Customer Reviews:
 Can't Compete with the Competition August 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
You can't blame the ESPN "The Ultimate Remote" Universal Remote for not being the Harmony One from Logitech. But the comparisons are inevitable. When a remote claims to be "the ultimate" it begs comparison to the top of the class. And, unfortunately for "The Ultimate," it falls short.
My first impression of the remote, as I removed it from the package, is that it doesn't look as nice in real life as it does in the pictures. It seems both thicker, wider and more square. Still, it's not a bad-looking remote and, if you care about such things, you can be sure that people will notice it. Before you can use it, you'll need to plug it in to a USB port to charge the battery. Why they chose to make it charge via USB rather than a standard plug is beyond me. I suppose many TVs do have a USB port now, but it seems a rather strange decision. I also noticed that there was no manual included (beyond a small quick setup guide). This is not an easy device to setup! Once you register at the web site you'll find some online documentation, but it is spread over many different HTML files and is not nearly as helpful as a printed manual would be. So figuring out the remote is likely to be a bit of a chore.
As with all remotes of this kind, you will need to spend a good bit of time doing setup. You'll want to configure the remote to access your wireless internet connection and then setup each of your devices. And this is where the Ultimate Remote falls furthest behind the Harmony One. The process of adding devices is long, tiresome, time-consuming and confusing. You will have to add each device manually and then have the remote search for the proper code set for your equipement (hoping that it has the proper code set in its database). You may need to go so far as to check each key one-by-one to ensure it works properly with your device. Logitech's PC-based solution is far more elegant and is really superior in every way in its power, its ease-of-use, and its available database of devices.
Once you have all your devices properly setup, you'll find that the remote works quite well. It responds quickly (and maybe even a tad better than the Logitech in some cases). However, you'll also note that the remote is not very well built. Many of the keys are "shaky" (the number keys, most notably) while others are "spongy" requiring too much effort to press. The remote is not very comfortable in the hand--it is heavy and wide. It certainly lacks the comfortable, tapered feel of the Harmony One.
Really the only benefits this product offers over the Harmony One are the gimmicky ones. Do you really need to see TV listings on the little LCD screen? Why not just look at the listings in a bigger and more convenient format on your TV screen? Sure this remote offers the ability to send text-messages, but are you really going to do this? Do you really need to check the sports scores from your remote and do you really want to surf the web on this little screen? These are all interesting functions, but I doubt too many people will use them on a regular basis.
This remote is a step in the wrong direction. It is ground-breaking for 2006, perhaps, but when going head-to-head with the Harmony One, it loses out on just about every comparison. I can't think of any good reason to recommend this over Logitech's far superior remote. It's not that this remote is so terrible--it's just that there are better products available for less money. So why would you bother with this one?
 So far not bad August 21, 2008
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Yes I agree that this is a monster to program, something I left my boyfriend with when it arrived but it was mostly for him so I figured it would be okay to let him bond with it properly! He'd the sports maven, I mostly resort to basketball so it's a fun gadget, I don't even know how he finds time to always check scores, must be a man thing : ) but he no longer has to get up from the tv to see that his favorite teams are battling some sort of a frustratingly tight score to beat...
Remote is relatively easy to use and even though I still use the Harmony one ( which broke after few months - just random act of anger from the Electronic Gods) whenever it feels like cooperating but I like the way this looks and feels. They keys don't make noise and the remote looks cool. I will update the review if it starts to disappoint but so far so good and the remote works well - the signal always reaches the tv and I no longer have to waive my hands around for the channel or volume to change!
A Work In Progress August 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I agree with much that has been written about this product. It is encased in vault-like plastic that makes it virtually impossible to remove, and it is very frustrating and difficult to set up and program (as contrasted with the Harmony One which is much easier and more intuitive).
The ESPN Ultimate Remote is first and foremost a mini computer for sports. It is in this mode that it excels. As an MLB junkie, I love being able to access obscure statistics about baseball teams and players. I have also been able to use the Remote for the Olympic games.
However, as a device that attempts to replace the remotes that come with an entertainment system, ESPN's Remote falls short. It is simply too difficult to program, and even if one is fortunate enough to get it to work with all of one's components, there are products on the market, like Logitech's Harmony One, that are much more user friendly and effective.
In sum, I think that ESPN may have prematurely released this product without eliminating all of its flaws. The fact that the manufacturer is working on firmware upgrades is commendable, but underscores my point. The ESPN Ultimate Remote is still a work in progress.
