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Recommended Programmable Remote Controls?

Posted by Cliff on from the consolidation-of-the-table-ornaments dept.

Slashdot Junky asks: "I am fed up with having several different remote controls for my living room A/V gear and have decided to buy a high-end programmable remote to replace them. I have a TWC SciAtl Explorer 8000 DVR box, DVD player, Onkyo HT receiver, TV, and a home brew PC media server connected. I am looking for one that is comfortable to hold and more importantly, capable of DOING EVERYTHING that each of my existing remotes do. So, what remotes are you all using? Why did you select the one you have? What should I look for in my search? What don't you like about it? What do you like? What else should I be asking?" "Once the new remote is programmed, I want to be able to leave the factory remotes in the cabinet for good. I want the new remote to be able to handle even the non-day-to-day tasks like using the TV OSD menu. It should also be easy enough for my non-techie wife to use, too. Although the Logictech Harmony line seems nice, I don't really know much about it. Of course, there are others as well."

4 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. JP1 by crow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you don't mind a little soldering, make yourself a JP1 cable, and buy a cheap remote that you can program from your computer. If you're not familiar with the JP1 interface, it's a little connector that you hook up to the parallel port on your PC. You can then create and upload new code sets for devices that it doesn't already know. With my cheap Radio Shack remote, I now have almost complete control of every button, so it works exactly the way I want it to.

  2. Re:Philips Pronto by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I second the Pronto recommendation. Remote Central is a godsend, as well. Wouldn't be without my Pronto.

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
  3. Pronto! by GoRK · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I highly endorse the pronto line of remotes. They are expensive, but they are very well supported, a lot of people use them, and they really can do a ton of stuff. They don't have many hard buttons if that's what you want, but for maximum flexibility, it's really hard to beat a touchscreen.

    I use a Pronto NEO and found that with a lot of work, it really works well. It's a lot cheaper than the other Pronto's but still very capable if you are willing to put a lot of work into setting it up. I think that I'd probably spring for a real pronto remote if I were going to buy another, though.

  4. Re:But do any of those support X10? by GoRK · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well you can get an IR X-10 controller and program it to work with any remote you have...