Took a trip down memory lane recently, by setting up an old Cinema 7 remote for a friend. (This is a remote I spent a lot of time with years ago). I set it up to control a Marantz cd player, a Sylvania VCR, a recent model Sony DVD player, a fairly recent Sony AV receiver, and a Panasonic Viera LCD tv. I'm pretty sure that at least the tv was produced after the production of the C7, so I really didn't think it would work. Yet it all worked beautifully, after everything was sorted out! Either through learning, or a search of advanced codes (manually, or via EFC lists found on the net), I managed to duplicate all the commands on the original OEM remotes. Which allowed me to put away all 5 original remotes for good.
PLAYING WITH POWER --------------------------
Though I was fairly surprised the old C7 could accomplish that, I took it even further by programming 5 useful macros. The first macro automatically turned everything on (discretely!) and set everything correctly to view a DVD. The next did the same to watch TV. Then another to watch a Video tape. And another to set the tv to view the computer. I had to do some clever manipulation of the macros, to ensure that no matter what status any of the equipment is at, the macro will *always* function correctly. (example: When the TV was on "DVD" input, the channel button no longer worked. Thus, to program it to set the input display for TV, I had to do some workarounds...). Also, the TV takes a few seconds to boot up before it will accept commands. So I used the old "forced pause" trick of copying the Zenith (0039) record button code to my TV device layout, in order to create a delay in the macro for the Panasonic Viera TV.**
Finally, I programmed an "ALL POWER OFF" macro (to the power button, via Shift-Power). Which discretely shuts off all the home cinema equipment, but only if the units are on. The remote does absolutely everything I needed it to do, and I thought it would run out of memory under all this, but it hasn't.
**(I just read a review on Amazon of the "Digital 5" that gave it one star, because the macros didn't work with his Panasonic Viera TV, due to a lack of delay!)
RENEWING A STICKY REMOTE ------------------------------
Since I've had the remote for perhaps 10 years, it was definitely looking worse for wear. Apart from the crud around the buttons, the buttons themselves all required hard presses to register. Not much fun to operate. At this point, most people throw out their remotes, and thus create bigger landfill sites. Not me, I'm too cheap for that. The problem stems from "silicon oil". A greasy substance that is created as the silicon breaks down over years of time, and interferes with the contacts. Fixed this in 10 minutes time. It's a matter of opening the remote (2 screws in the battery compartment, and you start at the top near the IR emitters, then go around as you pry the two halves open). Then removing the silicon rubber overlay from the remote, and scrubbing it well with a toothbrush soaked in a grease cleaner (I used "Spray Nine"). Then the contact board was cleaned well with rubbing alcohol (not necessary to remove this from the bottom cover). Finally, I cleaned the top cover. Result: buttons are very responsive, the remote looks and functions like new.
ALTERNATIVES -----------------------
I have since obtained a Logitech Harmony, but yet to try it out, as I'm awaiting delivery of the specialized battery. Despite costing 5 times more, the only significant advantage of the Harmony's over the Cinema 7 that's worth mentioning, is that the display shows advanced keys. It's a bit awkward to have to look at the screen to know which key you're pressing, but at least you're not in the dark and having to guess what key controls what advanced function, as on the OFA's.
I'm also awaiting delivery of an OFA "Digital 5" remote, in a few minutes. It's a lot more comparable to the C7 than the Harmony. (Oop, no. Just got it, and it turns out it's not labelled "One For All". Rather, it's an "Acoustic Research AR5G" that looks exactly like the OFA "Digital 5". I know from having read the manual availale here that it uses the Cinema 900 codes. But I haven't tried it yet to see if it can duplicate all the advanced functions of the C7. But first impressions are very good. I love the feel of this remote in your hand, and the buttons are just the best. They, along with the back, have that luxuriously soft Nextel rubber feel, they provide tactile feedback, they're stable and not hard to press, and the layout is excellent. I already prefer the ergonomics of this model to any other OFA I've seen, or any Logitech Harmony remote, for that matter).
