Rating: 
Summary: Buyer beware!
Review: Bought this in November 1999, even after reading the other reviews... Suffice to say, it is all true. While the promised functionality is great, after a "successful" programming of the unit, it correctly switches about one out of every four or five times to the device you select. Maybe one out every two I could have lived with. Three hours of my life were wasted...
Rating: 
Summary: $10 solution to problems with remote feature!
Review: Buy a cheap universal remote. I have no Zenith TV, but taught the VH920 that inputs 1 through 6 were the Zenith TV channel buttons 1 through 6. It is not likely that the power buttons from your six devices will all be properly learned by the VH920.
But the User's Guide should point out it doesn't matter! If I have a power failure it will take me less than 60 seconds to reprogram the VH920. I don't care that a device power button doesn't select the corresponding input. It is only six to remember and the cheap universal remote has lots more use than as a dedicated remote for the VH920. I now get CONSISTENT infra-red
input selection from anywhere in the house as I also have home video distribution with infra-red repeaters. Video output seems
equal to input and with only one output could be passive switching (but I don't think it is). I might actually prefer passive because too many active stages (AV receiver, Video processor, etc.) can cause abberations. In direct comparison to bypass, audio is slightly veiled and compressed but most people would not notice unless comparing. The input indicators are very
dim and other reviews' criticisms are true, but with one easy button push by remote who really needs to see the display.
Rating:
Summary: $10 solution to problems with remote feature!
Review: Buy a cheap universal remote. I have no Zenith TV, but taught the VH920 that inputs 1 through 6 were the Zenith TV channel buttons 1 through 6. It is not likely that the power buttons from your six devices will all be properly learned by the VH920.
But the User's Guide should point out it doesn't matter! If I have a power failure it will take me less than 60 seconds to reprogram the VH920. I don't care that a device power button doesn't select the corresponding input. It is only six to remember and the cheap universal remote has lots more use than as a dedicated remote for the VH920. I now get CONSISTENT infra-red
input selection from anywhere in the house as I also have home video distribution with infra-red repeaters. Video output seems
equal to input and with only one output could be passive switching (but I don't think it is). I might actually prefer passive because too many active stages (AV receiver, Video processor, etc.) can cause abberations. In direct comparison to bypass, audio is slightly veiled and compressed but most people would not notice unless comparing. The input indicators are very
dim and other reviews' criticisms are true, but with one easy button push by remote who really needs to see the display.
Rating:
Summary: Really poor product
Review: Frustrating to teach it codes, get a power failure and you have to re-teach it. Pilot lights are so dim you can't see them in daylight. Branded RCA but not really, built by someone else. This is a waste of time and money. We need a really good switch but this isn't it.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Documentation
Review: Good luck trying to get the device to recognize your hand-heldremote controls. The documentation is badly written and evencontradictory is some spots. On page 8, Step 5, it says "Repeat step 3 & 4 for additional devices". On the very same page, after Step 6, it says "Repeat steps 2,3 & 4 for additional devices". OK, folks, which one is it? I taught a ReplayTV remote to learn how to control 3 devices, set up all the cabling, and had no trouble running a complex TV, 2-VCR, ReplayTV set up until I got to this product. It's been over one day now, and I still have to select devices manually.... There is nothing on the RCA website of any technical help. Also, you will not find any description in the documentation of how this product is supposed to work with your remotes after it "learns" the codes. How do you know it's working then? Don't waste $80 on this kludge. Go get a cheap manual switch. It will work with a lot less aggravation.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Choice
Review: I have owned one of these for two years. Overall I am very happy with it.
For the price there is no better way to have remote switching.
The biggest caveat is the remote learning feature-
its very temperamental,
and you must reprogram for even a momentary power outage
such as an accidental power strip switching.
Also the switcher claims universal remote learning,
but was not able to learn codes for any of my devices.
Switching with a remote power button signal doesn't make sense
if you leave your system on.
My recommendation is
to program a extra component on your universal remote to an RCA TV.
If you need this switcher you should have an 8 device universal remote anyway.
Once you have RCA TV codes in your universal remote
it is very easy to program this switcher...problem solved.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Choice
Review: I have owned one of these for two years. Overall I am very happy with it.
For the price there is no better way to have remote switching.
The biggest caveat is the remote learning feature-
its very temperamental,
and you must reprogram for even a momentary power outage
such as an accidental power strip switching.
Also the switcher claims universal remote learning,
but was not able to learn codes for any of my devices.
Switching with a remote power button signal doesn't make sense
if you leave your system on.
My recommendation is
to program a extra component on your universal remote to an RCA TV.
If you need this switcher you should have an 8 device universal remote anyway.
Once you have RCA TV codes in your universal remote
it is very easy to program this switcher...problem solved.
Rating: 
Summary: I am returning it.
Review: I have the usual problem, need a switch with more than 4 inputs, and want to stay couch bound while switching. Not wanting to shell out the >300 for JVC, I gave this one a try.I found the remote learning erattic at best. Never got it working robustly. (at best, could get it to switch between two inputs, and random other remote buttons could cause it to trip). I even tried the "Zenith" hack mentioned in another review. While the remote was dissapointing, it did have six inputs, and a good indication of which one was selected. Better than the passive 4 input box anyhow?? NO. The audio section was horrid. It clipped badly when fed standard level signals. (output from the Tivo for example) You might not notice on a typical TV speaker/amp set, but feeding it into my main audio system was painful. Well I guess I get to see how well amazon return processing works. Anyone have a JVC 8288s85 they don't want? (don't need component video yet...)
Rating:
Summary: I am returning it.
Review: I have the usual problem, need a switch with more than 4 inputs, and want to stay couch bound while switching. Not wanting to shell out the >300 for JVC, I gave this one a try. I found the remote learning erattic at best. Never got it working robustly. (at best, could get it to switch between two inputs, and random other remote buttons could cause it to trip). I even tried the "Zenith" hack mentioned in another review. While the remote was dissapointing, it did have six inputs, and a good indication of which one was selected. Better than the passive 4 input box anyhow?? NO. The audio section was horrid. It clipped badly when fed standard level signals. (output from the Tivo for example) You might not notice on a typical TV speaker/amp set, but feeding it into my main audio system was painful. Well I guess I get to see how well amazon return processing works. Anyone have a JVC 8288s85 they don't want? (don't need component video yet...)
Rating:
Summary: I am returning it.
Review: I have the usual problem, need a switch with more than 4 inputs, and want to stay couch bound while switching. Not wanting to shell out the >300 for JVC, I gave this one a try. I found the remote learning erattic at best. Never got it working robustly. (at best, could get it to switch between two inputs, and random other remote buttons could cause it to trip). I even tried the "Zenith" hack mentioned in another review. While the remote was dissapointing, it did have six inputs, and a good indication of which one was selected. Better than the passive 4 input box anyhow?? NO. The audio section was horrid. It clipped badly when fed standard level signals. (output from the Tivo for example) You might not notice on a typical TV speaker/amp set, but feeding it into my main audio system was painful. Well I guess I get to see how well amazon return processing works. Anyone have a JVC 8288s85 they don't want? (don't need component video yet...)
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