Customer Reviews

Sony RM-AV3000 Universal Remote Control with Touch-key LCD Screen

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Does is work? Yes. Does it look cool? Yeah, if you appreciate the similarity to a Starfleet "PADD" (and don't mind that it's half the size and weight of your laptop). Does it replace all your other remotes? Probably. Am I glad I bought it? Well, I suppose...

There are four basic problems in addition to the size. The first is that despite the perhaps-cool similarity to all those touch-screen manipulations you see on Star Trek, you're likely to wish you were pressing real buttons (with real tactile feedback) rather than a little part of the screen that says "power." And the real buttons that ARE present have no backlight.

The second major drawback isn't actually an issue with this universal remote as much as with the equipment we want it to control. Most home theater equipment just isn't ready to deal with the "macro" commands an AV3000 owner would likely want to program -- for example, turn on the amp, set it to DVD, turn on the DVD player, set it to wide-screen and set the volume to -5 dB, turn on the TV, wait 4 seconds for it to wake up then set it to Input #5 with wide screen mode, etc. The AV3000 allows you to do A LOT of this, but there's no way to program in discrete codes (e.g., turn ON, rather than toggle On/Off) unless you already have another remote that can transmit these. This means you end up programming functions for various but similar scenarios, such as play a DVD when the DVD player is already on, play a DVD when the TV is already on but the DVD is off, etc.

Third, the manual is just awful. It's pretty big, and there's an index (though the index fails to list a number of important topics), but the information is presented in a most inefficient and confusing manner. Owners of other Sony products will be familiar with this, unfortunately. If it weren't for the folks at remotecentral.com, I never would have learned a number of important procedures.

Finally, my unit (and others, from what I've read online) is extremely sensitive to lighting conditions when "learning" from another remote. When the lights are on, the unit gives a certain error message (five beeps), leading the user to look up the "five beeps" message in the manual. There you read a number of suggestions which don't apply, but nothing about turning off the lights. I spent at least four hours tracking this down. Ugh!

I have a fairly large entertainment system, with 9 remote controls (some control several devices). I've been juggling remotes for years and I've tried other universal remotes, but I finally picked up one of these last year.

It's precisely what I was looking for. What makes it so useful are the macro functions. Switching from my cable box to my DVD player used to require about 30 seconds of fiddling with 3 different remotes; now it's a single button press. People around the house who had no idea how to operate the entertainment system can now switch back and forth between the components quickly and easily.

Programming is difficult and there's a learning curve, maybe comparable to learning to use a Palm device for the first time. Once you master programming it, though, you'll find yourself doing things very quickly. There's no learning curve for using the device, and with the macro functions it will probably be easier to use than your existing remotes.

A touchscreen is always a comprimise over regular buttons, but its innovative labelling system means that you will actually know what the buttons are doing instead of having to program functions to inappropriate keys, which is always the case with button-only universal remotes. I find I can still do the vast majority of things with the regular buttons on the bottom half, anyways. It is somewhat large and heavy, but much less space-consuming and awkward as having to keep 2 or 3 remotes nearby. It should be noted that there's an easy to use lock function on the remote which you can use to prevent yourself from accidentally triggering things by brushing the screen.

The timer functions are also surprisingly useful; my bedroom remote components are also roomily accomodated on the remote, and I use the remote to operate my television as an alarm clock. It can also make taping things on different cable box or satellite channels when away a breeze.

It's also worth noting that I have no Sony components at all and have had no problems. While the special "PowerOn" function doesn't work with non-Sony components, with a little experimentation you can program the remote to do essentially the same thing with most manufacturers' devices.

All in all, it's delivered everything I ever wanted in a universal remote, and it's made life far easier. Unlike any other universal I've ever owned, I was able to take every other remote I have and throw them in a shoebox in the closet once I had it all programmed, and I haven't needed them since. Highly recommended.

This is the first review that I have written for Amazon.com, and I decided to write on this product because I was so impressed with it right out of the box. First of all, I haven't even looked at the full user's manual yet. They include a 2-page quick start guide, and that's all I needed to get all of my devices working. I currently have the following devices totally configured on my commander remote:
- Mitsubishi 50" TV
- Panasonic Replay TV
- Pioneer Amp/Receiver
- Pioneer DVD Player

- Motorola Digital Cable Box

All I had to do was look up the product number in the catalog that came with the remote. It may have taken me a total of 20 minutes to get all of these devices working. The only problems were that I was missing a few buttons from my ReplayTV remote, and the ability to change DVD's in my 3-disc DVD player was missing. That's when I figured out how to use the remote's "learning" function. After another 5-10 minutes, I added 3 new buttons to my ReplayTV screen and 3 more to my DVD screen. The remote commander now controls all of my devices with every function available to me that I had with my old remotes.

After I got everything up and running, I decided to try some of the advanced Macro features. I couldn't think of anything I really needed this for, so I just decided to set one up that turns all of my devices on/off with one click. Again this only took 2-3 minutes to program.

All in all, this remote does everything that it advertises. It is very easy to use and program, and it includes enough cool customization options that it can virtually replace any remote.

