I have the following components in my home theatre/entertainment room:
-Panasonic flat screen TV
-Panasonic DVD Player
-Panasonic Home Theatre Amp
-Sony VCR
-Harmen/Kardon CD Deck
-Adcom Pre-Amp (no IR receiver)
-Rotel Power Amp (no IR receiver)
-Onkyo Tuner/Rec

As you can see, I am not completely "brand loyal" and I like to mix and match. Therefore, a universal remote is a must in this environment.

To be absolutely frank, I really did not need another universal remote since the Panasonic RC that came with the TV was more than adequate to control almost everything and I already had another universal remote in place. The truth is, I just wanted a new toy.

Once again, I did my research on epinions as well as other sites before buying this unit. I had considered the RCA, Philips Pronto, Radio Shack (!), as well as Sony RM-AV2500 and 3000. I settled for 3100 in the end.

Unit/Construction:
The form factor design is typical Sony sleekness. The unit seems well constructed, appears sturdy, and has an excellent overall finish. It is HUGE but it fits well in my hands. Those with smaller hands may find it unwieldy and hard to hold on to. Due to its heft, this is a unit that one may not feel comfortable left lying around on one's lap for a prolong period.

Given my experience with Sony products, I sincerely hope this unit can handle the day-in day-out wear and tear better, unlike some of its other cohorts.

Getting Started:
The initial configuration is simple and easy. Batteries (4 x AA) go in the back. Change the component control codes for each piece of the equipment, and voilà!

Most of the codes are easy to find, and most could be nailed done through trial and error. If the right codes are selected for the components, the out-of-the-box buttons for each components are rich and more than adequate for regular use. Within minutes, one can have the new RC talking to all the equipment and start using the unit on main components without further delay.

Learning:
The learning feature is one of the reasons behind the popularity of these universal remote controls. For the 3100, learning is very straight forward. One may end up spending more time deciding which button to assign the new function to, or figuring out how to re-label a soft key, than the actual learning process itself. Even so, the steps to learn a new signal is clearly detailed in the quick reference guide and the instructions are not hard to followed. With signal frequency up to 500kHz, capacity at 300 bits, this unit could pretty learn any IR signal you care to teach it.

Screen and visibility:
The unit comes with a large LCD screen and that is back-lit in beautiful light blue. The screen is touch-sensitive, dot matrix based, and has 32 soft keys. There are 16 settings for contract and two for brightness for this LCD. For something that is intended to be used in a dark home theatre, these settings are vital to the use of the unit.

The LCD backlight could be programmed to activate by almost every key (with the exception of channel +/-, volume +/-, recall and off keys) or just the "light" key. The default backlight duration is 10 seconds and it could be configured by the user.

The component buttons (TV, DVD, etc.) located directly under the LCD glow in the dark. Unfortunately, the glow tends to fade after 10 to 11 minutes. In a home theatre setting, one could take advantage of the alias function and other advanced features to program the unit such that there would be virtually no need to switch to other components in the dark during a movie.

Other Features:
The 3100 has a list of features that, quite frankly, could be an overkill for most people, including myself. But it is reassuring to know that they are there and the unit can "grow" with your equipment.

Some notable features:
*Controls up to 18 components
*Has 258 customizable labels on screen (up to 8 characters)
*45 macro commands with up to 32 steps each
*Macros could be programmed to component button - this is a huge feature for users who are not technically savvy or naturally geeky. For example, the DVD button on my unit is programmed to power on the TV, DVD, and the Amp, switch TV input to DVD, etc., so that my other half just holds the DVD button for 2 seconds then she is set to watch a movie.
*Clock
*Timer - a handy utility that ties the execution of commands to time of day, to the maximum of 12 timer macros.
*4 IR emitters for distance and spread - one could just point the unit in the general direction of the components and beam away.
*Alias - The ability to tie a function from a different screen/component to another. For example, the TV aspect ratio button could be tied to the DVD screen so one does not have to switch from DVD mode to TV just to modify the aspect ratio.
Channel Marcos - (a.k.a key macros) make it possible to program channel numbers into macro keys.
*Speed - the unit has virtually no wake-up time lag at all, and it executes long macros at lightening fast (relative to my other universal remote) speed.


Cons:
*User Manual - It is exceedingly awful! Convoluted, clunky, complicated, and sometimes just plain nonsensical. I believe the manual was first written in Japanese, translated to Swahili, then to Esperanto, and finally to English. Weighing in at 121 pages, the manual could be a nightmare to go through.
*Rest of the buttons do not glow in the dark and are not back-lit - Buttons like the 4-way pad, channels, volume, etc. do not glow or light up.
*Heavy - With four AA size batteries, the unit weighs close to a pound.
*LCD screen easy to smudge


Summary:
As mentioned earlier, the 3100 is an overkill for most users. But if you are a real techno geek, or you are looking for a URC that is extremely flexible, has high capacity, and is highly capable - and you do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for it - the Sony 3100 is definitely your best choice. If the sheer joy of configuring, fiddling, and programming a piece of equipment is something you live for, you will love this unit. If that joy somehow eludes you and you just want a good URC that is easy to use, the 3100 will make you happy as well.




Recommended: Yes