Customer Reviews

Sony RM-VL1000 12-Device Universal Remote Commander Remote Control

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The general buzz among remote controls enthusists is that this Sony is a piece of junk and that the Home Theater Master MX-500 by Universal Remote Controls is a far superior execution of the same basic idea. It may well be that the MX-500 is better. However, if you're like me, the fact that the Sony VL1000 is roughly half the price of the MX-500 right now ought to make you take a closer look at the Sony before you shell out all that extra cash.

I've been using the Sony VL1000 for a few weeks now and while I understand some of the complaints that have been made, I still think that for the price, it's a pretty good remote. A few impressions:

It is quite powerful. The VL1000 is capable of doing just about anything that you could reasonably want a remote to do, at least in this general price range. The timer is particularly cool as are the channel macros.

Many complain that the digital display is tough to read. The display IS somewhat difficult to read, but after adjusting the contrast it's at least legible in most lighting conditions. In direct light or very dim light with the backlight I would go so far as to say that it is quite clear and distinct. It seems to be moderate light hitting the panel indirectly that causes the most readability problems due to glare. If you are farsighted, I would stay away from this remote. If not, you shouldn't have too much trouble.

By far the worst thing about the remote is the set up. Programing takes a long time and is unnecessarily tedious, mostly due to the fact that labeling the custom buttons involves scrolling through about 100 different characters one by one until you reach the particular letter or symbol you are looking for. Add to this the fact that empty buttons are labeled "*********" by default rather than just being blank and you are looking at hours of labeling to get the thing to look decent (although after a while you learn exactly how long to hold down the scroll button to scroll from "*" to " "). It probably took me 20 minutes to teach it all my other remotes and set up my macros and then 2 hours to label all the custom buttons. They should have copied the standard cell phone design and assigned a small number of characters to each number button on the remote (i.e. 1 = A,B,C; 2 = D,E,F; etc).

Also relating to set-up, it is a long annoying process to alter the preset order that components appear in. There is a "copy" feature, but it writes over the component that you are copying to, which is a problem if you just want to change the order of components rather than get rid of some of them.

On the other hand, unless you like to tinker endlessly with your remote settings, you should only have to go through this frustrating process once. A relatively small price to pay considering the pricetag.

The joystick on the VL1000 is really super. Probably the best thing about the remote.

The fact that the top buttons don't line up correctly with the screen is a bit annoying, but it's hard to see how they could have designed it differently without starting over from scratch. I'm already getting pretty used to it. You can also work around it somewhat by putting the buttons you use the most in the bottom two slots on the panel, since these do more or less line up with the corresponding buttons.

I didn't find the manual to be any more poorly written than average for electronic equipment. That is not to say that it is well-written by any stretch of the imagination, but I have definitely seen much worse.

It's not great in terms of button layout--one handed use is difficult when using the custom buttons at the top, especially if you have small thumbs like me. But this was obvious before I bought it and I'm not sure that the MX-500 is any better. Having the channel and volume buttons at the bottom would be fine except that the number buttons are quite a bit further up the panel. Just using the numbers is fine as is just using the channel/vol buttons. It's going back and forth between numbers and channel/volume buttons that proves rather awkward.

Overall, the VL1000 is a pretty good value given the low price. It may not be a good remote for you if you like to fiddle with the setup a lot or if your eyesight isn't great, but for most users it is more than adequate. While I can understand choosing the MX-500 over the Sony if your budget allows, it totally escapes me why someone would buy a VL900 over the VL1000 as some advocate.

I have owned this for about 20 hours and I am still in evaluation mode. I am getting used to it a little but I am unsure if I will keep it. Going to give it a few more days.

Advantages:
(1) Price. Reasonably priced given functionality. Others with similar functionality become expensive. e.g. ProntoPro & Sony RM-AV3000
(2) Macro programmable. A blessing when I shift between DVD and Satellite TV.
(3) Reasonable Size. Compared with ProntoPro, Sony RM-AV3000, and others
(4) Joystick. This makes movement nice while in menus etc.
(5) Buttons. I generally like buttons for main functions, numbers, etc. as opposed to LDC
(6) Ability to name macros and custom buttons.

Disadvantages: (I have many of the same problems as earlier review)
(1) Backlight and LCD display. Terrible. Display is difficult to read especially in daylight. Backlight is not much better
(2) Macro execution. Difficult. Two button process
(3) Switching between components is a pain.
(4) Naming and programming of Macros and Custom buttons takes a great deal of time
(5) Manual is Terrible.

When deciding what type of controller to buy, I first considered the Sony v3000 Remote Commander(I think thats what they call it) that retails for about $200. I thought it looked pretty cool with the LCD touch screen. Thankfully when I went to my local electronics store and they had the unit on display. After looking at it for about 3 minutes I decided it was not for me. I mean MAYBE I'M JUST CRAZY, but when I'm watching TV I don't want to have to look at the controller every time I change the channel. The touch screen is a bad idea. You can't tell what button your hitting by feel. I don't want to make changing the channel a pain.

Therefore I decided to get a controller with ACTUAL BUTTONS. This is the one I bought. Anyone who is even slightly intelligent can easily program it. I spent about an hour programing all 10 of my components (8 of which are non sony) and macros. The learning function is fantastic. This thing is the ultimate controller. Much better than its $200 and up counter parts. It is easy to use and all of the negatives that these other reviewers are whining about are either non-existant, or not a big deal.

