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The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:
| User reviews for the RCA RCU810 from RCA. |
 | | Ratings | Reviews | MSRP (USD) |
Average: 3.95/5.00
Median: 4.33/5.00 | 97 | $69 |
The RCU810 is a learning and preprogrammed remote control. It features control of 8 devices, 54 buttons with backlighting, an LCD screen, macro keys, plus a sleep timer & clock.
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| Written by Nick Sabadosh from Atlanta, GA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
| Review 13 made on Wednesday December 20, 2000 at 12:21 PM. |
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| Review: | Devices:
HarmonKardon AVR30 Receiver
Toshiba SC-1600 DVD
Teac VCR
RCA 31" TV
First, apologies for putting in a review so soon...I've only owned this remote 1 day. BUT, there are a couple of good reasons. 1) CircuitCity has a $10 rebate going on this remote (as of 12/19/00). 2) I'm already VERY pleased with it.
I've never owned a universal remote, but with the addition of the DVD, the remote situation was out of hand. So, I started pouring over the Internet trying to find a suitable replacement. I could never see paying over $100 for a remote, so the touchscreen models were out of the question. Still, I'm a bit of a tweak (I often adjust things like brightness, rear surround speaker levels, slow-mo on the DVD, etc.) and would not settle for a remote that didn't completely replace the others.
After much searching and reviewing, I had settled on my "must have" features: backlight, macros, enough buttons to replace my DVD, and learning capability. I planned to buy a remote online, but decided that I wanted to see the real McCoy in person, so I went to Circuit City. The RCU810 seemed to fit the bill. The $50+ price was higher than i wanted to spend, but the $10 rebate turned it into a no-brainer.
To be honest, I was very skeptical that this gizmo could meet my expectations. But I was already hooked when that _bright_ blue backlight flicked on. It took me about 20 minutes to get acquainted with the modes, and I was disappointed to find that it did not support many of the features on my reciever. But I put it in learn mode, and in no time I was controlling even the most esoteric features.
I have yet to get it working with my DVD, but I'm confident it will work fine, probably with little or no reprogramming.
My wife even appreciates it - I used a macro to address her main issue: "I just want to watch TV!" The macro turns on the TV, VCR (tuner), and reciever, then switches the reciever to "Video 1." Voila' - she's all set.
Summary? I'm thrilled. |
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| Written by J B from Phx, AZ. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
| Review 12 made on Saturday December 9, 2000 at 9:20 PM. |
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| Review: | This is a great remote for $40.
It runs my entire setup, TV, Receiver/Tuner, DVD, 2 VCR's, 100disc changer, and tape deck; including advanced feature such as surround modes and PIP.
The receiver functions were a little difficult to program. It took trial and error to get the remote to learn some buttons, maybe b/c of timing.
After about 1.5 hrs, the remote was ready to go and covers nearly everything. The only thing I use a seperate remote for is to program my vcr; but that is partially do to the difficulty of the vcr's menus.
Some other reviewers have stated lack of memory if preset codes don't work. However, the preset codes worked reasonably well for my gear.
If you have mainstream gear and will only need to customize a few buttons per piece of eqpt, this is great remote! |
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| Written by Brad Kemper from California. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
| Review 11 made on Saturday November 18, 2000 at 2:10 PM. |
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| Review: | This would be a great remote if it had about 6 or 7 times as much memory. I read the reviews, and thought perhaps lack of memory meant that there wasn't enough room for a lot of macros, but the situation is much worse than that. The learning feature, which theoretically lets you set any command to any key, falls apart in practice because (as the manual makes brief mention on page 13) there is only enough memory to program 16 to 25 keys. So if you got this remote, as I did, because it had enough keys to act as a replacement for other many-keyed remotes, you will max out the memory on less than one device.
Perhaps this would not have been an issue if they had a code for my DVD player (an Apex AD 600A), but they did not. So I had to program all those commands in with the learning feature.
Since I also have a cable box that I knew I would have to teach the remote, I am pretty much screwed. My dreams of replacing all my remotes are dashed because of the woefully inadequate amount of memory. I would gladly have paid $100 or more for this remote if it had enough memory for all the buttons on all the devices, but it doesn't even come close. The lack of memory is really the only thing wrong with this remote (well, OK, the transport controls are hard to get at when you are holding it in one hand... I would have switched their positions with the number keys), but it is a FATAL flaw. If only I could upgrade the memory on this thing.
By the way, the ReplayTV code does not include the two most important features: Instant Replay and Skip Ahead 30 seconds, so you have to use up more pecious memory adding those.
Oh, and the volume when using DVD, VCR, etc. controls your TV volume instead of your stereo volume, so you would have to learn those to the stereo for each device... but you can't because you've used up all the memory on other things. And you might as well forget about using macros, too, for the same reason.
