Ah, vindication. Sweet Liberty! Guys!!

HEY Guys,I just Bought THE UCOMMAND AND I LOVE IT VERY MUCH AND THATS SAYING A LOT SINCE THE DEATH OF MY OLD URC(ANYBODY REMEMBER THE MEMOREX TURBO).Mike how did you get the Ucommand to learn the scroll button on your sony remote since i have the same one with my ES30 rcvr?.

P.S.ULI, YOU GO BOY.THANK YOU FOR MAKING A $300 DOLLAR REMOTE FOR $130($109).

I too just bought the UCommand and it is a great, well designed URC.

However, it might be going back to Crisp Solutions because it is not working with my Angstrom 200/205 pre/pro. The volume down is causing the volume to go up. I've tried clearing the fields, using other buttons and on other screens, with no luck.

If I push and hold the vol down, it goes up then down. If I just tap the down, it goes up. The problem is worse if I try and use the vol buttons on the other screens like Aux.

The Angstrom remote is old and simple but the UCommand is having problems. Any ideas?

Thanks,

B l a i n e

Blaine: see the responses just a few notes above this one: dated 06/20/00 10:58.23, and above that one from Uli at Crisp. You don't need to send it back. ...Mike

Derrick: Your answers/non-answers lie in this thread: [Link: remotecentral.com] ... Mike

B&O LX-2800 television with UCommand
A customer asked if he can control his rather old Bang & Olufsen TV (LX-2800) with the UCommand.
Since I know that there are general issues learning B&O IR codes: Does anybody have experience with this model or in general with B&O? Would it work because it is an older model?
Thanks
Uli
www.crispsolutions.com

THANKS MIKE,MAYBE ULI SHOULD CUT YOU A CHECK? I'LL PLAY AROUND WITH IT.

Etronixs.com is selling the Ucommand remote for $112. Also, as Daniel mentioned, you can get a $10 discount if you order on line (offer ends July 6.) You will need to type in the coupon number 2739 when checkout.

Uli, it appears that you need to do better to gain business.

Mike - I did try a quick tap and a long tap for the UCommand learning cycle - neither worked.

What did work for me was using the smart keys on a Radio Shack 15-1994, programming them with the Angstrom remote, then programming the UCommand with the RS remote. It does work but it was a bit of a kludge.

Otherwise, the UCommand is fine with my Acurus ACD-11, Pioneer 525 DVD, Sony VCR and Panasonic TV.

The best part was my wife was able to pick it up the UCommand, figure out how to control everything and then say - could you get rid of those other remotes? :)

I currently have a Sony AV2100, but I'm seriously considering getting a UCommand.

My needs in a universal remote seem like they're pretty basic. I don't want a remote with just hard buttons, because I don't want to have to remember that "rewind" in TV mode means "switch HDTV modes" etc. That leaves me with either something like a Pronto (no way I'll spend that much, plus it's too fragile), a Palm Pilot (too many gotchas), or one of the LCD-based units.

I don't want macros, I don't want timers, etc; I just want to replace 6 remote controls with one. I have at least one device (an older NAD receiver) that requires a remote with learning capability, and I don't want to run into problems when I get new equipment anyway.

The Sony is OK, and is certainly overkill for my needs. But it has a few gotchas. The backlight timer is annoying, and it was a real blunder for Sony not to have made it work in a rational manner. (I like Sony products in general, but certain types of products they sell always seem to have major annoyances; remotes is one of them.) Since my A/V room never has enough light to use the remote without the backlight, this is a markedly irritating misfeature.

The size is also a bit of a problem, and I would much rather they left out some buttons (I *never* use the numeric keypad) and shrunk it down. In some ways the size is a feature (would be hard to lose it) but...
I don't use more than 1/2 the screen area on any one of the device pages, so it's far larger than I need.

The hidden button feature is a super idea (especially if someone else wanted to use the remote) but...oops, it doesn't work with learned buttons. Dumb. (I worked around this by putting infrequently-used buttons on a separate page.) There aren't enough user buttons. (I worked around this by using the turn-on code feature on an unused device button. This also works to make a hard "play" button, for example. But now I've run out of unused device buttons...)

Given the complexity and potential volume of the 2100's config, it would make a lot of sense if the Sony could download/upload its configuration to a computer; I really worry about losing its rather twisted config and having to put it all back. And yet it won't even transmit learned codes to another 2100. (I've hacked its download/upload protocol, but it's not useful for save & restore because of this lack of functionality.)

Certainly the UCommand's backlight works a lot more rationally than the Sony. The size is also better.
It also sounds like it transmits *everthing* for
storage on another remote, meaning that the config can
potentially be saved and restored. It doesn't have any hard buttons, but that's a tradeoff on size versus functionality.

In general, the AV2100 and the UCommand sound pretty comparable for my needs. (I suspect someone with a more complex setup would feel differently.) The only Sony feature I would miss is the hard buttons, and I can see this lack might become a bit of a pain (especially as I've gotten used to them for various purposes now, like setting my receiver into a particular mode, play buttons for the DVD and VCR, etc).

The UCommand has a few significant advantages over the Sony (size, sane backlighting behavior, full download and upload of remote settings). Some of the Sony features (hidden buttons) are sufficiently flawed that I won't count them as plusses, and other Sony features aren't ones that I would ever use. I could easily forgive the size of the Sony if it had more hard buttons...

