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Friday, June 02, 2006
By Christina VanGinkel
A remote control is standard in nearly every modern home, and not only one, but oftentimes, several. In a typical family room for example, it is common to have one for the television, one for the DVD player, one for the satellite dish or cable box, and if you still have a VCR, usually one for that too. If you also happen to have a game system such as a Sony Playstation, you might also have a remote control for that.
In my own living room, we have three. One that controls the television itself, one for our combo DVD / VCR player, and one for the satellite dish. In our bedroom, we have two, one for the satellite box, and one for the television. We have a VCR in there too, but have to work it manually as we long ago lost the remote for it, and have never bothered to replace it. Our thirteen-year-old son also has several. One for his television, one for his stereo, one for his Sony Playstation2, and one for his computer as he has Windows Media installed, complete with a remote control and receiver. When I think about just how many remotes are scattered throughout our small home, it is enough to boggle one's mind. So with all of these in mind, when my husband mentioned that we really needed to replace the remote that powers our main television in the living room, I decided to see if there was some simpler way to deal with the issue of all of our remotes in general. What I found was perfect for my needs and easier than I ever thought the issue of remotes could be.
What I found were a class of remotes that are customizable and capable of controlling numerous devices. If you have a combination of electronics, this new class of remotes is more than capable of taking them all on. One that I considered, the Sony RM-AV2500 Remote Control, is actually capable of supporting each of the following electronic devices:
LD player, Amplifier, DAT deck, TV, VCR, Satellite TV system, Cassette deck, Cable box, DVD player, CD player, MD player
It has an LCD touch screen display, and operates via infrared technology, on four standard issue AA batteries, at a distance of up to 33 feet. Built in features include Memory Backup, fully Programmable, LCD Display, Built-in Clock, Learning, On/Off Timer, and Multi-brand Compatibility. Priced at around one hundred dollars, it might seem a bit high priced when compared to your typical remote control, but when I think of being able to control all of the electronics in one room, with one remote control, and having to keep batteries in only one, the price does not seem like that bad of a bargain.
Sony also makes the Sony RM-AV3100 Remote Control, with many of the same features as its more expensive counterpart, but at a price of less than eighty dollars. It supports all of the same devices as the Sony RM-AV2500, including LD players, Amplifiers, DAT decks, TV, VCR, Satellite TV systems, Cassette decks, Cable boxes, DVD players, CD players, and MD players.
Both of these Sony models look very similar to Pocket PC or Palm Pilots, but there are also several makes and models on the market that resemble what is typical when one considers what a remote control should look like. I liked the ease of these due to the larger screen size, and the fact that they both had touch screens, making maneuvering the menus easy and quick.
These are only a tiny sampling of the remote controls that I discovered that are capable of controlling numerous devices all at once. My favorite part of these new ones are the seamless programming that many of them offer, making knocked out codes almost impossible, and one of the biggest hassles of the older style remote controls that claimed to be suitable for multiple devices. If you are in need of a new remote control for one or more electronic items, be sure to check out this new class of remote controls before you buy just any old remote that you find. You may soon wonder how you ever managed without these small electronic wonders!
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