Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great remote - with a little effort will rival remotes that cost 10X as much!, December 6, 2005
For you remote control freaks out there, this is an UEI remote with a JP1 header, but it is a newer interface, so no JP1 cable/programming available (yet). So, I'll count that as one disadvantage. Another is that there is no backlighting, save for the power key. Now, on to the good stuff ;)
This remote is an amazing value! Spend some time at [...] to discover the true power lurking under the hood of this budget remote. I needed a remote to control my Toshiba HDTV, Pioneer A/V receiver, Toshiba DVD player and Dish Network DVR that was powerful enough to take care of all the basic functionality, yet was easy for the family to use. In particular, I needed a remote that worked will with a DVR. Another concern I had was my Pioneer A/V receiver, which had issues with other sub-$100 remotes I've tried.
With some help from the friendly people on the [...] forums, I was able to get this remote to meet all of my needs. For example, I was able to set up a master power button. If I press the power button, it turns on/off the selected component, but if I hold it in for two seconds, it powers on/off a whole series of selected components. In addition, this remote can accept advanced codes, discrete codes and macros. An added bonus is that I can map a macro to a device key. As a result (for example), I can press and hold the DVD button on the remote for two seconds, and it will send a series of commands that turns on my TV (and leaves it on if already turned on), switches the TV over to HDMI 1 input, makes sure the A/V receiver is on, switches it to the DVD input, makes sure the DVD player is on, then sets the TV to the "natural" setting for screen format. I have similar set ups for over-the-air HD and satellite.
The new 8820 (and its siblings, the 8620 and 81020) support a wider range of device codes than earlier One-For-All remotes. This, combined with support for advanced codes (which are 3 or 4 digit codes that allow you to assign a specific function to a specific key) and support for discreet codes (which lets you just turn on or turn off a device, rather than toggle between on and off) opens the door for some sophisticated programming. Again, [...]has lots of resources. With some time and patience, you can have an activity-based remote for a lot less money than the Harmony remotes (which are fantastic remotes, BTW, just more money than a lot of people will want to spend).
Finally, the button layout is pretty intuitive, and easy to find by feel in the dark. So, if you don't mind doing a little research, this remote will give you a ton of functionality.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1st learning remote, January 30, 2006
This my first attempt at using a Universal Learning Remote. I was slightly skeptical because I was afraid that since it was so cheap (10-15$) but I was wrong. This remote has everything I need, and the macro functions make it a must have. Even my wife admits, though reluctantly, that having all the functionality of all my remotes packed into one is very practical. If you are looking for a remote that is top of the line ULR with LCD screen and text input then this remote is not the one. At times it is hard to remember what all the buttons do because the same button has different functions on different modes. But once you overcome that hurdle, this remote becomes a must have for the price. Highly recommend it for what it says it does.
*** I have not tried it, but supposedly you can download new codes for the remote from the oneforall website!
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasure To Use After Initial Setup, October 3, 2006
This remote includes many pre-set remote layouts and has a learning feature. The buttons are well laid out and the overall remote feels comfortable in the hand. However, this remote does have some quarks and limitations. Most of the presets are very limited, containing only the most common buttons (volume, power, etc). As such, this remote with the presets alone will not fully replace an existing remote. The more esoteric buttons will have to be learned from the original remote.
Likewise, the presets are not all inclusive. This remote only had the presets for one of the three devices I wanted to replace. Using every alternative method described in the manual, I never was able to find any preset that would work with those other two devices. The only remaining option available was to use the learning feature.
Since one is going to program dozens of buttons into this new remote, it helps to have a plan before starting. My solution was to create a spreadsheet listing each of the buttons on the new remote. Afterwards, I studied each of the old remotes to determine which button would be programmed into which button on the new remote, listing each button in the spreadsheet as I went along beside the selected button on the new remote. To make the remote easier to use later, I tried to stay consistent between the various devices, with similar functions programmed into the same buttons (the menu buttons for the four devices into same button on the new remote, the door/tray buttons into the same button, and so on). When I finished, I finally started programming the new remote.
The learning feature was much more combersome to program than I expected. It required a precise sequence of buttons, with only five seconds allowed between keystrokes. It often took longer than five seconds to refer to the manual or my notes to find the proper buttons to press. Anyway, if you miss a keystroke, or delay longer than five seconds, the entire sequence has to be started again from the beginning.
Also the learning feature memory is limited to only 50 to 70 buttons (small print in the manual), which is not a lot considering many remotes today have twenty, thirty, or more, buttons. Since presets seem to use a separate memory area, you can conserve learning memory by always using whatever preset is available for your device. Of course, not all devices will have a preset available, or will have a preset with all the features desired. However, try several presets until you find one offering the most features used by your device. At that point, your remote only has to learn the other buttons.
Another memory saving technique is to always hold the button down on the original remote while learning. The gives the learning remote time to study the signal to obtain the number sequence instead of just recording the signal. The three or four digit number sequence requires far less memory than a recorded signal. Finally, if a button isn't in the location you prefer, copy the sequence from the old button instead of learning.
In the end, using careful memory management, I was able to fully program four full remotes into this one remote without running out of memory. However, if the memory limit mentioned in the manual is indeed accurate, I seriously doubt anyone could program eight remotes into this one.
Anyway, with all that finally out of the way (and the spreadsheet printed to help me remember the buttons), this remote is now a real pleasure to use. Unlike the original remotes (now in a drawer), the buttons on this remote are laid out exactly as I want them. And, since the memory is retained while changing batteries, I probably won't have to program any more buttons until a new device is purchased or this remote wears out (seems fairly well built, so not a major concern). I'm going to knock off a star for the learning limit not disclosed on the box (or in advertising I've seen) and the combersome learning process, but will give this item an overall positive rating. After all, the price is very hard to beat.
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