Video Asylum: REVIEW: Universal Remote Control, Inc. SL-9000 Other -- Home Theater by Stew

I was looking for an inexpensive Universal Remote, with learning and macro capability, for my home theater system. I purchased this for about $85 new from consumer-direct.

Overall I would say the remote is quite a good one. I was able to get it to work reasonably for my config. The documentation is complete, however it is not one of the easiest to read.

It can be used as a single remote replacing 8 different remotes (Aud, CD, DVD, Aux, Sat, TV, VCR and Cable). Programming consists of either keying in a manufacturer/device code (ie DVD Player from Toshiba code 030) from an extensive list, or learning individual buttons from your existing remote, or any combination of built in codes and learning. I was able to configure all my remotes with codes, and some learning (maybe 20 keys to disable certain setup commands to prevent accidentally reconfiguring devices). After programming the device, simply hit one of the 8 device keys to select which remote you want it to be and push an appropriate button. There is a chart in the manual that lists what key does what in each mode.

The other main capability is a macro capability (execute up to 15 commands at the push of a button). This allows you to set up a button to say turn on your DVD player, Receiver, TV, change your receiver to TV mode and TV input to Video, etc... This is a great feature that works quite well. Although I was able to make it work for me, I think there are not enough buttons with this capability. There are 5 buttons that can have macros. M1, M2, M3, M4 and Power. Each of these buttons can store two macros (2x5=10), one when the remote is in Aud, CD, DVD or Aux mode, and the second when the remote is in Sat, TV, VCR or Cable mode. From a user perspective this is not that great. First the Power key should alway turn on or off each individual device, so I would not use that one (especially since it can only store two macros, if it stored 8 macros one for each device, maybe I'd use it). Second, who looks at what mode the remote is in before pushing a button, and then remembers what M1 does in TV vs. DVD mode? So as far as I am concerned there are only 4 usable macro buttons. Which ended up being enough for me. Thirdly when a macro is finished it returns the remote to the mode it was in before you pushed the macro key. So if you pushed M1 while in cable mode, even if M1 turns on your DVD, TV and Receiver, you will return to cable mode after the macro finishes. Well that's not great, if I turn on my DVD player I want to leave the remote in DVD mode. So basically you have to hit two keys to, for example, turn everything on to watch a DVD. You must both change the remote to DVD mode and then hit the macro key (say M1). These are annoyances, but if you can get around them, you'll soon forget about them.

Some other things of note: The remote includes lots of little stickers to allow you to label your keypad. The IR beam seems to spread quite a wide angle, so you don't have to worry about pointing it carefully. It also claims to remember your customizations for 1 year with batteries removed and 10 years with dead batteries (these times are from memory, so they may be wrong, but I remember the backup was for a looong time). It also has a built in light for the keypad.

So in summary, the remote is quite good, as long as you can live with the limits to the macro capability.

REVIEW: Universal Remote Control, Inc. SL-9000 Other -- Home Theater Review by stew at Audio Asylum