That’s because those young’uns don’t like remotes with more than 20 buttons.
Back in the days, we had VCR remotes with more than 80 buttons. And a LCD display, too.
And when done with a video game session, we were not lazy to get up, reach behind the TV, remove the NES scart, and plug back the VCR one.
before your original remote breaks, stop using it.
besides universal remotes (preprogrammed for devices) there are learning remotes that you can teach from a working remote. learning remotes can be had for under $30(USA) and they have all the functions of preprogrammed universal remotes.
if you can get the tv remote to function just once in the learning process then it’s done. though it may have a command set as a universal remote.
Also, there is redundancy in many modern remotes. If I remember correctly, the remote for our cable box also controls the power, volume and input select for the TV. So does the remote for our DVD/VCR combo unit. And the remote for our Blu-Ray player.
DVD players are notorious for this, too. You can’t select “enter” on mine without the remote.
It’s also simple to buy a replacement remote for your model on eBay, usually for less money than a learning remote.
my learning remote (about $23) functions as 8 remotes so it is less expensive. also takes less space for one device. also easier to remember button locations on one device rather than 8.
This is one of the reasons that I still have a VCR. The DVD player and Wii plug into the VCR, normally set to input 1. If I want to watch a DVD, I just turn the VCR power on. If I want to play Wii, then I have to get up off my butt and push a button on the VCR.
I"m suddenly very grateful for my Sony tv with an input button right under the volume control.
I always make sure my TVs have buttons when I buy them. It’s only logical. If they don’t have buttons, they were designed by marketoids, not engineers. My Olevia seems to have bourne out that logic by punching well above its weight class in quality and features.
Logitech Harmony remotes get codes from an online database. They’re expensive, but I got a used one for $30 on Craigslist.
I thank everybody for the suggestions, but I always knew how to fix it. I swung by my hardware store today and picked up a universal remote that cost me six bucks. It was never that complicated a problem, but it annoyed the fuck out of me - hence the rant.
If you can stick it out until the next solar max, the crappy remote will be the least of your worries.
Are you sure your cable remote doesn’t have an input button? My Comcast remote has one on the bottom of the number keys next to the “0”. I can switch my TV between RF, input 1 and input 2 with it.
Because he is clearly looking for redundancy on the remote itself, right?
Oh wait…
As to the actual OP, I feel your pain.
I go out of my way to make sure there is at LEAST a button that controls what mode you are in. If this is not on the set, then you can get potentially locked in a certain mode without the remote (and/or if it breaks, batteries, etc). Anything else is superfluous, but a mode selection button should be on even the most BASE of models. The argument that a set should cost more for having this button is downright hilarious.
You shouldn’t be required to go buy a universal remote, either. Granted, if the set remote breaks, you’re probably up a creek for most functions anyway, but you should still be able to switch between AV/Component/etc. without a remote.
I absolutely feel his pain. When I bought my 47" TV - I say that to let you know it was a big investment for us - I waited and waited until a $1600 TV went on sale for about $900, and then scooped it up. I didn’t exactly look to see if the fucking thing had buttons on it. Thankfully, it does have some. But if it didn’t, I might still have ended up buying it because the price was right. But it still would have annoyed the piss out of me.
What annoys me these days, is the DVD player I bought two years ago does not have a function where it remembers where you were in the DVD when you shut it off. And, it has a ten minute shutoff timer. I confess, I never even thought to look for that option, and it angers me to see how many options they’ll just remove whether you want it or not. I want my DVD player to remember where I was!
After a couple of years I replaced it, and this one went to the bedroom. My NEW DVD player remembers the spot you were on on TWO DVDs. Awesome.
I also make sure my DVD player has an eject button, and if possible up/down/play.
Edit: And yes, ‘remember the spot’ is critical on a DVD player for me.
My cheap-ass $40 Walmart Sony remembers where you were. And if you remove the DVD and reinsert it days later, it still remembers. I don’t know how long it’s memory span is, exactly.
No eject button though, so E-Sabbath wouldn’t like it.
Interesting- I always wondered if anyone actually WANTED that function- I really hate when I sit down to watch a dvd and it starts in the middle because my daughter watched half of it a week ago.
I can see how you would want it if there was a power failure, but I usually don’t want to dive right back in to the last thing played; chances are that if I was interrupted in the watching, I missed the last bit on-screen, and would want to start from that chapter.
I too want my DVD player to remember the spot. My old unit would remember where I left off on the *last five *(!) DVDs- my current unit doesn’t remember anything. Also, when I would pause a movie on the old unit it automatically told me the timecount for where I was when I paused it and the total running time- helpful for when my wife would invariably get sleepy half way through a movie and she’s mumble “how much time left?”- it was easy to check. Current unit? No such luck.
Stupid electronics.
gurujulp- On my old unit it would tell me “press play to start from where you left off” or something like that. If you didn’t press play after about 5 seconds, it would automatically go to the intro/menu rather than just start playing from where it had been stopped.
Why/How do you guys deal with all of that equipment? I’ve got a friend with all this junk too and it boggles my mind. He’s got a DVR from the cable company which he pays a monthly fee for, a Roku, a blu-ray player, a console, a slingbox and a sound system.
His Entertainment center is this ugly ridiculous collection of junk. I told him I could do all of what his equipment could do plus a hundred more things for less money and with one box. It’s called a PC. Jeebus.