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The Do-It-All Remote?
MisterFig asks: "I, like many of you, have too many remote controls to know what to do
with. One for the TV, the VCR, the Receiver, the CD player, the Cable
box... you get the drift. I don't mind using them all, but is there
an easier way? Sure, there are so called "Universal" remotes. But I find these often provide a very limited set of functionality for
usually only a subset of my devices. Each remote has it's own special
buttons and features that a Universal remote doesn't know about. So I
am stuck keeping all the remotes out. Can one remote do it all?
I recently came across an add for the Harman Kardon "Take Control".
This is a cool remote control that is software programmable, looks
really easy to use and supposedly can be programmed to do everything
each of your current remotes do. Could it be? A single remote control
that can control everything? It's laid out in such a way that you have
activities, like "watch tv", "play a cd" or "watch a video". Clicking
on the activity will setup the entertainment center to a predefined
state of your choosing. This sounds too good to be true! However, it's
about $300. Is it worth it? Has anyone used one of these? Are there
any other remotes out there that can control everything? Including all
the special buttons/features that each of the individual remotes have? " Can it be? An All-In-One remote that claims it actually WORKS?
There's a program for the palm pilot called omniremote I believe, it's awesome and AFAIK can handle any kind of IR signal.
Is there a URL for this?
I did some experiments a long time ago back with electronics (back when I knew what a 555 IC was... heh), and I took a remote and a IR phototransistor and hooked it to an LED so I could see what it was transmitting. Almost all remotes use a system similar to morse code - that is short and long pulses seperated by a specific interval of dark.
In principal any device which can record and play back IR signals could be used as a remote. Infact, the industry has a fairly standard set of signals to send to/from your TV - just get a all-in-one remote and look at the guide. Manufacturers document all of this. The problem is with non-standard features like "still frame" in VCRs. Play, record, stop, ff, rewind, those are all standard. Things like accessing the TV's internal "menu" system isn't.
Hope this helps..
--
What I want from a remote is an LCD panel, and a cursor, and a "select" button. The LCD panel can display the different buttons, and ONLY the relevant buttons. I hate having buttons for features I'll need once, but I also hate not having a button when I need it.
I think Microsoft makes a remote like this.. *duck*
i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
I hate to break it to you, but I believe that remote runs WinCE...
if that is ok with you, well this remote is not vaporware, I have a friend who worked for MS who saw them floating around (hardware beta testing) before he left (he no longer works there )
otherwise, both the palm and the HP-48x graphing calculators can be made to do this...
it is considerably easier to do this with the palm, including programming it, as its development is considerably easier than WinCE...
just an FYI
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars --Oscar Wilde
Grrr. my nick is "Forward the Light Brigade"...
i thought you should no that said harrmon/kardon remote runs a microsoft product...
yep thats right, its a basterd sibbling of WinCE
I got a catalog a while ago called "Sony Xtras Direct" or something. They have a sweet-looking remote control with a huge LCD that they claim is "a programmable, teachable remote" that can "control up to 12 different items, including teaching it to recall multiple command sequences with a single touch." They have a website, http://www.sony.com/direct/, but I haven't looked for it there. The quoted price is $179.99. I would think it's worth looking into, given the one you're talking about it quite a bit more expensive.
while i havent used this one a few years back i had a programable remote
that you aimed the original remote
at the base of it and programmed keys to store the code for each function
it even had a macro settup it worked great!!!!
was only like $40
I cant recall who it was made by at the moment
It got lost in a move and i havent been able to find one like it since:{:{:{:{
so yes it can be done!
That is why no true techie should ever buy that type of remote. The _real_ universal remote is programmable. The average lay-person is completely confused by these, as they require you to sit with all of your remotes and send the IR signal to the remote so that it can learn the appropriate signal. Hence, these remotes are generally classified as learning remotes. The down-side? Well, the learning remote has no error-checking, so "Volume up" could get programmed as "Turn on the toaster", given the right equipment. That's not a problem for most semi-knowledgable techies, though. The other downside is that, unlike preset remotes, you need a working original remote to begin. This could be a problem if you're looking for a new remote because the last one was crushed by your 2-ton Lego Mindstorms robot.
It sounds like the remote you're looking at is a learning remote. I don't know anything about that one in particular off-hand, but you should be able to comparison shop the multiple learning remotes. I know there are decent articles about this--I'll try to find one and post a reply in this message about it.
~=Keelor
The Philips Pronto is the mother of all remote controls. Check: www.philipsmagnavox.com This remote does it all: you can design your own user interface on the PC and download your creation into the remote. It is simply great!
Marantz as had an "all-in-one" (a "learning" remote) for a few years. The model I have is the RC 2000, which can operate 10 devices and contains "soft pages" for programming special functions. It can also be setup with macros to do a string of commands like 1.) turn on TV 2.) turn on preamp/amp 3.) turn on VCR 4.) play vcr tape, etc. The Marantz's are/were running around US $250.
I believe the Phillips version runs their own OS, NOT WinCE (which supposedly does crash often, and needs to get reloaded from your PC). The other thing you should look at is a "Learning Remote". The Marantz one looks pretty nice, and I think you can digitally label the buttons for each setup. (i.e. different layouts and labels for Home Theater, VCR, etc). Just a thought.
I believe it's called the One4All Theatre or something similar.
It's a great remote, a friend of mine recommended to me. It's programmable to hold six devices, and can learn functions from other remotes.
Plus it has several user definable macros that allow you to turn on the receiver, tv, and dvd player (in a certain order) with one click. Can also change the channel to channel 4 or make your tv go to input 1 or something.
I know someone else with one of the $300 Sony remotes (came with his receiver though), it is basically a 5 line LCD with a scroll up/down thingie... the rest of the buttons are hidden. It's a great remote, if you can afford it, especially when you lose it in the seat cushions.
- Hugh Buchanan
- Userfriendly.com
Yes, but can it control your lights/linux box??!?!?!
This remote has been around for over a year now if I am not mistaken... Same as the more superior Philips Pronto. If you're going to spend the money, the Pronto is the better remote.
I wish I could remember the name, but there is a terrific system that is used in a lot of the conference rooms where I work.
= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Basically, you have a touch-screen pad that has an RF transmitter. The RF transmitter communicates with a box that you put near your A/V equipment. The box has a series of wires running out of it. At the end of each wire is an IR transmitter. You velcro the transmitter near the IR window on the device you want to control and run the wire back to the RF box.
To program the device, you basically point a remote at the IR window on the RF receiver and on the touchpad, a new button will appear. You tap out out the function name and file it under a device category.
Now, when you tap the touchpad, it sends a RF singal back to the box which then replays the stored IR signal out through the wire to the appropriate device.
RF means you can control pretty much everything in your house. You can also get multiple receivers for different A/V equipment. Where I work, the secretary for the high mucky-mucks has the touchpad that controls the equipment in all four of the executive conference rooms. You can even control lights with modules that wire into the receiver.
Slick slick system, but it costs at least a couple thousand. I'm know this post doesn't really have a whole lot of useful information, but my main point is to avoid consumer products. You are going to get crap. I've seen every consumer remote out there and they are all horrible.
Search the Internet for A/V dealers that sell high-end equipment for businesses. You will end up paying for it, but you can pretty much get a system that is perfect.
I'll shut up now and let people post the names of such high-end A/V suppliers, or even the name of the system I just described.
- JoeShmoe
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
is it really necessary to have a remote that does all that? i mean, come on.
Above receivers ( and probably more) can not be controlled by this remote....
If you're like me, you have a DVD and VCR. I happen to have a decent VCR, meaning there is a jog shuttle. I use this to edit, and cannot do without it. There is no universal remote that has a jog shuttle of any kind, making the whole concept of universal remote moot if you have decent video gear, let alone professional. I currently have the Marrantz remote of death (giant LCD, all of the words are changeable, unlike the Sorny universal remote), and it's great, except I can't turn off the LCD backlight (it comes on based on light changes, which means if it's windy, and it's next to the window, it goes on and off constantly) However, my model is 3 years old, and they seem to be on a newer generation of remote.
I think you answered your own question. :)
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http://st2.yahoo.net/e-town/theatunrem.html
Got one. It's awesome. Has 8 different device
modes, and presets for just about everything.
