem tones for about 10 seconds, the remote's screen blinked "success" and instantly the appropriate code for my Home Theater System was accepted. Worked perfectly. Almost like magic (and this was actually over a cell-phone). I've heard other stories of remotes needing to be mailed in for the upgrade, but this is a 5-minute, over the phone system that really works. The database is constantly updated (my Samsung unit is very new to the market, and they already had it programmed) so you can call and "upgrade" your remote each time you get a new component.
As for my older components (RCA TV, Toshiba VCR, etc) the pre-installed codes worked fine. The macro functions and volume-lock features work as well as any other universal remote I've encountered.
But there's even more...
Third lesson - This remote has a JP-1 connector! If you're so inclined, you can order a special cable for about $15 and download software that will let you completely program and customize this remote using your Windows PC. Program any command to any button. Thanks to the "learning" feature, you can input a command from a component's original remote, then map that command to any button, or download command sets made by other users off the internet specifically for your device. This means that even unusual units such as home security systems or wireless home-network media centers can be controlled fully - not just STOP and POWER ON. (I've just finished setting up my 8910 to work with a Netgear MP101 Media Player.) All this programming is direct to the unit's main memory, not using the "learned" memory space, and thus overcoming the 25-learned-button restriction. Granted, it requires a little work and the software isn't easy, but that's the wonderful thing about this remote: It will work out of the box for most devices, can be easily "upgraded" over the phone by OneForAll, and if you really want, it can be completely customized by programming and downloading command schemes from your PC.
These are features I never imagined would be available in a $35 remote. Not to mention the fact that the buttons are quite well laid out, the backlight is crisp and clear, and while it is large, it's comfortable to hold.
I've gone from being dubious to being astonished at how powerful this unit is.


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10-22-2007 - Brand New Item. Description - ONE FOR ALL URC8910 8-DEVICE A/V PRODUCER 8 ;LEARNING IR HOME THEATER REMOTE

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Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote Control Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My biggest problem was I had both a DVD player and A Blu-Ray player. I couldn't find a universal remote that would operate both, and most of them wouldn't operate my Blu-Ray at all. I knew that the Logitech remotes would, but I was hessitant to buy one because of the bad reviews that other harmony's have gotten. I haven't had this remote a long time but so far I've had no trouble.
The 510 not only operates both my DVD and my Blu-Ray independently, but has the ability to control all of the buttons that are on the original remotes. Thus making it so I don't have to go looking for my original remotes because I might find my self needing a key that this one won't perform. I'm now able to store away my other remotes.
Set up was actually easier than expected but still took a while. This is my fault. If you know how you want things set up it's fast and easy. The key is to make up your mind before you start. And, once you get esed to it navigation is quite simple.
However I do have three things I don't like about it.
1. It can only control 5 devices. Fortunatly for me I only need one that controlls 5. But, if i have to add another device, I'm stuck. I didn't get the one that controls more because I've read about too much trouble.
2. I don't care for the ergonomics. There's nothing wrong with the shape until you get to the bottom of the remote. There are four open buttons that can be assigned however you want. But, I need to use both hands to push them without the remote falling out of my hands. Now, even though this is trivial. it's still an issue
3. The help button. This is nice. It is used when something didn't work properly. When you push it. The remote will ask you a series of questions, and then fix the problem. Sounds simple enough, So what's the problem? The problem is I have to use it way too much. This remote would be most effective if it would do all that it should without needing to innitiate correction.
Over-all it's a great remote. And, even though it's not perfect, it's still the best remote I've ever had. But, because I believe there is still room for improvement I'm only giving it 4 stars instead of 5. But really it should be 4 and a half.

