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Rating: 
Summary: Great remote for the price!
Review: I bought this remote after owning a Sony RM-AV2000 for about 2 years. I have also owned a Philips Pronto Neo. The Sony was limited in terms of buttons and virtually impossible to hold in your hand due to its size. The Pronto Neo has infuriating software and - from my experience - middling support, and it is a bit flimsy. The Sima SUR-25 is a nice compromise. It fits nicely in your hand, feels hefty, and has nice build quality. The plastic is thick and looks like it would stand up to drops to the carpet or even the floor. The combination of hard buttons and touch screen are what I look for in a remote. I especially like having hard buttons for volume and channel control, because the feedback I get from buttons is more direct than with the touch screen. Another plus for this remote is the way it "learns" commands from other remotes. You select the device you want the remote to learn, place your device's remote facing the bottom of the Sima, choose the button to learn and press the corresponding button on the device remote. The Sima learns that button and then sets itself to the next key on its touchscreen. You can fly right through the learning sequence and never even touch the Sima touch screen again. Very quick and a nice change from the more involved process on the Sony and the Philips. Another advantage the Sima has is two pages of buttons for each remote type and the ability to choose the name for a button from a choice of 2-3 available on the touch screen. Macros are virtually unlimited in normal usage but there are no hard buttons for macros like there are on the Sony. The backlight is triggered by a hard button that is larger than the other hard buttons and is a nice yellowish-green that does not disturb others in a darkened room but is easy to see. There evidently is an accessory cable that allows you to download remote codes from Sima but I did not purchase it. Disadvantages:
You cannot type your own names for buttons. The remote codes for existing remotes brands are limited and do not work for even some of the more common devices like DVD players from Panasonic and TVs from Toshiba (I should clarify - they work for a few buttons but not for many on these devices). The macro process is a bit fussy - I had to redo a relatively simple, 8 step macro four or five times to finally get it right. The remote kept confusing the pauses between buttons with numeric entries or something. The warranty is 90 days parts and labor. If you can purchase a two-year extended warranty (something I generally do not do) it may be worth it for you, especially in light of the fact that this remote is priced low for its capabilities. So far, so good with this remote. I can't find much information about Sima on the web (in fact, this model of remote is not even on their website) so I can't speak for support or customer service. However, if all goes as it has to this point, I will not need those services anyway. If you are the market for a universal remote and don't want to spend a lot for a programmable high end unit, give the Sima a try.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT Remote or the Price
Review: I have owned this remote for some time now, and I do not know why it is not more popular. It is flexible, powerful and easy to use, and it does this at a great price point. The many, easy to use hard buttons make easy to access the most common functions, like channel up and channel down. Also there are hard buttons to access each device, and the screen then says what device it is controlling, so you know for sure. If you are shopping for this type of remote, you have also probably looked at the Pronto series of remotes. I think that for most consumers, this SIMA remote represents a much better value. First, it's about 1/3 to ½ the price of the least expensive Pronto Neo. Second, it really is very flexible. The main difference between the SIMA and the Pronto series is in the LCD screens. In the SIMA remote, each LCD soft button has labels pre-assigned by the factory. Each button is capable of doing many things, but only the applicable label appears for each device in usage (for example, the same button that would show a Tivo "Thumbs Up" symbol when you are controlling a DVR might show something like "DTS" when you are controlling your receiver). The pre-typed labels seem to cover just about all of the various commands from all of my other removes. Such flexibility is unusual in remotes at this price point. The Pronto, remotes on the other hand, in addition to the forgoing, generally offer you the ability through a computer interface to completely customize the buttons and their labels. This is a neat trick the SIMA remote just can't match. With that said, though, I like the hard button layout on the SIMA remote a lot better. It just seems to be laid out better. Just be aware, that as with any learning, universal remote with macro capability, the more "custom" use you want out of the thing, the more you will be required to program. While the manual is clear and explains how to do so, you WILL have to do some configuring to access some of the more arcane features of your other remotes and to set up macros. This is actually a benefit, though. Why? Because most basic remotes will not even let you do the configuring to get to the arcane features or use macros, and to get these features, as I said, will require some tweaking on ALL advanced universal remotes that allow you to do so. At least the programming on this SIMA unit is relatively straightforward. As an added bonus, the SIMA is the easiest "learning" remote I've seen to program since the learning lens is on the bottom (not the underside, the lower edge), so you do not have to work backwards as you do when programming remotes that learn "head to head". In sum, if you really do like programming your remote, need ultimate flexibility, and price is no object for you, you might prefer the Pronto. Otherwise, you might give the SIMA a try.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT Remote or the Price