And anything it doesn't have presets for, it
can learn from your old remote. Now, if I can
only rember what buttons I program where...
---
I'm not a real anonymous coward, I just play one on TV.
My suggestion is that you get a Palm III (which can be obtained VERY cheaply--CNet Shopper reports that you can get one for as little as $175 new), and download and register a nifty little program called OmniRemote, which can be located at http://www.pacificneotek.com/omnisw.htm .
My experience with OmniRemote is wonderful. It really does work well, and it costs a fraction of that of a Take Control remote (buying which, I might add, generously contributes to Microsoft's coffers).
What I want to know is when will we be able to use our computer to do stuff like turn on the stereo? I can't wait to get my house wired... What'll you think of a remote control with a button labeled "House"?
Yes, it indeed does run a sort of windows CE variant...
:) There are a few companies that make remotes that don't use microsoft (well pretty much all of them), and have color LCD touch screens. They are highly customizeable as well, and will run up to 8 devices. I'm speaking of the one made by phast (www.phast.com). I'll let the website describe the rest.
But it's still a remote, there isn't any OS per say, it might as well be transparent. It does have a microsoft look/feel, though. Another company sells the same remote, madrigal. (www.madrigal.com) It's called the IRIQ. I think they charge more, however. My friend owns one, he says it's worked pretty well for him. I haven't used it myself though so I can't speak to how good it really is.
There is another alternative though, if you want to spend 2k or more
Basically you pay more money for more customizability. Check out a few issues of Home Theatre magazine, they always have ads for "universal remotes". There are a lot of options.
If you have a PalmPilot of some sort (I have a IIIe,) get OmniRemote, it is a God-Send. You draw all your own buttons, how you want them, you can even set up multiple "remotes", ie, different screens which you can draw any amount of buttons on you want.
To program these buttons you simply point your remote at the palms IR port, push the button on the remote, and bam, a button on OmniRemote now does what your remote does.
And hey, at $20, this is shareware you can afford, and will use for a LONG time!
I recently researched the LCD touchscreen
remotes. The best one is the Philips
Pronto, also sold as the Marantz RC 5000.
Extremely cool.
The Harmon Kardon Take Control, also sold
as the Madrigal IRIQ is second best.
The Sony is third, but could be called a Best
Buy based on its price.
Goto http://www.remotecentral.com/ for a
bunch of great information.
Personally, I like the DIY version: Linux
running on a palm pilot with a home brew
application.
You don't even have to do anything to make the Palm Pilot work - there's an application called PalmRemote that'll record any IR input and play it back on demand.
The cool thing about this is that you can have up to 14 different 'remotes' to choose from - and you get to build them the way you want by simply drawing 'buttons' on the screen. Additionally, you can assign 'macros' to buttons that trigger multiple actions. Sadly, it's not free or open source - but $20 is a far cry from $300 (and it doesn't run wince).
Ever since I saw this, I've been wanting to head down to Circuit City and learn all of the remotes down there and then... head down to the local sports bar and keep hitting the 'all TVs to the cartoon network' button. Muhahaha. The bonus here is that you'd look like you were working :)
Culture is more than commerce
the palm IR is pretty weak intensity-wise. i looked into doing this myself, but if you go to the URL where they sell the software to do this stuff, they also sell an amplifier that attaches to your palm to extend the range. otherwise the bare range of the pilot can be as short as a couple of feet and strongly contingent on your battery level.
anyhow, i think what the guy was asking about was being able to hit 'play cd'(or whatever) without having to manually configure the system state, ie, switching to the cd input, turning on the cd player, etc. on my tv, i've got three different video input channels and i've got to switch to a particular channel to watch dvd, or the vcr, etc. this initial setup, prior to the 'play' event is what needs to be automated and this is what the current crop of universal remotes doesn't do. they're just lookup tables for common buttons on remotes.
in theory, you could take the palm remote prog and program the whole sequence of button-down events that would correspond to a given final state.
now if someone wants to figure out how to jack up the IR intensity of the palm, that would be supercool. i figure another hack would be to solder together a teeny transponder box that sits near you, within range, and just echoes your palm IR but at higher intensity.
of course, if you were an uber-geek, you would just program a microcontroller yourself to do all the sequential button events, and swap out the circuitry in a uni-remote with your own.
Go to www.remotecentral.com to find the best. I own a pronto and it kicks butt. The major difference for me was teh Phillips will 'learn' anything while the HK comes with a defined preset # of learned functions. Plus Microsoft made the HK....
I control:
an NAD cd-player, a Barco projector, an SSI Dolby Decoder, all three of which are very high end and very esoteric, as well as my Sony/Matsushita/Etc. equipment, all from a very funky front-end which I've put together with: TV-station logos for the channels (no more typing in 2-1-enter-oops-wrong-channel),screens for things like "Theatre", "Music", "Television",and all in a handy, backlit unit with the most powerful IR LED's I've seen.
Go buy one. Now.
=-)
mindslip
Yes, there are devices like this that do work. However, there is a device called the HP48GX that is easily programmed, has a large user base, and supports many devices, and can easily learn new ones. The HP48GX can also run a multitude of games and other programs. It can even do trig and calculus.
Oh, yea... its a calculator... But it works and is very cheap. Only $129.
Take a look at HP's site
There is a neat Palmpilot program called Omniremote. I tested it and was able to control every equipment I wanted using IR. It does have a limited range, but I am able to control my stereo, TV and CD-Player from the other side of my room (~5 meters).
It has even be considered a security problem for some cars (I guess some Mercedes model) that use a IR code for unlocking the door. So people who had access to your key could copy it much more easily than a conventional key.
Well, a Palmpilot IIIe can be found for $179. So paying $300 for an All-in-one remote is WAY TOO MUCH .
Yes, the palmpilot does have a limited range. But I heard of a device that you can attach to it to amplify the IR Beam, thus greatly extending its range. I have no idea of the price, but I belive it will go for about $50. Anyone ?
-
Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
Microsoft and Harmon remote
Sony RM-AV2000
Philips Pronto
the buttons look small.. if you are like me, you don't look at the remote much when flipping through. Some universal remotes have a switch that change the functionality from one to another (JVC has a cool one -- too bad it works with no audio devices). Something to this effect needs to be done on a wider scale.
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
Can I use that to control my TV? :-)
\\'
I used to run the OmniRemote software by Pacific NeoTek. This tool allows you to record a signal from a device (or a set of signals) and replay them back. So you would point your TV remote at the IR port, hit record on OmniRemote, press "channel up", stop recording and label the "button" you recorded into "Ch+".
The problem was that the built in IR port was too weak. It couldn't control anything more than 2 feet away. So it was just a cute toy that has no practical value.
There are hardware add ons that give you a longer range (or an IR port if you don't have one), but I haven't tried them. There is the OmniRemote Module also by NeoTek for $20 (a lot less than the $300 above, even if you have to buy a used Palm), and TaleBeam for $30 (sorry, $29.95). Apparently there is no software for the TaleBeam yet.
-no broken link
I saw these demonstrated at CES 99 (Consumer Electronics Show). These are as far as remotes go, very solid, well built, feature laden remotes.
At risk of starting an off topic post-wave, something worth noting is that these remotes have software by Microsoft in them; at CES this was touted as a HK/MS joint project.
If this product interests you, there is also a product made by Marantz, the RC5000, that is comparable. The Marantz product is also marketed by their parent company, Philips, as the Pronto. The Pronto is smaller and lighter but feels less well built than the Take Control.
If this product is too expensive / overkill for you, Sony has an AV2000 remote that has a large touch LCD panel on it. It is not as programmable as the other two, however, $100-150 is not too bad for something like this.
Of course if this all doesn't amuse you, you can always invest about $10k into an AMX 10.4" active matrix LCD touchpanel/Axcent system. My work sent me to a training seminar for the AMX systems, these things are sweeet, they have 6 RS-232 ports, and the ability to control almost anything in your house or business. If AMX doesn't have support for your device directly, you can add it easily.
