Hopefully someone here can help me out with this one. I'm looking for a good remote for my elderly mother. She has a very limited setup: Sylvania 20" CRT TV; and Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3100 (w/Charter cable provider).

Ordinarily the SA remote would operate the TV, and it does. However she is not capable of using it in the manner it needs to be operated ... i.e. by pressing the device button (TV or CABLE) and then the function. She is simply not capable of handling this concept. Please do not ask why, I have no idea, despire years of trying to explain it.

What her remote needs to do is the following:

1. The device buttons must either be deactivated completely, or all programmed so the rest of the remote has the same behavior regardless of which is pressed.

2. The power button controls the TV ONLY (cable box can be left on all the time).

3. The volume button controls the TV ONLY (for some reason I can't fathom, the cable box has its own volume control).

4. The channel, menu, info and guide buttons control the cable box ONLY.

5. When batteries are changed, programming is retained.

6. The remote must be SIMPLE, with as few buttons as possible, and NO fancy displays.

7. Bypass programming, if any is needed, must be simple enough that it can actually be done by a human being.

I have tried using some aftermarket "combined" remotes as well as the SA remote, specially programming the buttons, but they all fail in some way. The main failure point on the SA remote is the volume control -- it affects BOTH the TV volume AND the cable-box volume; over time the cable-box volume is lowered, and the TV volume must be raised monumentally in order to be heard.

Plus, as I'm sure you all know, the "bypass" methods on these remotes are unnecessarily convoluted and silly (press and hold device button; press and hold button to be bypassed until LED blinks 3 times; at the same time press 1199001; release button to be bypassed and press and hold device button until LED flashes twice; then stand on your head while you press and hold the button to be redirected while pressing 99987 and reciting the Gettysburg Address backwards, until the LED flashes 9 times, then goes out; if it flashes 10 times you have to start all over again).

Also ... yes, my mother is a technophobe. She is absolutely terrified of anything complicated (which is why the remote MUST be SIMPLE with as few bells and whistles as possible). At nearly 80 years of age she is NOT going to become any less technophobic. There is absolutely NOTHING I can do to change it. I can offer no explanation for why she cannot or will not use the device button followed by the function buttons on the SA remote ... explaining it to her does not help, showing her does no good either, she is simply NOT going to do it no matter what I or anyone else says. (And trust me, many have tried.)

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's had to help out an elderly technophobe.

Try the Sony RM-VL600. Don't use the preprogrammed database at all. Just learn the volume codes for the TV to the volume buttons, cable box functions to the appropriate buttons, etc. Then do the exact same thing for all 8 devices, so no matter which mode the remote is accidentially switched to, the remote continues to operate correctly.

I agree with using the Sony RM-VL600. As the poster above said teach the same functions to all eight devices listed on the remote so that if DVD gets pressed it still operates the TV and STB. If you do what is suggested above it will not matter what she presses it will still turn on the TV when she hits power, still change channels on the STB and still operate the volume correctly.

Try using the RRL4D Simple Learning Universal Remote Control. and do the same as the members above mentioned. This remote has less buttons on it. And GLOW keys. Thanks.

if you use a harmony, that will control everything that you want without switching everthing back and forth.

I would strongly recommend against that. One, it's overkill and expensive. Two, the buttons on those remotes are going to be too small. Three, it's still going to have buttons that she can push and mess something up. Because that's the way Harmony is.

And Post 4 is spam.

I just came across this post and from my experience, I would recommend the Jumbo Universal Remote from Brookstone. The buttons glow in the dark and are soft-touch. It's a very simply remote. I approve.

To check out additional gadgets for elderly, visit the website eldergadget.com

Have a great day!

mb from ElderGadget.com

Damn, more spam. lol.

I actually found a nice little device that works for a Charter (apparently they also have them for comcast and directv) remote control. It's called a Button Blocker. it's a plastic cover that goes onto the remote control and blocks access to all the buttons except for the ones you need. Power, guide, channel, volume, for example are accessible.