Universal Remote Control MasterControl RF30 $149.99 Pros: DVD guide walks you through the configuration, which includes built-in codes and the ability to point your existing remotes at the MasterControl so it can "learn" how to control just about any remote-controlled device. It has a touch LCD screen and manages up to 15 devices. It also has great battery life. Cons: It has no color screen or Internet goodies. The final word: The RF30 allowed us to set up individual devices, but it also has macros you can program. This means you can press one button to, say, watch a DVD, and the remote will turn on your DVD player, set your home theater audio/video receiver to the right mode and set your television to the right input if needed. Acoustic Research ARRU449 $399.99 Pros: The device has built-in Wi-Fi that puts news, weather, and sports scores on the remote's LCD screen. It also has a docking cradle that charges the device, so no battery swapping. Cons: Wi-Fi configuration can be a challenge. There is no touch screen. If you don't have Wi-Fi, you're out of luck as far as all the cool downloadable content goes - it doesn't plug in to your network directly. The final word: It's a great gadget, and it's actually really easy to set up your devices, just set aside some time, and be patient. Logitech Harmony 1000 $499 Pros: The 1000 controls up to 15 devices via a sleek touch screen and powerful commands. It plugs into you computer and lets you configure the device via included software. Cons: You have to be very comfortable using a touch screen instead of tactile buttons. It's also an utter pain to set up. You have to be patient. The final word: The remote's interface felt a little clunky to us. We're all so used to pressing specific buttons at specific times to do specific things. With this kind of remote, you really have to accept that the remote knows what it's doing, and trust it. Marantz RC9001 $1,499 Pros: It does everything, it's pretty, and it's 100 percent customizable. Take the time to learn all about your investment. If you had the motivation and the money for the extra goodies, the RC9001 can control not only all of your home theater equipment but also your toaster, window treatments, coffeemaker, lamps, and air conditioning. Cons: It took a phone call to the product's interface designer and a PowerPoint presentation to figure out how to make it go. The final word: This is a real beauty, and we don't have nearly enough words in this story to explain everything it can do. Most importantly, if you can afford $1,500 for a remote control, you can afford another $100 to hire a pro who knows how to make it work for you. Take our word for it on this one. We've all kind of gone gadget crazy over the last few years with things like high-definition TV, Blu-ray, Wii, PlayStation 3, and high-powered surround-sound systems. Now, we're left with about a dozen remote controls to thumb through. There's no shortage of solutions to combat your out-of-control remote control situation, but which one works best? How much should you spend just to turn on your toys? The Globe tested four universal remote controls ranging from simple to scary, and we consulted experts to break it all down for us. We tested the Acoustic Research ARRU449 with a manufacturer's suggested price of $399, the Universal Remote RF30 at $149, the complicated Logitech Harmony 1000 at $499, and felt the power of the Marantz RC9001 at a whopping $1,499. The hardest thing for us to do was to simply let go of the button mashing. Over the years, pressing buttons has become second nature, and we weren't necessarily ready to go "full-touch screen" yet. Moreover, we had a hard time with some of the automation features. If you don't program the remote just right, you'll end up with an out-of-control mess - for instance, you press the "play DVD" button and it programs the TV right but nothing happens with your DVD player. All of the remotes are better and more advanced than the remotes that come with your electronics. Some of them are just wild, in fact. The Acoustic Research model has built-in Wi-Fi capability, that downloads program data, game scores, and weather information right to the remote. That is just cool. Our experts challenged us to get used to some of the new features and learn to trust the remote more. "Cheap remotes are just like combining all of the separate remotes and putting them in one box," said Keith Griffis, an electrical engineer and account manager for Sounds Good Corp. in Waltham. Sounds Good installs and customizes home theaters and other consumer electronics setups. "With an automated solution, you just hit the button of the activity you want to do like `watch TV' or `listen to the radio,' and then it goes from there and does it." Patience is the name of the game. "There's a bit of a learning curve for people to understand and trust the fact that they'll hit the remote and things will just happen," Griffis said, "but once people get used to it, when we put the programmed remotes into their hands, they don't have an issue generally." Resisting the urge to jump up and down and pick the most expensive, complicated remote on the list, we were most comfortable with the Universal Remote RF30. It was the perfect mix of a traditional remote control and some of the more advanced automation features we saw on the others. The crew at Sounds Good got together and discussed their four options. They chose the Logitech Harmony 1000 as the best overall remote on the list, but they said that for the money and balance of features, the Universal Remote RF 30 was a great choice also.
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