Getting this programmed was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life:

DEFAULTS - Says it is fully defaulted to Sony. I have a Sony XBR-400 tv, only the basics (numbers, ch, vol) work. PIP, video modes, advanced menu functions, all were on the LCD menu, but none worked.

LABELS - Programming the labels takes an eternity. Every letter is chosen by scrolling through the complete alphabet twice (lc and caps), numbers, and useless characters. They should take a lesson from cell phone letter selection.

COMPONENT SELECTION - Selecting which component you're controlling takes at least 2 button taps, each on opposite sides of screen on top, impossible to do with one hand and too many keystrokes.

HIDDEN FUNCTIONS - Functions like LCD contrast and backlight time delay are hidden key combos, absolutely no way to intuit these from the keypad.

GENERAL PROGRAMMING - Again, what is with the hidden key combos? Key+Scroll to erase a key's programming? Very un-intuitive approach to programming.

MEANINGLESS KEY NAMING - "Compo" to bring up a menu to choose what device to control - "System" to go to a list of macros. 'nuf said

HORRID MANUAL - Hopefully the writers don't do work for any safety-related applications. Would take them 8 pages just to tell you how to pull a fire alarm, and you would probably be led astray in the process. But, I feel for them given the hardware they have to write about.

SYSTEM FREEZES AND LOST PROGRAMMING - After finally getting it programmed (2 hours, most spent with the stupid letter scrolling, very little productive programming), used it for a few minutes then it hung. No way to get it back, needed to force a reboot by taking out batteries. Batteries back in and, contrary to the ad on the box, all (ALL) my programming and time consuming labelling was gone. Took every ounce of patience to actually pack it up nicely to return rather than smash it to bits.

Don't bother with this one, it's garbage.

I just gave this remote as a gift to my parents. They (as well as I) have been constantly complaining about the AV setup - 5 different remotes, volume adjusts on one, channels on the other, closed captioning on the third - a nightmare!
After about 25 minutes, I configured the remote and consolidated all functions into this single unit, hid all the other remotes, and we all were happy!

A few notes:
1. The display can truly be a bit hard to read, but if you adjust the contrast it makes a world of difference!
2. If you want to reprogram the ON button to turn on all of your componencts (i.e. Satellite Receiver, Amp, TV) the macros wont help, but: go ahead and learn the ON button and quickly press all of the buttons on the other remotes (i.e. sat, amp, tv) in sequence.
3. If you are trying to learn the buttons for Echo Star dish player, make sure you tap the keys just slightly, do not push and hold while learning.

I've been looking for a Universal Remote for quite some time now. And had done fairly extensive research. I've tested the majority of the top ten remotes listed on www.remotecontrol.com, and I was down to the MX-700, and the Harmony H659.

A few days ago, I came upon the H659 on www.costco.com for $119.99, and took a chance to see if a warehouse close by had it (to save on shipping). That's when I came upon the Sony RM-VL1000. So I figured for $49.99 I'd take a chance based on Costco's 30 day return no questions asked policy (must have receipt and original packaging), and give it a try while I waited for the Harmony to ship (I'd order it as soon as I got the Sony home and programmed it). Eitherway, one would be returned.

Anyhow, the Sony was a surprise. And I still have it. Works great. The only cons are
1. The buttons on the right do not line up with the labels on the screen. However, you get accustomed to what the buttons are for after awhile.
2. The LCD is somewhat hard to see in shaded daylight.
3. The manual is worded a little difficult, but the programming is straight forward.

For the price it was well worth it!

Setting up my 5.1 surround sound system with a digital cable box, DVD player, two VCR's, and a CD player was easy. Just reading the instructions for the RM-VL1000 gave me a headache! Set-up is very time-consuming and even simple functions require several steps. Add to that buttons that don't line up with their functions on the LCD screen and you have what might be the least user-friendly remote control on the market!

I returned mine before it ever had a chance to control anything in my house!

Save a few dollars and get the Sony RM-VL900. You'll lose the LCD and joystick but you'll get an incredibly user-friendly remote that will be ready to use in minutes with full learning capability and easily programmed macros.

I just purchased my "Sony Integrated Remote Commander" and have been playing with it for a week now. My reason for purchasing it was to replace another remote. My first remote that came with my Sony big screen TV was great, until my young kids got a hold of it(you can imagine what a 4 and 2 year old would do with it), so I replaced it with this one (which I will guard with my life).

The operating manual it came with was not difficult to read or understand (yes, you have to read to learn how to use it). A 10 year old could comprehend it. It even came with instructions in spanish.

The LCD display at first was difficult to read, but as I read through the manual (like everyone should), I learned how to adjust it. Now it reads perfectly.

All of my electronics are made by Sony, so programming was easy. I didn't have to. It was already pre-programmed (less work).

I love my new Sony toy. I will continue to buy Sony products as long as they continue providing stong, reliable products.

This remote is fairly easy to program. It replaced 4 other remotes and I was able to program all functions from the 4 other remotes.The display could be a little easier to read but is not bad. My teenage kids used it right away without reading instructions. My wife however can not figure it out-maybe this is a plus.

I have had this remote for almost a year and I must admit, it's a tremendous value. I have it controlling, a TV, VCR, DVD, TIVO, Cable Box, Satellite system and Satellite radio receiver. As you can see I'm really into electronics and this remote handles it all. The only drawback that I see is the lack of contrast control as the backlighting is tough to see sometimes and can't be adjusted. Secondly, the component buttons are not perfectly aligned with the LCD screen. Once you get used to it though, it's a breeze. My kids use it with no problems. I said goodbye to 10 remotes with this Sony.