Rating: Summary: Programming errors, no Kenwood VR505/VR507 support. Review: Fails to program using left and right arrows as shown in user's guide. Tech support says this is a known bug when using macro keys. No fix available for current owners. Will not support TV AV1/AV2 switching. Will not support my Kenwood VR505 or VR507 home theater system receivers(no Video 1,2,3,tape or DVD switching).
Rating: Summary: Will Wait For Better Technology Review: I bought this remote with high hopes of using my voice to control the TV, VCR and cable but unfortunately, it did not work to my expectations. One of the main reasons why I bought this thing was to mute the TV during commercials. So I programmed it to respond to "Mute." I tried it out and it worked. Then I decided to watch a movie on a regular TV station. A commercial came on and I said, "Mute." Nothing happened so again I said, "Mute." Still nothing. This time I yelled "MUTE"... "MUTE!"... "MUTE!!" and then it worked. I decided to call tech support to find out what was wrong and the guy mentioned that the command "mute" was not a good word and to try "Quiet" instead. So I reprogrammed it to respond to "Quiet" and it worked. Went back to the same movie, a commercial came on, I said, "Quiet" and nothing happened. I said it again leaning closer to the remote and still nothing. I yelled "QUIET!" ..."QUIET!!" and my wife and dog ran out of the room. I reached down for my regular remote and hit the mute button and of course that worked. I went back to the manual and found out I could adjust the microphone sensitivity, so that is what I did. Went back to the movie, commercial comes on, "Quiet"..."Quiet!" and it mutes. I'm thinking to myself, hey, this is great! If I can get this to work, I will try the other features. The movie is on and now the wife and dog are back in the room. As we're watching the movie, it mutes for no apparent reason. My wife and I look at each other to place blame, but neither of us had anything to do with it. I picked up the regular remote and hit the mute button thinking it was just a fluke and the sound comes back on. Mind you, the voice-activated remote is still on and sitting on top of the coffee table. We're back to the movie and 20 minutes later, the TV mutes again. A blood vessel on my forehead almost pops as I hit the mute button again on the regular remote. I don't recall anyone in the movie saying "Quiet" and we weren't talking. This time I turned off the voice activated remote and decided that it wasn't for me. A note to the manufacturer for this remote: In my opinion, what will work (probably) 98% of the time is light headphones with a microphone that controls the cable, TV, VCR, etc. Having headphones with the microphone has two purposes: One, you can speak softly to mute the TV, change channels, etc., and two, this will work great for those who are hard of hearing. There should be a volume adjuster with the headphones so that the normal hearing folks close by can listen to the TV without being blasted. One more invention: You could have this light headphone also double as a phone in case the phone rings. I will wait until the technology is better or they come up with a device like I just mentioned before I buy a voice-activated remote.
Rating: Summary: perfect universal remote for gaget lovers Review: I enjoy this product very much, instruction manual was very easy to use and understand worked with every peice of my home theatre and satelite system and the products are sony, dishnetwork, pioneer and harmon kardon. Could not get to work with satelite at first but emailed customer service and they responded with tricks to make it work with different equipment and tricks on commands. It is a great gaget for people who love them and also for someone who has everything, also recongnizes different voices and can have up to four different users and commands. Cool gift
Rating: Summary: Does Not Configure to Harman Kardon AVR's Review: I ordered this product and went through the set-up process for my TV (sony), VCR (mitsubishi), DVD (sony) and then found it could not be configured to my Harmon-Kardon AVR55 home theater five speaker system. When I called the company directly, the business(?) phone is answered "cash n gold" and the enterprise sounds like it operates from a warehouse with loudspeakers interrupting anyone you are speaking with. The product appears to have some cool features but to not have the set-up code for a top-of-the-line Harman Kardon home theater system is unfortunate and somewhat misrepresentative.