I haven't decided yet. I think I'll wait until I see Daniel's review; that was what decided me on the 2100 in the first place, and from it I had a good idea of what the drawbacks would be--I don't regret the purchase. But I think folks looking at a AV2100 should consider the UCommand as a serious alternative.

Blaine: glad that worked. I too have several commands that I've had to learn from other remotes, like the 1994. I'm hoping that CrispSolutions will be able to enhance the chip in the UCommand to accept direct input codes. The RS and others also have difficutly learning directly from the OEM remotes, and without the advanced code input capability, they would be far less of a deal.

I guess the only saving grace is that most of us who are always searching for the "perfect" remote have a pile of them around, so we can usually kludge up a solution. ... Mike

This one is certainly a tough call. I've had the 2100 for a few weeks now, and I can wholeheartedly support its purchase by anyone. Daniel's review is quite accurate. But, your comments about the UCommand are indicative of what a lot of people are looking for in a remote. Your comments about the detracting features in the Sony are also right on.

Neck and neck, the two remotes are very similar. They will learn most commands within a given frequency range (not sure what the Sony's top end is; the UC is 145KHz). The advantages of the Sony are: hard buttons; learn macros to Device buttons; 12 Devices vs. 8; 3 dedicated macro keys; pre-programmed codes.

How much of an advantage those particular items provide depends strictly on the individual, but my personal feeling is this: I love hard buttons; I don't want a macro happening when I press a Device button; I will never need that many Device buttons; dedicated macro keys might be handy.

The pre-programmed code issue requires a longer comment: Since I can learn most every command from the original remotes, pre-programmed codes are only good for two things: quick and easy setup, and learning a code that the OEM remote cannot teach, such as Surround functions from many receivers. As to the quick and easy set-up: I spent a good deal of time revising the device screens for all my devices, after using the pre-programmed Device code. Changed button names, moved functions around, got rid of functions I don't have, etc. This involved learning a lot of new codes that didn't come pre-programmed, and changing codes that didn't work, again using the original remote.

With the UCommand, I just learned the functions I wanted, and didn't have to reconfigure unusable pre-set codes. Of course, I also had to customize a number of buttons to suit my needs.

As to the access to commands like Surround, the Sony's pre-programmed buttons — even though I also have a Sony receiver — would not access any of the receivers surround functionality. I had to teach it from the original remote, and most of them didn't correctly (same as with the UCommand; see other threads). So having them didn't help me anyway.

Advantages of the UCommand: much smaller, works with one hand. Non-slip plastic. Fantastic backlighting, adjusted to the ambient room-lighting. Remote comes on, as does backlight, just by touching the screen. The LCD device screens are of excellent contrast, and viewable at any angle under any light. The light stays on as long as you touch the screen within the programmed cycle. Now, there's a whole paragraph, and I'm still only talking about the backlight!

The UC programs easier and faster than anything I've ever seen. This holds true for individual button commands, for macros, for clearing commands, changing labels, everything. The manual is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Read it once, and you'll never have to refer to it again. Plus, all programming functions are accessed in the same way. You don't have to remember obscure button combinations for every different procedure.

The LCD screen is twice the size of Sony, which I like a lot. It displays well at any angle. The Sony is designed to sit on a table, and requires tilting for a good view.

As to the lack of hard buttons, I can only bemoan this. But hey: everything else works so darn well, who cares? Plus, the volume and up/down buttons are pretty much always in the same place on the right side of every Device screen, that you naturally reach for them, just like with hard buttons.

Finally, cost: lists at $129. Sells lower, and as you can see from postings above, keeps getting lower. The 2100 lists at $179, and sells much lower, around the same price as the UCommand. So cost is not much of an issue.

Boils down to this: easy to hold, extremely easy to program (and then forget about), excellent on batteries, easy to use. ... Mike

I just got a Ucommand for my family. It is the first time that I programmed a remote and this thing is pretty easy to program. We got a Home Theatre in March and the rest of the family had a hard time using the remote control from Harmon Kardon 300(which was programmed by the installer as our universal remote). I started looking for simple universal remote and came to this forum. After reading all the threads, I got the Ucommand and am very happy with it.

The only function that I can get working is the RECORD from the JVC S-VHS3600 VCR. On the original remote I have to press RECORD and PLAY at the same time but on the HK Rremote once VCR is selected I only press RECORD and it works. I teached the RECORD function from the HK remote and it accepted it but it doesn't work. Tried it a few times at no avail. Any help on this would be appreciated.

Madelaine

Madelaine,
I have the JVC S-VHS4600, essentially the same as yours. I was able to get the UCommand to program for record, and it also mimmicks the JVC EOM remote in the you must press both the record and play buttons. I did not have another remote from which to try to teach it the single button record. I would suggest contacting Crisp Solutions directly from their website, here is their support link:

[Link: crispsolutions.com]

If they are able to resolve this, please post a note again in this forum.

Best wishes,
-Doug W.-

Thanks Doug,

I send a message to CrispSolutions and Uli reply as follow:
"The UCommand has a function that prevents the VCR from unintentionalrecording:
The record button has to be held a few seconds for the command to be sent tothe VCR."
It does work perfectly.

Madelaine