Ben's Bargains

[nishantpant]

GENERAL OPINION -
I have tried at least 6 different universal remotes including the much hyped Chameleon remote. This is by far the best remote I could have ever have asked for. Got it for $100 from Walmart. I always had this weird picture in my mind of a cool universal remote, where it would look like a Gaming console with a huge LCD touch screen. Who needs that really? All you want is a normal looking light weight remote which controls every damn device that you own. And that is what this remote does.

SETUP -
Setup couldnt be easier. Hookup to your computer run the wizard it asks you a bunch of no-brainer questions. And you are all set. I couldnt believe that all my devices were working flawlessly. The coolest part of the remote is it groups things by acitivies. So if I selecte activity "Watch TV", it will turn on my TV, AV receiver, Sat Receiver, Mute the TV volume, Swithc the AV reciever to the correct audio input, change AV receiver's mode to DOLBY pro logic (for surround sound) and finally change the TV's source to HDMI (where I have hooked up the Sat to the TV). This is freaking unbelievable. The guys at logitech have done a wonderful job. It is the same with any other activity like "watch DVD" also.

Finally, the remote's hard buttons and soft buttons (4 expandable to infinite via the arrow key) automatically change to operate your device. And if your are not satisfied with it, you can individually program every hard and soft button according to your needs. Although, the average user will never ever have to do all that tweaking the remote intelligently changes its buttons to fit the activity you are wathcing on its own.

GRIPES/WISH LIST -
None really, but I also have an X10 system in my house. Which means I can control all the lights in my house (on, off, dim, bright) via a singel remote). I wish I could also control my X10 lights with this remote. eg. If I want to watch a movie now, I

[sicmedia]

nice remote

[DasCapitolin]

Both of my Logitech Harmony remotes have very short battery life, and there's always a delay between the time I press a button and when something actually happens.

[dominick]

actually, one problem, if you link up so that one button powers everything (TV, Xbox, sound system, etc.) and point it to something like "play xbox," if the TV is already on, it turns the TV off, but everything else on. Acts more or less like a throw with no detection.

Which sucks.