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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.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 76 made on Saturday September 21, 2002 at 10:55 AM.
Strengths:
Cheap and pretty, Replaces the XBox DVD Remote
Weaknesses:
Battery Life, Clock Resets, Phone Support refers you to a competitor!
Review:
Today I am about return my second RCU810 in two days. Unlinke some here, I love the look, and it was able to control all of my devices, even the XBox DVD features (DVD code 0539).
Sadly, the clock cannot retain the time. Also, the batteries I bought yesterday (Duracell Ultra) are now half dead. The last straw was the service.
I called the 800 numbr in the manual. I was referred to a toll number (256-772-1515). That number turned out to be Zenith! The tech told me he gets RCA calls all the time, and always has to explain to people he does not work for RCA. He also wondered why I dialed the direct line. Seems they have an 800 number too.
I will never again buy any RCA product. If a company cannot even support their own products, they will not get my money.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 75 made on Thursday September 19, 2002 at 10:17 AM.
Strengths:
Great value for the money Macros IR Learning
Weaknesses:
Beware of defective units Will not work all components (Apex DVD)
Review:
For the money you can't go wrong with the RCU810.
What you do need to be aware of is that some of the remotes are faulty straight from the factory.
What I found is that any unit with a date code of 2219 seems to have a problem with resetting itself. I purchased 3 of the 2219 units and they all had the same problem.
The fourth remote I purchased had a date code of 1213 and it has been perfectly fine.
The way to quickly determine if the remote will have the problem is as follows:
Press the light button several times (between 10 & 40). If the unit rests and puts itself into TV mode and the clock has reset itself it's a bad unit.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 74 made on Wednesday July 24, 2002 at 1:05 AM.
Strengths:
MACRO KEYS,IR LEARNING, BACKLIGHT, STYLISH LOK
Weaknesses:
LCD HAS TO BE TILTED, HOWEVER IT IS MY BELIEF THAT IT IS INTENDED TO BE VIEWED AS YOU POINT TO CHANGE CHANNELS. LIMITED LEARNING
Review:
THANK YOU RCA FOR CREATING A REMOTE BOTH AFFORDABLE AND FUNCTIONAL. I HAVE FINALLY BEEN ABLE TO YANK THE BATTERIES FROM OTHER REMOTES BECAUSE THEY ARE OBSOLETE. I HAVE DREAMED OF THE DAY THAT I WOULD HAVE ONE SINGLE REMOTE FOR EVERYTHING. THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SOME PROBLEM WITH OTHER UNI-REMOTES I HAVE BOUGHT, TO A POINT WHERE I HAD TO USE THE FACTORY REMOTE FOR CERTAIN SPECIAL FUNCTIONS. NOT ANY MORE WITH IR LEARNING. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THERE WOULD BE ANY NEGATIVE REVIEWS FOR THIS PRODUCT. I HAVE SEVERAL OLDER COMPONENTS AND HAD NO PROBLEM WITH PROGRAMING. BUY THIS REMOTE AND YOU WILL BE THANKFUL.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 73 made on Sunday July 21, 2002 at 4:48 AM.
Strengths:
Learning capabilities, cool backlight, good layout, ease of use
Weaknesses:
Had clock reset problem as described in an earlier post
Review:
This remote has allowed me to reduce my collection of remotes from 6 to 1! The cool blue black light is exactly that cool. The learning capability is easy to use and I didn't have any problems with memory. My remote not controls
RCA TV (no learning req) Motorola cable box (learning req) Yamaha Tuner (learning req) Yamaha CD (no learning req) Mitsubishi VCR (no learning req) Airtech Fan (learning req)
My only problem, was that the remote seemed to do a reset as described earlier. Seemed to be associated with using the backlight and setting codes. I couldn't reproduce the problem as described above in earlier post, but the same result occured; display showed all characters, clock was reset, all programming remained.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.
Review 72 made on Friday May 17, 2002 at 6:18 PM.
Strengths:
Low price, nice backlight, easy to use
Weaknesses:
Lack of long term quality
Review:
This is my third posting here. This remote has some major longevity problems with the key contacts. I don't know if the coating is too thin, or there is a problem with the formulation.
To summarize: I purchased one of these remotes last year. About 6mos later some of the buttons stopped working. The failure was slow and gradual. I purchased a replacement and about 6mos later the SAME set of buttons (the lower "pod" of arrow keys centered around the "select" button) failed again.
Instead of purchasing a new remote, I've opened the thing up and used contact cement to glue silver leafing (really really thin aluminum sheets) to the button bottoms. This has been working for the last month.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 71 made on Tuesday May 14, 2002 at 12:00 AM.
Strengths:
versatility, ease of programming, good transmitting power, great backlight, price
Weaknesses:
no major--not for those who need every function of each individual remote
Review:
This is a great remote at a great price! This should fill the bill for most Home Theater users who don't need every function programmed into it. The pre-programmed codes are adequate but somethimes the labels are off (can be remapped)and not everything is included. In my system that was mainly a problem with my receiver, the preset codes covered only a small portion of the functions, the rest had to be learned. The receiver is dual zone, the commands for zone 2 are separate and also had to be learned (i'm using it in zone 2 primarily). Most of my other components worked fine in preset code mode, TV (menu/pip worked fine), VCR, tape, LD, Sony DS and DVD (major exception being my Pioneeer DVD changer, no preset button for disc select, had to be learned). I've "taught" about 20 buttons so far without running out of memory.The unit is fairly solid feeling, not too large and the buttons aren't too small. One gripe is the clock, seems tacked on and doesn't do much, I would like to see a timer function added on. In summary this is a great remote unless you need total control of all component functions in one device. Its perfest for a smaller TV room setup or as a secondary remote for use in a dual-zone setup as I'm using it. Its also a great value, look for it at around $40.00 new and $21.00 B-stock (Ebay etc)
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 70 made on Tuesday April 30, 2002 at 12:36 AM.
Strengths:
Backlight, Learning, Ergonomics, Macros
Weaknesses:
Backlight/Clock reset bug - see below
Review:
This is a great remote, although I did have a major problem with the first one I owned. Others have mentioned that the remote sometimes loses the clock setting. I found this was directly related to using the backlight and thought I should post my experience here in case anyone else has the same problem.
When using the backlight this remote would randomly reset as if the batteries were removed temporarily. When this happens the backlight turns off, the LCD shows all characters, the clock reverts to 12:00 am, and the function would change to TV. None of my codes or learned buttons would be lost, but as you can imagine this was extremely annoying and made using the backlight impossible (which is a shame because this remote has the coolest looking backlight!)
I finally found out how to reproduce this problem and anyone who buys one of this remotes should do this test to see if it is affected by this bug: Use the remote's light key to turn the backlight on and off at least 20 times. If the clock loses it's setting and you have the same results listed above return the remote for another one. I took mine back to Best Buy and got an identical unit that does not have this problem, so it seems to be only a small number that are faulty.
Other than that bug, I find this to be the perfect remote control for my system. It easily controls the following:
Motorola Cable Box Samsung DVD Player Sony Audio Tuner Magnavox VCR (at least 10 years old)
The only device it would not control is an ancient Magnavox console TV, but that's ok - I just made it learn power and channel buttons which are all I need.
Others have complained about not enough memory but I do not need my remote to control every button from every device I own - just the ones I use on a daily basis. I've programmed in probably 15 or so extra buttons and have yet to run out of memory. I would like a few more Macro buttons, but hey for $50 I'm extremely happy with this remote and would reccommend it to anyone with a small or medium size home theatre setup, as long as you get one without that darn backlight reset problem :)
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