Mad Catz PS2 DVD-Remote – Someone Call A Vet, This Cat’z On Its Last Life
Written: Jul 28 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice design, allows integration of television, VCR and PS2
Cons: Eats batteries like there’s no tomorrow, some electronics are not compatible with it.
The Bottom Line: Sick of using your PS2 controller to watch DVD’s? The Mad Catz PS2 Wireless Remote is a good pick, but certainly not the best on the market.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Mad Catz DVD Remote for PlayStation2 (8281) |
I’ve purchased a lot of Mad Catz products in the past and have never had any true complaints about them. There may have been a few after market products that didn’t feel good or give me good gaming control but that had nothing to do with the product. When we got our first Playstation 2 deck [we’ve gone through three so far] I wanted to be able to watch DVD’s on it when the kids were using the other players in the house. The PS2 controllers allowed you to operate the basic DVD functions like playing, stopping and navigating through scenes but you were limited when it came to accessing special features and easter eggs. I started looking for a DVD remote that was designed for use with the PS2 and the only one that I could find was the Mad Catz Wireless Remote. Priced at about $12.99 I decided to give it a try – it couldn’t be any worse than using the PS2 controller right? Think again…
Mad Catz PS2 Wireless DVD Remote Control
When you think of wireless remote controls you think of a single stand alone unit – this one is comprised of two parts; the actual remote control and the remote receiver that plugs into the front of the PS2 deck. Lose this receiver and you are out of luck because this is what sends the signal to the PS2 deck. When I first came across this I wasn’t too keen on having to keep track of this remote piece, if the PS2 were just for my own personal use it wouldn’t be a problem but with my brood, their memory cards, the influx of PS games and memory cards – it was a disaster waiting to happen if I didn’t keep a close eye on it.
The remote allows you to control your PS2, television and VCR providing that you can find the codes for later two in the provided booklet. There are buttons for mute, recalling the last channel and switching back and forth between the television and video [VCR]. There are several auxiliary buttons that may or may not work depending on the codes and how compatible they are with your television and VCR. Subtitle, sound and display are located in the middle of the remote and I’ve never had luck getting them to work regardless of the number of times I tried different codes. You get the basic DVD and VHS controls like play, stop, fast forward, rewind and scanning of both. The play and pause button is combined and makes for tricky maneuvering when the glow pad loses it’s power. If you have a fickle PS2 or VHS unit, this could mean losing your spot on the DVD or having the VHS deck eject the tape. In regards to the “glow pad” feature, this lasts anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes depending on how long it was exposed to light. It is a nice feature but I’d rather have one that lights up when a key is pressed, considering that this thing sucks the life out of batteries and stayed powered up for a long period of time, having a pressure triggered illumination pad couldn’t possible run down the batteries any faster.
For some strange reason Mad Catz also elected to add the PlayStation controls to the remote. The square, circle, triangle and cross buttons are located below the VHS and DVD options but the writing on the round little buttons is so small that it’s almost impossible to read them. It would have been easier to have the symbols on them rather than the words. The last set of function keys operate the channel and volume. The cross shaped rocker button is easy to operate but if you are a sloppy clicker and press from the middle there is a good chance that you’ll end up altering the volume instead of changing the channel. Its these small things that make me want to toss the remote in the trash – using a remote control shouldn’t be a bothersome task. The shape of the remote is nice and has a good feel in your hand but the under body design leaves something to be desired. It tips to the side a lot since the bottom part is rounded, there are four small little pegs that stick out from the remote that are supposed to stabilize it, but they are too small to get the job done. The face of the remote is pretty hard to clean and is a real dust magnet. You are best to try and use a Q-Tip to try and get between the buttons, I have no doubt in my mind that if any dust gets inside the remote it will make it even more quirky to operate.
Battery
The remote control requires the use of two AA batteries which are supplied with the unit. One of the nicest features of this remote it that the battery lid is attached to the remote so it is impossible to lose. Getting the batteries in and out isn’t a hard task but it does help to have a butter knife on hand to get the first one out. The batteries last about three weeks – which isn’t a long time for a remote. Unless mine is defective, this is a serious design flaw. When you use the remote the green power light stays lit for about ten to fifteen minutes before it dims out. This means that it is drawing power from the battery even when it’s not in use. The light is located in the top right corner and lets you know when it is losing power by changing to yellow [but only briefly] then to red. When it hits the red zone you have a few days to replace them before it dies all together and you lose your settings.
Remote Receiver
This small rectangular piece slides into your PS2 memory card slot and catches the infrared signal from the remote. The obvious drawback to this is that you need to remove it when you are playing a game and need both memory card slots to access past games or record progress. Now, let me clear this up – it isn’t required that you remove the remote receiver to operate a memory card because there is a slot under the infrared section where you can insert a memory card but it’s been my experience that there are some conflicts with reading the cards when they are used through the remote receiver. The unit itself does slide in and out of the memory card slot easily but at the same time, it can also be easily misplaced so when you go to use the remote you have to track it down. This doesn’t require any batteries so I am assuming that it draws power from the PS2 deck / memory card slot. The small purple plastic window that covers the front of the infrared needs to be kept clean so that it can catch the signal.
The Bottom Line
I guess you could say that I have a true love / hate relationship with this remote. On one hand it is a lot easier to use than the PS2 controller when watching DVD’s but the small buttons make it hard to maneuver through the screens and choices without making mistakes along the way. The battery life is another thing to be concerned with – three weeks and they need to be replaced? Even the remote control in the livingroom [that sees a hell of a lot of use] doesn’t go through them that fast and that’s a universal remote that controls the television, DVD player, cable box and VCR. There are almost an equal number of pros and cons to this remote but I think I can say in all honesty that there has to be a better one on the market. If you can find this on sale or on the clearance rack it would make a good purchase but if I had to do it all over again and knew what to expect from this remote, there’s no way I’d pay the suggested retail price.
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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