Testing
The remote was tested with two VHS players, several televisions and a DVD player, and managed to succeed in providing full functionality for every single device thrown at it – all of which were well-known brands: Hitachi, Thomson, Sony, Pioneer. It also correctly "learned" each of the commands it was shown from existing remote controls. It even managed to learn what the manual called "Dual Signal" commands by repeating the program sequence a second time to establish the other component of the infra-red signal.
The lists of supported device codes for DVD, CTV, Satellite and VCR contain around 100 entries, with most brands having more than one you may need to try. That’s impressive, but the list for televisions is absolutely vast, totalling several hundred brands and thousands of individual codes. The Universal 3100 has clearly been designed primarily to replace or supplement television remote controls above all else. Which makes sense in a generalised market because they are definitely the most commonly lost or damaged, but it also mean that other devices are neglected somewhat.
Cost
The Energy Sistem URC 3100 costs a paltry £10, which makes for a pretty sweet deal.
Leave a Reply