Greetings!
I am TOTALLY confused when it comes to a "smart" remote and which one to get to use with ALL my other remotes. I just purchased a SONY GRAND WEGA 55" LCD model KDF55WF655, a BOSE 3-2-1 HOME THEATURE, a HUMAX TIVO with RECORDABLE DVD PLAYER model DRT800 and have a older model RCA DSS system for DIRECTV. If go get a "smart" remote will it take the place of ALL the above mentioned remotes and still give me ALL the functions of each individual remotes (esp. the TIVO remote)? If so, do you have any recommedations on which "smart" remote to get? Thanks Doug


THANKS FOR ALL THE SUGGESTIONS!!! -DOUG

This message was edited by Sarge34 on 12/13/04 22:03 ET.

have you checked out the line of harmony remotes. simple to set up and they have one designed to work with the tivo

The Harmoney is a fine choice or you could look at the Theatermaster Family of remotes or the Philips family of remotes. Any of these could be programed to run your system with only a single remote.

You may wish to decide on a budget for the control device and then get back to us. Once we have a price range Im sure someone would point you in the right direction.
Good luck.

This is the classic problem... One universal remote will almost never replace ALL of the functions of ALL of the remotes...

There are two extremes here... the old fashioned "one for all" type of remote, where you have a limited number of pre-labeled buttons, and you have to remember where you put the 'angle' command (for example). Then there is the programmable touchscreen where you can literally copy every button's function... These remotes are often hard to use because there is too much info, and therefore too much 'page flipping'.

The secret lies with striking a balance between useful features, comfort level in the hand, and proper 'programmabilty'. Hence the need for a website such as this...

My recommendation is to read a few of Daniel's very good reviews, and maybe the remote control FAQ to start... This will help start to get you up to speed.

Then decide how important it really is to you to have EVERY function of every remote duplicated on your universal. If you can live with just the most frequently used and useful features, then there are lots of different choices. If not, you have a lot of work in front of you... not to mention expense, time and learning curve.

Good luck, and have some fun with it,

Norm

Norm, I agree and dissagree. I don't like having useless functions on my universal remotes, but I do think that you can organize them and not make the remote useless. On the other hand there are remotes like the HTM and Harmony where you can have all the commands and have them labeled properly and they are push button remotes so there are not two extremes like you say

Perhaps the TiVo remote is the one remote you will want to use no matter what.

I was a bit surprised to realize this: the way the TiVo remote is laid out, and the shape of the remote and the shapes of the buttons, all make the TiVo remote incredibly easy to use without looking at it. Once you are used to it, it can become almost automatic.

So much so that I do not even program TiVo functions into the Marantz remotes that I program! I put in a macro that switches the monitor and amp to the correct input, then I tell the client to pick up the TiVo remote. All have found this to be very easy to use.

Clients always have to look at the remotes where I have put TiVo codes into the remote, so it slows down use.

The tiVo remotes can be programmed to control the volume on many A/V receivers, so once the system is set to watch TiVo, there is no reason to use another remote.

Sorry, Anthony, Maybe I wasn't clear... If he's willing to give up the possiblilty of ALL, then there are lots of remotes that will work for him... Including everything from the Marantz RC2000MKII through the latest RTI and Harmony and URC...

I have in my house a Marantz RC5000, and a Marantz RC5200. I like them both for flexibility and ability to have multiple remotes in one. They also come in handy when I bring home some used POS from a customer's house with no remote... I've built some great macros for system control and automation, but I still find myself reaching for the original TV and VCR remotes when I'm just sitting and watching TV. I don't have the patience to re-work my pages over and over until I have all of the right buttons on the right pages (except of course for my customers...). This is why I was gently steering him away from the true touchpanel. Big learning curve, and even when you get it 'perfect', maybe not the absolute easiest to use (see Ernie's post).

Good luck,

Norm

I have a Harmony remote and it can definitely hold all the commands for all my equipment for home and from what I understand the same is true with the HTM remotes. I agree that it is not a good idea (makes it harder to use) but if someone wants it can handle it.

As to the Prontos.They were my initiation into high end remotes, back in 99, I am not a custom installer, but one of my projects then was a way to make videoconferencing easier to use and that would not be near the price of an AMX (what the VC sales person wanted us to buy) the company I worked for was a mining company and each plant/mine needed to pa for their system and there was no way they would pay for an AMX. The Pronto fulfilled the need perfectly and now any one can enter any of the VC rooms and use it. Click call, the name of the location you want to call and then press on the icon of the room where you want the camera to point of one of the device icons to change input and then press end call when done. It definitely made a complex set-up much more easier to use.

I've programed several TIVO's into the HTM MX-700 (along with everything else I can think of) and have never had a 'user' complaint on the operation of the remote! Getting them to understand the operation of the TIVO itself is another story.

i also suggest the harmony remote. its about the same size as the tivo remote and even easier to use, and it will have all the same functions. compared to the mx-700 and mx-800 there is a price differnce which the harmony wins.

the mx-700 is limited on the number of macros for ease of use.

the mx- 800 can be customized to be as easy as the harmony, but you will need to spend the extra money to hire somebody to progam for you.

the harmony can be progamed by my nine year old and they have agreat customer service department if you ever have any problems. not to mention the help button which works faster than calling the programer.

The Mx-700 and MX-800 are identical other than RF capabilities.

You guys forgot that he mentioned he got a Bose systems which is RF.

Bose 3-2-1 is IR, so it will work. (I just checked to be sure)

so does any one think Sarge34 will be back :-)

Too many choices CAN lead to confusion!