Nice but... I'll stick w/ my Harmony August 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
There are a lot of things I really like about this remote
1. Standing charging station
--Unlike my harmony remote, it is really easy to tell that
it is properly placed for charging
2. How it feels in the hand
This remote just feels good to hold. The buttons are well paced
and it rests nicely in the hand.
3. I REALLY like having access to the programming guide from the remote control. This is a great feature that make searching for shows even easier. I have Direct TV and this remote is able to get the program guide w/ correct channel number and info.
4. The face with weather info etc is nice as well as being able to get sports scores.
5. The buttons are silent when pushed - which is why (in part) I gave up on trying to set it up for the family room entertainment system and brought it into the bedroom w/ just the TV and the satellite box to worry about.
The Down side
1. Okay maybe I am too impatient or my system it too complicated. But programming it is harder than my Harmony. Takes too many buttons to get it to do what I want to do and I still don't have all the controls right.
2.Seem to work okay in the bedroom where there are less components and less activities that need to be programmed.
3. While checking sports scores is nice, that is why I have a laptop - though it will be interesting to see if my opinion changes come football season.
Overall works great w/ simple set up but for complex systems I still reccomend a Harmony remote.
Firmware Updates Could Still Save The Ultimate Remote August 19, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'm a remote junkie. I've programmed a bunch of different universal remotes from the RadioShack 6-in-1 with its no screen/button only programming to the Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote with its simple online setup. So I know what I like and what works. I was very excited about getting this remote. WiFi capable sounded awesome (and is). I thought it was strange that they promoted "No PC Required" since my Harmony One uses the PC and it is so easy to setup. I didn't think of the PC as a stumbling point at all. As I suspected, programming it wasn't as easy as the online setup that the Harmony uses. The ESPN remote does take some technical savvy to get it hooked to your wireless setup and to get devices and activities setup. Being a programmer, I had fun doing it, but it was frustrating at points. I wanted to give this remote a 5 star review so badly that I worked very hard with customer support and on my own to find out the most I could and to give it every change. It's not at a 5 star level yet, but hopefully with firmware updates, they can get there. Some of the upgrades that they told me were coming sound promising. And since it has WiFi they can add all sorts of cool features in the future.
Device Setup:
The ESPN remote requires you to look up your device (TV, DVD, DVR, etc.) by brand. You then have to go through a trial and error process to find a codeset that not only works, but that has all the buttons/functions that you need for that device. They do not have their database sorted by Model Number (yet see below). It took me quite a while to get a good codeset for my Sony receiver that would switch to all the inputs with one button. I needed to bull my way through 40+ codesets. You need discrete input buttons for activities later. The TV wasn't too bad to get set up. The learning feature is really easy, so adding any function you don't find in the codeset is easy. Don't be afraid to use the learning function.
Activity Setup:
Activities again are not as easy to setup as the Harmony One. It runs a wizard to get your audio and video sources correct. You may have to tweak what it comes up with to get everything correct. The "All Power Off" function does not allow you to leave the power on for a device (like your DVR). I mentioned this to customer support, so hopefully they will upgrade this.
Support:
Customer support was really good. I worked with a guy that was very patient and very sharp. Here are some of the things we addressed:
- Adding model numbers to the add device process and online remote setup. Here is what they said: "We have a couple of innovations to the 'Add device wizard' on the remote in development and model numbers is just one of them. Another is that if you don't have the model number, the search will be much smarter and be able to home in on the correct command set much more quickly than it does currently. I personally believe that with these improvements, it will be so straightforward there will be no need to duplicate this setup on the PC. However, we will review that after those features are rolled out."
- The ability to manage your contacts on the click365.tv portal. For me it was slow to enter in email addresses. This would allow you to add them on the website.
What's Cool:
- An Olympics icon popped up on the start screen during the Summer Olympics. It takes you right to a web page dedicated to the Olympics. This special programming was really cool. I'm looking forward to other special things.
- WiFi - This is really neat. From TV listings to searches to live scores it's awesome!
- Texting / Emailing -- Come on! Emailing from your remote. May sound silly but it's really cool.
- The Screen is very cool and the buttons light up so nice!
- The ESPN sound byte when it starts up. Hopefully we can add more sounds!
Notes:
- You can jump right to a program from the listings. Just push down the stick. It will tune to that channel.
- Some of the buttons do feel a little cheap.
- No touch screen. I like the Harmony One Touch Screen. It does have the six side buttons that perform functions that are labeled on the screen.
Conclusion:
The ESPN remote has a lot of promise but isn't as functional or easy to use as the Harmony One. I had fun using it, but I wouldn't trade in my Harmony One just yet especially for more money.
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