Hey all. Googled for 'universal remote control' and it showed me this site so thought I'd try my luck here.

Have a brand new Panasonic TV.
Have a 5-disc Pioner DVD changer.
Have a 7-year old Sharp VCR.
Have an 8-year old Hitachi CD/radio stereo unit with aux inputs that I use for sound.

Right now the VCR and DVD plug separately into the TV and the TV has audio output to the stereo aux inputs.

I've tried a few universal remotes and I can't find any help at all for the Hitachi stereo unit for volume. And the remote I've tried with 'trainable' buttons only had 4 buttons which doesn't help with the 5-disc DVD unit.

What I'd LOVE to find is a remote that I can train using the head-to-head IR method to capture signals from my other 4 remotes and have a button on the universal that can capture every button on each of the other remotes. Especially to train the volume up/down from the Hitachi remote since the stereo is the volume control for everything I'm watching.

Debated fiddling with my old palm pilot for this, but not sure what the range is on a palm pilot to act as a remote. The Phillips Pronto that I see in the banner ads here looks appealing, even for $300 - does anyone have any experience with this unit? Or with the palm pilot software?

Any *other* suggestions? Or am I doomed to have a "universal" remote that does 90% of what my other remotes do and still have to have my other 4 remotes around to manage a couple of extra buttons?

Thanks for any assistance.

-id

There are plenty of solutions to your situations, and you've come to the right place to find answers.

The Pronto can handle just about everything that you can throw at it and it's programmable from your PC, but it is expensive and it is a touchscreen. Some people love touchscreens, some don't.

Then there's the MX-500 which costs around $100. It's got tons of learning memory, so you'll have no problems learning all your stuff, plus it's a buttoned remote with an LCD screen that you can customise for some of the more unusual buttons.

Finally, there's One For All remotes with JP1. This is definitely the option to follow if you're on a budget, but for some of us, this is the perfect solution regardless of budget. JP1 is a home made process that let's you hook your remote up to your computer and re-program it. If your One For All remote is a learning remote, you can use this feature to capture the signals and build upgrades. The learning URC-8811 remote can be had for $19 and a JP1 cable runs about $15.

Rob
http://www.hifi-remote.com

The MX-500 is my preferred remote. It gets high marks from users on this site (the highest, actually). The review for it is here.

I definitely wouldn't go the PDA route. Old Palms don't have the best IR signals.

The OFA/JP1 route Robman suggested has a lot of potential. Some of the remotes you've tried may even be compatable (if you still have them). Though some of them only provide four buttons for learning, some of them can learn to any button anyway. But their learning capacity is limited compared to the MX-500, so JP1 is almost a requirement in some cases. read about JP1 here before you decide to go that route. there is a learning curve to it, but I'm sure the people here can help you out.

many people have experience with the Pronto here (they hang out in the Pronto NG forum on the site), it is a great remote,but
1) some people don't like touch screens (I love them)
2) it is easy to setup relatively fast, but it is extremely powerful and if you want to tap it's full potential be prepared to spend A LOT of hours tweaking the configuration

I have an older Pronto (first generation) and I can vouch that it can do anything, plus the file section here has a lot of configs that can help you get up and running

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since you are looking at suggestions, I will add the Harmony range of remotes (I have the 768 and had a 745 before I upgraded) and the HTM MX-700/800 more expensive than the MX-500, but much ore powerful and it is PC programmable

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I also agree with eakf, the palm does not have the IR strength needed to work as a remote.

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last tidbit, you can read a lot more info on most of the remotes mentioned by going to the review section and the forums dedicated to those remotes