Things you may want to see:
http://www.amx.com - Very cool touchpanel system
http://www.phast.com - AMX's more home oriented division.
http://www.marantz.com - RC5000
http://www.pronto.philips.com - Pronto remote
Sorry if I get a bit long winded about this stuff, it's the field I work in.
-Dan5184
I can only comment on what I use on a regular basis, the Sony Remote Commander RM-V2000 (even the name is cool). This remote kicks some serious ass. It has 12 different modes (tv,vcr1,vcr2,vcr3,dvd,dbs/cable,amp,cd,md/dat/dec k b/a,tuner,option) and a huge backlit, touch-sensative LCD display. All of the buttons are programmable and the remote can "learn" your existing remotes if they are not pre-programmed. The remote also features 3 macro buttons that let you set a number of commands (like turn the tv on, turn to video 1 mode, turn the amp on and put it in DVD mode, and then turn the dvd player on and press the play button) that can then be accessed at the touch of a button. It can also learn other IR products, like lights and window shades (if you've got IR controlled window shades, you have a bigger problem than finding an all-in-one remote). I believe this is the same remote people posted about earlier. I got it at a sony dealer here in town for $125, definitely worth the money. Sorry, I don't have a URL to sony's page, I'm too lazy. hope that helps. laters.
geek77
If what you say is true..... then I still don't care.
I bought a Philips Pronto, a similar product, just last night. This is one of the coolest products Philips has ever released. I decided to buy the Pronto over the Harmon Kardon for a few reasons. First, the Harmon Kardon was co-developed with Microsoft. I don't trust a software company who can't make software with making consumer electronics. That's just me tho'. Second, the screen is not as big. Third, it has NO WHERE NEAR the expandability that the Pronto has. --!Switching to Plug mode!-- The Pronto has a meg of flash and is completely programmable. You can learn commands sent at frequencies of up to 56KHz, so that will cover most consumer-grade remotes. I have completely programmed my Pronto to control my TV (Picture-in-Picture as well), my DVD player, my Amp, and my 50CD jukebox. The touch screen is more than responsive enough for my needs. You can download pre-programmed configuration files for common components of your home audio/video system on to your PC, and then download those files over a serial port to the Pronto. Firmware upgrades are also available through the PC software. The list price on the Pronto is $399 but I got mine for $275. I can't say where, but you can get them from J&R for I believe $300. If you want the rechargable pack, you need to pay another $80, so I skipped on that and am using Double A's (4 of them). I've been told one set of batteries will get you about 6 months of normal usage. Phillips has certainly outdone themselves on this one. I'm really happy with mine. Some sites you may want to check out if interested: Remote Central - reviews of both the Harmon Kardon, Pronto, and another similar Sony product, features&specs lists, cool stuff Remote Central Review of the Pronto - nice review, nice pictures Philips Pronto site - nice pictures of the unit Pronto Edit - this is the free software you can use to download to/update the Pronto Pretty sweet unit, I highly reccomend it.
~=Keelor
X-10 has a really cool remote that I have found to work quite well. It's called the Learning Super-Remote. There are two versions, make sure you get the learning one. This baby has three communication methods built in, IR send like any remote, IR recieve so you can point the original remote at it and program functions, and a radio transmitter so you can control your X-10 Firecracker modules with it. I have my whole apartment wired, so not only is my whole entertainment system controlled by my remote, my lights and popcorn maker are too. Isn't technology grand?
Tell a man that there are 400 Billion stars and he'll believe you
The AMX is definately the way to go if money is no object, they have a wireless controller with a 6" color LCD touch screen that uses a 2 way 2.4 Ghz connection to the base unit. The docking station is also a recharger, they even have a version that has NTSC video input and the controls are overlaid on top of the video. The AMX system can control almost anything. Im completely fascinated by these things, but not enough to spend my life savings on one...
My parents at home have a home theatre setup that is powered by a Marantz Learning Remote... I believe it runs about 300$US, and it is completely programmable, inculding a 4 screen menu for each different function (TV, CD, LD, DVD, SAT, etc.) and each of these can be programmed, along with the real buttons at the bottom. Eukaryote
Personally, I would never buy a
touchscreen remote. I surf by feel.
The best CHEAP remote is the One4All
Cinima-7, less than $20 at WallMart.
Basically, if it supports your device,
it supports ALL features of that device,
although you may have to search for the
feature code and assign it to a key.
It's more flexible than the box or the
manual advertises (features they advertise
on their higher priced remotes). Search
dejanews for details.
It's about the same price, but it is incredible. It is MUCH more flexible then the HK and 100% microsoft free. There is a Windows (uggh) program that allows you to change the layout and functionality of this remote. Basically, it's the ONLY remote to have. I believe Marantz sells the same remote (with a MUCH cooler coler). It is pricey, but worth every penny.
You could use an HP48GX (49?) With the remote control program... you sample the IR signals you want to program on it and voila! as many devices as you want and much more affordable than 300....
Take a look here for the skinny. Make sure you get one of the ones with IR capability. This is almost certainly overkill for any home application, though. But it DOES do ANYTHING.
Seriously, is there anything preventing my laptop, which communicates with other computers through an IR port, from comminicating with my TV, stereo, etc? Why hasn't the computer industry made this mainstream already? Don't you think most people would want to be able to control most of their home electronics from their computer? Think about all the possibilities. A simple program could control your TV, CD player/stereo, have timers set up for them ... so many possibilities, and with current voice recognition software, you could do it all without pushing a button, oh and of course ... you would NEVER have to worry about losing your remote again (when was the last time you missplaced your computer???) But the question remains ... can this be done and if so, why has it not been done already??
If you own a TI graphing calc, there is a handy add-on called the ir-link that makes it relatively easy to record and send IR signals.
All it would take would be someone to program (in assembly, of course) a nice little app that would record and save the signals for each category of equipment. A simplified version of this already exists, and it would need only a bit of tweaking to make a nice GUI, etc.
The only downside is that you have to build the link yourself, and own a TI calc...
We have JVC CD, JVC Dual Cassette Tape Deck, JVC Stereo Receiver, Two JVC VCRs, Hughts DirecTV DSS, and a Sharp TV.
Our one remote (www.oneforall.com) is handling just about everything we need. I never need to use anything else, though my wife does a lot of recording with the tape decks, and there are some features we haven't programmed.
It basically handles AMP, TUN, TV, CBL, CD, VCR, SAL, AUX1, & Home Theater. Those are dedicated buttons, the rest handle the various features.
I highly recommend it. We use a standard IR version, but there's also a radio version.
The one we have, model URC-8080B00 is top notch. It cost about $90 USD at Best Buy, about 2 years ago. It's been dropped, slammed, sat on, you name it (we have a 4.5 year old boy ).
Just about all the buttons are reprogramable, and you can program "macros", though I didn't see the point...I don't mind pressing a few buttons in the right sequence.
I can't recommend this product enough.
Give a hand, not a hand-out.
Also, I reccommend a course in set theory.
Also, if you really wanted to, you could probably whip something up in hypercard and run it on a mac plus emulator or something...
- Programmability - pre-programming is NEVER enough;
- Macros - true convenience is turning everything on/off with one button;
- Ergonomic design, with key shapes and arrangements your hand can find its way around without looking. Astonishing how many are just a grid of identical buttons...)
- Under $100
It doesn't exist. The $300 items violate the last spec and also the ergonomics since you can't feel them at all. (At least the one I'm aware of is just a touch display with virtual buttons".)The odd thing is that I'm sure it could exist since there are two runners-up that come close, for under $30 US. Both are great ergonomically and for price, and each does ONE of the other two specs.
One For All 6 Universal Remote
(Universal Electronics, Inc. $15-$20US) With "Powered by Motorola" logo, incidentally.
A universal, but a good one as these go - and it has a tedious key-sequence for creating macro keys of codes it already knows. The manual offers the ability to have keys custom-programmed, if you don't mind sending them back to the factory and paying an amount they wouldn't discuss by E-mail. The E-mail exchange left me cold and I dropped the matter. The Macro feature is great, but since it's a Universal, you of course are always missing a feature you use often enough - like making my VCR pop up the screen display so I can see what time-point the tape is at.
Radio Shack 7 in 1 Universal Remote Control
(15-1924 in the RS catalog, $40-$50 US)
This one is programmable, but it doesn't do macros...argh. And the previous remote had spoiled me for them.
