I hope you folks can help me out. I just purchased a SONY SLV-D500P (vhs/dvd combo unit). The remote that comes with this unit is totally useless from an practical use point of view. I purchased a SONY RM-V202 and spent an entire afternoon trying to get it to work. I was able to get the DVD portion operable but the VHS side never worked. I called SONY and they said to purchase a RMVA 3000. Honestly, that is totally beyond what I want.

I have review some of the 'instructions' linked to on this site, but can only find references to combo units that are TV/VCR combos. I honestly assumed that if one has a SONY unit, then a SONY universal remote should operate some of the functions. Thus, the DVD side of the universal should work the DVD and the VCR should work the VCR side (alas, I was wrong)

Can anyone point me to a simple unit that will let me change channels via the VCR? (my TV is not remote compatable - to old) Please?

For some perverse reason, Sony is using a new code set in their DVD/VCR combo units. For now, no Sony remote, and only a few higher priced OFA/RS remotes, has these new codes.

You will definitely need a learning remote to control the combo, with sufficient capacity to learn all of the commands.

Since, at this price range we are not talking about internet shopping, I would suggest you try one of these remotes, which you can return if it doesn't work. The Sony RM-VL700 or RM-VL900 ($35 and $60 respectively at Circuit City) would work well since they have more learning capacity that the Radio Shack or OneForAll remotes, but they cost more than similar Radio Shack or OneForAll remotes.

You can try either the OFA 8810W ($20) at Walmart or the 15-2103 ($17) at Radio Shack. You should be able to get most of the commands you need into them, and there are ways to combine learning with keymover commands to increase the number of commands you can use.

For now, UEI code for the sony combos, which is DVD0864, is only an upgrade code, it isn't in any remotes now. But remotes with modems like the ofa 8910, 9910, or rs 2133 can have the code added over the phone. But we have no idea what commands are missing from this code, so I would go with a learning remotes like the VL700 & VL900.

thank you for your response. I have just tried two of the units that you suggested but they were unable to 'learn' any of the operations with the exception of volumn. Very disheartning about this sony combo.

I might try getting the other two, but we will have to see. I am at this point very tempted to return the entire sony unit as I assume as you say it is 'perverse'. And to think all I wanted to do was press 5 and 5 and have the VCR tuner go to channel 55. Not to be.

Which two did you get, not that it matters because you should have been able to learn from the original remote. The codes are learnable, they just aren't in the code lists for Sony remotes yet.

OFA 8810W and 15-2103 at Radio Shack

They did learn to a point. They were able to adjust vol and the Radio 152103 was also able to adjust channel up and down. However, during the learn operation, it did not accept any of the number keys. Thus for channel selection I am only able to go one channel at a time. Forget about any of the advanced stuff (dont really need it anyway)

Would there really be any difference in the sony universals mentioned?

The 8810w can only learn about 20-25 commands for the whole remote, the 2103, half that.

VL700 & VL900? Do you think these may hold more??

I looked across all the packaging but could not find a reference to these limits. So I have to ask.

thank you for your help

Both the vl700 & vl900 have enough memory for command to be taught to each key in each device. Yes the have plenty of memory to spare.

again, thank all of you folks for your kind help.

What other remotes are comparable in price and capabilities?
Are there any that can be programmed via the PC?

Thanks,
Alex.

That compare in price? none. Other remotes with plenty of learned memory include; mx-500 $99, mx-600 $180, URC 100, URC 200, and the URC 300.

Thanks.

Some more questions, if you don't mind:

How sturdy is the LCD on these remotes

Where can I find reviews on the URC models?

How does the URC 200 compare to the MX-500?