Great Remote!
Written: May 14 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cost, ease of use.
Cons: Not enough macros, does not automatically control all Sony products.
The Bottom Line: You NOT find a better remote for the money!
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| bobgong's Full Review: Sony RM-VL900 Remote Control |
After receiving my new Toshiba 42H82 RPTV from OneCall in January this year, I went searching for a universal remote to go with it using the $100 gift certificate that came with the TV. I was going to get the Sony RM VL1000 but settled on the Sony RM VL900 instead because of the reviews I've read on Epinions and other sites. With the $100 gift certificate, it was, essentially, free.
After having this remote for 5 months, I'm very happy with it. It controls my TV, VCR, cable box, DVD player, and surround sound receiver almost to the point where I never use any of their original remotes, except occasionally for my Hitachi DVD player (I ran out of buttons to program all the functions). The RM VL900 is user friendly once its all programmed. My wife and kids have no problem using it, and not once have I needed to reprogram it for whatever reason.
The macros are a definite plus, but I wish there were more than three. Five would have been nice. Right now, macro #1 is set to turn on/off the TV, cable box, and the receiver. Macro #2 Turns on the DVD player, sets the TV to the correct output and screen size, and changes the receiver input to DVD digital. Macro #3 changes the settings of macro #2 back to their original configuration. I would have liked to have had a few more macros to control different DVD setups and maybe one extra for the VCR.
There are a few strange things about this remote. One is that it could not automatically control my surround sound receiver even though it is a Sony brand receiver. The manual said it could, but, nope, I had to manually program each of the functions myself. Another is that the infrared signal it sends out is ill-timed. There is a way to adjust the speed of the signal, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Example: When I push macro #1 with the TV, receiver, and cable box on, it is set up to turn the receiver off last. Unfortunately, one infrared "ping" is not enough to turn the receiver off. I had to set it up to "ping" three times to finish the job or else the receiver turns back on again. I have the same problem with macro #2 when turning on the DVD player. It turns on, and then immediately turns off. I haven't figured out this problem yet (It may be fixable by altering the "ping" time).
All in all, I am very satisfied with it. To get a better remote you'd have to pay at least another $150. I'm glad I listened to you guys! Thanks!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bobgong
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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