Not Remotely Useful
Written: May 11 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: RCA name-brand, learning sensor at bottom instead of top
Cons: Overcomplicated and underuseful macro process, no backlighting, underutilized LCD
The Bottom Line: Skip it. You can find a much better remote from another manufacturer for about the same price.
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| robotech_master's Full Review: RCA RCU807 LCD Remote Control |
I did not have this unit for long enough to give it a thorough test, but I had it long enough to determine that it did not meet my needs.
For me, the major drawback was the limited macro programming ability. It can only store up to six keypresses—and the whole reason I was buying a universal remote in the first place was to automate a process on my TV set that requires 11 button pushes.
Furthermore, "learning" a macro is a long and arduous process that requires approximately three to four button-pushes per programmed keypress—split between the RCA remote and the "original" remote that you're learning from. That's right—as far as I could tell, you can't set up a macro without another remote control from which to learn it, which makes it useless if you've lost your original remote. Compare this to the remote I eventually ended up getting (and intend to review subsequently), the All-For-One model 8910, which is almost entirely self-contained and allows you to enter the keystroke sequence on the remote itself. And the icing on the cake is that executing a macro requires two keypresses—one at the top of and one at the bottom of the remote.
To be fair, one nice feature is that the remote has its learning sensor on the bottom of the remote instead of at the top with the emitter, so you don't have to hold two remotes upside-down to each other to learn a keypress. But one nice feature does not a useful remote make.
Add to this the lack of backlighting or even glow-in-the-dark keys, the LCD display that doesn't do much except be a clock, and the fact that the remote gives preference to RCA equipment (you can turn "all RCA devices" off with one keystroke but not something sensible like "all programmed devices") and this remote quickly went back for exchange.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
robotech_master
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Member: Chris Meadows
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 3 members
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