Customer Reviews

RCA RCU810 8-Device Learning Universal Remote Control

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have tried about 5 universal remotes to get my surround/hifi system to work on 1 remote. I have satellite TV which makes it difficult to start with, as the remote needs to be Satellite remote centered to begin with. I also have a Toshiba 5-disk DVD/CD changer which many of the other remotes have a problem with (cannot get disk skip to work on the others). The remote is made by RCA, who handles the majority of satellite TV components, one of the main reasons why this works so well. It is visually pleasing, has a great LCD and backlighting function as well. The learning and macro functions work great, and I can turn on or off all 5 compents with the touch of a button. ....

My system: Toshiba 36" Flat Tube TV Toshiba 4109 5-disk DVD/CD Changer Sony 100 Watt STR-DE845 Receiver JVC vcr RCA Sattelite TV Dynaudio Audience 40 mainspeakers Klipsch surrond speakers

If your tired of buying all those 4 and 5 unit controllers at KMart, Walmart, and Target because they either don't work well, eat up your batteries or do not have the right functions then this is the remote for you! I've tried them all and got sick and tired of screwing around with mediocrity this one is absolutely fantastic! I have DSS, DVD, tuner, tv, vcr all being controlled with one remote now and all of the functions for each are operable. Even the DSS favorites and menu's. This thing can learn what your needs are too, not to mention the macro's that you can write. As an example I wrote one that turns the tv on, changes it to channel 3, turns on DSS, turns to my digital music channel, turns on my tuner at level 6 volume all at the touch of one button. It is very easy to perform all of these tasks. I was fully programmed for all units and writing my first macro within minutes of unwrapping. Good Job RCA!

I have an large home theater setup, and I hate the idea of sorting through 6 different remotes to preform a single function. The RCA RCU810 really did combine all of my remotes into one. There was not a single function it couldn't handle.

Despite what other reviews have indicated, this remote CAN handle another components functions while in a different mode. For example, I set the remote's volume up/down keys to control the receiver's volume no matter what mode it's in. So even if I'm in TV or DVD mode, pressing the volume button will always control the volume on the receiver. This keeps the button-pressing to a minimum.

This remote is not without its flaws, however. As others have stated, the backlight is a nice feature, but the button to turn it on is hard to find in the dark. Plus, it makes a slight humming noise when its on. Another annoyance is that the DVD/VCR controls; ffwd, pause, stop, etc. are placed at the very bottom of the remote. This makes it very awkward to press these buttons, especially with one hand.

Another problem which seems to be a common among everyone is the clock resetting. This is a very common occurance on mine. I've given up on setting the clock because it resets itself at least 1-2 times a week. Thankfully, you don't lose any of your programmed functions when this happens. If it did, I would've returned it right away. I think the problem is directly related to the use of the backlight function. Poor circuitry perhaps?

Finally, some more macro buttons would have been nice. I can think of a million uses for this feature if there were more. This remote only give you 3, which isn't enough.

Overall though, I'm satified with this product. It does what it says, and all my other remotes are now in a cabinet.

We have a Sony TV, Panasonic DVD, Hughes Satellite Receiver, RCA Tuner/Receiver and an RCA VCR. Of all the things for the remote to not work on it was the RCA Receiver and VCR. I'm not saying it didn't work completely. . .for the VCR, it wouldn't operate the fast forward and rewind shuttle (different speeds). On the receiver is where we have our master volume control, but if you are under another function key like TV or Sat, you have to hit AUD to change the volume...and here's the kicker--when you hit the AUD button, it automatically puts the receiver in Tuner mode (turns the radio on). Really irritating when your in the middle of a movie on SAT. But I figured, no problem, it's an RCA component so I'll just call the helpline and they'll have a simple answer.

The toll-free helpline is a JOKE! It's all automated and when you finally get through all the number pressing, it's just a voice recording of exactly what's in the manual!! Why do they bother?? Their website's a joke, too...always errors, can't find pages, etc.

I returned this remote for the somewhat mediocre ONE FOR ALL UNIVERSAL 8 DEVICE LEARNING REMOTE. It comes with an IR extension so I can use the Satellite Remote in the Bedroom. At least it didn't have that irritating change-over to TUNER when I wanted to change the volume.

After trying several LCD remotes I purchased this one and loved it. You can program several machines within one function key (you can switch satellite chanels plus change receiver volume without pressing different function keys in between. If you have direct TV with an RCA converter the remote is EXCELLENT. The macro buttons are a great help -- turn the tv,reciever,and satellite dish on and off by pressing just one button! Unless you've got a really complicated setup, this remote should suit your needs -- (...)

I, like you if you are shopping for a universal remote, have many different brands of components, each with their own remote. Cable box, big-screen TV, DVD player, receiver, VCR, etc. It's annoying to have four remotes in front of you at any given time. So, after a bunch of research, I bought this remote controller.

What I like about it is that I can program any key to do anything from the original remote. It seems like some of the other reviewers have missed this feature and have thus unintentionally mislead others. You can take this remote, set it an inch or two from the "original" remote, press the button you want it to learn, and it will do so. Sounds confusing, but here's an example. I set up some of the remote buttons to do the slow-motion forward and backward for my DVD player. I set up buttons to change the DSP mode and input source on my receiver. There's no button on this remote that says "DVD" for input source, so I set the "Tape" mode button to be DVD. You can do whatever you want. I set up buttons to change the picture mode on my TV. If the original remote has a button for it, you can make it work on this remote (at least in my case I was able to).

