Philips SRU8015/37 Prestigo 15 Device Universal Remote Review

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(More customer reviews)Coming from a Logitech Harmony 1000 (whose touchscreen eventually drove us nuts), I had high hopes that the SRU8015 would be a more straightforward but worthy replacement. In some ways it is, in others, it is not. Granted, it's considerably cheaper than the Harmony, but it's frustrating that it comes so very close to being excellent, and yet falls so far short.
Firstly, unlike the brochure and Philips' website indicates, the backlight on the unit I received doesn't turn itself on by picking it up. Actually, I've seen it turn the light on 3 or 4 times, but with no rhyme or reason. Very annoying.
Setting the remote up is pretty simple, but you are only allowed to choose from lists of manufacturers, not specific models. My Scientific Atlanta PVR cable box works with the remote, but the red/blue/yellow buttons were mapped incorrectly and had to be manually edited. And with most of my devices, there are several buttons not listed in the "More" category. If you have specific commands on your original remote that don't appear in the 8015's extended menus, you must add them manually. Had they allowed for specific model choices, the database would be bigger, so they obviously dumbed down the choices to save memory space.
If all you want to do is change channels and power things on/off, this remote will probably suffice, but if you regularly need to do things like change inputs, toggle aspect ratios, etc., you might find yourself spending considerable time holding your old remote up to the 8015 to learn IR codes, then naming them manually. Then be prepared to spend lots of time using the scroll wheel, as newly created commands are always put at the very bottom of the list, with no way to re-order them.
You can create activities (Watch TV, etc), and you can add delays to the signals for turning on multiple devices. Unfortunately though, you can't edit an activity once you create it. Didn't set the TV input delay long enough? You have to delete the entire Watch TV activity and create it again. Like manually added commands, you also can't manually re-order the activities...all newly created activities move to the bottom of the list by default.
Another annoyance is the dedicated check-mark button. This replaces "OK" for many commands that would normally be activated by an OK button. In fact, Philips' next model down the ladder, the SRU-9600 (partially touch screen based, and even more lacking in customization) doesn't have the check mark button. You instinctually want to hit the OK button when you make a choice, but if you try to use it, you are constantly shown a photo of the check mark button and told to use that instead. Why this remote needs a check mark button AND an OK button is beyond me. GRRR!
Finally there are problems with powering things on and off. I suppose this is inherent in simplistic universal remotes. You can turn your entire system off with one "All Off" activity, but you have to manually add each device and tell the 8015 what command (power off) to send. Seems to me that it shouldn't be too hard for the 8015 to know what the default power commands are. That aside, if you do set up a power off activity and one of your devices is already off, the 8015 will turn it back on. This is the difference between higher end remotes like the Harmony 1000. The 8015, even if it has been issued an activity command, doesn't know what devices are on or off. I've set up 3 separate power off activities...TV Off, DVD Off, and All Off. Kinda dumb.
On the bright side, the Favorites are nice, the remote feels solid, and the IR signal seems strong.

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PHILIPS SRU8015/37 15-DEVICE PRESTIGO UNIVERSAL REMOTESINGLE CONTROL SOLUTION FOR MOST DEVICES & BRANDS; EXTENSIVE INFRARED CODE DATABASE FOR MOST DEVICES & BRANDS; FEATURES A LIBRARY OF CHANNEL ICONS FOR EASY SELECTION; CONTROLS UP TO 12 DEVICES OUT OF CHOICE OF 24; QUICK & EASY SET-UP; NO MANUAL NEEDED FOR SET UP; CONVENIENT INFRARED LEARNING FROM ANOTHER REMOTE; BIG BUTTONS INCREASE OPERABILITY & READABILITY; SELECTION BUTTONS CONVENIENTLY LOCATED NEXT TO SCREEN; EASY-TO-READ 2.0" COLOR LCD DISPLAY; REQUIRES 3 AA BATTERIEs

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