Also, there's a funny limitation to the programming. If you're programming the keys when they're prefixed by, say, VCR being the current device, you often can't put in a TV or Receiver code. Sometimes, but not always. It just gives you the three-flash "error" signal when you send in the signal from the other remote. So you can rarely mix devices. Since my receiver is always the volume control device no matter what I'm getting the signal from (tape, laserdisc, airwaves), it means you're constantly jumping back and forth between devices.
I judge remotes by whether my wife, who hates them all, can use it..and the device-jumping was a showstopper for her.
It seems to me that the chip running the thing just needs to be a *little* more featureful - and they've got to include macros. And a few more buttons to program.
I'm sure they can do that much for under twice the price of the Radio Shack. It dumbfounds me that the hotly competitive consumer electronics industry hasn't already done this. What are they thinking?
I have the same woes.
It appears to be impossible to find a good remote.
Check this site for a ton of info. Beware, big companies give this guy free remotes so don't expect a hell of a lot of journalistic integry anywhere but the user forums.
For cheap and good, the SL-9000 does look quite nice. I've never tried it though. It has decent punch-through and macro options (most important).
For high-end, the Philips one looks pretty good but I don't really like those screens because you actually have to look at it to get to a button. I can hit most of the buttons on my five separate remotes (works for now, I'm afraid of the lost functionality of multi-remotes). There is also the fact that you can't fit a hell of a lot of buttons on those screens, you'll probably find yourself scrolling a lot.
If you like those screens and want something kind of cheap, there is software you can get for a palm but the IR port isn't all that high-powered. I heard somewhere (can't remember where) that there will be a remote control addition to the Visor.
My advice: a number of high-end home theatre stores will let you bring a remote home to try it out. Do this and don't buy anything fancy unless you need the functionality.
I have also thought about designing my own remote. Simply use a PIC, a 2-wire EEPROM, a serial port, and a load of buttons and you can program your remote graphically on your PC. A lot of low-level remote info can be found through the LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control) project. This way you can get a remote that does pretty much anything you want and you won't have to worry about setting punch-throughs, macros, switching between components, etc. The software would allow you to print a sheet which you can cut up and place under a clear plastic cover on your remote that has the key names on it. Some remotes have little stickers that you can place under the buttons so that would be an option (although not so elegant) as well.
Yes, I'm very serious about designing my own remote. I have done much thought on it. I want it to be as good or better quality than commercial remotes. If anyone is interested in helping out/discussing it email me and we'll maybe set up a mailing list and web page, etc.
- The IR output is stronger on the Pronto. It operates my equipment no matter where I point the Pronto. I needed to point the Take Control directly at the equipment.
- The Pronto desktop software (ProntoEdit) is easier to use than the Take Control software. I programmed the Pronto in a fraction of the time it took to do the same tasks with the Take Control.
- ProntoEdit comes with an emulator for the device. No need to wait for the download to try things out.
- ProntoEdit supports import from other configuration files. The Take Control does not. Import is a huge feature. There's a large body of configurations availabe at Remote Central.
- The Pronto is more configurable. You can use your own bitmaps, assign macros to any button, and so on. Take a look at these configuration files to see what people are doing with the thing.
- The wheel button on the Take Control is annoying to use. The conventional hard buttons on the Pronto work better.
- There are more hard buttons on the Pronto.
- The contrast on the Pronto screen is higher.
- The batteries last longer on the Pronto.
I could go on. I love the Pronto. I think that the Take Control is a piece of sh*t compared to the Pronto.I know one of the developers from MS who worked on the Take Control. He tells me that it does not use WinCE.
A remote control cannot be called "universal" unless it can control every single electronic device in your house. The most popular and easiest way to do this is with X10, the home automation standard. You probably already know what X10 is and what it can do, so I'd just like to point out a remote that can control tv's, vcr's, etc, and it can also send out X10 commands:
http://www.x10.com/products/x10_ur47a.htm
I think there are a few similar models on that site. Look around. But remember, it's gotta have X10 or it's not really universal.
Doesn't some Palms have programmable infrared thingies. Remember that fuss about copying keyless car entry things a while back. You could probably use that to copy all your current remotes.
One thing that you could do that would probably be a pretty bad idea but fun nevertheless would be to take a lot of PC-7 (non-critical 50-50 mixture epoxy), and glue all the remotes that you have to your arm...it would be like a mini home-entertainment center control headquarters.
.{redmist}.
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That said, a bunch of my friends got some remotes that you program by beaming ordinary remote signals into, and they are hella cool. I think they paid something like $20 for them several years ago, but that was because they got a discount from a friend who worked at a place that sold them. The moral of the story is that you can (or at least could) get truly programmable remotes for a reasonable price.
-- $SIGNATURE
My Marantz receiver came with a universal remote that I'm quite impressed with. It comes, of course, with Marantz codes pre-programmed, and since they're owned by Philips all of the PhilipsMagnavox codes are ready to go, too.
It cannot interface with a PC, but it can clone itself to another RC-18SR or RC-2000. Don't know about the RC-5000.
They're quite pricy by themselves, $250-300. Worth it? The rest of the family can operate this pretty well, which is actually an improvement over the collection of remotes that preceded it. Nice backlit buttons and LCD display (which isn't touch-sensitive -- it uses all real buttons). I doubt I would have bought one myself, but now that I've used it I would recommend it if you can afford it.
I've seen plans on the net for circuits you can build, but I'd rather pay about $10-20 for a prebuilt one.
JMC
I have a casio replacement remote that I picked up at circuit city (of all places).. the cool thing about this one is that it "learns" ANY button by reading the signal from the existing remote.
Just put the casio in "read" mode, point the remote at a sensor on the casio, and press the button. boom. no codes, dip switches, etc. blah!
It also had a selector switch for up to five different devices.. it got a little confusing, because it had a bank of twelve unmarked buttons in a grid. total of 40 buttons x 5 settings = 200 different remote buttons can be programmed.
I picked this thing up about two years ago but recently packed it away. Wish I had the model number. Hrmm.. I remember seeing a gemini brand remote that did the same thing as mine, but was slimmer looking.
What you need is a PalmPilot + the Omniremote software. They even sell a hardware add on if you don't have IR.
Goto http://www.pacificneotek.com/
BTW, this is the gear the guys at the HackFurby project use - http://www.homestead.com/hackfurby/
And when you perfect your IR floodlamp remote please don't distrub my daily viewings of Manimal and Joni Loves Chachi.
http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/ Look under the IR section. There's one where you can use your PC to send IR signals through the serial port, and a couple universal remotes that you can build yourslef.
You can get a serial IR emitter/reciever for your PC. Plugs right into the serial port, doesn't need batteries. Then just have your system watch for codes coming down the serial port and act appropriately (So you could instruct the computer to manipulate X10 devices via a remote.)
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Omniremote does most things well. Once you put an IR expander on the end, it has everything you might need except for mushy buttons.
It should just be a matter of figuring out what data is coming in on the IR port and spitting it back out again. You could also do this with a PC and one of those IR emitters you can get down at CompUSA for $30. It would be kind of cool to sit down at the PC and drive your whole audio/video entertainment center.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Yes, that's a good solution. The problem is that the normal Palm IR is pretty weak. Read the user testimonials to see the range.
You either have to get an IR extender (fairly cheap and useful) or instead of buying a Palm, buy a Visor. User reports indicate that they have punch-through-the-walls power IR. I have no idea why they'd do that -- but that's WAY cool. Nobody's yet reported a maximum range for remote control (but there are very few people who have Visors yet); the people who have tried gave up after getting out of sight of their devices.
I can think of a use, though. Imagine an entire classroom set up as a distributed network -- during a test.
-Billy
If you want some more info contact me at kevin_brown@uswest.net
The Woz made the ultimate IR remote a few years back, called the "Cloud 9", it could learn any other remote and was fully programmable. Of course, it was 65C02 based.
A rare find indeed, the market was not ready for that much remote.