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Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote 915-000082 Universal Remote Controls

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URC MasterControl RF20 Universal Learning Remote w/ RF Capability Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This remote is highly capable but has a bit of a learning curve--after about 4 hours of fiddling around with it and re-reading the manual, I've got a slick little setup that lets me simply push a "Movie" button or a "Game" button and everything turns on and goes to its proper setting. The navigation buttons control the DVD player, the volume buttons control the amp, and when I'm done, I hit Off, and everything turns off. Very cool.
Other than learning to program it (which is not as easy as it could be but thankfully need only be done once), there are only a few, minor gotchas.
- Tip #1: I highly recommend you not bother with pre-programmed device codes and just go straight for "learning mode" instead. The pre-programmed codes generally make on/off and volume work, but anything else (navigation keys on dvd player, source buttons on amp) is pretty sketchy. Save yourself time trying to figure out what works and what doesn't--just program all your keys manually. Also, the process for setting pre-programmed codes ruins all your nicely-renamed soft-keys (see Tip #2).
- Tip #2: Rename your soft-keys before programming them. This will make the learning process more intuitive and you can put all the useful keys on the first page and erase the obscure ones you never use.
- Tip #3: Take advantage of the ability to hide pages--the less random stuff your user has access to, the easier it'll be to use. I even erased the text on the unused keys and set the left over unused device buttons as "dummy macros" which return the user to the first page of the Main menu.
- Tip #4: Why program real devices? I created "virtual devices" as my first two soft-keys and then also tied them to a macro. The first device is labeled "Movie" and is tied to a macro that turns on the DVD player, TV, amp, and sets the amp to the DVD input. Then the remaining keys in my "Movie Device" are programmed for appropriate devices--the navigation keys control the DVD player, but the volume keys control the amp. The second soft-key is likewise labeled "Game" and functions similarly. Lastly, I set an OFF macro to turn everything off and kick you back to the Main menu.
- Tip #5: The remote has a rather poorly-named feature called "punch through" which can help you accomplish this (its really a re-mapping feature which maps buttons from one device into another). It's useful for making things more convenient--you can change the volume on the amp without having to leave the DVD player menu. Just map the Amp's volume controls to the DVD device.
Cons
- The only buttons that can be set to macros are the soft-keys, and the ON/OFF keys when on the main menu. It'd be nice if you could set any key to a macro no matter where you are. For instance, I would rather have used the actual OFF key for an Off macro in my "Movie" device but instead had to make a soft-key be my OFF macro.
- The manual is not too clear but two or three times over the more complicated items (like macros and "punch throughs") and you'll get it.
- Using pre-programmed codes is not very dependable and also blows away any custom labels. Just use learning mode instead.
- You can't hide any of the Main menu pages (there are two pages with 5 devices each for a total of 10 devices--but if you only have 5 devices, it'd be nice to be able to hide the other page).
- This isn't the RF20's fault, but beware that many devices don't have discrete ON and OFF commands--only a toggle. So if you set a macro to turn off three of your devices but one is already off, you may end up turning it on when you turn the other two off.

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Controls up to 10 Audio/Video components / Provides 453 Macros buttons (up to 190 steps each / Thousands of built-in pre-programmed codes / Power - 4 AAA Batteries (included) / LCD Display Size - 0.88 x 1.88 inch / Learning Function / Backlit Keypad / Size - Depth 1 x Height 8.5 x Width 2.5 inch / Weight – 7.1 oz. (with batteries)

