Customer Reviews

URC MasterControl RF20 Universal Learning Remote w/ RF Capability

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This remote is highly capable but has a bit of a learning curve--after about 4 hours of fiddling around with it and re-reading the manual, I've got a slick little setup that lets me simply push a "Movie" button or a "Game" button and everything turns on and goes to its proper setting. The navigation buttons control the DVD player, the volume buttons control the amp, and when I'm done, I hit Off, and everything turns off. Very cool.

Other than learning to program it (which is not as easy as it could be but thankfully need only be done once), there are only a few, minor gotchas.

- Tip #1: I highly recommend you not bother with pre-programmed device codes and just go straight for "learning mode" instead. The pre-programmed codes generally make on/off and volume work, but anything else (navigation keys on dvd player, source buttons on amp) is pretty sketchy. Save yourself time trying to figure out what works and what doesn't--just program all your keys manually. Also, the process for setting pre-programmed codes ruins all your nicely-renamed soft-keys (see Tip #2).

- Tip #2: Rename your soft-keys before programming them. This will make the learning process more intuitive and you can put all the useful keys on the first page and erase the obscure ones you never use.

- Tip #3: Take advantage of the ability to hide pages--the less random stuff your user has access to, the easier it'll be to use. I even erased the text on the unused keys and set the left over unused device buttons as "dummy macros" which return the user to the first page of the Main menu.

- Tip #4: Why program real devices? I created "virtual devices" as my first two soft-keys and then also tied them to a macro. The first device is labeled "Movie" and is tied to a macro that turns on the DVD player, TV, amp, and sets the amp to the DVD input. Then the remaining keys in my "Movie Device" are programmed for appropriate devices--the navigation keys control the DVD player, but the volume keys control the amp. The second soft-key is likewise labeled "Game" and functions similarly. Lastly, I set an OFF macro to turn everything off and kick you back to the Main menu.

- Tip #5: The remote has a rather poorly-named feature called "punch through" which can help you accomplish this (its really a re-mapping feature which maps buttons from one device into another). It's useful for making things more convenient--you can change the volume on the amp without having to leave the DVD player menu. Just map the Amp's volume controls to the DVD device.

Cons

- The only buttons that can be set to macros are the soft-keys, and the ON/OFF keys when on the main menu. It'd be nice if you could set any key to a macro no matter where you are. For instance, I would rather have used the actual OFF key for an Off macro in my "Movie" device but instead had to make a soft-key be my OFF macro.

- The manual is not too clear but two or three times over the more complicated items (like macros and "punch throughs") and you'll get it.

- Using pre-programmed codes is not very dependable and also blows away any custom labels. Just use learning mode instead.

- You can't hide any of the Main menu pages (there are two pages with 5 devices each for a total of 10 devices--but if you only have 5 devices, it'd be nice to be able to hide the other page).

- This isn't the RF20's fault, but beware that many devices don't have discrete ON and OFF commands--only a toggle. So if you set a macro to turn off three of your devices but one is already off, you may end up turning it on when you turn the other two off.

Wow! What an impressive universal remote (but with flaws)! Most of the buttons can 'learn' from a device's remote, or can be programmed with 'macros' (a series of button presses). For example, my DirecTV/TiVo remote has no 'OFF' button (but there's one on the box), so I programmed the universal remote's 'OFF' button for this. My Samsung HDTV has a complicated ZOOM procedure, and a complicated source selection procedure, so I simplified them for my needs. Practically all of the buttons on a device's remote can be duplicated on this remote. With cheaper 'universal' remotes, the most useful functions of a device's remote are there, but for other functions I need to keep the original remote around, so why bother. Now with this one, I can put the old individual remotes away.

But then there's the bug. One of the 'features' of this remote is 'erasing commands'. Why would you need this? Well, perhaps you decided to rearrange your screen buttons, and you didn't need one any more, so you cleared the label and deleted the command (key or macro). And here's the bug: the 'learning' method for programming buttons DOES NOT WORK, if a macro has previously been stored to the button. One would expect that any old command on a button would automatically be erased when a new command (key or macro) is saved, but that is not the case. The work-around for the bug is that you must manually erase the command first. So this is clearly what the 'erasing commands' feature is for. But that reason is not documented in the manual, and neither is the bug itself.

