ONE FOR ALL URC-9800 Home Producer Universal Remote Control

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the trouble!
Review: I bought the newest 9910 remote and found out my DVD player was not supported. I called customer service and got the run-around until i gave up. It was easier to return the unit than to get it to work properly!

Rating:
Summary: Very impressed
Review: I would have to say that I am very impressed with these remotes, and a little dissapointed with the fact that it has a red back light and not green. I just purchased a URC-9910 and it works just awesome. I found the learing capabilites quite useful as I have an XBOX and it picked up quite quikly...(no need for codes if you can teach it). I would have to say though I am struggling with the bose stereo... if I can make it work I will post it... if not I would still highly recomend anyone of these remotes.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful on generics, weak where it counts
Review: This remote has a lot of features that on the surface make it seem like a great universal remote. Two problems for me though. The remote has few native features for A/V Receivers. There is only a few keys that will operate the receiver and you have to hunt-n-peck to see what works. (i.e. "0" on the remote changes input to CD, but nothing will change to "VCR".) I have gone through two receivers with this remote (JVC & Pioneer) and nothing works.

The other big problem for me, and I suspect others, is the inability to include the learning keys in macros. This failure coupled with the poor native features for receivers completely limits the remotes ability to set up a tuner/receiver input settings in a macro. So, you will not be able to sit down after inserting a DVD and be able to change your listening/viewing environment with just one key.

Another annoyance is DVD operation is extremely limited. If it were not for the 6 learning keys, I would not be able to use this for the DVD.

Oh... another thing... the firmware or whatever is in these remotes seems a bit buggy. Had terrible problems trying to get VOL LOC to work on the AUX when AUX changed to CABLE2 through KEY MOVER although VOL LOC works flawlessly on CBL/SAT.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful on generics, weak where it counts
Review: This remote has a lot of features that on the surface make it seem like a great universal remote. Two problems for me though. The remote has few native features for A/V Receivers. There is only a few keys that will operate the receiver and you have to hunt-n-peck to see what works. (i.e. "0" on the remote changes input to CD, but nothing will change to "VCR".) I have gone through two receivers with this remote (JVC & Pioneer) and nothing works.

The other big problem for me, and I suspect others, is the inability to include the learning keys in macros. This failure coupled with the poor native features for receivers completely limits the remotes ability to set up a tuner/receiver input settings in a macro. So, you will not be able to sit down after inserting a DVD and be able to change your listening/viewing environment with just one key.

Another annoyance is DVD operation is extremely limited. If it were not for the 6 learning keys, I would not be able to use this for the DVD.

Oh... another thing... the firmware or whatever is in these remotes seems a bit buggy. Had terrible problems trying to get VOL LOC to work on the AUX when AUX changed to CABLE2 through KEY MOVER although VOL LOC works flawlessly on CBL/SAT.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the trouble!
Review: This remote is a medium-low level of complexity. It has a number of great features that make the operation of your home theater and other components much more streamlined than with your origional remotes or lesser universal remotes.

1. Home Theater Key: This key is used to control all the commonly used elements of home theater-related components at once w/o switches between the components using the component buttons (ie link volume key to receiver, DVD/VCR controls to DVD player, channel-changing to TV or SAT/Cable box). So now, everything you need for basic TV or movie watching is done without pressing the component buttons in between adjustments. Part of this feature is a power macro to turn on or off all home theater related components at the same time with the power button.

2. Volume Lock: This feature lets you set one component that is always in charge of the volume (if you want this). In my case my receiver is always linked to the volume buttons, no matter what component key is currently in use.

3. 10 record macros: These macros are for recording things from your TV or SAT/Cable box (or I guess for just turning things on and off when you are not around..weak home security?). You have the same sort of scheduling you have on your VCR. The remote with turn on all the necessary components for recording, and press the correct key sequences (if you program them correctly that is :) to begin recording. It is IMPORTANT to note that you will need to burn a macro for starting the recording and another for ending the recording after your show or whatever (and turning everything back off). So really you can only program 5 recording/stop recording sequences (more than enough for me)This also means the remote has time/date settings and a nice time display on it's LCD screen.

4. 6 Learning Keys: On the left side of the remote there are 6 keys that can learn the function of 6 keys on any of your component remotes. I would have liked the ability to 'learn' any key I chose, a minus in my book. I needed a learning key for certain inputs on my Kenwood receiver that were not available with the default settings (AUX). I needed another to change listen-mode on the receiver (ie pro logic, pro logic II, jazz, stadium, dolby..etc etc)

5. 2 General Macros: The remote two macro buttons that will store up to 15 button-presses each. So far that's enough for me, but I realize some people would need more. I left my DVD player off of the power sequence for the home theater button. I use macro1 to; turn on my dvd player and open its door, change my tv to s-video, and change my receiver to optical input from DVD. I used macro2 to reverse this process. The REASON why this remote lost a star in my rating was the 6 learning buttons will not work in the macros! Luckily I didn't need any of them it turned out..but still..

