Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Wow! What an impressive universal remote (but with flaws)! Most of the buttons can 'learn' from a device's remote, or can be programmed with 'macros' (a series of button presses). For example, my DirecTV/TiVo remote has no 'OFF' button (but there's one on the box), so I programmed the universal remote's 'OFF' button for this. My Samsung HDTV has a complicated ZOOM procedure, and a complicated source selection procedure, so I simplified them for my needs. Practically all of the buttons on a device's remote can be duplicated on this remote. With cheaper 'universal' remotes, the most useful functions of a device's remote are there, but for other functions I need to keep the original remote around, so why bother. Now with this one, I can put the old individual remotes away.
But then there's the bug. One of the 'features' of this remote is 'erasing commands'. Why would you need this? Well, perhaps you decided to rearrange your screen buttons, and you didn't need one any more, so you cleared the label and deleted the command (key or macro). And here's the bug: the 'learning' method for programming buttons DOES NOT WORK, if a macro has previously been stored to the button. One would expect that any old command on a button would automatically be erased when a new command (key or macro) is saved, but that is not the case. The work-around for the bug is that you must manually erase the command first. So this is clearly what the 'erasing commands' feature is for. But that reason is not documented in the manual, and neither is the bug itself.
In fact, another problem with this remote is the manual. It appears glib and superficial. It leaves out some important details. One of the most powerful features of this remote is the macro capability, but the manual explains this only through one example, for the ON button on the MAIN page. It does not give any general step-by-step procedure for setting up a macro command on a button for an individual component. Most users will eventually be able to figure this out, but the manual should have more detail. In fact, what is missing from the manual is a chapter on how to set up macros for users who are serious about using this powerful capability. Also important is button layout, which is a design issue. For the screen buttons, for example, the most frequently used commands should be on buttons that are closer to the center of the remote -- that is, lower on the screen, whereas less frequently used or more destructive commands (such as RECORD or CLEAR COUNTER, for example) should be further away -- higher on the screen.
You should also be aware of the large amount of time that it can take to set up the remote as you might like it to be. The Pre-Programmed Code Method of setup is fast, but usually doesn't set up all of the buttons that are on the original remote. The Learning Method is also fast, once you have designed the button layout you want. You may, for example, set up the OFF button to actually do RECORD, since the ON button does the ON/OFF function for a component (this is the layout taken by one of the pre-programmed codes for a VCR). But doing the design of the button layout, and particularly learning how the various setup features work, then setting up macros, then changing things when you see how you can improve your layout -- these things can take a really long time. And the manual does not give you any help with some of these issues. And then of course you may want to document some of your layout, especially if the OFF button invokes RECORD, for example.
Yet another little 'bug' is in the manual's macro example. If the ON button is programmed in this way, then the ON buttons for the individual components no longer work as you might expect. That is, you may wish to play a CD and so you just want to turn on the audio amplifier (and the CD player). But now the AUDIO ON button invokes the MAIN ON button, so everything comes on instead. The manual doesn't warn you of these problems.
For the remote itself and its capabilities, I would probably grade it a 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. But because of the bug and the manual, it is tempting to grade it as a 1. So the compromise is 3.
Click Here to see more reviews about: URC MasterControl RF20 Universal Learning Remote w/ RF Capability
Controls up to 10 Audio/Video components / Provides 453 Macros buttons (up to 190 steps each / Thousands of built-in pre-programmed codes / Power - 4 AAA Batteries (included) / LCD Display Size - 0.88 x 1.88 inch / Learning Function / Backlit Keypad / Size - Depth 1 x Height 8.5 x Width 2.5 inch / Weight – 7.1 oz. (with batteries)