They've got the One for All remotes, which (at least in the 7-device kind that I bought) control a very wide range of devices. The kicker is that it has 4 "learn" buttons that, for each device can be set to anything that device's remote can send out. That should cover all the main functions of any specialty remote. Hell - it's even got PIP and VCR controls built in. At $29.95, it beats the PalmPilot and HP-48 options in price.
this guys site gives reviews, etc. for all these remotes everyone's been talking about... cya! ben (grymm)
Panja (formerly AMX) or Crestron is the way to go. Both offer a wide variety of wired and wireless remotes (both IR and RF flavors) that communicate to a proprietary CPU that sends outs commands via IR or rs232/422. They're really cool, and work well, but the cost is a little prohibitive to most of us who live off of an IT staffmembers salary. Both units are completly programmable using (again) a proprietary language that is unique to the system (AMX looks a lot like C, I belive Crestron is more working with modules than code) but allows very robust control of whatever you are using.
EveryDNS. Use it. It works.
AC's need not reply
Funny someone should bring up IR remotes and controlling your Linux box with an X10 system. Just last week I built an IR reciever with 5 dollars worth of Rat Shack components and use it with the lircd daemon. It runs great. I can control my mp3s from my remote, use it as an IR mouse, I have a button that speaks the time, I wrote some alarm clock software, and the remote has my sleep button (and configurable delay.) The most ironic part of it, of course, is that I'm using an X10 8in1 remote. One of the buttons on this remote tells my Firecracker to turn on and off my lights. Its a trippy circle.
http://fsinfo.cs.uni-sb.de/~columbus/lirc/index
Since some people are asking about using their laptop's IrDA port to control consumer electronic devices, I'll point them to LIRC, the Linux Infrared Remote Control project. More information can be found at the above site.
Things I'd be concerned about, though:
- What exactly is the range of the IrDA port?
- Where is the IrDA port physically located?
Another possibility is the serial port gizmo that the site describes. I can see definite advantages with it:
- It's currently supported.
- It would likely be mounted on the back of the computer. This way, if you're sitting watching TV with your laptop in your lap, the IR LED will be pointed at the TV, instead of off to the side or at your stomach. Even if your laptop's serial port is in some wierd location, you can modify the device's design to make the LED point in the right direction.
- It can be used with laptops with no IrDA ports, or even desktops.
I got this beastie... the SL-9000 Home Theater Master. Runs about $100. Also comes with the recent B&K receivers / pre-amps. It's fully programmable, and has a TON of presets for various components (have that weird-ass Nakamichi tape drive? It's there). It's also button-oriented, vs touch-pad, which I prefer. Only drawback is that it shared the arrow functions with the play / ff / rv / stop, which is annoying for the DVD as you then program some of the other keys for that.
I forget the URL, but it's pretty easy to find with reasonable search engines like MetaCrawler (www.metacrawler.com).
-e
I bought a really nice remote for about $130 US. The Home Theater Master SL-9000. It has an LCD display, and will control anything on IR. It has codes for just about every stereo console unit, and if it doesn't you can program it in. It actually provided more functionality for some devices than the remote they came with! It has illumination for all the buttons and LCD too. 4 AAA batteries incl. If you get/build a universal reciever then you're all set for your computer too. Same company also has a touch screen remote coming out soon.
Check it out at www.hometheatermaster.com
Well I dont know about you but i have been using an interesting device fora couple of years now. Your local AV store should have one:
It has a fairly standard set of buttons (on/off/play/no. pad/ff/rw etc) but you have to programme each button. This is done by hitting a learn buttin holding down the button you wish to programme and pressing the button on the original remote, with the two remotes touching.
It has a selector switch, and in each position of the said selector switch the buttons do whatever they are programmed to do in that mode.
Mine Cost me $US 30 ($AU 55).....
I have heard good things about the Phillips Pronto/Marantz RC-5000. This remote uses a touchscreen instead of physical buttons, and offers a very high degree of customizability. (Regrettably, only through Windows, as far as I know.) I have never used one myself, and suspect I would not like it; I prefer to have physical buttons.
You can get remote control software for the Pilot. (An impressive achievement, since speaking remote protocols through a UART is decidedly non-trivial; I'd love to know how they did it.) The Pilot's IR range is very low, however, and I find the interface to be very clunky. I don't belive you'll ever be able to match the convenience of a single-purpose remote with a Pilot.
Whatever you go with, definitely try before you buy. Tastes vary wildly when it comes to remotes.
There are lots of 'do it all' remotes out there. Sure, a Palm, a wince device or even a laptop can do this, but there are lots of remotes that you can point a remote at and they'll record what it says and assign it to button X as well. The problem with those is usually thnt to assign is not something you want to click once, or something like that.
The flash stuff in this market is really in the 'home automation' crowd. Check out SmartHome for some really good stuff, and at least an intro to the area.
There are some really neat devices out there which are remote controllable, using RF rather than IR (which means it works through walls, couches and so forth) and which output IR to your favourite devices. Snazzy!
Of course, once you start reading about this stuff a remote isn't enough - you want to be just chatting away to your house and having it tell you when the _important_ email arrives... :-)
Regards,
Andrew.
I'm still waiting for a remote which also acts as a mobile or semi-mobile phone for the ultimate in couch potato toys.
:-)
If it can read email and web pages too it'd make Star Trek tricorders look old fashioned
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
the Apple MessagePad? I recall seeing a nice little app for it called Showmate that would let you control all of your favourite entertainment appliances. The drawback is the Newton's IR signal was weak so you needed to be within ten feet of the device and it only worked with five brands of electronics.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
---------
To hell with you, I never liked you, you are no friend of mine...
check out this: turn your pc into infrared remote control http://www.dodgies.demon.co.uk
I once had a casio watch that could learn IR-codes from other remotes. It worked perfectly. Real fun when you're watching video at your school :) Anyhow. The thing costed dfl 120...I think that's about $60. And that for a watch, so I think the $300 you're talking about is a bit expensive. You can still buy those watches btw. They have a huge set of preprogrammed codes which are really if you're in a tv-shop:)
0x or or snor perron?!
I don't know much about the HK product you mention, but I have a universal remote (mine is branded Cambridge Audio Multimedia Explorer but I have seen the same product with different names).
What it basically consists of is a LCD touch panel (backlit) about the width of a palmpilot but about 1.5x longer, with a "learning" sensor at the back and a very powerful IR emitter on the front.
The way it works it quite interesting. At the bottom of the screen are 8 buttons, labelled CD, TV, VCR, Sat etc. When you press one of these the buttons on the rest of the screen change to reflect that applicances' functions. So if you switch to VCR from TV, shuttle control buttons appear, and the surround sound stuff goes (in my case). All the buttons are dumb to start with, you point the existing remote at the back to teach it each function during setup. Also, should your device not support one of the functions for which there is a button, you can switch it off so it doesn't clutter the display.
So that's the practical stuff. Now the importanct stuff - the "wow" factor. 3 things here...people love the fact it changes all it's button labels as you switch mode. The backlight is very cool (touch the screen and it lights up, after a few seconds it _fades_ out...none of this crappy switching off here!! Also it has a macro mode (!) so you can program multiple actions to a single button. So yes, you could have a single button "TV off, CD play, volume low, lights dim, blinds close" romance mode if you really wanted to.
All in all very swish, but quite pricey at about £100 ($160), and it eats batteries like you would not believe.
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
Saw one of these years ago, but can't find one now.
With a VCR+ capable universal remote, a computer interface and a little software it's concievable that you could point and click your taping of TV shows (similar to TVIO but without the monthly charge), allowing for the ultimate timeshifting/comercial avoiding experience.
Plus, if you have to have a cable box for HBO or something, you won't have to wory about paying $$$ for a VCR+ GOLD capable VCR.
Perhaps having this on a universal is the wrong way to go, if you leave the remote under a pillow your show won't get recorded. However, if you have a PC in the living room that you leave on all the time (anyone know how loud those new HotWheels PC's are?) and an IR port for your PC (I know my micronics W6-LI PPro MB has a connector for an IR port, do the newer motherboards????)
Has anyone "cracked" VCR+? Seems like it would be "easy" to make a program that sucks the codes off the web (does www.tvguide.com have vcr+?) and lets you automaticaly schedule your recording.
trikster2@hotmail.com
A friend of mine bought the TV remote software for his palm pilot and his only complaint is the short range of the pilot's IR beam, other than that he thought it was the best remote he had ever had. Right now he's looking for a way to boost the signal.....
