Widest leaning range, most flexible for the price
Written: Dec 07 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Widest learning range, incredible programming capabilities, lots of hard keys, all learnable, good key feedback
Cons: Weak LCD contrast, keys not backlit, backlighting turns off while programming, terrible manual.
The Bottom Line: If you can afford the Marantz RC1400, buy it. If not, this is the best in its price range. And there's no other choice for Pioneer Elite owners.
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| minhtx's Full Review: Sony RM-VL1000 LCD Remote Control |
Bought it refurbished for $47 at the Sony outlet, after buying the new RCA DLP HDTV, and realizing that its universal remote would not learn my Pioneer Elite receiver commands, and my receiver universal remote would not lean the TV.
I reviewed specs on all what was available in the market; the Prontos and the Home Theater Masters look wonderful, but they don't have the learning range necessary (Pioneer uses frequencies around 455 to 500KHz), so it was down to this one or the brand new Marantz RC1400. The Marantz is better to hold in the hand, has better backlighting, its Softkeys align better with its LCD, but it costs $169. Mind you, from and ergonomic standpoint, the Sony ain't bad, it holds well, the buttons are fairly positive, and the unobtrusive beeps to confirm the commands being sent out provide a nice feedback.
Sony's boast about learning range is completely true. No problem learning neither the TV nor the Receiver command, and I went through them all (including System Setup, arrows, soundfield modes on the receiver, and PIP, freeze-picture, menu, program guide on the TV). The presets are fair but include the common commands, so I ended up learning about 100 commands from my Receiver, HDTV, DVD and VCR. Thanks to the number of keys available, I was able to put most of the learned functions on fairly logic keys (e.g.: Display changes the TV aspect ratio on all component modes, Guide opens the Program Guide on TV mode but calls up the VCR input screen on VCR mode), except for some stretches (since the TV does not use transport keys, I assigned REW to Clear Input, FF to Change from Cable to Antenna, PLAY to Swap PIP and Main Screen, and STOP to Diplay Info).
The programming process is fairly logical, and uses well the LCD screen, which in itself will strain your eyesight since the backlighting goes off even while you're programming, and the LCD contrast is not very good. And the manual is terrible. It would have been much better if they only identified the conventions (Hold Setup for 2 seconds to enter, navigate using scroll button, any flashing label is programmable, non-flashing is not or has to be erased prior to programming, hold label for 2 seconds to change it prior to learning, hold label and push on Scroll at the same time to clear it), and showed the menu tree, and the identification of each mode using the top and bottom, non-soft-key labels. Once you understand the logic, and learn to always look at the top and bottom labels to know where you are, it becomes fairly intuitive and you can do it without using the manual any more.
I do appreciate that the component-switching labels can be programmed as macros (I use them to switch the input of the TV and the receiver), and the channel macro feature. I created 2 copies of my TV component (just use copy in the setup menu), erased all the features labels and programmed my favorite channels - there are 12 softkeys per components, scrollable in 3 screens of 4.
The infra-red range is decent, it is much less directional than the factory remotes I have, so I can point it towards the TV screen (50 inches diagonal), and it will reliably reach the receiver on top and the DVD and VCR below. But you can't comfortably read the LCD and push the buttons - you have to read, set your thumb on the right button, point the remote, and push the button. It's a pet peeve of mine that NONE of the remotes out there have an angled IR emitter, so that you can hold the Remote at 45 degrees for comfortable reading and key identification while you're commanding the equipment.
Things to be improved (are you listening, Sony?)
- LCD contrast and backlighting. The nice thing is that the LCD is always on, so you don't have to push a button to know which mode you are in, but the contrast should be better, the backlighting should use EL panels instead of the lowly side-lit LED, and, most importantly, the backlighting should remain on while programming or learning. Leaving it on as long as the setup mode is on would be perfect.
- Keys should be backlit (like the Marantz)
- Softkeys should be aligned with their labels
- IR emitter should be angled 45 degrees down
- Use the softkeys to allow quick-setting of capital A, lower case a, zero, and space while editing labels, to avoid having to scroll through the 60 or so possibilities (upper case and lower case letters, digits, and special symbols) to set each character.
- Allow "Enter" and "Right Arrow" in channel macros, HDTV need it to enter the digital sub-channel.
But, at the end of the day (literally), after 4 hours spent programming (4 presents, 40 labels, 100 learned keys, 7 macros, 18 channel macros), I was able to put all my other remotes in a drawer, and access ALL of the functions of my sophisticated home theater from this one remote. Can't ask for much more at that price!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
minhtx
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Reviews written: 4
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