Where the heck is the X button?!?!
Written: May 29 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: PS2 styling, pass-thru port for game controller, most PS2-DVD remotes just as bad
Cons: Small, mushy nonresponsive buttons, incorrect buttons, poor range
The Bottom Line: It looks nice and most of the other PS2 remotes are just as bad. I think I would rather get up and use the game controller instead.
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| yusakugo's Full Review: Saitek DVD remote for PlayStation2 |
When I bought my PS2 when the units first came out, I noted the Saitek DVD PS2 controller... also, this was the only controller that the Kid's World (a.k.a. Really Huge Toys'R'Us) had on display. I figured it cost only $20 bucks and it would be cool to have a remote.
It's been 9 months now... although I still use the Saitek, I still don't like it. What's worse is that I haven't found another DVD controller on the market that I like.
The plusses
It looks good... the remote is thin with a jet black color and text in royal blue or white. The style is definitely like the PS2 and stylistically, the Saitek remote matches well with the PS2. The remote will give you the ability to perform most functions of a standard DVD player. It is a 12 button pad with a 4 direction D pad in the center. You only need 2 AAA batteries to power the thing. The infrared receiver installs to controller port 1. The nice thing about the receive is the game controller passthrough port. You can keep the remote and the game controller in the port at the same time. This does make the receive a bit bulky however... and other accessories may pay the price later.
Otherwise, I've run out of good things to say about the unit.
The very bad things about the Saitek
Oh my... Oh no. This is going to be a long section here.
First, the button responsiveness is horrible. I can keep pressing a button and if I'm lucky, the first press with trigger the correct response. Otherwise, I have sometimes pressed the buttons up to 5 times before the receiver accepted the command. I must note that the receive has a green LED that lights up when a remote button is pressed and the command is received. The LED button almost always lit up but the command never executed. So, I am unsure where the problem lies.
Second, the receiver accepts any infrared command. When pressing the buttons on my TV remote or VCR remote, I would often cause something strange to occur on my VCR... whether it was stopping the current DVD playback to rewinding the scene a little to brining up the menu function. The volume buttons on Sony remotes triggered the FF and RR commands when pressed. Note that the Saitek remote din't change the volume of the TV when I pressed FF or RR.
Third, the buttons on the remote are very mushy. They are soft and at times, they are hard to depress.
Fourth, decent range on the remote but no angle! What I mean is that anything varying more than 10 degree from a straight line from remote to the dead center of the receiver would not be picked up by the receiver. This absolutely reeks!
Fifth, the remote like many other PS2 remotes has a programming error. The stop button and the confirm burron are mixed up. When you press the confirm button, you are pressing the stop button in reality. The stop button is the actually X button or confirm button for the remote.
Overall
Get a little exercise guys, unless you are very patient and forgiving, this really isn't the remote for you. The Saitek remote is quite a disappointment especially with the companies excellent reputations on PC gaming flight sticks and even joypads to a lesser extent. I would play with other remotes than deal with the frustrations of this one again.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
yusakugo
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Member: Rich Go
Location: Somewhere in the NorthEast
Reviews written: 399
Trusted by: 497 members
About Me:
Losing Sleep and Lacking Time... sigh...
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