If people were meant to go around nude, they would be born that way!
I've got the A/V Producer 8 by UIEC and it controls everything... except for my Carver tuner. Apparently Carver uses a higher frequency for its I/R port which universal remotes don't use.
What it does control it controls admirably though.
I'd buy a Palm Pilot if I knew that it would be able to control my Carver CT-26v.
...could you advise a URL of such a thing?
See email link, above, also, if you know.
Levine
I especially like the fact that the batteries for the backlight are separate from the batteries for the remote memory...that's just intelligent design.
"But always she's the spectre of uncertainty I first endured, then faded, then embraced..."
- "Master" buttons for 10 devices. (They call them "function selection" buttons.) These change both the keypad programming and, optionally, can cause your receiver (for example) to switch inputs.
- Each "master" selection allows unique programming for most of the keypad and all 32 soft-keys (which are selected in four pages of eight each).
- Labels for soft-keys and their display pages are programmable.
- Four macro keys. You can actually re-edit the macro sequences without having to re-write 'em from scratch. But it's a bit tricky.
- Green back-lighting of the display and keys. Automatically enabled by room ambient light. (With fresh batteries, is it ever bright!)
- Programmable back-lighting for
I've had my Marantz RC2000 for a couple years now. It's controlling:- Auto-on when ambient light goes down
- On-time duration
- Disable entirely (I think)
It also has a "light on" key conveniently located on the side. Handy for checking what's presently "selected" without triggering anything.And I have plenty of keys left over. Including an entire section for a DSS box.
In the past, I've also controlled:
The thing is powerful. In my 14' x 22' room, I can aim the thing just about anywhere reasonable and it triggers the target devices.
The user's manual is pretty good. The key layout is pretty good, IMO.
But the unit also has its down-sides :-(.
Final analysis? I like it well enough not to feel the urge to replace it. But I would check the field for what's currently available before buying one again.
Price? I believe they commonly sell for about US$250.00. I think you'll find them only at high-end audio/home-theater stores.
I had a room mate that took a 2x6 and cut it to about 24 inches in length... then put velcro on the board and all his remotes... and stuck 'em to the board. He'd spend hours on the couch with this thing across his lap... fit perfectly! PLUS you never accidentally sit on this thing!
An all-in-one IR remote is all well and good
but my Dish Network satellite box and remote
use UHF. No IR remote in the universe is
gonna do me any good, no matter how programmable
it is!
--'puter Geezer
IIRC, it's wince based..
Your Working Boy,
a friend of mine was at one time playing with the possibility of using an old newton or newer palm (with the irda port) as his own universal remote. he basically was planning on programming the thing to do whatever he wanted. i THINK he said that he got a fair amount of success.
i want to live life, not just go through the motions
I'm not sure if it's available separately or not, but Pioneer has a remote control (for their VSX-29TX receiver) that sounds perfect.
There's a little flash demo at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/features/9907-El ite_Remote4.asp
and the page that describes it more fully is
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/features/9907-El ite_Remote1.asp
Maybe if enough people ask, they'll sell it separately.
Is any one interested in an AXCESS Programming system for linux? I've been tinkering with reverse engineering this system for a few weeks. It doesn't look too difficult. email me if you are interested.
troy.farrell@NOSPAM.wilcom.com
I find that the easiest way to get everything in one package is to consolidate everything onto my computer (computer, TV, stereo / home theater, telephone, lights, fan, etc...) with the help of X10.
To make this a remote setup, just get a cordless keyboard / mouse from Logitech and whip together a remote program.
*insert pithy sig here*
with my dvd/reciever/cd changer/tv/vcr setup, i've found that sony's 'av commander' that comes packed with their recievers is the best. it controls my toshiba dvd, my generic vcr, my 50 disc changer, my tv, and the reciever without any problems. two enthusiastic thumbs up! -mac
As others have suggested: goto www.remotecentral.com the Pronto (made by phillips and marants) is the ultimate solution it can be modified into form you want. While the inital learning curve is steep, and all IR codes have to be added individually. they are constantly adding newly discovered codes on various fan sites so you don't have to so the grunt work. it's got a wide beam of dispersal and excellent range, so you can use it in a long room with out worrying about pinpoint accuracy. This remote rocks. The microsoft based remote comes with 250+ prebuilt codes on a cd, so it's easier to get up and running. though, if you've found /. you shouldn't have any probs... and learning new codes on this thing can be a pain. the older marantz remote (2200 mkii) is great but ALL the buttons need to be programmed....and eats batteries like a pig. Executive summary: buy the pronto for versatility, capabilities and battery charging. HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
The radio shack wuper-duper remote is terrific. I have used a few of them...
It is RF and IR, so it can send RF signals to the base (which relays as IR to your stuff) even when you are in another room (or out sitting on the crapper)
The base can relay X-10 signals to your equipment, but you are limited to 9 at a time.
The universal support is good. Most everything works. It has standard features like overriding VCR/CBL so you could control three different TVs. The last time I tried, there were some undocumented features, like assigning a TV vol buttong to be vol when in VCR mode.
It has a couple of macro buttons....So the complex routines of startup and shutdown can be automated.
The new models have LCD and back lighting.
It is a bitch to program. I spent a few hours with mine.
The only problem I found is that some buttons may crap out after heavy use... Maybe the new ones are better.
Only $50 on sale, may $80 regular...
BTW- I set mine up where the remote thinks my amp is the TV button, and I use the VCR to change channels. This way, in VCR moode, since VCR doesn't have a volume it uses the TV mode volume (which is the now the amp) The remote thinks the CBL is the TV, so to turn on the TV, I hit CBL on...
I have seen a CRESTRON color panel remote and controller.. but for TRUE intergratio, ya cant beat the adcom ball system, or the interface for the runco 200 disk sar 200 dvd changer.... thumbnails of all the currently inserted dvds
There's gotta be software to do this...
:-)
Scenario: A Perl Script running on your laptop that loads TVGuide's webpage, and when you select the show you want to record, it programs the cable box and the VCR and what-not with all the appropriate codes and stuff via the IR port in the laptop. Of course, it'd also let you build "contral panels" for all your IR controlled devices. And you could literally "teach" the software by pointing your various remotes at the computer's IR port.
I've been contemplating writing something like this for a while... but since I'm inherantly lazy, I've been waiting to see if someone else would do it first
+~+~+~+~+~+~+
All disagreements boil down to "my orgasm is bigger than your orgasm". -- Solomon Short
I own a HP 48G calculator, and it too has an IR port. The positive things are : ;-)
- the send part is high-powered enough (at least on the HP), but this is due to the high grade of quality most of these top-notch calculators have.
- you have the added bonus that virtually all software for it is free. You even have a very nice remote program for the HP, completely free, with a lot of preprogrammed remotes.
- you never run out of buttons to assign things to (calculators have a LOT of buttons
- it's also a calculator !
The downside is it's bulky and ugly as hell, and rather expensive too (although low-end models like the HP 48S aren't _that_ expensive, and they too have an IR port)
Another negative part about the HP in specific is the small frequency range, which doesn't allow it to emulate all remotes.
I can't seem to find the specific entry for this model on Sony's website, but they apparently offer it as the standard remote for their big screen TVs now. I picked one up at a local Sony store. For about $90, it replaced my VCR, TV, DVD, amp, etc. remotes. It's a little big, but it's got a nice backlit blue LCD screen, is completely programmable, etc. You have to pick from preselected labels for the buttons on the screen, but I found everything I wanted there. Several nice features, including an easy way to link the volume in all states to the volume of your amp. Also three "system state" buttons... I programmed one each for watching TV, video tapes, and DVDs. Each turns on the appropriate items, sets the amp to the correct source, puts the tv on the appropriate input, etc. Very nice remote, and reduced clutter in my living room to nothing. Very easy to find due to size. =)
Incidentally, I learned a little known fact about most TVs in doing the programming of this remote... If you want to have a button that lands you on Video 2, for example, in the course of doing other things, you may think you're screwed because you don't know what video source you were on before that. With only one button that says "TV/Video", how do you properly switch among N sources? It turns out that (with Sonys, and I'm sure many others) you can hold down the TV/Video button while you press the number corresponding to the source you want to watch. Very handy!! Spread the word!
