REMOTES, you say!?! What the......!!! Well, they are small, electronic, can be pretty darned sophisticated, and best of all they fit in my budget! They are awesome! For anyone with a decent number of electronic devices (particularly home audio/video), we all have remotes coming out our ears and we end up having to use multiple ones of them every time we try to do things no more complex than watch a movie.
Thus enters the Wal-Mart (or Philips) "universal" remote for somewhere between $15 and $25. However, these things are rarely if ever as customizable as we'd like and there's always some key component that aren't part of their "universe", so we go back to using the multiple remotes and looking longingly at the Logitech Harmony line that starts at close to $100 and moves up to $400. Ouch! and if you are like me, you'd probably wouldn't buy it even if you could afford it. So, what to do?
Unbeknownst to most people, we are living in the "Golden Age" of used sophisticated remotes. Most folks are unaware that the super-remotes began appearing around 8-10 years ago. The boom was so big that Micro$oft got into the act by partnering with Harmon International to create the TC1000.
This device was designed to go head-to-head with the "Pronto" created by the remote jugernaught, Philips. Although they were both pricey at the $300+ price-point, they were FAR and-away cheaper than what touchscreen/universal/learning remotes had been before (think north of $1000)! To make a long story short, Philips won out; they and others have gone on to produce increasingly sophisticated remotes with even more memory, although not really any greater functionality.
So, how did I get involved with these ridiculously expense devices? Back in those days, I had a part time gig with an Audio/Home Theater store in Lubbock and we sold them. Of course it was love at first sight of the blue-green touchscreen (what geek wouldn't)! However, since I had that extra job so we could pay for our first house/first baby, a $300-400 remote was out of the question, even at the "salesman accommodation" of half off. But, what the job gave me was access to all manner of obsessive AND well-healed folks who bought things simply because they were new and interesting. And quite often, they would be happy to trade their old stuff for things as long as they it was different. So; as a result of some long-forgotten convoluted trade, I came to own a TC1000! It turned out that I didn't like its function very much and the interactive programming software was buggy (imagine first generation MS software being buggy), so it was traded or sold off. Around that time-frame we were looking to move away from Lubbock and find teaching jobs close to Dallas, so I was in the process of selling equipment and not acquiring it. Over the course of the next few years, that was the case since, first we were in a small rent house, then came the second child, along with having a new home built.
A couple of years ago, finally the time came to rebuild my audio/home theater system. As always, I did my due diligence and found some good deals on equipment through eBay and the local Craig's List. Of course, I mostly stuck with what I knew and bought a nice Integra (Onkyo's "Lexus" line) receiver that had a Phono input, BUT was missing its remote. So there it is; we finally get to the part were I give myself license to get into the world of remotes!
First, let me start by saying that (not just in my opinion, but reviewers and other sales folks as well) that Onkyo/Integra remotes are routinely considered some of the very best designed on the market, but they tend to sell for somewhere north of $60-75, even on eBay! So it was like mana from heaven when I came across a "CHAD" on eBay that I managed to snag for around $45 complete with charging stand. In case you didn't know, the CHAD is the Onkyo version of the Philips Pronto that I'd always coveted! Awesome, BUT (there's always a "but"), I found that the "Holy Grail" wasn't all that its cracked up to be (at least for me). Apparently I don't enjoy using a touch-screen as much as I thought I would. Its great for when I'm using multiple things in the system, but for a quick zap-zap, they're kind of a pain to use. Plus, I haven't yet gotten into the full customization of the unit yet through the computer software.
Along the way to nirvana, there've been some "deadends" and "not-quites" as well. First there was the Sony RM-AV3000 (above left), then recently the Denon RC-770 "Unimote". They are both of the hybrid "hard-buttons"+LCD. I found both to be limiting and not any easier to use than the fully LCD CHAD. However, we found that my wife really likes the Sony so it lives by her chair. Its a huge plus if you (like me) have lots of Sony equipment (virtually all my video components are Sony).
What to do? I had a bunch of partially programmed remotes that kind of did the job, but was still using multiple units when I was doing something serious like watching DVD or Blu-ray home theater. Part of the problem was that since I didn't have the original remotes for the receiver or the Integra 6-Disc CD changer, they both had functions that weren't in the "universal" code sets of even the CHAD. So it was very difficult to put function buttons from different remotes on to one screen to alleviate the need to jump back and forth between device screens. My other issue is that last year, I finally pieced together a system for our master bedroom which also needed some sort of integrated remote to cut down the clutter on my nightstand. The answer came in a pair of original Onkyo/Integra remotes. The correct remote is very hard to find since there's a tremendous variety of them, plus you have to find it after you find the right model number! First I was able to find an Onkyo RC484m (Left) cheap on eBay, but it turned out to be for the integrated DVD/Receiver unit and didn't have all the buttons needed to run my main system. Then I found the ONE, an Integra RC514m (right), for $24 on eBay! Although it was originally intended to run the next model up than my receiver, it worked find for mine as well. Since they are both programmable, as well as having the original Onkyo/Integra codes, I've been able to get all my devices into them. And, both are "hard-button" remotes, so they are easy to just grab and use; even for guests!
I've programmed the RC484 for the bedroom and have it set up to run the Onkyo receiver, Integra DVD player and the Olevia TV. The RC514 is set up for the main system in the living room that runs 6 components (for now)!
Here's the Frugal part: I've found that these sophisticated universal/programmable remotes can often be found around $20 (plus or minus a few $s) on eBay! If you're interested in playing with a programmable touch-screen, look for an older version of the Philips Pronto which are often well below $50. Hybrid LCD-hard button remotes like the Sonys can be had for even less (often sub-$20). A great example is the Sony RM-AV2100b (above) that I picked up on eBay for less than $15 shipped. Its an older version of the Sony AV3000 that my wife uses that has basically the same functions. The bonus is that the Sony TV code-set that it comes preprogrammed with is the same that my Westinghouse LCD TV uses in the office. It was sold without any instructions etc., so you might have to do some research since these are often sold off after having sat around for a number of years.
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