Review: I have owned this remote for some time now, and I do not know why it is not more popular. It is flexible, powerful and easy to use, and it does this at a great price point. The many, easy to use hard buttons make easy to access the most common functions, like channel up and channel down. Also there are hard buttons to access each device, and the screen then says what device it is controlling, so you know for sure. If you are shopping for this type of remote, you have also probably looked at the Pronto series of remotes. I think that for most consumers, this SIMA remote represents a much better value. First, it's about 1/3 to ½ the price of the least expensive Pronto Neo. Second, it really is very flexible. The main difference between the SIMA and the Pronto series is in the LCD screens. In the SIMA remote, each LCD soft button has labels pre-assigned by the factory. Each button is capable of doing many things, but only the applicable label appears for each device in usage (for example, the same button that would show a Tivo "Thumbs Up" symbol when you are controlling a DVR might show something like "DTS" when you are controlling your receiver). The pre-typed labels seem to cover just about all of the various commands from all of my other removes. Such flexibility is unusual in remotes at this price point. The Pronto, remotes on the other hand, in addition to the forgoing, generally offer you the ability through a computer interface to completely customize the buttons and their labels. This is a neat trick the SIMA remote just can't match. With that said, though, I like the hard button layout on the SIMA remote a lot better. It just seems to be laid out better. Just be aware, that as with any learning, universal remote with macro capability, the more "custom" use you want out of the thing, the more you will be required to program. While the manual is clear and explains how to do so, you WILL have to do some configuring to access some of the more arcane features of your other remotes and to set up macros. This is actually a benefit, though. Why? Because most basic remotes will not even let you do the configuring to get to the arcane features or use macros, and to get these features, as I said, will require some tweaking on ALL advanced universal remotes that allow you to do so. At least the programming on this SIMA unit is relatively straightforward. As an added bonus, the SIMA is the easiest "learning" remote I've seen to program since the learning lens is on the bottom (not the underside, the lower edge), so you do not have to work backwards as you do when programming remotes that learn "head to head". In sum, if you really do like programming your remote, need ultimate flexibility, and price is no object for you, you might prefer the Pronto. Otherwise, you might give the SIMA a try.
Rating: 
Summary: ok, but not great
Review: Not as easy to simply "learn" all your remotes as it claims. The digital keypad needs backlighting and the keys are not customizable, so you are stuck with their format, even if it does not fit the remote you have--tough luck--you will be forced to toggle other screens, which can be a pain. Also, the names of the hard buttons should be backlit as well! Basically you can't tell if you are switching from phono to cable in low light unless you memorize the exact placement of the hard buttons. Otherwise, I really like this unit--it has good range, even with obstructions and I was basically able to get all of my 5 devices hooked in to it. Estimate a good 3 hours to get set up, though.
Rating:
Summary: ok, but not great
Review: Not as easy to simply "learn" all your remotes as it claims. The digital keypad needs backlighting and the keys are not customizable, so you are stuck with their format, even if it does not fit the remote you have--tough luck--you will be forced to toggle other screens, which can be a pain. Also, the names of the hard buttons should be backlit as well! Basically you can't tell if you are switching from phono to cable in low light unless you memorize the exact placement of the hard buttons. Otherwise, I really like this unit--it has good range, even with obstructions and I was basically able to get all of my 5 devices hooked in to it. Estimate a good 3 hours to get set up, though.
Rating:
Summary: ok, but not great
Review: Not as easy to simply "learn" all your remotes as it claims. The digital keypad needs backlighting and the keys are not customizable, so you are stuck with their format, even if it does not fit the remote you have--tough luck--you will be forced to toggle other screens, which can be a pain. Also, the names of the hard buttons should be backlit as well! Basically you can't tell if you are switching from phono to cable in low light unless you memorize the exact placement of the hard buttons. Otherwise, I really like this unit--it has good range, even with obstructions and I was basically able to get all of my 5 devices hooked in to it. Estimate a good 3 hours to get set up, though.
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