If you've got a Palm III (or a palm pilot equipped with a IR port), theres' a program called OmniRemote made by Pacific Neo-Tek (http://www.pacificneotek.com/) that'll turn your palm into a remote. The nice thing is that it's cheap, the neat thing is that it runs off your palm, and the even-neater-than-neat thing is that instead of coming with a long list of manufacturers IR codes, it reads the functions off your remote control. Say, to program it to control your DVD player, you'd create a new category called 'DVD Player', place a power button on screen, click the power button, then point your remote control at the palm's IR port and press the power button on it. Voila! It's an awsome product. Really cool.
I had the same problem, and this thing set me up.
If you're serious about your home theatre and you prefer to have top quality system, then shelling out around $300 for a remote is a drop in the hat. I can easily pay that much for speaker wires. Trying to play around with the Palm just doesn't seem worth it, and buying an "all-in-one" for $30 will definetly not work no matter what the pretty box says.
I came across a remote that has it all about a year ago:
Marantz RC2000
It's programmable, has a large LCD screen that you can change, and it can control almost anything including your Craftmatic Adjustable Bed. It was ~$250 when I checked it out, it's probably cheaper now.
I just noticed that they have made a newer, sleaker model. It looks great, and it comes with software to program the device. It even has a rechargeable battery pack. I don't know the price on this one, but I'd say in the $300-400 range.
So if you want a quality product to go along with your high quality system, go with the Marantz, or the Harman Kardon. If you just want a cheap fix, go with the other solutions. You will get what you pay for.
--cr
Last time I saw my cousin, who is currently working on a doctorate in computer science, said he is working on a project like this with some other people at his university... But that's about all I remember about it. =(
I myself use my Palm V to control all of my components, however I have seen 2 better solutions. Both Marantz and Philips make learning remotes that are back-lit, learning, and have huge lcds. Though if you have a Palm, you can save yourself about $200, though you probably won't get the range that these remotes offer.
Anyway, this remote is very nice. It is pre-programmed for all sorts of equipment, plus it has a whole extra pad of buttons that can learn from other remotes. And buttons can be swapped around (for example, I've programmed the Volume buttons on the "CD" mode to control the stereo volume.) It also has a macro feature, so you can make one button two a sequence of 5 other things. (or whatever).
But, now here's the really cool part! I was surfing around for some more info about this remote a couple of months ago, and found a web page that describes a RS232 adaptor that plugs into other models of this same brand of remote. They have a 3-pin connector in the battery compartment, and apparently can be controlled from your computer. So, I opened up my battery cover, and sure enough - it has a connector! The thing is, though, mine has a 6-pin connector. So I don't think the exact adaptor for the other ones would work with mine. But, it should definitely be RS232 compatible.
So you can plug the remote into your computer, and the computer can basically control the remote. Tell it to simulate button presses, essentially. I'm not much of an EE guy, so I haven't taken the time to figure out the 6-pin connector on my remote, but it does have that possibility if somebody wants to hack on one!
So.. The Pro Producer 7 remote. URL is http://www.oneforall.com/. Learning, macro functinos, and apparently can be interfaced with RS232 with the right adaptor.
-Joel
I have a learning remote i bought years ago from DAK, i control my stereo,tv,sattelite dish, vcr, and cd player with it. anyone know if DAK is still in business
Gareth Branwyn's Street Tech site has reviews of a few of the programmable remotes. No rip-n-read press release fluff, but real, "I used this and here's what's good and here's what's bad about it" kinds of reviews. Most of the ultra-programmable remotes are indeed rather expensive, but I know I've probably spent that much on just random remotes looking for just one that'll let me program my VCR again.
I've been using SL-9000 and I'm pretty happy about it. It's programmable - if SL-9000 does not have built-in codes for your device, it can always learn the trick from original remote.
It can assign a sequence of commands to some of the buttons. It comes pretty handy when you want to turn on/off cable box/TV/ VCR all at once.
The most useful feature is that you can assign any function to any button if you have original remotes. I've set up my SL9000 that it controls TV/CABLE/VCR without mode switching and the button layout is the one *I* think is right, not the menufacturer. :-)
All in all, Once I've set everything up, I've never used other remotes ever since.
Did I mention it's damn powerful? I can point it in any direction in a room and it works perfectly.
For $100 it's hard to beat if you have more than 1 device to control, and it's simply essential if some of your devices have weird features other "universal" RC manufacturers didn't think about. Before RC-9000 I tried several such RCs and neither was able to control my digital cable box.
Some people might call this overkill, or even crazy, but I found a solution that works well, and is open source and relatively cheap.
I have small IR LEDs taped next to the IR windows on my VCR and TV. They are connected to a Parallax BASIC Stamp that accepts signals from my linux computer's serial port, and generates the IR signals. (with the help of a 555 chip to modulate it at 40khz).
I use X10 on all the lights in the room, and I have an ActiveHome X10 transciever on the computer. I use heyu, some perl scripts, and xtend with the ActiveHome.
I can use an X10 remote, the command line, or a small Perl/Tk app to control my lights, my TV/VCR, or even Netscape.
-- 2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2
I've owned the Philips Pronto for about 3 months. I don't have an extraordinary home theater system, but it is complex enough that I have never found a universal remote up to the task until now. Learning remotes are good, but they never have the right buttons on them, but they always have a bunch of buttons I'll never use cluttering up the remote. Sony's RM-AV2000 remote is nice, but it still limits you to their pre-defined button names. AFAIK, the only remotes that allow you to create dynamic button names are the Harmon-Kardon Take Control and the Philips Pronto/Marantz RC5000. Between those two, only the Pronto allows you to actually design the GUI. This feature alone wins me. It allows me to replicate the button look of the original remote, or more often, use a completely different layout that is more appropriate to my usage style. The unit comes with the Pronto Edit (win95) software and a serial cable, which allow you to edit all the graphic panels, learn and assign IR codes, save and load device files, import BMP graphics, etc. If you decide to go with the Pronto, make sure to check out the files section of http://www.remotecentral.com They have device files for many components, as well as alternate button graphics, etc.
Philips' propaganda is available at:
http://www.pronto.philips.com/
Unless every piece of your system comes from the same company, then you are going to have to use more than one remote. How often do you really change some settings. I can turn on all of my components with one remote, but that had more to do with which piece plugged into who. Example: the TV into the cable box into the VCR on and on and on.
I have a big bag full of two cents and I'm coming your way.
The real solution is to get rid of all your separate devices. Why buy a stereo, a VCR, a TV, etc.. when you can do almost everything with your PC??
Then you can control all your "media players" (i.e. the PC) with one remote through your PC's IR port.
There's some software out there that lets you do this already.. and it's free at
www.winremote.com
Just a note on this subject, http://home-automation.org has a Hardware -> Remote Controls section that covers pretty much every that has been mentioned here about remotes. It's a good source for everything you want to know about them, or at least how to find the info you want.
Is there a programable IR interface w/ Mindstorms? (I haven't bought any yet.. bills :P) It'd be fun to have a remote that was made of legos. :)
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Woz's remote was called the CORE (Cloud 9 was the company name.) I believe it was the first memorizing programmable remote control on the market.
I owned one (still do, it's around here somewhere...) The thing was a complete piece of junk. Programming it was like using a combination of assembler and APL, it had lousy range, and it burned through its batteries in about two weeks (forgetting all its programming, of course.)
It did have buttons labelled 0 through F, though, which I thought was cute...
It was a very neat device for the time, and definitely groundbreaking. But as far as being a usable remote control -- well, sadly, no. It wasn't that the market wasn't ready for it, it was that the thing just wasn't any good.
Look for them, they're common at Future Shop here.
They look like your generic per-programmed universal, but past the $30 model, they aren't..
I have a quite old One-For-All Home Theater, cost me $60 CDN some years ago.. Out of the box, it's a fully macroable (any sequence you want, no pauses though), completely redefinable (any key to any code or macro), 6 mode remote..
