In case anyone has not heard, Sony will upgrade the remote that comes with the STRDA50ES receiver as well as the 9000 preamp to solve the short battery life and dim backlighting issues. It is done free of charge. Send the remote to an authorized Sony Service Center or to the authorized dealer that you purchased it from. If you bought your receiver online, don't bother, this is only for authorized Sony ES products. (Meaning you got the paper certificate showing the 5year warranty in detail and registration card. Not what comes in the box - given to you separately by an authorized dealer.) Don't expect the local dealer to take care of net-purchased products. Sorry.

Does anyone know as to what to do with people who
bought their STRDA50ES (regarding upgrading their remotes) from online stores?

Any help is appreciated.

I followed Will's suggestion, I sent my remote for repairs/upgrade. Well, what happened is, the upgrade that they (Sony Singapore) did is to do some adjustments in the remote, as suggested by Sony Japan, well that's what they say. But with these adjustments, my remote automatically turns off in just about 10 seconds. Before, I could adjust the auto-off by stages of 1 minute, but now I can't. I called them up and they said that Sony Japan is still looking for a better solution and as for now they only suggested to have the auto-off to a fixed 10 secs, so that the battery will last longer. Fortunately, I still have my av-2000, which I prefer to use. Will, is this the same upgrade you got from Sony? Do you know what adjustment they did to your remote? Daniel, do you know anything about this problem/solution? Guys, I need your help on this, appreciate your feedback, thanks.

So far I've seen nothing about an actual "fixed" remote. I've heard talk about a fixed remote, and some people claim they got a replacement "501e" (which is the model that comes with the 9000ES preamp).

If their solution to the battery problem is just making it turn off faster, it sounds like nothing's been done at all.

Well, mine is a "501e" which I got with the 9000ES. So, for now I'm just waiting for Sony Singapore for any news about the upgrade Sony Japan is working on right now. Thanks for the feedback Daniel.

BTW, have I told you that you've got a great site here. This is the reason why I bought the av2000, and I'm not regretting it, even my wife loves it.

Thanks for the comments - they are very much appreciated.

I've learned a bit more about the replacement - it seems that the so-called "battery fix" does indeed simply involve shortening the auto-off time of your existing remote. There is supposed to also be a contrast fix, but those who have received the "fixed" remotes claim no improvement.