Taking Control

Masterfile

Universal remote controls are little bundles of joy for couch potatoes. They control all your audio-visual (A/V) equipment and eliminate the stack of remotes for individual products piling up on your coffee table. But the device meant to simplify your entertainment experience couldn’t have been more complex with its rows of confusing buttons. Too many remotes all but required professional assistance just to set up.

Fortunately, that’s changed. Remotes now do what you want them to with minimal effort, and they’re priced less than their less intuitive predecessors. Finally, you’re the one in total control.

Smart Start. Until recently, programming a universal remote caused as many headaches as it was supposed to relieve. Not only did you have to track down the correct code, you had to punch a series of buttons in precisely the right order—and repeat as often as necessary—until your remote could finally recognize and turn on, say, the receiver. You might as well have just gotten up from your seat and—horrors!—pressed the on-off button yourself.

But remotes have become smarter in the past 3 years. Now, on any remote with an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen—which can be found for as little as $50—a wizard will do the heavy thinking for you. When you program the remote, it will ask you a series of simple questions and give you a list of potential answers. You just need to know the device you want to program, the brand and model name, and push the enter button appropriately. The wizard does the rest. It couldn’t be easier.

A few manufacturers make remotes that you can plug into your computer through a USB connection and connect with online wizards that access larger and constantly updated databases for programming or macro functions (a series of commands initiated by the press of a single button). Of course, the drawback is you have to go over to the computer to program the remote. We wondered if a wireless remote might address that dilemma. There are universal remotes that can link to your computer via Bluetooth capability (RicaVision’s Vave100 at $349 being by far the least expensive), but don’t look for WiFi remotes any time soon. The problem, Elbert Lee of remote-manufacturer Monster Cable tells us, is that the technology behind WiFi conflicts with the technology in the remote, so a remote’s signals might be delayed or fouled up. In other words, WiFi prevents the remote from doing what it’s supposed to do—controlling your A/V equipment.

THAT'S EASY. The ease of using today’s universal remotes doesn’t stop with just the programming. Now, they’re so easy anyone can play music or watch a movie on your entertainment system without knowing anything more than where the remote is located.

Activity keys that perform the same multiple steps as macros are another benefit of the increase in LCD screens on universal remotes. Now, instead of pushing button X, which triggered the desired macro (the location of which you alone knew), an activity key might read Watch DVD. Push that button, either on the touchscreen or a hard button next to the selection, and the remote enacts the series of commands that result in “Shrek” magically appearing on your TV screen—even if the family dog walks in between the remote and the TV during the sequence. (Thank the wizard for that little improvement.)

The rapid spread of color LCD screens, introduced to the consumer universal-remote market 2 years ago and now found on remotes that cost less than $100, helps kick activity keys up a notch by allowing for one-touch TV viewing. (Well, two, actually.) These remotes allow you to set up favorite channels that appear on your LCD screen with the company’s logo. (Part of the programming set-up might include asking whether you watch TV via cable or satellite and you entering the service provider’s name. Some remotes will then automatically load up the provider’s channel listing.) After you hit the Watch TV button, you might touch the ESPN logo, for example, and the TV switches to that channel. No more memorization required.