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User reviews for the Philips PHDVR8L from Philips Electronics.
Philips PHDVR8L
RatingsReviewsMSRP (USD)
Average: 3.67/5.00
Median: 3.67/5.00
2$34.99
The Philips PHDVR8L is an economical 8-device universal remote with a lightweight and sleek design with lots of buttons, full code learning, macros, sleep timer and more. Also sold as the PMDVR8.
Get it
at:
Amazon.com


Written by jasongst from Plano, TX.
The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.
Review 2 made on Friday January 26, 2007 at 11:58 AM.
Also owned:Sony RM-VL600
Strengths:Lots of buttons
Weaknesses:-- High latency when pressing buttons (the remote waits nearly a second to send each command to the TV).
-- Too many buttons and labels
-- Learning process tedious
-- Some functions do not learn correctly
-- Weak ergonomics
Review:Disclaimer: My Philips remote is a slightly different model which uses the same housing. Philips makes dozens of remotes on nearly identical hardware (why?), which makes it less likely that you'll find reviews for whichever one you end up with. Your experience therefore may vary. (For the record, mine is the 6-device model with DVD in the model number.)

My biggest complaint with the remote was the latency it added to very basic stuff, like channel surfing. The remote that came with my TV worked instantly--this one waits half a second or more before responding! In addition, several of the functions were glitchy once learned into the remote. For instance, it would send rapid fire commands, and close captioning would not work at all. Keep in mind both my TV and my VCR are both Philips branded!

The physical design of the remote is acceptable, but far from ideal. It's easy enough to change channels, volume, and press the number buttons, but everything else has to be hunted down with a squinting eye. Most of the buttons are round and tiny, and many of them have more than one text label associated with them. The tactile feel is not especially impressive either.

The best feature of this remote was the price: I payed $10 for mine. I can't imagine a brand new universal remote selling for less. Regardless, its meager performance offset any benefit I gained by merging my other remotes into one. I have since upgraded to the $25 Sony RM-VL600 and I am much, much happier. Despite having fewer buttons it boasts better learning compatibility (in my experience), an easier learning process, a better button layout, and, best of all, instantaneous performance.
Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Oscar2006 from Chicago.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 1 made on Tuesday January 3, 2006 at 10:13 AM.
Strengths:Macros --- 3 of them with 9 steps each!!
Learning Feature
Price ($24.99 over at circuit city)
Thin profile
Lightweight
TiVo DVR (DirectV) functionality
Weaknesses:TiVo buttons are set too low and the "SELECT" button is too small and inset too far.

User manual poorly written
Review:First off I am writing a review for the little brother of the PHDVR8L, the PMDVR8 (exactly alike but no backlight), controls up to 8 devices.

Database on this remote is very large. Only remote it didn't have in the database is my Yamaha receiver remote (but I easily added this remote with the learning feature)

Once you get through the poorly written user manual it's actually simple to program the codes. It took me less than 15 minutes to program all 4 of mine.....considering it had to "learn" the yamaha remote.

The macros are very nice to have, especially on a $25 remote. It has 3 of them and I used them all. Very easy to program the macro. One macro turns on all my equipment, sets my Tivo to my favorite channel and lowers the volume. 2nd macro shuts off all my equipment in sequence. 3rd macro powers on all of my equipment then sets my TiVo to the recorded programs, bypassing live TV. Very sweet deal for 25 bucks.

The Tivo buttons could have been placed in the middle of the remote and the "Select" key could've been larger and not inset so far....I have to be poking the key with the tip of my index finger.

It's very lightweight and has a nice slim profile with a good balance. It's also assymetric which means you'll never hold the remote backwards and try to power on your eyes. :)

The section on how to program the codes is lacking in text as to what to do when you fail to program the correct code. It just leaves you hanging there.

Overall I'm very happy with the remote and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants high end programmability (with macros) but isn't willing to spend more than 50 bucks.

Oscar
Quality: Features: Value:

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