Toss your pile of remotes and get this thing!
Written: Feb 07 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Simple Setup, Ability to "learn" (even very old devices), Solid design and feel, Inexpensive
Cons: Could use a few more "specialty" keys
The Bottom Line: Solid performance, a powerful learn function, programmable macros, no nonsense functionality and ergonomics and a great price. So what's not to like?
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| ecodude's Full Review: Sony RM-VL900 Remote Control |
About a year ago my parents came to visit me for an extended stay during the winter (I live in California & they live in Ohio - need I say more)? My parents are "more seasoned" and are not very technology compatible. Needless to say, the stack of remotes that I had learned to live with merely to watch TV (and turn on the required VCR, Receiver and Direct TV) left them dazed and confused. After coming home for 2nd time to a fuzz filled TV screen and my poor baffled mom (who had missed one of the 12 steps to get the system running) I decided it was time to consider a universal remote.
I started checking around and started to drool over some of the high tech, touchscreen, backlit controls that were really PDAs on steroids. Fortunately before handing over a wad of money for one of them, I checked around for reviews and found that their main feature was their looks and "cool" factor. The only problem was they were horrible as remote controls (with problems ranging from too large to hold, hard to read, hard to program and overall usability). Looking at the more traditional route, I spied some nice comments about the (unexiciting looking) Sony VL900. I found one for about $40 dollars (returned and repackaged at Best Buy, not a good sign I thought) and decided to give it a try.
My first "breath holder" was to see if it could learn from my prehistoric Onkyo receiver. I am not kidding about its age, its about 16 years old (don't laugh - it was my first major "purchase" when I graduated from college and it has not had the decency to die yet!). Using the learn function in a few minutes the VL900 was happily speaking "Stone Age Onkyo" and controlling my receiver. Ditto for my DVD player, my Direct TV and anything else I tried. Now it was "Macro" time so that I could setup the horrible sequence of controls that had so baffled my mom into 1 key. You do need to read the manual for all of this programming, but I found it adequate and was able to get macros setup pretty easily.
As a note, most devices only have a single signal for On and Off. That means that the same Macro button programmed to turn everything on can also be used to turn all the components off if hit again. That's the nice part, the bad part is if you happen to move the remote while its talking to all of your devices, you could end up with only some of the devices on. And if you try the macro again, those devices will be shut off and the off ones will come one! Note that this issue would exist with any remote since the devices its talking too are just too simple (if they had separate on and off signals, then there could be no confusion). The lesson is to hold the remote steady when you use a Macro key. To help you remember this, the remote "lights" the device control keys as it talks to each, so while the "Close Encounters" light show is going on with the remote you know not to move it!
The remote is also nice enough to allow an "overide" for audio so that if you have a receiver/stereo that you wish to always have controlling your sound output, you only program it once. Then the volume keys, mute key, etc. will always control the stereo, even if you are in a mode to controlling the TV, VCR, etc.
I actually think the unit is ergonomic. I found the wedge shape surprisingly comfortable (I really was not sure that it would be). The remote is perfectly weighted so the heavy part is the narrower part of the wedge in your palm. The channel and volume button are very logically placed near the bottom so holding the remote comfortably in your hand, you can easily use that hand's thumb to reach those two most commonly used functions.
The remote is more than a year old and has been rock solid. The only slight flaw is some wearing on the color imprint on my most used key. Oh yes, and much to my surprise even when my parents left I did not bring back the "pile o' remotes". I actually liked having one unified remote (and my coffee table top back) and was left wondering why I did not do this sooner!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ecodude
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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