Since I got the RM-AV3000 over a year ago I have not touched my old remote controls. It controls my TV, DVD, VCR, and tuner. I have also programmed it to turn on and configure my equipment for each device, so when I press the DVD button it turns on the TV, tuner, and DVD player, configures the inputs/outputs, and starts playing the disc. I could not ask for more.

However, getting to that point took a little bit of effort. First, the device is not easy to program and set up. The manual is OK so this isn't a huge problem, but it still feels like you are programming a computer, not a consumer device.

Second, there were compatibility issues. For example, my TV, VCR, and tuner worked right away, but my Sony DVD changer did not. Sony tech support was no help (after some very long hold times I might add) and I finally resorted to an internet chat room. There I learned that my DVD changer talks a different IR "dialect" by default and must be switched before it will work with the Commander.

So eventually I got it to work, but it was frustrating that a Sony DVD changer didn't work with a Sony "universal" remote, and that Sony tech support couldn't tell my why.

Also, some commands (like switching DVDs on my Sony changer) do not have dedicated buttons on the RM-AV3000. Not a problem because I used the Commander to learn from the DVD remote and assigned it an unused button, but still a minor nuisance.

In short, it took a few days to get everything the way I wanted, but since that (small) headache I've been extremely happy.

Hopefully future versions will be more compatible and friendly to operate, but I think a few days of head scratching was a fair trade for a year of convenience (and counting).

I was skeptacle of buying this remote, but once I got it I realized it was the best thing I ever did. Between my theater system, bedroom, and home office, I have 12 components. I was able to program every component I own into one remote.

It definitely takes some time to program that many components, but look at how much time you spend switching between remotes when you have multiple components.

I have several different brands of equipment, Sony, JVC, RCA, and Aiwa, to name a few, and it works great with ALL of them. I even had a brand new flat screen Sony television that came out after the remote, and the remote worked right out of the box.

If you have some patience to program the remote I guarantee it will be the best purchase you ever make for your home entertainment. I shopped around on the net and found some great prices on these for this remote.

I read thru all of the reviews before purchasing the remote. The bottom line is that the remote works flawlessly. Yeah, I suppose it's a little on the large size, but I can't imagine a remote that will do it all without being big (or without spending hundreds of $$$).

The instruction manual isn't as bad as some have said. Most functions are easy enough to figure out; indeed, teaching the remote is fairly intuitive. The only gripe I have about the manual is that it doesn't clearly state that *all* of the preset buttons are configurable, but I was able to find everything I needed by just playing around with it and pushing various buttons.

If you want a remote that does it all, buy it!

I don't know what I'd do without it. My equipment is made by all different manufacturers and the commander covered everything. Learning how to program was not difficult, but you will need to read a few pages. The display is very nice and the blue light is a nice gimmick, but it would be better if the buttons outside the screen area lit up as well. Pricy but impressive, functional too.

First of all, for all of those complaining about the size, and that the LCD doesn't have the "feel" of real button, well, DUH! It HAS to be a larger remote because it has to control so many devices. And you HAVE to have an LCD screen if you want to be able to change the label on each key, otherwise you end up with a remote the size of your lap with 500 differently labeled keys. Your expectations are unrealistic.

Another complaint talked about the macros not necessarily being able to definitely turn ON a unit, instead of toggling on/off. Well, that's just not the remote's fault, it's the design of the individual unit. The remote can't ADD functions to the unit you're trying to control.

Now, onto the remote. EXCELLENT touch screen. You can literally tap on it quickly and every command is recognized. Compared to the RCA touch screen, this is a gem. It's very well lit with the backlight, which can be manually turned on, or automatically turned on when you press any key on the remote. Turn off times are adjustable to save battery life.

The ONLY bad thing on this remote is that the hard buttons are not backlit. However, most of them are recognizable by touch (LARGE channel and volume keys) and after just a few days I had no problem operating this remote in the dark.

Learning was a breeze, and it had no problem learning every command that I gave it.

I bought this remote about a week ago and its one of the coolest things i bought in a while. Although it may look very comlex and impossible to set up, its really not too bad. After a few minutes getting familiar with it, it is very easy. It is a large remote ( doubt i will ever misplace it ) and for the money you'll spend on it you will not treat it like your other remotes... ( i dont think i'll be throwing this one around ). It If you have sony eq the remotes already programmed to go. If not its very easy to program, either by code or the "learn" feature where it learns off the original remote you have. I am glad i bought it. It is pricey and you can get other remotes for less, but if you have the money to spend and want a cool looking great working remote then get this one.

We got this remote for Christmas 2003. Most of our components are Sony (DVD, VCR, AMP, TV)so had it up and running within a few minutes. It also comes preset with a large number of other components, so all we had to do was enter a few codes and we had the CABLE and the TIVO system we got for Christmas set up as well. For setup I'd give it 5 stars. However, it's size is an issue. It's like a large calculator. It would be great if it were shaped like the average remote control. Otherwise, I would highly recommend this product.