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Space saver.
The SRC-3810 is one of the more compact touchscreen remotes you can buy, measuring 2.39” wide, 8.25” long and 1.12” thick (6.1cm by 21.0cm by 2.9cm). That may not sound particularly small, but it is compared to other popular LCD remotes. It’s also one of the lightest at 6.9 ounces (194g) with four AAA batteries, or 5.3 ounces (150g) without.
Twenty hard buttons grace the front of the remote, starting with four at the very top above the LCD screen. On the original model this key quartet was used during the setup process and was meaningless otherwise, but on the SRC-3810 those buttons have been given new purpose with [News], [Movie], [Kids] and [Macro] labels. In addition, markings on the case indicate that holding [News] and [Macro] will enter the setup menu.
Placed below these four keys lies the dominating feature of Sunwave’s remote, a large LCD touchscreen. The screen measures 1.55” wide and 3.56” long (4.0cm by 9.1cm) with a 3.85” (9.8cm) diagonal dimension. Beneath the LCD display is an arrangement of 8 hard buttons. Two of these keys are for remote-specific functions, [Backlight] and [Page/Date]. The other six keys cover device functions such as [Power], [Channel], [Volume] and [Mute]. Finally, at the very bottom of the remote and spread over two lines, are eight device keys marked [TV], [DVD], [Cable/Satellite], [VCR], [Amp], [Audio], [Disc] and [Aux].
The dark plastic shield at the top of the remote sports three items, first being a pair of infrared emitters, the second a micro-sized 2.5mm headphone-style serial port facing front, and third an ambient light sensor in the form of a tiny circular dot on the top. A narrow vertical slit on the bottom of the remote is for the infrared learning eye.
Slim curves.
The remote has gracefully curved sides and a large smoothly sculpted indentation on the back, just above the battery compartment, to help your fingers gain a secure grip. At its thinnest point the remote is only 0.79” (2.0cm) thick. Overall weighting is very good, with the balance point just at the bottom edge of the LCD, about three-fifths of the way down from the top.
The keypad is made of a soft, smooth matte finished rubber, with most labels printed in reverse black. The flat-topped keys have fairly soft tactile response, but enough to let you know that something has been pressed.
The remote’s overall construction quality is excellent, with absolutely no lateral case twisting possible – surprising since I can only see two screws. Nothing creaks or rattles when shaken, and the battery compartment lid snaps on very securely. The top half of the housing is finished in metallic silver paint, while the bottom is unpainted charcoal grey. The result is more current than the SRC-8000’s dark navy blue motif, if less unique. The sides of the remote where the two case halves join are well finished with no sharp edges.
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