Customer Reviews

Terk Leapfrog Remote Control Extender Kit LFIRX

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(50)

 

 

I purchased the Terk Leapfrog to control my Tivo from the bedroom, after running cables for the audio/video through the wall. In the end, this has worked excellently for me - so let me explain why it doesn't get the full 5 stars.

Initial setup with this product couldn't be easier. You simply unpack the two pieces, plug in the two included AC adapters - and that's it! I was surprised there was no programming it to accept certain IR codes... it just picks up whatever the remote might be throwing out, and relays it appropriately. When I first unpacked it, I set the one unit right in front of my Tivo, sitting about 2 inches from the Tivo's IR receiver. I took the other one into our bedroom and plugged it in. Presto - I could control the Tivo from the bedroom.

Now that I'd confirmed it worked, I went back to my living room to try and find a nice, out of the way place for the Terk Leapfrog to sit. It obviously had to have a clear line of sight to the Tivo... which I figued left me with plenty of choices. I tried putting it on a bookshelf, that was on quite an angle from the Tivo - but with no luck. I tried hiding it behind a picture frame (where is still had a clear line of sight to the Tivo) on a table that was closer to the Tivo... but again no luck. I went on to try 4-5 other places around the room, but could never make it work consistently.

Finally, I placed it *behind* the tivo, and used the included IR 'extender' (which is a little cable, with a peanut sized IR transmitter on the end). I snaked this little cord under the tivo, and then attached the little IR transmitter so it's aiming right at the Tivo's IR reciever. This, finally, worked. Just for comparison, I can aim my Tivo remote almost anywhere in the room and have the signal picked up by the Tivo, so I'm confident that the Tivo is not the problem here.

So... The good thing about this product is that it does work... the bad thing is that it seems it needs to be aimed by a professional sharpshooter to get the signal to your device.

Pros:
-Super fast setup
-Works great with your Tivo

Cons:
-Hard to get the 'placement' of the IR sender just right.

Unlike some other reviewers I've had no problems with this product whatsoever. I was dubious about buying this low-priced unit in light of these other reviews and what I thought would be a challenging environment. I set up the two units easily in less than 5 minutes and it worked great from the get-go. I'm throwing the signal about 50 feet through three household walls (from my house to my mom's house next door). I'm really not sure why other users had problems but I was very pleasantly surprised with how effortlessly it all went together.

You might notice that the newer reviews are harsher than the older ones. I just purchased this from Circuit City and it does not work. I tried a variety of rooms, remotes and configurations and only time it worked was then the remote was less than 6 inches from the sender unit.
As a side note...I have tried to write this review on CC's website and I keep getting an error message...yet the ratings on CC's website are very high- shady.

I agree with the previous reviewer. I had the older style before this new one was sent to me and it was the perfect solution! This newer model (with the same model number, I might add) is useless! You have to be 4 feet in front and aim your remote directly at it for it to work. The older model worked everywhere. Why did Terk have to break this wonderful product! Amazon should stop selling this product. I only wish I could get my money back!

I bought this thing and it does NOT work. I have used other extenders before that DO work in my house. This did NOT work and when I called the Amazon sales distributor, they told me to call Terk. Terk wanted me to pay to send it back to them. I still have it.

It was easy to install but that is where the good points end.

To make this device work, I can not be farther away from the transmitter than 4 feet and even given this short distance, I have to point the remote to be extended at the receiving unit very precisely. I should have cross hairs on my remote controllers ;-) Yes, I know, unbelievable.

Also the infrared transmitting power of the receiver is weak to say the best. It pretty much has to point directly at the device(s) that are the recipients of the remote control signal. It certainly doesn't "flood" the room with the infrared signal. As an electrical engineer I know how easily this could be accomplished.

Please stay away from this product. I am contemplating putting it into my recycle bin - it is absolutely useless....

Small, lightweight and very easy to hookup. Set them in rooms needed, plug them in and wala...I used it for my Direct TV DVR. I upgraded to the Direct TV HD receiver, but couldn't part with my DVR (HD DVR too much $ right now). I put the DVR in another bedroom and then bought these so that we could access the DVR from the living room. Works great...just like the DVR was in the living room with us. Hightly recommend. Now my 55' HDTV is at it's full potential. HD programming plus the opportunity to use my PIP functions with two different receivers.

What more can I say - I plugged the receiver and transmitter in, took the remote into the room where the transmitter is, aimed the remote, and heard my wife yell, "HEY!" from the other room ('cause I changed the channel). :) It couldn't have been easier.

I set the receiver at the back of the family room on a table in the corner, and I can control the TV, Tivo, CD player, stereo, and DVD player from the bedroom if I feel like it. Pretty cool!

The only problem I had was the first time I used the bedroom TV remote to turn off the bedroom tv, it turned the family room TV on because they're the same brand. So, I simply moved the transmitter away from the bedroom TV. Now, we point one remote towards the transmitter, and the other one at the TV. If my TVs were different brands, it wouldn't be a problem.

For those of you who are reading through the reviews above and can't make heads or tails of them, I want to give you my two cents.

I bought these with much apprehension given the disparity in opinions about the device.

Let me tell you, these things can work really well, or they may not work at all. Not helpful, right? Let me explain a little more. I got mine out of the package, threw one downstairs by the unit I was controlling. Threw one upstairs from where I wanted to control my device. It worked BEAUTIFULLY!! Then, one day, out of nowhere, it was HORRIBLE! Why? I have two daughters and one of them had moved it slightly downstairs to make room for her doll. I tried to put it back in the same spot, it worked quite poorly. I tried again. Poorly. I tried again. GREAT!!! It was that way for two weeks until we had a small get together. I moved all my electronic equipment out of the way. When I took it back out the next day, I had to spend few minutes getting everything working right, but then it was fine.

So, these things work, but they are a little unforgiving. If you buy them, don't give up until they work well for you, then don't so much as sneeze on them, and you'll be very happy. And if you have kids, tell them NOT to move them, but if they do, make sure they fess up, or you'll be pulling your hair out trying to figure out why the remote isn't working all of a sudden, even though those little blonde haired, blue eyed cuties insist they never touched them (which they did).

Easy set up. Simply does NOT work. I have no IR or RF interference and I set up to debug by puting the transmitter in the adjacent room and placing the receiver directly in front of the unobstructed units 8 feet away. Cannot get any device to work through this transmitter. If I make 20 keystrokes, ONE will get transmitted successfully. Great concept. Really poorly engineered.