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cjb110
09-01-2002, 15:39
Which universal remotes do people recommend?

At the moment I'm using the £8 from Aldi that was in the bargin forums some time ago. Mainly because it supports the Pace Telewest Cable TV box, which apparantly uses a screwed up version of IR.

Is a Philips Pronto (£145.95 from richer) a good bet?

Or use a pda like the Palm III (or similar)?

I don't need the PDA functions, already got a HP Jornada 540.
kcxdev
09-01-2002, 16:09
if you're willing to shell out £150 on a remote than I'd recommend the Pronto. The new Marantz models looks promising (with hard cursor keys - see www.remotecentral.com). I've read that PDA's have a much shorter IR range, and one of the good points on the pronto is that 'it never misses' :D

If the cable box u have is the one which uses IRDA rather than standard IR than you'll find that not many universal remotes can control it - theres a very long thread about itin the RC forum.
Just
09-01-2002, 16:20
Go for a Pronto (or re-badged) you will not regret it.

PDAs never have the range without additional hardware and therefore cost. The Pronto is quite amazing when it bounces of the wall!

If you buy second hand you can pick up 1 megs for 100 these days.
john316
09-01-2002, 17:45
I personally love my Pronto - problem is that you are wary of letting anybody else use it because of its sheer quality!
cjb110
09-01-2002, 18:38
If the cable box u have is the one which uses IRDA rather than standard IR than you'll find that not many universal remotes can control it - theres a very long thread about itin the RC forum.

Are there any that can? Or is there another telewest cable box??

The pronto sounds good, but the cable box is pretty essential!

Its a pity the aldi one (well, meridon I think) can't control all the amp features.

Looking the RC thread on the Pace IRDA problem...looks like I'm screwed...so anybody had experiance with using PDA's to control their AV stuff? which ones are recommend? (cheap hopefully:))

And they should be able to control the Pace as they both use the full IRDA implementation.
kcxdev
09-01-2002, 19:17
Originally posted by cjb110

Are there any that can? Or is there another telewest cable box??




I have sky digital so not sure about this, here the ongoing thread about the Pronto and Cable STB at
RC (http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/mboard/rc-pronto/thread.cgi?2970).

EDIT: looks like you found it

It might be worth doing a search on the general universal remote forum there about compatible remotes as there are quite a lot of UK posters there as well :)
neilalford
10-01-2002, 10:18
Buy a Tivo:D

I belive there is a dongle for the Tivo that can control the Telewest box, then just control it through the Tivo, adds a bit to the cost though:rolleyes:
cjb110
10-01-2002, 10:41
Expensive solution that!

I think I'm going to look at the Palm based solution. It should be able to control everything and be cheaper than the pronto as I only need an old palm like the III series.
Just
10-01-2002, 10:56
Originally posted by cjb110
Expensive solution that!

I think I'm going to look at the Palm based solution. It should be able to control everything and be cheaper than the pronto as I only need an old palm like the III series.

But, the screen is smaller and it will be slower between screens possibly too. Also be aware that the Infra beam as is on Palms is about 50cm - you will need additional hardware to go further, so then you will be looking at something like a Handspring which is going to put the cost back up to Pronto levels.