At one point I mailed it back to All-For-One to get it upgraded for the codes for my obscure Sherwood amp, which they where very good about.. Even sent me a spare before I had to send them the remote.
Final perk, a little 4 pin port hidden inside the battery flap.. This has been hacked by the net now and allows you to make a little cable and interface it to windows or linux in a variety of ways, similar to one of those homebrew IR gizmos.
If you want more then that, I suggest doing the hacked Palm or HP48 thing.
The Harmon Kardon is OK, but there are better ones. If you want a really complete universal that does not require software to change it, try the Marantz RC2000. If you want a good one that does require software, try the Marantz RC5000. Marantz makes far better stuff than HK. Also Adcom makes a REALLY advanced system that you could look at.
You should be able to do this with IrDa.
Philips makes an awesome remote that is programmable and does not run winCE. Info at www.pronto.philips.com
Worth it? That depends on lots of stuff. How serous you are about getting one, how much money you've got, how many other toys are higher on the "I-want" list and so on. Simply, that depends.
Granted there are better remotes out there, but for only 110 there is no way to beat the functionality. Check out www.remotecentral.com for a full review of the sony, the philips, and others. Plus there is a message board to ask users how they feel.
There is a remote from X10 called the MouseRemote and it sells for $25. Its RF so you don't need any line of sight. It will control your computer, tv, vcr, dvd, etc. Plus there is a program which will control Winamp with the X10 MouseRemote. Someone wrote software for it that is better than the included software. He puts the source up and everything. I bet you could port it to linux if you so wanted. It looks pretty awesome. Here is the link: http://www.x10.com/products/x10_mk19a.htm
Almost any infared device can be programmed to act as a remote for any number of devices, including, but not limited to, cd players, lights, whatever.
A friend of mine programmed his graphing calculator to replace our remote control, and he also made it so that it would control a bunch of other devices.
(you can mail him: dsummers "at" warren-wilson.edu)
--Danka, who likes kids, but wouldn't want to eat one
In brief, here are the main points of Pronto vs. Pilot:
- With its own IR transmitter, the Pilot is pretty much useles as a remote (you need to be about 3-4 feet from the device, which is too close). However, there is a little gadget that plugs into the cradle port and is supposed to extend the range, which I haven't tried.
- The Pilot's screen is too small to accomodate enough buttons (personally, I'd be happier even if the Pronto had a bigger screen, which is already much bigger than the Palm's).
- If, like me, you like the lights low when watching movies, then the Pilot will eat up batteries in no time (whereas the Pronto's batteries tend to last much longer for this particular use -- even without the charging cradle, I don't really have a problem, I change batteries every 2-3 months, and I use it evey day for at least an hour).
Now, for the Pronto vs. Take Control, I do not have personal experience with the latter, but as far as I've read (mostly when trying to decide):If you want more information about these and other programmable remotes, an excellent site is:
www.remotecentral.com
Finally, for the Pronto, you do not have to take my (or anyone's) word: There is a user community at www.prontoedit.com, with links to the Pronto emulator (runs under MS Windoze) and many CCFs (that is configuration files with screens, commands, macros, etc etc that you can incorporate into your own... designs and download into Pronto). Good luck!
Have a look at these sites for cool programmable control systems ("remote" is too small a word for these ;-):
Of course now we're out from the $300-400 price range... more like $700-$2000 (sic)! Happy drooling! ;-)
I have a universal remote that I got several years ago, it was one of the first "universal" ones on the market, and it has a little eye on the back of the remote. You set the TV/VCR/etc remote behind it, press program, press the button you want on the original remote, then press the button where you want it to be set to and its all set... the universal remote has like 6 modes so you can use 6 or so devices, and it has like tons of buttons, most are labeled but it has lots of unlabeled ones too and a place to write something for them.. and it'll work with any remote, doesnt matter what kind or anything, it captures all signals.. its really neat, and we only spent like $40 I think, maybe less, it was pretty cheap and its awesome, still works... but it uses like 8 AA batteries and they dont last as long because it also has a huge LCD display that can be illuminated... I dunno if they still sell 'em, I havent seen any like it since, but its nice :)
my blog sucks, does yours?
Though I haven't seen just the remote for sale by itself... And they've got neato lit keypads. (Unless you hit your brother with it, breaking the button..domestic violence is bad, mmmkay?)
This Mouse works great with my VCR and all of my housemates VCR's. Works good with the TV's in the house too. I got mine with the X-10 DVD anywhere video transmitter.
The SL-9000 is probably what you're looking for. I hate to drop in a shameless plug, but we sell it online at http://www.futurestandard.com for $95.
It is a pre-programmed remote that can learn over 300 additional codes. It supports macros, has keys for practically everything you need, and can control up to 8 devices. Yadda yadaa yadda...
It puts most other remotes to shame. The same company will have a touchscreen version out in about 4 weeks. Street price should be around $200. This remote will have several 'hard' buttons, with a configurable touchscreen at the top.
BTW, the TakeControl is bulky and clunky, we sell those too, but not too many.
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It had an LCD screen and 4 buttons so you could scrol through the commands you had recoreded and pick the one you wanted. You could also build you own groups so preset your system or to move your antena when you changed channels. I think it could also interface with your computer so you could download and edit you programs.
I think with these plans, a free OS, and a good bit of updating could make a realy good remote.
There seems to be two markets for universal remote controls:
1) The geek market (eg Slashdot Readers) which are quite happy to do their own remote programming (This seems to have been covered by the previous comments);
2) The mass consumer market - none of the solutions proposed so far would appeal to the general public. My proposal is as follows:
Hardware: any PDA type device with a touch sensitive screen of roughly the size of a Palm Pilot (although size variations could easily be accomodated)
Operating System: any (Linux would be the obvious choice)
Software: the remote control unit itself would contain a cut-down version of a browser, able to parse XML. Each device (VCR, TV, HiFi, CD Player, etc) would contain documents (in XML) which define the buttons and information to be displayed on the PDA and the functionality to occur when the button is pressed eg what code the remote should send to the unit.
The browser would include some simple mechanism for switching between hardware eg a set of tabs across the top or bottom (or sides), one tab for each piece of hardware.
The software in the VCR and other units (and the remote control itself) could be updated via the internet (through the PDA).
An XML standard would need to be created and then evolve to handle generic remote control of hardware. This standard could be used for nearly all hardware devices, eg all home appliances, all office equipment, vehicles etc.
Transmission of the signal could be either Infrared or wireless (eg BlueTooth).
The XML documents stored in the hardware units should be customizable for anyone to change (either on the PDA itself, or via upload to and change on a personal computer), otherwise intelligent people everywhere (aka geeks) would be reluctant to buy in.
Advantages: indefinitely upgradeable, handles multiple form factors, and is easy to use.
Disadvantages: lack of tactile feedback when you pushed the 'buttons'; you would need a backlight to operate the unit in low light conditions {eg while watching TV)} which would affect battery performance.
What do you think? Is this a useful Universal Remote Control or am I missing something?
Michael Richards
There is a small gadget that will extend the IR range of the Palm. It is sold by the same people that makes the OmniRemote program....
No, this is not another shameless X10.com plug :)
X10.com has the Learning Remote, and it should pretty much do what you're looking for. Here's a direct link:
http://www.x10.com/products/x10_ur24a.htm
It's cheap, and you can probably pick it up 'for free' if you get some other crap from their site.
It has your typical preprogrammed set of IR codes for many devices. But it can also learn--you just hit the record button, stick your source remote in front of the thing, and transmit/capture. That makes it possible to have it memorize the codes for whatever bizarre remotes that you have.
[I have it, and it works...for the most part. I've found some quirks with it, but those quirks only seemed to be because I was programming several different devices into one set of 'presets.' I was setting the 'VCR' presets to do the volume up/down on my stereo, the channel up/down the channels on the VCR, and the 'mute' to be power on the TV. It didn't seem to like memorizing this broad range of frequencies for one function (VCR, in this case) I could program to the individual buttons ('TV' just for TV stuff, 'VCR' just for VCR stuff) just fine.]
The best I have seen is the Lexicon 700T, also has an RF version. Very $$$$ but will do it all.