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User reviews for the Sony RM-AV3000 from Sony Electronics.
Ratings
Reviews
MSRP (USD)
Average: 3.71/5.00 Median: 4.00/5.00
101
$199
As Sony's top-of-the-line remote control, the powerful RM-AV3000 features control of 18 devices, 45 macros, full learning capabilities, timers, a large LCD touchscreen and a good complement of hard buttons.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 59 made on Friday July 18, 2003 at 10:56 PM.
Strengths:
Love the versatiliy in learning new infrared devices.
Weaknesses:
Why Sony created a product that doesn't support some of it's own AMP/Receivers is beyond me.
Review:
When I called the support line when I couldn't get my STR-DE675 receiver to work with it, after reading the "manual", the support person told me they we check with the techs. After 2 seconds, she came back and said that my SONY receiver doesn't work with the remote. I saw on the website that some don't but mine wasn't listed there. I reset every feature in the remote and it worked! But not until after I few hours trying to decide whether to take it back or not.
This is a true geeks remote - a cross between a palm and a remote. Very good device - very BAD support staff and documentation.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 58 made on Friday July 11, 2003 at 7:03 PM.
Strengths:
Looks, that's about it.
Weaknesses:
Cannot handle in one hand like traditional remote, frustrating set up, many to mention.
Review:
You are better off figuring how to program your components with this remote than by reading the manual. It is very frustrating, and I only had it for 1 week. I can go on and on, but I won't. It is bulky and looks like a piece of equipment on the Enterprise's console. I just got the Home Theater Master MX-500 and I am very pleased with it. I suggest you read reviews of the MX-500 before purchasing this Sony piece of doo-doo.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 57 made on Friday July 4, 2003 at 10:27 AM.
Strengths:
Worked right out of the box on most of my Sony equipment. I was even able to teach it to run my 10 year old Panasonic steno system. My wife loves the macro that turns everything on with one button.
Weaknesses:
Documentation sucks. Appears to be written by a Japanese person in there second year of English. But if you are even half a geek, you can get by this obstacle.
Review:
Love it!! Works with the TV, DVD, VCR, Home Theater Amp, and an old Panasonic stereo system. All other remotes have vanished from the end table. The documentation defiantly needs an overhaul. It took me a couple of hours to delete the factory settings from one of the keys. I accidentally stumbled across the directions for this in the documentation after I had moved on to another area. Aside from that, the programming was easy. One button turns on the TV, DVD, and Home Theater with all the right settings.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 56 made on Thursday June 19, 2003 at 9:45 AM.
Strengths:
Flexibility Signal Strength Easy Set-up for Sony products and others Size and Style
Weaknesses:
Needs more user creatable labels per page
Review:
Basically the remote choice seems to come down to; hard buttons or LCD. All the reviews I have read basically split into these two camps. I have both and this remote is simply the best for me. I am thoroughly impressed with what I can do and how easy it is to do. The signal strength is great, it basically has to face in a wide arc toward the device and it works (better than the original remotes!)
The three main issues people have with this remote have not been apparent to me. 1) Difficult to read - yes in a darker room during day time it can be hard to read (yes I adjusted the contrast) but this is easily fixed by setting the back light to come one with all buttons. Yes the batteries might not last as long but if you spend this much on a remote then the price of frequent battery replacement should not be an issue. (Buy a big box at Costco and they are always at hand) Also others complained that they had to actually look at the remote to make adjustments, well I have to this anyway. I haven't memorized my hard button remotes beyond channel and volume (which is really easy with this one as well) and I don't plan to either. I will always look at the remote whether LCD or original small square buttons. 2) Memory issues - Haven't seem them (maybe the others had bad units?) I even set a few things and then changed batteries just to make sure I would not waste my time. Not only did it retain the memory, I did not even have to reset the clock with the manual says you have to do with each battery replacement. 3) Not enough user created labels - this was only an issue with my Reciever. There is an easy work around though, simply put the 12 most used buttons on the main component button's screen and the create a second component button for the same unit and get another 12. I then added things like On-screen menu and test tone to the secondary component button, its not like I use these every day.
