The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 11 made on Tuesday February 26, 2002 at 1:52 PM.
Strengths:
Relatively inexpensive with decent flexibility.
Weaknesses:
Quirky learning process, a little fragile for a remote, time consuming to set up.
Review:
With 7 remotes controlling my home theater (three being "universal") I realized something needed to be done. None of the universal remotes I had controlled the functions of the others adequately. That's when I looked at the LCD remotes. Being on a budget, I didn't want to spend the $$$$$ on the the more customizable remotes. Then came the RCA RCU1000B. For less than a $100, you get the flexability of the higher end LCD remotes but still have cash left over for the more important things. After spending 2 hours setting it up, it works flawlessly. Now my wife can operate the home theater without any complications using the macros. We only have one relatively attractive remote sitting on the table. This remote not only controls, but replaces the factory remote after a little ingenuity and creativity. Anyway, for the money it's hard to find a better value in LCD remotes.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 10 made on Friday February 15, 2002 at 9:43 AM.
Strengths:
It looks nice I suppose...
Weaknesses:
This thing is a piece of junk. My GF gave it to me for Valentines which will make it hard to return too... It will not learn codes for my reciever (which i brand new as well) and the stylus is clumsy (the silver finish from it was already wearing off onto my hands after 15 minutes of use), but the buttons are a bit too small to hit with your fingertips.
I called their support to get help with finding a code for my reciever. The girl on the other end just said "well... sorry. its not compatable. But I can suggest the 810 or 800".... gee...thanks for your help.
Review:
It will be returned and I will foot the bill for the difference for one of the Sony LCD Learning remotes I suppose...
I was able to get the TV, DVD player, and VCR working in just a few minutes... but the buttons were all off for the TV (the PIP button changed the sound modes on the TV) and the learning was not working well enough to get it straight...
In the end, the purpose for this remote was to clear off the coffee table... however, it does not work for the reciever, it did not pick up all buttons for the TV, and is really too clumsy to use with one hand. In short, it acomplished NONE of the things I hoped for it to.
perhaps I am too picky, and expected too much out of this remote, but it simply does not serve as a UNIVERSAL remote...
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 9 made on Thursday January 24, 2002 at 2:37 PM.
Strengths:
Does what I wanted it to do. I got rid of four remotes with it and have macros for complete home theater on/off w/ one button.
Macros work well and macros can be nested within each other IE: I have one macro that does 8-10 keystrokes to change the video input on the TV from S-Video to RCA and I can call that macro from another one to turn on and configure everything for DVD watching.
Backlighting is good for using while lights are dimmed for movie watching.
Weaknesses:
Learning is pretty darn tempermental. I had a lot of learning errors at first and I was almost convinced that it could not learn most of my remote's commands until I did a master reset and then learning worked great but now I have to learn keys 2-3 times before I get a successful learn. It seems to work better in the dark. You can get it to work but it's a PITA. A lot of people give up after repeated learning errors.
Code library is pretty weak. I had to learn pretty much almost every button from every remote I wanted to use. It didn't run out of memory with 4 learned remotes.
I can't get the volume buttons to keep increasing/decreasing by holding it down. I need to tap it.
Review:
Not the best in the world but there's not any learning touchscreens that come close in this price range. I am still getting used to the touchscreen. I might have preferred an 810 w/ actual buttons but it was a gift.
Some don't like how the button labels are hard coded but I was able to get all the buttons I needed on every remote. There aren't two labels on the same button that you'd need for any particular function.
Overall I am happy with it after being patient with the learning errors.
If you're a super duper home theater buff than this remot may not be for you but if you want to clear all the remotes off your table and look cool with a touch screen then give it a shot.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 8 made on Thursday January 10, 2002 at 4:08 PM.
Strengths:
Pretty looking
Weaknesses:
Bad learning capabilities May loose 'learned' commands Hard to read LCD Complex setup Poor preset code library
Review:
This is really a bad remote control.
The learning capabilities are weak. You must attempt the learning several times before in learns them succesfully. It had a very hard time learning my Yamaha DVD remote. Also had problems with my Hitachi TV, but not as bad. Existing preset code library is poor and labels are set incorrectly. For my Sony Satellite system, it assigned the 'menu' code to the cancel button. Also, the remote lost all my learned commands when I was using it. I had an instance where, after pressing a button a couple of times, the LCD display locked up and light up all the buttons. The only way I was able to get it out of this mode was by removing the batteries after which all the learned commands disappeared. The manual claims that you can remove the batteries without loss of data, this is not true in every case.
After all these problems I decided to return the remote to BestBuy and opted for the Sony RM-VL900 instead. This remote does not look as expensive and sofisticated as the RCA one, but it does the job 200% better.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 7 made on Wednesday January 9, 2002 at 1:54 AM.
Strengths:
it came on when batteries were inserted.
Weaknesses:
1.) Horrible at learning. volume commands from my pioneer receiver and the all importan channel up/down for my general instruments cable box would not be accepted.
2.) Didn't always come on when you push on the lcd. Sometimes took 2-3 pushes to realize i wanted to use it.
3.) The key "labeling" is very poor. You basically have 4 things to choose from for each button. 3 pre-determined labels, and an empty button look.
Review:
Saw some reviews here, figured some people just had bad luck. Bought it from a local best buy and as soon as i got home realized my mistake. Wouldn't learn any of the most important buttons i needed it to learn. Channel up/down, and the volume up/down for my receiver. No problem i thought, i'll use the code sheet, and just deal with not having all the buttons on one screen. No deal. There was exactly one code for pioneer receivers. Not mine. This little baby went back to best buy and i picked up a RM-VL900 which i enthusiastically reccomend to everyone thinking of buying a new "learning" remote.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 5 made on Monday December 31, 2001 at 3:18 AM.
Strengths:
None when compared to competition
Weaknesses:
Many!
Will not learn certain Magnavox/Philips codes plus it's repeating single codes numerous times for only "1" button push. Will not learn JVC codes correctly by repeating single codes numerous times for only "1" button push.
Back lighting doesn't work correctly. In dimmly lit rooms, the back light will not turn on unless the photo sensor is physically covered with hand.
Poor and limited present soft button labels.
Definitely not worth the $99 selling price at Best Buy!!
Review:
This is the worst remote I've ever had.
Out of my universal remote experience, here's my list from best to worst.
1)Philips Pronto TSU2000('I own', simply the best remote out there. There's simply to many positives to list here.) 2)Sony RM-VL900( 'I own', great button count, great memory capability, great special features.) 3)Gemini MAC15('I own', Made by Zenith for Gemini. 40 learnable buttons for each of the 3 remote devices making for a total memory of 120 learnable buttons. Unfortunately this excellent remote only allowed for replacing or controlling 3 original remotes. This remote was popular back in 1992.) 4)RCA RCU810('I own',limited learning memory but decent preset code database and great button count.) 5)Yamaha RAV180('I own', remote for the Yamaha RX-V2095 home theater receiver. This remote is decent, but has a very limited button count for devices. Excellent memory capacity for every button, but simply doesn't have enough buttons for the most basic functions.) 6)One for All "LEARNING" Cinema 7('Did own', piece of garbage. Remote broke with very careful handling. Very poor code data base and very limited learning memory. Did have a good button count. 7) RCA RCU1000B(great button count, very poor learning capability, decent preset code database, very poor automatic backlighting. Very expensive for such limited capabilities. Far worse than it's cheaper hard button sibling, the RCU810.)
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