Can't find any details of this remote on the Sony website but it seems like a big improvement on the highly sought-after (but discontinued) VL710. It controls 8 devices to the 710's 5, has just as many buttons (including the four system control buttons) and seems to have a nicer layout.

Can anyone comment on this remote?

[Link: tinyurl.com]

It looks like a pretty well set up remote. Since it is so new we haven't heard too much about it.

You can click here for the manual and codes.

I've had a RM-VL900 for a few years now and love it. It accomodates my entire home theater system; Receiver, TV, Digital Cable Box, DVD, VCR, CD, Cassette Deck (MD-A Deck and TAPE-B Deck).

After reading the manual for the RM-VL600, it appears that this is a replacement for the 900 not the 710. Am I wrong? My 900 is showing signs of physical ware but functions perfectly. I am trying to decide if I should replace it with the 600 or buy another 900. The 900 is listed with some online merchants, who appear to be questionable with customer satisfaction. The 600 is readily available. I would appreciate any advice.

I suppose the VL600 replaces both the VL710 and the VL900 as their doesn't appear to be a budget 5-device remote with full learning capabilities in Sony's product line-up anymore.

I've been using the VL600 for a little while now and it's an awesome remote. Great features and the build quality seems to be excellent. But if I were you I'd stick with the 900 ... especially if you can find one at the right price.

The 900 seems to be able to do everything the 600 can do plus a little bit more. For example, the 600 doesn't have the 900's glow-in-the-dark keypad or the dual key assignments (neither of which I'd miss). On the other hand, the 600 has more buttons. (This is where the 600 is always going to win out for me.)

Where I think the 900 seems to have the slight edge on the 600 is in terms of ergonomics. It has that nice tapered design with the most used keys within reach, and the system control keys up the top and out of the way where they should be. And the keys on the 900 are better spaced out and, according to the reviews anyway, are easily distinguishable to the touch. I don't find this to be so much the case with the 600.

Plus with a 900 you'll have the added advantage of being able to teach it your entire setup in one go from your existing remote. This feature has been dropped from the 600 (and also, I think, from the 710).

Thanks for your response. I'm not clear on one point you make. What do mean by "dual key assignments"?

I'm not 100% sure but I think it lets you add to second function to certain buttons on the remote. You activate the function by pressing the relevant button while you're holding the component select button (sort of like a shift key). I'm not sure if you can even 'learn' the second function onto the remote. But it does work out of the box for Sony components. For example, if you hold down TV and press 1, 2, or 3 it'll take you to directly to the Video1, Video2 and Video3 inputs on your TV.

The 600 appears to have the function assigned to the VCR control keys for those who have digital TV's. On page 40 of the manual it shows the keys for video 1-6.

From a pure specs point the VL600 is indeed an improvement over the VL710, and I think even the VL900. And it's even cheaper than the VL710. I'm still waiting to receive one so I can check it out...

They are finally in stock at the b&m locations of stores like Best Buy and Circuit City.

I have used over the past four years, first the Sony VL700, then the VL900, even tried the VL1000 (got it cheap on EBAY a few months ago). I preferred the VL900 amongst these three, but after a couple years many of the labels on the keys wore off and now the OK button is starting to flake out. You can get new or refurb VL900's on EBAY for <$25 I got one of them there last year as a spare and its in like new condition. I even bought a bottle from a hobby store of a clear decal coating liquid that I thought I could brush on the new remote's keys to help protect the silkscreen labels. The VL700 and 1000 at least didn't have much silkscreen on their keys, instead its around the keys they don't have the rub-off problem to any significant degree for that reason.

Last week I saw info on the new VL600 (I didn't know about the VL710 before) and searched and found it listed at Best Buy for only $25 - amazing since the VL900 was $50-60 when I got one originally new at Best Buy years ago. Downloading the manual it appeared to have all the functionality of the VL900 and an even better key layout, smaller lighter (only 2 batteries, the VL900 needs 4 AA's and is heavy) and 5 more keys which I ALWAYS needed. For some complex devices like a cable HD-DVR I needed to use two component setups to cover enough key functions with the VL900, thats why I originally tried the VL1000 since it had more keys, but it takes a lot more work to change components and its so long its hard to reach all the keys - I still have it for another room use though and as a backup.