In fact, another problem with this remote is the manual. It appears glib and superficial. It leaves out some important details. One of the most powerful features of this remote is the macro capability, but the manual explains this only through one example, for the ON button on the MAIN page. It does not give any general step-by-step procedure for setting up a macro command on a button for an individual component. Most users will eventually be able to figure this out, but the manual should have more detail. In fact, what is missing from the manual is a chapter on how to set up macros for users who are serious about using this powerful capability. Also important is button layout, which is a design issue. For the screen buttons, for example, the most frequently used commands should be on buttons that are closer to the center of the remote -- that is, lower on the screen, whereas less frequently used or more destructive commands (such as RECORD or CLEAR COUNTER, for example) should be further away -- higher on the screen.

You should also be aware of the large amount of time that it can take to set up the remote as you might like it to be. The Pre-Programmed Code Method of setup is fast, but usually doesn't set up all of the buttons that are on the original remote. The Learning Method is also fast, once you have designed the button layout you want. You may, for example, set up the OFF button to actually do RECORD, since the ON button does the ON/OFF function for a component (this is the layout taken by one of the pre-programmed codes for a VCR). But doing the design of the button layout, and particularly learning how the various setup features work, then setting up macros, then changing things when you see how you can improve your layout -- these things can take a really long time. And the manual does not give you any help with some of these issues. And then of course you may want to document some of your layout, especially if the OFF button invokes RECORD, for example.

Yet another little 'bug' is in the manual's macro example. If the ON button is programmed in this way, then the ON buttons for the individual components no longer work as you might expect. That is, you may wish to play a CD and so you just want to turn on the audio amplifier (and the CD player). But now the AUDIO ON button invokes the MAIN ON button, so everything comes on instead. The manual doesn't warn you of these problems.

For the remote itself and its capabilities, I would probably grade it a 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. But because of the bug and the manual, it is tempting to grade it as a 1. So the compromise is 3.

The RF20 is a pretty good remote, but it's a killer to program, esp the Macros. No lie took me ALL DAY and 4 Calls to Technical Support to program the thing. I have to say,URC's Technical Support Dept. was VERY HELPFUL one of the best and got me through it though. The instruction book seems to have everything needed listed but for some reason I found it hard to follow and somewhat annoying to read.
The remote's got a few quirks like it may take a few attempts to get it to learn from your other remotes, and having to come all the way out to square 1 to see if your learned commands took, but nothing I couldn't live with...Beats having 8 remotes on the coffee table. One thing though, my girlfriend hates the thing, feels its too complicated bouncing through the menus...so I guess this solves who controls the remote issue...LOL.
Once programed works well,I'd recommend it's purchase.

I would take the reviews about the RF20 being extremely difficult to program with a grain of salt. If you are computer literate and handy with electronic devices, which most people who desire a universal remote with macros are, the instruction booklet provides plenty of information. The learning feature for each button is very neat, if you find a code for your device that does not work completely, you can still program the remote button by button.

The buttons have a nice rubber texture on just about all of them except for the directional keys and the side light. Ergonomics are pretty good but with a large remote they can only make it so comfortable. The back lighting is red so it won't blind you during a dark movie session. Aside from battery life, which I do not know how long the 4 AAA will last, I only have positive things to say about this remote. The macro on and off for my 4 components is a huge convenience over having to use each remote but those new to macros should know the button is held down for several seconds to activate all of the components but its still better than fumbling with 4 remotes and having them scattered all over the couch or table.

I've owned a number of different programmable remotes over the years and this one is the by far the most versatile. I have a number of non-standard components like an iPod dock with a video interface and I was able to program this remote to handle it. The only frustation that I have is that I can't figure out how to move or rename the main component list Other than that it works very well.

