Best universal remote?

[ericscottf]

Hi all

I'm looking to replace the hd200 remote with one that is a bit more friendly.
I really really liked my replaytv remote, so something similar would be nice.

Things i'm looking for in a remote:
1) Doesn't need to be taught or learned to work with sage (i find that learning results in slow response on receivers, results in different button patterns for the 3 units i plan on having, and is too tedious)
2) nice comfy fit with important buttons like play/pause in a neutral holding position
3) has at least all of the buttons necessary to use sage fully through the hd200, a few extras for macros/etc would be nice.
4) doesn't have LCD screens and such so that i have to spend a fortune and change batteries every month.

Can the HD200 "learn" buttons from another remote? Could i just repurpose my old replaytv remote for use with sage?

Any suggestions?

[sic0048]

I use a Harmony 550 and it is pretty good. It isn't the perfect remote because the "Guide" Info" "Exit" and "Menu" buttons are a little small. I actually like the LCD screen. It's small enough (4 customizable buttons) and B&W that it doesn't kill battery life (I get well over a month per 4xAAA batteries). But being able to have custom names for buttons is really nice. This way you can add a "delete" button for example and everyone that uses the remote will know what the button is for.

Without customizable labels, even if you can program a remote to have a delete button, you have to reuse a button that is labeled something else. Then the users have to remember to press the * button to delete, etc, etc.

If you are patient you can find them for $50 or less (sometimes refurbished, sometimes new).

EDIT - actually you can get the similar Harmony 520 right now for $42.99 + shipping (refurbished)

[JetreL]

I use a Harmony 550 too and it replaced my Harmony 880. Both very good remotes! WAF is/was pretty high on both. Found the 550 on sale so bought it at the same price as the 520 refurb.

[ericscottf]

I'm going to need 3 of these things, and i can't justify paying 120 per for the 880.
Do the 550 and 520s have good button coverage, such that all common tasks can be done from them? (viewing, setting up favs, etc)

thanks

[sic0048]

That is the nice thing about the LCD screen, you can create any buttons that are missing from the normal remote. You can create many customized buttons and scroll through pages of them if necessary.

Your buttons can also be different for each task. So the customized buttons that show when I "Watch TV" are different from the buttons when I "Watch SageTV" or "Watch DVD"

So weird buttons like"Delete", "Online Services", "Set Watched", etc, etc are extremely easy to add and very intuitive for the user.

If you have a Best Buy close to you, I would recommend that you check stock for the Harmony 510. It is close enough to the 520 and 550 to give you an idea if you will like the remote or not. See if you can go and hold it, play with it, etc. Opinions on remotes are very personal, you need to make sure you like how it feels and operates before you spend a lot of money getting them. Just my 2 cents.

[mayamaniac]

The current Harmony One is best in terms of form and function. It has good button layout and the design is sleek. Too bad its $200 right now, just way too much for me. I'm waiting for it to drop down to under $100.

I got the Harmony 880 for $80 and after using it for a year, I still don't like the button layout and design. I'm not sure what people are raving about when they talk about the 880.

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

The current Harmony One is best in terms of form and function. It has good button layout and the design is sleek.

Agreed except its a touch screen... I can't feel my way around the remote without looking at it... very annoying.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by razrsharpe

Agreed except its a touch screen... I can't feel my way around the remote without looking at it... very annoying.

The Harmony One has a pretty good set of physical buttons. You pretty much just need to look at the touch screen to switch activities or to use relatively obscure buttons or macros. You're going to have a hard time finding a universal remote with a lot more physical buttons than the Harmony One.

The Harmony 900 is actually a little better. That adds red-green-yellow-blue buttons, which is a nice feature.

[SDeGonge]

If you want to go "cheap" I recommend the WR7 universal remote. For under $20 you get...

- Good preprogrammed database
- Full backlight
- Learning
- Macros
- Great ergonomic design
- Good IR signal strength

The drawbacks...
- No DVD Menu button but you can assign one of the extra buttons for that.
- No "Back" key but I taught the "Exit" key to do that.
- No manual code entry, you have to learn from another remote.
- No programming it via PC

I use two of these, one for the main system and one for the HD200. For me it's perfect because now the wife only needs to learn one remote and she's all set!

[stanger89]

Unfortunately the URC MX-880 is the best remote (by quite a bit) I've ever used. The URC R50 is decent but not quite as good. I really don't like the Harmony remotes, they just don't feel very good IMO and the tiny buttons are horrible. The One might be better but it doesn't do RF which I required when I got my MX880.

Personally I'm lusting for an MX-5000, it's got WiFi And haptic touchscreen

[Oats]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

If you want to go "cheap" I recommend the WR7 universal remote. For under $20 you get...

- Good preprogrammed database
- Full backlight
- Learning
- Macros
- Great ergonomic design
- Good IR signal strength

The drawbacks...
- No DVD Menu button but you can assign one of the extra buttons for that.
- No "Back" key but I taught the "Exit" key to do that.
- No manual code entry, you have to learn from another remote.
- No programming it via PC

I use two of these, one for the main system and one for the HD200. For me it's perfect because now the wife only needs to learn one remote and she's all set!

I just ordered a WR7 yesterday after reading a lot of good things about it.

[toony]

I can't for the life of me get my Harmony to program the Home button!

It says it's programmed but I can't get back to home or just go back to the previous menu... did you guys have to manual program it?

[ericscottf]

With these universal remotes
is there a preprogrammed sage codeset?
Or
do they need to be taught/learned from the original remote?
Or
do sage codes mirror some other common codeset?
Or
Something completely different?

thanks

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by ericscottf

With these universal remotes
is there a preprogrammed sage codeset?
Or
do they need to be taught/learned from the original remote?
Or
do sage codes mirror some other common codeset?
Or
Something completely different?

thanks

harmony has preprogrammed codes for the HD200 and for the MCE remote (which the sage pc client understands).... I can't speak to other brand remotes and other remote setups for sage pc clients

[ericscottf]

Right, I should have mentioned that I only care about HD200 remote replacements, as that's my only viewing device (2 more arrive tomorrow!). I won't be pointing a remote at a computer for my tv viewing.

[ericscottf]

Two questions:

1)Is it possible to, instead of getting a remote to learn, reprogram the HD200 to allow use of any remote? That would be really really neat! Isn't it possible to do this with the sage PC client? That would make me think it might be possible with the HD200...

2)Will the hauppauge remote that came with my PVRs work with the hd200?

thanks!

[stanger89]

1) Yes, you can program the HD200 to listen to most remotes.

2) I think it responds to hauppauge remotes.

And URC has Sage codes in it's database too.

[Oats]

I got my URC WR7 yesterday and so far like it very much. I am using it on a PC client however. But it has codes in the back for the MCE remote and the Hauppauge remote if either of those work with the HD200 it should work fine.

[toricred]

@stanger I've got an R50 and I couldn't find any codes for Sage. Any clues where to look? I'd much rather do that than use learned codes.

[stanger89]

I think it's under the Aux device type/class.