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Sony RM-VL600 8-Device Universal Learning Remote Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought three of these for my home last week to replace a pile of remotes in my living room, den and bedroom. For each room, I needed at least some of the buttons on each of the remotes to do this or that. No more, thanks to the "learning" function. You start out, of course, by putting in the code for each device as found in the table in the back of the manual. Under Satellite, DirecTV codes were listed but not my DishTV device. No problem. The "search for correct code" function found it after just a few keystrokes.Now, after that, some of the functions were missing. For instance, after coding in my DVD device, the Sony600 remote did not seem to have a button that would open/close the DVD tray door ... even though the original DVD remote did. No problem. This Sony600 easily "learns" what your original remote buttons do. The Sony600's DVD "exit" button didn't do anything, so I taught it to do what my original remote's "open/close" button did. How? Basically you just point the two remotes head-to-head, push the Sony600's "learn" button, push the button on the Sony600 that you want "to learn," then push the button on the original remote that you want "to be learned." Ta-da! Save the "learning" and you are done. I was able to transfer EVERY function from ALL my other remotes onto my Sony600 ... I now have one remote (in each room) that will do EVERYTHING ALL the other remotes did.AND the range is much better than the old remotes as well.Plus you can train the Sony600 to record and replay a sequence of keystrokes you make on the Sony600 ... it will replay the sequence with a one button touch (the A-B-C-D buttons at bottom are for that). I trained it to do several of these "macros" as well. For instance, I have some wireless headphones attached to the TV ... to make them work, I have to go into the TV's menu and work my way over to the place where I redirect the audio output and such. Turned on the Sony600 "learn" mode, then just performed all the required kestrokes .... TV, menu, down, left, left, enter and so on ... then saved it to the button at the bottom. It's just that simple.All that for under $25. This is an excellent investment, run out and get one today !!
[Update: August, 2010] I just bought another one of these (to replace one that I broke) from Amazon. I was shipped a black one. It used to ship in silver. There are some silver ones hanging on the shelves at BustBuy, etc. Personally, I like the black look better except the blue buttons would have looked better in black as well. Anyway, other than the color scheme, it's the exact same device, whether you see it in black or in silver.


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Samsung Remote Control AK59-00104K Review

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(More customer reviews)Exact replacement works just as it should - It's nice to be able to get an exact match replacement rather than a universal remote which. lets me honest, NEVER runs ever option of th epriginal remote.

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URC MasterControl RF10 Universal Learning Remote w/ RF Capability Review

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(More customer reviews)Progamming up is very easy , buttons are laid out very well. This "is" the last remote you'll ever need. I have another previous model and could not be happier. The light is a good idea when your watching your favorite shows at night , but this model has a "red" light back ground illumination which is very hard to see. The other model had a normal "greenish white" back ground which worked well. I'm not sure why they chnaged it , they should go back to it.I would have rated it 5 stars otherwise due to hard to see lighting..

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MasterControl RF10 is IR & RF capable. No more pointing - changing the way a remote works. Includes DVD Guide for quick & easy setup. Preprogrammed and learning - guaranteed to work with all components. Fully backlit keypad. Controls up to 8 components. 24 macros. USE WITH OPTIONAL POWERBLASTER FOR RF CAPABILITY.

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Original Samsung Remote Control AH59-02144S Compatibility: HTBD1250 HTBD3252 HTBD1200 Review

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(More customer reviews)It's the exact one I had that my dog chewed up! Exactly like the one that came with the DVD player. Thank goodness! VERY Satisfied customer!

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Sony RM-V310A Universal Remote Control Review

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(More customer reviews)this remote will work great if your equiptment is older, however be warned that it has limited to no functionality on some newer tvs and components.

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Universal Remote Control URC-WR7 7 Device Remote Control with 4 My Favorite Channel Buttons Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this to replace my universal remote that the dogs chewed up. This remote has several features, and lots of buttons. I like the red light up buttons as it makes it so much easier to find the button I am looking for in the dark.
My favourite thing about this remote is the many ways in which to find that pesky code. I find that often typing in the code for your brand of TV, VCR, whatever doesn't work and you can spend hours trying to figure out the proper code. There are at least four different ways (including a list of codes) to program this remote so something will work for your device. My favourite thing is the "learning" mode. You simply put it into "learning" mode and then copy the functions from your old remote to the new one and you can choose which buttons go where. I programmed my TV, cable box, and DVD player all within about 5 minutes and without having to enter a single code. Brilliant! Plus I was able to transfer the sleep function onto a key of my choice (that is the only button that seems to be missing from this remote).
My only complaint is that it is rather large, but that can be a good thing too as it's easier to spot in the couch cushions or under a blanket.

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Preprogrammed and Learning remote control combines 7 remote controls into 1. 4 My Favorite Channel Buttons. MacroPower and SimpleSound Volume Control.

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