Anyway I called around and one Best Buy had the new VL600 for $25 in stock. Indeed it doesn't have a few of the advanced VL900 features like copy a component's button configuration to another component storage or copy between remotes, but I very rarely used that and cared a lot more for a lighter better key layout with more buttons and the VL600 provides that. So I bought a new VL600 last week and programmed it all this past weekend and its working fantastic - gave my old almost worn out VL900 and a still working old VL700 to a relative. Still have the backup new VL900 remote, but I may sell that on EBAY now - I prefer the VL600 though I do of course have to get used to the different key layout, but its not that difficult. I like it still has a lighted keys for the components so you can tell which component is being triggered when you press any other key.

The VL600 keys feel good quality and don't have silkscreen on the buttons themselves as much as the VL900 did, so the ruboff shouldn't be as much an issue - I'd only worry about the 8 component buttons, so I might coat them with the clear liquid soon. The extra keys are just right for my components, now all the features I needed for my SA8000HD-DVR fit on one component setting and the SA code provided even covered the majority of the keys too, which was not supported on the older remotes. I only have 5 components total, so the previous VL710 could have done the job too, but I like to have a few spares if I later add a component and with the VL900 I needed extras since it didn't have enough keys for some components. So I am more than satisfied with the VL600 assuming it has the long term reliability of the other Sony remotes I've used. No other cheaper (<$50) universal remotes I've tried or used by friends and relatives have the good key feel and key reliablity as the Sonys. The original remotes and universals by One-for-all, etc. always seem to wear out keys pretty quick like the vol or channel buttons.

For the past few years, I only use the original remotes long enough to program a Sony learning remote and store the originals in a drawer when I need to program a new model like last weekend. Sure I wish the VL600 had the couple extra VL900 features (copy whole components and between other VL900s) but I consider that a worthwhile trade for more buttons and the slicker lighter layout. The VL600 doesn't have the VL900's temporary lighted keys (its not backlighted, just stores light from a lamp for awhile) - but I find the VL600's silver top background reflects light well even from a source like a TV screen from my couch enough to see the key locations, no complaints in that area. I love that the system control/macro keys (now 4 instead of 3) are located at the bottom and easy to reach compared to the very hard to reach top ones on the VL900. I don't need lots of macros, so I was using a couple on the VL900 for extra keys for one component. On the VL600 they are labeled (A,B,C,D) so I used the A,B,C for my HD-DVR A,B,C keys and used the D key for a power on macro for the main components - perfect for my needs. I noticed that the new VL600 layout has the changes that the VL710 review on this site recommended for making a little more space between some of the keys and the location of one of the keys by the cursor arrows - Sony must have been reading here!

I heartily recommend the VL600 based on my experience this week and my past years use of the older model Sony VL700,VL900,VL1000 models. The low price of $25 is an incredible bargain, I kept wondering why is it so cheap, I worry it might be discontinued soon since Sony might not make enough profit on it!

Be sure to post this in the User Reviews area!

I just went through the same thing. What I look for in a remote is not necessarily all the super features. I really only want three things: to get rid of my four other remotes, to have enough buttons for everything I need learned, and a low price (I'm definitely on a budget). The RM-VL600 surpasses my old RM-VL900's in each of those aspects.

I posted a review here.

[Link: remotecentral.com]

I admit I have had it a short time, but I'm looking forward to using it for a long time to come.

Zed22,
How hard was the 600 to set up the macros?
Keech

Button and macro programming was simple. It has A, B, C, D macro buttons and I think the Component select buttons can be made to perform multiple commands (if you hold them down for 2 seconds).

I used the A, B, C macros for individual buttons (for A, B, C on my DVR remote) and only used D for a true macro. I have it power AMP, power TV, power CBL. It only took a couple seconds to setup.

I did exactly the same thing zed22. The A,B,C keys were perfect for my SA8300HD. I used "Menu" for the DVR Recorded programs list menu and "Guide" for the program guide, and "Tools" for the Settings. I setup channel+/- for the page+/- buttons since I rarely do a manual channel up/down with the DVR. Since the page buttons are only used on the DVR and active while in certain cases (like in the guide or program list) and in those cases the channel up/down aren't needed - the DVR should have reused their own channel +/- keys for both functions and made fewer keys necessary! I had enough extra keys now compared to the old VL900 to add Info, LIVE, quick-replay, PIP swap (for switching between the two tuners), and aspect ratio. I also use the "D" key for a power on/off macro for my TV,Receiver,HD-DVR combination.