Basically I can't recommend this remote enough and for the prices you can buy this for on-line you can't go wrong. Just make the decision whether you want a hard button single hand remote or this one.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 55 made on Saturday June 14, 2003 at 1:05 PM.
Strengths:
Great looks, terrific versatility
Weaknesses:
The manual was written by a sadistic monk for those in hell. They could use that as the key to Fort Knox and give you the manual. You'd NEVER GET A DIME!
Review:
I purchased four new components and what do you know - none of the "Universal controls" were universal. The Sony RM-AV3000 seems to have fixed all of that. Aside from the A/V which has 16 different speaker settings for various simulations everything works. I can turn the Yamaha A/V on and off and chage inputs but to change the speaker simulations I have to go back to the Yamaha control. I wish that they had made the smaller LCD buttons changeable but unfortunately they are fixed (at least I haven't figured out how to change them) Believe me, the manual is terrible. I've got a IQ of 136 and frankly some of it was baffeling. Mostly because Sony didn't clearly reveal the definitions of what they were pointing too. Plan on a good afternoon to figure it all out unless you can use the presets.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 54 made on Sunday June 1, 2003 at 9:58 AM.
Strengths:
Great looking. Nice and easy to read display. Very comfortable hard keys.
Weaknesses:
Locks up on certain IR-signal and can't figure out why. Only small build-in database.
Review:
I bought this very modern styled SONY remote to use it with my home theatre. One can use it directly out of the box with Sony components. It has a build-in database with remote codes of only a few brands. No european brands are included now. But the SONY RM-AV 3000 will learn IR-signals of every remote every easily. It is nice to hold or to use it standing on the table. So far so good. But what this thing make it not worth to buy is a bug, which let the remote lock on various IR-commands. And there is no other way to reset it as taking out the batteries. Then you have to set the clock again and continue to use it. Every second time I sent a command, this crap locked up and got stuck. I can not use a remote, which is not working as a remote. So I returned the SONY to the dealer only after one day of frustrating use. I bought a MARANTZ RC 5000i and I am satisfied to the bones. There is no better remote than the Pronto or MARANTZ RC 5000i. The SONY RM-AV3000 is not recommended to buy.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 6-12 months.
Review 53 made on Tuesday May 6, 2003 at 1:14 AM.
Strengths:
Great remote for the price Easy to read screen User friendly Fantasic hard buttons Nice night lighting - light up the room Macros work perfect especially when used with the timer.
Weaknesses:
The screen in direct sunlight can be hard to see Memory backup could be better. Took some time to program. Get rechargable batteries - need to replace monthly but on par with all electronics.
Review:
For the price (109+s/h) this is one great remote control. I liked it so much I bought one for my parents who like it as well. It does must of the functions I want it to however it does not learn every command. Actually it probably could but the soft keys labels are not changeable that I know of. The hard buttons while not illuminated are different shaped and can be felt in darkness. The greatest strength of this remote is the most used buttons are the hard buttons especially the directional ones. These are a must (used the most) in order to run my dish and TV menu and was the biggest reason (price second) I choose the Sony over the Pronto. While at first the remote seemed big, I got use to it and know am glad it is big. You will never lose or sit on it. Just set it on the arm rest or cushion use it there. Most of the time I don't need to pick it up to use it. The screen is large and always has the number keypad at the left. Except for when using the dvd player, I almost never have to page to another screen. The screen while it prints easily I have to yet to seriously clean it. I highly recommend this remote.
The remote does have its quirks. When changing the batteries - remove all four and insert the new ones. Next make sure you set the clock first before you do anything else. Also when the batteries are close to being exhausted change them immediately. If you keep using the remote you will risk losing your presets. Both my parents and my Sony rm3000 remotes have a poor memory battery backup capacity which if drained, you will lose all your presets and learned commands. It appeared that if I replaced one battery at a time the memory would be lost. The only thing I can figured caused this was the clock reset.
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