I'm looking for a urc that does'nt have to be pointed at the device to work. Would a rf remote take care of this? I will be controlling 4-5 devices with this urc, all from the same room. Suggestions on particular remotes please. Hard buttons or lcd does'nt really matter. Price range 1-200$. Equiptment, Hk, Motorolla, Onkyo, Xbox, Hitachi. All currently IR. Thanks

Yes, RF will work.

You'll need the remote and base station.

$200 is a bit low in budget. URC's MX-850 and an MRF-250 base station can be gotten as a bundle from www.surfremote.com for around $275. You can also get the Harmony 890 for the same price.

If you don't want PC programmibility, you may be able to get an MX-600 and basestation for under $200. However, lack of PC programmibility usually means lack of discretes, which means tricky and sometimes not functional macros.

If you're looking for a less complex line of remotes, I guess you can do it. Check out the RF20 from URC and the MRF-100B basestation--that retails for under $150.

Thanks for the response.

depends on how much you mean by "not pointed at it" My mx-850 will work pretty much any of may components on IR pointed anywhere even under a thin quilt.

like OTAHD said you can also get a RF base station for it if the IR isn't good enough but I bet it may be.

If IR will work I will try it. But are there remotes with a stronger IR signal? I have a all4one IR now and when I'm watching tv from bed, the remote is high and my cable box is low making the IR have to go through the foot of the bed. Kind of hard to explain but you get the picture.

Well, sometimes a strong IR signal can "bounce" around the room...for example off the walls and/or other objects and still work.

However, the only sure way would be to get something RF.. If you're happy enough with a one4all, somethinmg along the lines of the RF20 or RF10 should be fine for you.

How is RF wired exactly? Is it hard wired to the devices to be controlled?

Some devices have inputs that connect directly to the basestation. If they don't, the base station has a blaster, which re-emits the IR from it, and flashers, which re-emit the IR and are self adhesive to stick onto the IR reciever on the device.