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A menu makes all the difference.
The level of difficulty involved in configuring a particular remote control varies brand by brand and model by model, but overall ease-of-setup is usually limited by the technology available. For instance, setting up a remote that has nothing but hard buttons can be a daunting task. Not only do you need to find and remember numerous obscure button combinations, but the only type of feedback comes in the form of one or two blinking LEDs – if that.
Iconic touchscreen remotes like the original SRC-8000 are one step up from hard buttoned models since they have the potential to provide more informative feedback but, in the end, usually still require button combinations and the use of soft keys in ways that are not always intuitive.
This is where the text menu based remote comes in. Although not fully graphical like a Pronto, such remotes are nonetheless capable of displaying context-sensitive options and instructions that greatly aid in setup. Remotes with text-based menus include the Sony RM-AV3100 (our review) and Home Theater Master MX-500 (our review) – plus of course the Sunwave SRC-3810! Thanks to those 18 little text characters at the top of the screen, setting up the SRC-3810 is a snap – users may not even need to read the manual (as if some folks need an excuse not to!)
To get into the setup menu, hold the [News] and [Macro] buttons at the top of the remote – also labelled as [X] and [O] – for one second. What appears is a two line scrollable menu, with three other buttons lower down on the LCD: [Up], [Down] and [OK]. Move up and down the menu with the arrow keys; the currently selected line appears as dark black while the inactive line is a lighter grey (an interesting effect for this type of screen). Select an item to modify by pressing [OK]. The [X] hard button works as a “go back” or “cancel” key during setup, while certain changes are confirmed by pressing [O].
The available setup options are “Device” (creation, removal and modification of devices), “Code” (preprogrammed or learning), “Layout” (editing LCD keys), “Macro” (managing command sequences), “Quick Channel” (creating favorite station lists), plus three others that configure various remote options or clear settings.
Setup is extremely quick and logical. We’ll start by adding a new device.
More than meets the eye.
The 8 device buttons at the bottom of the screen would naturally lead one to assume that the SRC-3810 can control 8 devices, just like the SRC-8000. But the back of the box specifically mentions 16... so just how is this sleight-of-hand accomplished? No, not by merely stacking two devices on each button – it gets better.
Each of the SRC-3810’s 8 device buttons is essentially a bank of devices, and can hold from 0 through 16 devices. There’s an upper limit of 16 devices on the remote, but these can be configured in any arrangement – place three televisions on [TV], two DVD players on [DVD], satellite, cable and DVR all on [Cable], nothing on [Audio], and so on. It’s even possible to put all 16 devices in a single bank and leave the rest empty!
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