This upside is also the downside, however. I am not looking forward to the batteries dying and having to reprogram the thing from scratch. When this happens, I am going to write down what I programmed or put little stickers next to the buttons. Also, the remote is not something your guests will be able to instantly figure out if you have programmed it. For me, though, this is not an issue as I am the type who likes to have my remote always in hand.

Finally, the last thing I don't like about it is that you have to change modes so often to do things. If I am using it to control my DVD player and want to turn up the volume, I have to switch to audio mode, turn up the volume, and then switch back. I tried to program it to use the signals from multiple remotes in one mode (i.e. have the volume in DVD mode control the receiver) but was unable to do so. It doesn't seem like it's capable of this.

I would recommend this product to others if you have a knack for programming things and want to take the time to read the manual. Just using the factory codes will give you just minimal control over your components, as others have written. It's in the custom programming mode where this remote shines.

To date I have gone though close to ten remotes priced under $50 (IF I would of saved my money I could of gotten a 'Pronto' List Price $399) And this is the first remote that allows me to control eight of the 'IR' devices in my home! This is 2-VCR's, 2-DSS's, 2-TV's, 1-Kenwood Receiver and 1-DVD player. 95% of the commands for these devices are pre-programed in the code listing and the few remote codes that were not in the pre-programed listing I was able to train the remote with its learning fuctions. Having three macro keys that will hold 15 keypresses allows me to control many devices with a single key press. The added features of the lighted keypad and LCD dispaly are a nice added features.

UPDATE: I've become dissapointed with it after using it for a while.

I too have experienced the clock reseting issue mentioned by other.

But most dissapointing the device has run out of memory and cannot learn anymore commands. I have not taught it many to begin with. Maybe 20-25 commands. Too little memory.

ORIGINAL REVIEW
I have a basic home theater setup (TV, VCR, DVD, cable box and receiver). I've used a number of cheap "all in one" $...remotes and found all of them to fall very short. They all were missing various functions for each device which ultimately forced me to use the original remotes quite often.

Then I bought a "learning" remote...It had 4 learning buttons for each device. They were labeled L1, L2... This was a step in the right direction but still not great. I found that 4 learning functions per device were not enough and I'd forget what functions I taught each of them because of the generic labels. So my dependence on the original remotes was reduced but not eliminated.

Then I got the RCU810 and, UREKA!, all of my problems are solved. The ability to relearn any button is a godsend. It still has the commensurate learning button in case a function is missing. But now I can teach any button any function. The stack of original remotes is finally put away for good.

It took a little time to setup and occasionally needs an update from an original remote. But after a couple of months of use it's set and it works great. I even taught it to control my air conditioner.

The LCD display and menus are excellent and very easy to follow. I never need to refer back to the manual unless I need a code to add a new component to my system.

The macro feature is not as useful as I thought it would be. But it works as advertised. For instance I'd like to have a macro shut everything down with "the touch of a single button". This is great if everything is on. You can well imagine however that if you make this macro to shut all components down and they're not all on then those units that off simply come on when you hit the macro key.

I'd also wanted to make macros to put the system into DVD and VCR mode for my wife who is electronically handicapped. This did not work out too well since my TV cycles through video inputs (I'll bet many receivers do this as well). In order to program such a macro you need to know which input the TV is currently on so you can cycle through the proper number of inputs to get to the mode you want. I can't fault the device for this shortcoming however.

The backlighting feature was also important to me since I like watch movies in a darkened room. This feature is good not great. The quality of the backlight is excellent once it's lit. Getting it lit and keeping it lit are where it falls short.

The backlight button is "just another" button on the keypad so it's not so easy to find in a dark room. Then once the backlight comes on and the remote is now in "backlight mode". The light stays on only for a few seconds however, to conserve battery I'm assuming. This is fine except that you must hit another button (other than the backlight button) to get the backlight back on. Hitting the backlight button a second time de-activates backlight mode turning the light off. So I windup hitting the volume button to get the backlight on again so I can see and find the more obscure button I'm looking for. I find this a distraction and it bothers me that I have to use a function that would otherwise have not been needed just to get the light back on.

A separate button on the side of the remote away from the regular keypad would have been better for the backlight feature.

Other users expressed concerns over the loss of battery and the possibility of needing to redo the entire configuration from scratch. I had the same concern myself but have had no problem. I've changed batteries several times and never lost my setup. My kids have even taken the batteries out for extended periods (I don't know how long) and it keeps on working.

It's a little too big to use one hand all the time and certain buttons like pip for instance could be grouped together better. These are very minor concerns however.

I researched many other remotes prior to buying this one. There are lots of other remotes with sexier names that are just as capable but none at the price of this unit... I don't know of any other unit for under $...that matches it feature for feature.

I also have gone through a few universal remotes before finding this one. I have made it work with my TV, DVD player, WebTV, VCR, audio receiver and two different cable boxes.
For the items or buttons that it wouldn't work, I had it learn them without any problems. For things like my WebTV that it didn't have any codes for, I just had it learn the most common buttons I use.
The only bad art is the manual. It doesn't quite explain everything well. But with a little common sense, you can figure it out.

I have owned this remote for approx. 5 months. It has worked very well for what I have. I have different branded TV, DVD, CD, and Receiver. This remote was very easy to set up, and is not a battery guzzler like some.