Looking for a decently priced universal remote (1 Viewer)

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

Well, my wife and kids have darn near banged my Outlaw 1050 remote to death. It's on it's last legs. It seems to make a nice torture device for them to use. Who knew?

So I was wondering what universal remote I could purchase that would work with my Outlaw 1050, Panny DVD RP-91, JVC TV, Dish Network receiver, JVC VCR, Sony CD player, Pioneer LD player and not kill the bank account (maybe $100 or less)?

Oh, and I guess it needs to be able to part time as a torture stick.

 

[JamesCB]

Home Theater Master MX-700 from Universal Remote Control. Very favorable 'round these parts. Less than $100.00.
Home Theater Master

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If you can bump your budget up to $150, the Harmony SST-659 is a great remote. It has a very high wife and kids acceptance factor. You can find out more info at Link Removed . I just purchased one to replace a Marantz RC2000 MKII universal that I have been using for the past four years. I paid $147, including shipping, from www.surfremotecontrol.com .

If you are firm with the $100 budget, the Home Theater Master remotes that James recommended are an excellent suggestion.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

BTW, I think James meant to recommend the Home Theater Master MX-500, not the MX-700. The MX-700 has a MSRP of $349, while the MX-500 can be found online for around $100. For more info on univeral remote controls, check out www.remotecentral.com .

 

[Steve Griswold]

As I said in the other remote thread, The Radio Shack 15-2116 can deal with up to 8 devices, has a wealth of built-in codes, and has the benefit of a JP1 connector all for less than $30. The 15-2117 is identical except that it is RF (much better range).

Radio Shack 15-2116

The JP1 connector is honestly quite a pain to set up and program, but after it's all said and done you'll wonder how you lived without it. I have all my devices FULLY customized and programmed into my remote and I have used NONE of the learning memory. In addition I've programmed over buttons that normally don't allow learning.

 

[Ron Reda]

I'm particularly fond of the Sony RM-VL900. While it doesn't have the slick touchscreen, it is durable, inexpensive and, most importantly, it controls every piece in my multi-manufacturer rig. It has a learning function and plenty of macros. In fact, I liked it so much, I bought two; one for my HT and one for my secondary system upstairs. You can check out he picture here:

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...MVL900&o=M&a=0

It can be had here for $40 + shipping:

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?...900&SVBName=30

 

[JamesCB]

Scott,
You're right I meant the MX-500. The MX-700 is nice too, that's the one I use.

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

Wow! I had no idea remotes had come so far. I knew there was the Pronto but didn't know about the other LCD type remotes. Very nice!

After looking at a few of them, the "One Touch" feature for my wife and kids is a definite must (and for the baby sitters to).

Back to more reading now.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Harmony SST-659 definitely fills this need. The remote has buttons labelled "Watch TV", "Watch a movie", etc. that will perform all the necessary functions for setting up your HT system for the given activity. This includes turning on all required devices, setting your TV to the proper input, setting your receiver to the proper input, and anything else you require. The remote also "remembers" which components it's turned on, so if the TV is already on, it leaves it on when another activity (such as "watch a movie") is selected.

You can create as many activities as your system requires. So far, I have setup activities to "watch" TV, movie (DVD), HDTV via Comcast cable, HDTV via OTA, DVD recorder and "listen" to music (SACD/CD player).

The remote is very intuitive to use. Programming is done via your PC and Harmony's website.

 

[Alf S]

My wife and I are big fans of the new One For All Kameleon remote ($70 on ebay).

Lots of nice features, cool looking, and easy to use (despite what naysayers say about smooth remotes).

Best of all my wife, who hates bulky complicated remotes loves it.