6. Translucent Lighted Keys: All keys are translucent and keys and LCD are lit with a very cool blue light when you press a key or activate the light.

7. RF Capability: I had no experience with RF-capable remotes. What I learned was is that they are still infrared remotes basically. It has a remote box (which you plug in to power) with a lead wire that goes up to a small infrared transmitter. You will need to put this box in a place where you can attach the lead to a lamp or wall (or something) that has line-of-sight to all of your components. Once you do this, you can then use the remote in other rooms etc (remote talks to the box with RF, infrared lead off the box talks to components with line-of-sight). I only put this information in here for people who are unfamiliar with (or hadn't thought about) RF remotes. As a side-note to this fact; In our case our TV and all components are in an armoire(sp?) which has doors that close, so if we use the record macros for unattended recording, we have to make sure we leave the armoire's doors open so the infrared eye can see the components :) kinda funny..

That's about it. It has some other sleep function things that are irrelevent to me, and therefore I will leave unlearned for the moment. It is a good remote, certainly a good purchase for the money. It's technically the most complicated remote I have ever owned, but it's not really difficult to operate. It is certainly the coolest remote I have ever owned, and has made my remote life much simpler than ever before. Hope this helps somebody, I had a hard time shopping online for remotes, and the local stores do not seem to carry any universals that are even interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Good Remote
Review: This remote is a medium-low level of complexity. It has a number of great features that make the operation of your home theater and other components much more streamlined than with your origional remotes or lesser universal remotes.

1. Home Theater Key: This key is used to control all the commonly used elements of home theater-related components at once w/o switches between the components using the component buttons (ie link volume key to receiver, DVD/VCR controls to DVD player, channel-changing to TV or SAT/Cable box). So now, everything you need for basic TV or movie watching is done without pressing the component buttons in between adjustments. Part of this feature is a power macro to turn on or off all home theater related components at the same time with the power button.

2. Volume Lock: This feature lets you set one component that is always in charge of the volume (if you want this). In my case my receiver is always linked to the volume buttons, no matter what component key is currently in use.

3. 10 record macros: These macros are for recording things from your TV or SAT/Cable box (or I guess for just turning things on and off when you are not around..weak home security?). You have the same sort of scheduling you have on your VCR. The remote with turn on all the necessary components for recording, and press the correct key sequences (if you program them correctly that is :) to begin recording. It is IMPORTANT to note that you will need to burn a macro for starting the recording and another for ending the recording after your show or whatever (and turning everything back off). So really you can only program 5 recording/stop recording sequences (more than enough for me)This also means the remote has time/date settings and a nice time display on it's LCD screen.

4. 6 Learning Keys: On the left side of the remote there are 6 keys that can learn the function of 6 keys on any of your component remotes. I would have liked the ability to 'learn' any key I chose, a minus in my book. I needed a learning key for certain inputs on my Kenwood receiver that were not available with the default settings (AUX). I needed another to change listen-mode on the receiver (ie pro logic, pro logic II, jazz, stadium, dolby..etc etc)

5. 2 General Macros: The remote two macro buttons that will store up to 15 button-presses each. So far that's enough for me, but I realize some people would need more. I left my DVD player off of the power sequence for the home theater button. I use macro1 to; turn on my dvd player and open its door, change my tv to s-video, and change my receiver to optical input from DVD. I used macro2 to reverse this process. The REASON why this remote lost a star in my rating was the 6 learning buttons will not work in the macros! Luckily I didn't need any of them it turned out..but still..

6. Translucent Lighted Keys: All keys are translucent and keys and LCD are lit with a very cool blue light when you press a key or activate the light.

7. RF Capability: I had no experience with RF-capable remotes. What I learned was is that they are still infrared remotes basically. It has a remote box (which you plug in to power) with a lead wire that goes up to a small infrared transmitter. You will need to put this box in a place where you can attach the lead to a lamp or wall (or something) that has line-of-sight to all of your components. Once you do this, you can then use the remote in other rooms etc (remote talks to the box with RF, infrared lead off the box talks to components with line-of-sight). I only put this information in here for people who are unfamiliar with (or hadn't thought about) RF remotes. As a side-note to this fact; In our case our TV and all components are in an armoire(sp?) which has doors that close, so if we use the record macros for unattended recording, we have to make sure we leave the armoire's doors open so the infrared eye can see the components :) kinda funny..

That's about it. It has some other sleep function things that are irrelevent to me, and therefore I will leave unlearned for the moment. It is a good remote, certainly a good purchase for the money. It's technically the most complicated remote I have ever owned, but it's not really difficult to operate. It is certainly the coolest remote I have ever owned, and has made my remote life much simpler than ever before. Hope this helps somebody, I had a hard time shopping online for remotes, and the local stores do not seem to carry any universals that are even interesting.