P.S. It has home automation codes (such as X10), but no WebTV codes. This did not effect me, but it might you. |
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| Written by Tom S from MA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
| Review 10 made on Friday November 17, 2000 at 5:14 AM. |
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| Review: | I have been looking for that "perfect" remote for quite a while now, and the RCU810 is the closest I have found yet! The extensive code library allowed me to program all of my equipment, which is the first time this has ever happened. One of the things that amazed me is that right out of the box, almost all of the functions for my Dish Network 500 Echostar worked including guide, info, recall, etc...
This remote works with all of the following flawlessly:
Dish Network 500 w/ Echostar 3822 receiver;
Philips Magnavox Smart series TV;
Philips Magnavox DVD;
JVC VCR;
RCA RT2250 Home Theater.
I have tried the RCA model RCU800 and the One For All URC8800 (for twice the $$) and neither of them even come close to the quality and convenience of the RCU810 - especially for the price! I only had to learn a couple of commands from the original remotes such as page up/down in the guide, but this was done with almost zero effort, and worked the very first time. There are more than enough buttons to do whatever I want, and with the macros I have my whole home theater turned on, receiver set, and DSS ready to go with the touch of one button, and all turned off with the touch of another. I will probably have it set up the system with my preferences to play DVD's with the third (and last) macro.
Highly recommended to all of you who have been searching high and low for the remote that will work with all your equipment. Also, almost all the buttons can be learned in any mode so it increses the flexibility quite a bit. I haven't had to learn many commands at all, so I cannot comment on the memory that others have complained about.
The only downfall is the manual. ie. -In the troubleshooting sections under "remote will not function...." it says that "the remote will function at a max range of 6 ft." This manual was not proofread very well, but with the LCD on the remote, you hardly need the manual to program it anyway.
I went from 5 remotes to this one, and unlike other "universals" I don't end up running back to the originals for that one command you cannot live without. 6 STARS! |
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| Written by Richard S. from Florida, USA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
| Review 9 made on Friday November 17, 2000 at 12:51 AM. |
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| Review: | I was excited to bring home my RCU810 after reading the reviews here. "Best remote under $100", etc. Well, if the unit works reliably for you, AND it works all of your stuff, then I agree 100%. I love the layout, and the fact that most of the function keys can be assigned a learned task - not lust the "L" keys.
When I popped batteries into the unit, I was delighted to see it worked my RCA TV right away (but no surprise there). I then entered the code for my cable box, and fiddled with it, and proceeded to fall in love with it, until *poof*, no output. The IR transmitter went dead. Multiple battery checks and factory reboots yielded no improvement.
I'm a reasonable guy, and I realize things happen, so off to Best Buy I went to trade it for another. Once I was home, I got all my stuff working up to the Adcom surround preamp. I tried every brand code and the learning function, but no dice. A quick call to RCA confirmed my fears: "not compatible with your Adcom gear". Well, by this time I've had it with the RCA remote because not only was it Adcomless, but one of the LCD digits was not working!
Like most electronic gear of this nature, if it works out of the box for the first day or so, it'll probably work for years, and if it tickles the sensors on ALL of your equipment, then you've got yourself a great $50 remote. Proceed with caution and keep your receipt! |
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| Written by Ironman from Michigan, USA. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
| Review 8 made on Sunday October 22, 2000 at 5:57 PM. |
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| Review: | EQUIPMENT:
Proscan 36" TV
Panasonic Replay TV
JVC Super VHS VCR
RCA DTC100 HD Satellite Box
Older RCA DSS Box
Yamaha DSP-A1 amplifier
Sony CD player
I got sick and tired of getting new equipment with so called "universal" remote controls that would control almost, but not all, of the vital functions on my equipment. And NOTHING would control the Yamaha, except the ergonimically disastrous Yamaha remote. I delved into the world of aftermarket universal learning remotes. I tried the Sony AV2100, which controls everything just fine. However, it is awkward to hold in one hand, and YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT IT TO USE IT! I followed this up with some ergonomically more freindly learning remotes such as the Radio Shack 1994 and OFA cinema 7 learning. The 1994 is nice, but lacks preprogrammed codes for the Replay TV, and does not have enough memory to learn all of the functions. The C7 is also not bad, but has the same limitations as the 1994, plus is not baclit. Both of these remotes are also somewhat of a pain to program.
I picked up the RCU810 when I read about it on this website. This remote has cured ALL MY ILLS: 1) preprogrameed for Replay TV, 2) is very easy to use by "feel" with one hand, 3) extremely easily programmed via LCD menu screen. The complaints I have is mainly lack of memory. I have pegged the memory, and I have a sick feeling about what will happen when I add a DVD player. The transport controls are too low and a bit unconventional, I find them hard to use unless I place the remote on the arm of my chair.
In conclusion, this remote blows away all the alternatives listed above, especially for the price of $50.
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