It is solidly built and fits the hand well. The buttons are easy to press because there is plenty of space around them. Once I got going, it was not too difficult to program, though the DVD instructions did not play on my computer, but the printed brouchure did the trick. Using the macro feature of one button ON/OFF is very helpful and the macro CHANNEL selection also works okay for my setup. In contrast to my $10 universal remote, it is a major step up, both in ease and speed of operation. I can't see how the expensive fancy-*** remotes would be more desirable for the averge person, especially for the $50 I paid for it with free shipping. :) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for the average TV, cable box, VCR, DVD setup.

This is my first universal remote and I am very impressed. For years I've lived with over 10 different remotes, about 4 of which I use regularly (TV, satellite box, DVD player, A/V receiver), so there are always at least 4 cluttering my coffee table. I never believed a single remote could replace all the functionality of my many others, so I never considered getting one of these. This one, however, actually does everything I can do with my other remotes. The key feature that makes this possible is the set of programmable buttons with editable labels on the LCD display. You can scroll through 8 pages of custom labels for the 5 buttons, giving you up to 40 custom-labeled button functions for each device you want to control.

Another great feature that improves usability is called "punch thru" where you can set the volume/mute (and some other) buttons to control one device (like your TV) even while the remote is being used to control another device (like your DVD player), meaning you don't have to switch the remote from DVD back to TV just to quickly mute the volume.

The editing of button labels, the programming of button functions using the "learn" mode, and other setup operations are all pretty easy. Once you've done it a couple of times, it's simple to do again without referring to the instruction book. Speaking of the instruction book, I am very impressed with how clear it is (how unusual that is!) with easy-to-follow, illustrated steps. There is an instructional DVD provided, but I didn't watch it as I had no need to do so.

When I started to set up this remote, I found that the automatic programming using the numeric codes for the different vendors' devices wasn't very complete, and trying to use the programmable buttons as they are labeled by default was confusing. I made much faster progress, I was less confused, and I ended up with a much more usable remote, when I realized I should just fully customize the buttons by using the ability to edit the button labels and using the "learn" function to set the button functions (which is surprisingly easy). Be aware that although it's not difficult, it is a time-consuming task to program all the functions of multiple remotes in this manner -- I did it over a series of evenings while watching TV -- but the reward is so worth it!

I'm a quality assurance professional and I view software, hardware, and documentation with a critical eye, and I am usually exasperated with what I see on the market, and often frustrated in my personal use of complex devices. But this remote control is very well-designed, clearly documented, and highly usable.

The only thing I don't understand is why the manufacturer has such a poorly-chosen generic company name! The manufacturer is Universal Remote Control, Inc., based in Harrison, NY.

My wife complained about all the remotes on her end tables. I bought this for her. I just got done programming it for her and she loves it. Considering how old some of my equipement is I really got a charge out of the learning ability of this remote. I kept my wife in the room so she could pick out which button on the remote did what she wanted. I took me about an hour but it was time well spent. I truely recommend this for the husband who is techno savvy with a wife that isn't.

I love this remote. I can set it up any way I please and the signal it broadcasts is much stronger than any of my old remotes. I don't even have to point it in the direction of the equipment I want to manage for it to work.

It is easy to set up and use; even my technophobe wife uses it without complaint.

I found setting up a macro in this unit to be a breeze. The manual is not well written in this regard; one needs to generalize the instructions that are given. Once you get the idea, you will find it silly simple to program.

I was originally unsure if the larger LCD window of this unit was really needed but now am pleased I went with this model.

Tips: 1) always use fresh batteries in remotes that are "teaching" this unit.
2) if a button that has been "taught" only `kinda works', redo the teaching and prolong pressing the button that is doing the "teaching". This will clear up any problems.

Very well-designed control. Both IR and RF functions are flawless. Easy to set up, easy to "learn" any command from any other remote (for example, it didn't come with a code for my Sanyo PLV-80 projector, but I was able to get it to learn ALL the Sanyo remote's commands -- like lens shift, input, focus, etc.-- in less than 3 minutes!) The optional base station works very well, but its antenna should not be too close (1 foot) to any component or DVI cables (otherwise it picks up spurious signals and blocks out the remote's RF transmissions). I use mine from 50 feet, through walls. What a refreshing change after my Logitech Harmony--which is a royal pain to program, by webpage wizards!!! I purchased mine as a set with the base station at B & H Photo for 99.95.