Customer Reviews

Sima SUR-25 10-Device LCD Touch Screen Learning Universal Remote Control

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this remote after owning a Sony RM-AV2000 for about 2 years. I have also owned a Philips Pronto Neo. The Sony was limited in terms of buttons and virtually impossible to hold in your hand due to its size. The Pronto Neo has infuriating software and - from my experience - middling support, and it is a bit flimsy.

The Sima SUR-25 is a nice compromise. It fits nicely in your hand, feels hefty, and has nice build quality. The plastic is thick and looks like it would stand up to drops to the carpet or even the floor. The combination of hard buttons and touch screen are what I look for in a remote. I especially like having hard buttons for volume and channel control, because the feedback I get from buttons is more direct than with the touch screen.

Another plus for this remote is the way it "learns" commands from other remotes. You select the device you want the remote to learn, place your device's remote facing the bottom of the Sima, choose the button to learn and press the corresponding button on the device remote. The Sima learns that button and then sets itself to the next key on its touchscreen. You can fly right through the learning sequence and never even touch the Sima touch screen again. Very quick and a nice change from the more involved process on the Sony and the Philips.

Another advantage the Sima has is two pages of buttons for each remote type and the ability to choose the name for a button from a choice of 2-3 available on the touch screen.

Macros are virtually unlimited in normal usage but there are no hard buttons for macros like there are on the Sony.

The backlight is triggered by a hard button that is larger than the other hard buttons and is a nice yellowish-green that does not disturb others in a darkened room but is easy to see.

There evidently is an accessory cable that allows you to download remote codes from Sima but I did not purchase it.

Disadvantages:
You cannot type your own names for buttons.

The remote codes for existing remotes brands are limited and do not work for even some of the more common devices like DVD players from Panasonic and TVs from Toshiba (I should clarify - they work for a few buttons but not for many on these devices).

The macro process is a bit fussy - I had to redo a relatively simple, 8 step macro four or five times to finally get it right. The remote kept confusing the pauses between buttons with numeric entries or something.

The warranty is 90 days parts and labor. If you can purchase a two-year extended warranty (something I generally do not do) it may be worth it for you, especially in light of the fact that this remote is priced low for its capabilities.

So far, so good with this remote. I can't find much information about Sima on the web (in fact, this model of remote is not even on their website) so I can't speak for support or customer service. However, if all goes as it has to this point, I will not need those services anyway.

If you are the market for a universal remote and don't want to spend a lot for a programmable high end unit, give the Sima a try.

I have owned this remote for some time now, and I do not know why it is not more popular. It is flexible, powerful and easy to use, and it does this at a great price point. The many, easy to use hard buttons make easy to access the most common functions, like channel up and channel down. Also there are hard buttons to access each device, and the screen then says what device it is controlling, so you know for sure.

If you are shopping for this type of remote, you have also probably looked at the Pronto series of remotes. I think that for most consumers, this SIMA remote represents a much better value. First, it's about 1/3 to ½ the price of the least expensive Pronto Neo. Second, it really is very flexible.

The main difference between the SIMA and the Pronto series is in the LCD screens. In the SIMA remote, each LCD soft button has labels pre-assigned by the factory. Each button is capable of doing many things, but only the applicable label appears for each device in usage (for example, the same button that would show a Tivo "Thumbs Up" symbol when you are controlling a DVR might show something like "DTS" when you are controlling your receiver). The pre-typed labels seem to cover just about all of the various commands from all of my other removes. Such flexibility is unusual in remotes at this price point.

The Pronto, remotes on the other hand, in addition to the forgoing, generally offer you the ability through a computer interface to completely customize the buttons and their labels. This is a neat trick the SIMA remote just can't match. With that said, though, I like the hard button layout on the SIMA remote a lot better. It just seems to be laid out better.

Just be aware, that as with any learning, universal remote with macro capability, the more "custom" use you want out of the thing, the more you will be required to program. While the manual is clear and explains how to do so, you WILL have to do some configuring to access some of the more arcane features of your other remotes and to set up macros. This is actually a benefit, though. Why? Because most basic remotes will not even let you do the configuring to get to the arcane features or use macros, and to get these features, as I said, will require some tweaking on ALL advanced universal remotes that allow you to do so. At least the programming on this SIMA unit is relatively straightforward.

As an added bonus, the SIMA is the easiest "learning" remote I've seen to program since the learning lens is on the bottom (not the underside, the lower edge), so you do not have to work backwards as you do when programming remotes that learn "head to head".

In sum, if you really do like programming your remote, need ultimate flexibility, and price is no object for you, you might prefer the Pronto. Otherwise, you might give the SIMA a try.

Sorry I ever laid eyes on this turkey!
Absolutely could NOT get it to work, so I stuck it on EBay.
Person who bought it asked for a refund...She couldn't make it work, either!
Don't waste your time or money, buy a Logitech Harmony instead!

Not as easy to simply "learn" all your remotes as it claims. The digital keypad needs backlighting and the keys are not customizable, so you are stuck with their format, even if it does not fit the remote you have--tough luck--you will be forced to toggle other screens, which can be a pain. Also, the names of the hard buttons should be backlit as well! Basically you can't tell if you are switching from phono to cable in low light unless you memorize the exact placement of the hard buttons.

Otherwise, I really like this unit--it has good range, even with obstructions and I was basically able to get all of my 5 devices hooked in to it. Estimate a good 3 hours to get set up, though.

Works as advertised. You will have to have a gadget brain. This is a huge heavy remote. I really do not use it much as I have not been able to get it to do what i want. not easy to use in darkened rooms. I think this would be great in the living room not the bedroom where i need it.

I haven't bought a universal remote in many years (last one was an overpriced One-For-All a/v Producer 8 that proved so difficult to program that it is currently just a TV remote. Hardly worth the price). I found the Sima SUR-25 for a reasonable price and decided to try it out.

The good: Very simple to program involving relatively few steps. The devices that didn't work with the pre-programmed codes were easy to transfer from their remote using the learning function, and I think it covered just about every key I needed. Some keys took a couple of tries to learn, but they finally got in there. It's nice to have two pages for every device to maximize your options. The touchscreen was fun and felt high-tech to use. I like that the learning infrared eye is on the bottom, as opposed to "head-to-head." The flash memory that retains all your work when the battery is removed is very nice.

The bad: The biggest bad was that once I got the whole thing programmed, every time I tried to use it for my satellite dish (which was my primary motivation for buying it) it would lock up. The solution given in the manual is to remove a battery for ten seconds; this is when the flash memory is really helpful, especially since I was CONSTANTLY removing a battery. I emailed Sima and they told me to send it in for repair, at a cost of 1-2 times as much as I'd paid for the unit. I have no idea how common a defect it is for this company, so I'm not willing to risk trying it again.

Smaller bads were that there was no way to label the self-programmed buttons on the touchscreen, so you basically have to memorize what you've put where. The green touchscreen looks really dated compared to the new blue-lit ones out there. The reaction time for all buttons, hard and soft, was a bit on the slow side. Also the safety feature of pressing a sequence of buttons before programming anything (to avoid accidental programming if you sit on it, I suppose) gets most tedious after awhile.

After searching for a true universal remote control I finally found one. The remote is easy to program. I am searching for a way to reprogram the buttons. This remote even controls my roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. Flexibility is what this remote has. Was impressed with the macros that you can build to do multi functions, and they really worked the way I wanted them to. It did take a few tries to get them to work but once I got it to take it worked. The price was right for the power it has. Love the remote got rid of 6 remotes off my table. Easy to hold and not to big to handle.

Thisproduct couldbe beter if couldbe a liter samaller, the tother features are very good