I bought this remote on the last woot-off and at first I couldn’t get used to how it operated. Now I find it’s saved me from finding one of 6 remotes I was using for my home theater. It may not have USB capability but I found that the settings you set are actually written into the remote so when you change batteries you don’t have to reset everything! It may not be a harmony but for $40 you can’t go wrong with this one.
Agreed. I have an older model of the Philips Universal and out of the package it was very user friendly. I didn’t even have to RTFM more than once. The teach/learn feature roxor’s.
For $40 I honestly think you are better off checking out SlickDeals and wait until there is a Harmony remote going for around $50 (There is one from Amazon for $50 with free shipping)
I agree it is a battery muncher - with cheapo batteries or the best. I’m lucky to get 2-3 days on mine before it locks up usually on a white screen. I will be sending this pos back to phillips.
I bought this from Woot a month or so ago. I think it was during the last Woot-Off. I also have the DirecTV HD DVR, and this remote works with it, without a problem. There are a few codes that “work”, but you need to play around with it to find the one that works exactly right. Additionally, this remote can learn functions from your other remotes. So, you can have it set to the DVR, but teach the volume buttons to act as the TV volume buttons, and it saves you the time of switching devices on the remote. Same goes for Mute, etc. I have the Harmony 550 as well, and granted it’s a little better, but just that, a little. This is a decent remote. My only gripe is it doesn’t have the code for my Panasonic home theater system. Like I said though, you can teach it.
Not that some people might care, but this thing is a clunker. At 9" long and 2.25" wide, it’s a little unwieldy for a remote control. You pretty much have to hold it in one hand and push buttons with the other, rather than thumb-control it. I find it a bit annoying in that regard, but otherwise it’s got great functionality at a cheap price.
I bought one during the last woot-off. It has been working great, and I haven’t replaced the batteries yet. The default back-light setting was to stay on for like 20 seconds after you pushed a button, I did lower that to 3-4 seconds, that is probably why I don’t have a problem.
The “HIS” and “HERS” keys are completely pointless, especially considering that the “favorites” button will take you there as well.
One thing that people complain about on this remote is that it doesn’t support macros for more than one device, this isn’t true. When setting up a macro, you must assign it to a device and then you can pick from that device’s buttons. However, you can also learn steps in the macro from any other remote.
My only complaint about this remote is the lack of actual buttons for PIP, you have to use the soft keys. I would much rather have the soft keys than the thumbs up and thumbs down.