Universal Remote Control Urc-r50 Digital R50 Universal Remote Control

		On Screen set up Wizard Easy operation for the whole family 24 New From  $ 0.00 3 Used From  $ 66.99
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Customer Reviews
Moment of clarity 2010-07-30 I though this remote was the biggest piece of **** money could buy. I was all ready to send it back and then it hit me. The last page you are on when you hit the DONE button of a macro is the page the dang remote stays on. I must have missed that in the info pages of the remote. When that was realized, everything started falling into place. A few tricks that I use: 1. Always power off to a base state (TV at component 1, Stereo to TV/aux, etc.) that way you will always start at a common starting point. I used the most common setup for what gets done most, watch TV, prior to shutting it all down. It makes my wife much happier that she can just hit the "on" button on the main screen and everything turns on for the TV. All my "off" button macros return the remote to the main screen. 2. Discreet on/off codes are your friend with this remote, they will allow you to do almost anything. Unfortunately, my stereo doesn't have them. 3. Power up the longest powering up device first(in my case the TV) so you don't have to use the pause button so much. 4. I set up the remote with dummy activities, like a harmony. The first page has things like watch tv, play xbox, play CD, watch DVD. Use the Learn function to make dummy buttons on the main menu. Then put your macros on buttons inside of those dummy activities. I keep my component buttons on the third page. Example: I have an activity that has PLAY XBOX. When I hit that, it opens the device and has only two buttons on the screen... XBOX ON, XBOX OFF. These are the macro buttons that turn things on and off. I have no macros assigned to any main menu button, only on the inside. I then assigned the volume, up, down etc. to the xbox and receiver. Once you have the devices powering on the way you want them to, then start assigning keys like volume to the receiver from that page. Always end on the page you want to turn off/on from. Guess that's it. Hope this helps.
Great for macros 2010-07-28 Had a Logitech Harmony 510 that I wasn't too happy with (and the volume-up button broke). The limited macro function was annoying, because the speaker levels/sound field for a watching a DVD and listening to a CD are very different, and the Harmony's macro limit of 5 steps kept me from being able to program the switch to a single button. So far the URC R50 has handled that job very well, and not having to go back and forth to a computer to program and test the remote is convenient. Like many have said, lack of a real manual means a little bit of a steep learning curve, but the on-screen instructions are fairly clear and I've been able to figure it out mostly. A little disappointing that screen buttons can't be moved. The ergonomics aren't perfect (they never are). The directional pad (the silver circle in the picture) is surrounded by 4 raised buttons which get in the way when you're using the directional pad.
Love it. Ended up buying 3. 2010-07-15 I was debating between Harmony One and the R50. I ended up going with the R50 due to the price and it had all the features I needed (Learn capabilities and macros). I have a somewhat complex setup with a 4 source / 4 zone HD video distribution system, 2 HD DVR's, Blu-Ray player, Computer through the video distribution, Home Theatre with whole-house audio Zone 2. It was impossible trying to teach my wife how each system integrated with the other and ultimately how to control the entire setup. The macro feature saved me hours upon hours of teaching my wife how to work everything. I've read some people say the macro is difficult to setup, but I didn't have many issues with it. I agree with some that they could make the macro setup more efficient, but with a little bit of patience, it is a great feature. If there is one thing I would change, and I probably can if I work around with it a little bit, is you have to hit the main button and then the source button to start the macro of turning everyone on. Hitting two buttons, instead of about 10 buttons across 4 remotes, is well worth it. Bottom line, for the price point I don't believe you can beat this remote. It took me maybe a total of one hour to program all 3 remotes, and I didn't have to read any instructions other than what is on the LCD screen of the remote.
Don't buy this horrible product 2010-06-21 This is my first review that I have ever written about any product, and this one discouraged me enough to write one about it. Yes...the remote feels secure, yes it has a nice layout, but good luck trying to get it to work. I spent nearly 5 hours trying to program it through the wizard, and even though I got the individual components to finally work, the macros were literally impossible. When I called customer service nearly 3 times, they were all very rude and told me that they only had time to help me with one Macro which consists of a period of pushing about 20 different buttons in different menus with 5-10 seconds per button to decide before your macro is ruined. Needless to say it was a very tedious and horrible process. I did eventually get them to work..but get this, the signal was so weak that sometimes the TV didn't turn on..other times it did...the DVD player the same ETC. Even when you finally get it to work, it is a very unreliable product. I've had a harmony for about 7 years until it crashed...but seriously looking into the Harmony one...Yes it does cost double, but the breeze of programming and it's reliability are unparalleled in my opinion.
Great value for price 2010-06-01 I'll admit I was reluctant to buy this item based on some of the other reviews regarding complexity of use. It really doesn't come with a helpful manual. However, I bought it anyway because of the price. I think other controllers with similar features are a lot more expensive. Once I got and started playing around, it worked out pretty well. The programming of macros takes some getting used to, but this does more than I need. I have a Plasma TV hooked to a receiver with a DVR cable box and DVD player. I haven't had any problem with any of the components. Biggest downside is no RF ability. If you are not one to tinker or to try to figure things out, then this item is not for you.