Rating: Summary: Not ready for "prime time"! Review: I'd like to think that I'm a fair minded person, but as hard as I try, I can't think of anything positive to say about this expensive paperweight! It has little, if any, discernment over which sounds are your commands, and which are the sounds from the television/audio center...and that's if you can get so far as to get it to do ANYTHING but flash the LED light. Operations defined in the manual often don't coincide with what happens when you follow the instructions and press the keys. It simply is a bad piece of product design, however well thought out it may have been, in the concept stages.To make matters worse, just try accessing the manufacturer's web site. They're either down, or already are out of business... Avoid this device like the plague!
Rating: Summary: Not ready for "prime time"! Review: I'd like to think that I'm a fair minded person, but as hard as I try, I can't think of anything positive to say about this expensive paperweight! It has little, if any, discernment over which sounds are your commands, and which are the sounds from the television/audio center...and that's if you can get so far as to get it to do ANYTHING but flash the LED light. Operations defined in the manual often don't coincide with what happens when you follow the instructions and press the keys. It simply is a bad piece of product design, however well thought out it may have been, in the concept stages. To make matters worse, just try accessing the manufacturer's web site. They're either down, or already are out of business... Avoid this device like the plague!
Rating: Summary: Three stars for the Star Trek factor Review: I'm a Star Trek fan, and I wanted to be just like Scotty talking to the computer. The voice activation feature worked as long as I completely controlled my voice. The trouble is, sometimes I'm eating, sometimes I have a cold, sometimes I'm talking, sometimes I'm exercising, sometimes I'm doing other things that keep me from talking to the remote control. If I had wanted to make it work, I could have. It doesn't fit the way I typically watch TV. I don't think any voice-activated remote control would, at least not with the current technology. For me, the technology would have to support commands given while eating popcorn! Aside from the voice activation, it's heavy, klunky and not much fun to hold. You have to slide out a tray for anything but the basic functions if you are going use it by hand. The buttons are intuitively placed but not back-lit. The LCD screen takes some effort to read in the light and impossible to read in the dark. I give it three stars for the voice activation feature, even though I found it clumsy to use and got tired of horsing with it. It's a perfectly good remote if it supports your equipment, which can be easily checked in the manual. For this price, though, you can get a remote control with learning functions and backlit buttons.
Rating: Summary: Three stars for the Star Trek factor Review: I'm a Star Trek fan, and I wanted to be just like Scotty talking to the computer. The voice activation feature worked as long as I completely controlled my voice. The trouble is, sometimes I'm eating, sometimes I have a cold, sometimes I'm talking, sometimes I'm exercising, sometimes I'm doing other things that keep me from talking to the remote control. If I had wanted to make it work, I could have. It doesn't fit the way I typically watch TV. I don't think any voice-activated remote control would, at least not with the current technology. For me, the technology would have to support commands given while eating popcorn! Aside from the voice activation, it's heavy, klunky and not much fun to hold. You have to slide out a tray for anything but the basic functions if you are going use it by hand. The buttons are intuitively placed but not back-lit. The LCD screen takes some effort to read in the light and impossible to read in the dark. I give it three stars for the voice activation feature, even though I found it clumsy to use and got tired of horsing with it. It's a perfectly good remote if it supports your equipment, which can be easily checked in the manual. For this price, though, you can get a remote control with learning functions and backlit buttons.
Rating: Summary: Interesting Fun Device Review: It is a bit tempramental with the commands sometimes, but if you actually read and follow the instructions, it does work!. The key is to use a normal voice & if you find it is not recognizing it, then do it over. The infra-red is a nice powerful signal in mine at least and I like the fact I dont have to acually point it at the device. Over all, good but way too expensive. Get an X-10 8 in 1 learning remote instead (it also will control your lights in the house). Much better value.
Rating: Summary: Interesting Fun Device Review: It is a bit tempramental with the commands sometimes, but if you actually read and follow the instructions, it does work!. The key is to use a normal voice & if you find it is not recognizing it, then do it over. The infra-red is a nice powerful signal in mine at least and I like the fact I dont have to acually point it at the device. Over all, good but way too expensive. Get an X-10 8 in 1 learning remote instead (it also will control your lights in the house). Much better value.
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