My home entertainment setup is rather antiquated, but then so am I. Basically, it’s just a TV and cable box. The TV has internet connectivity, but it’s old enough that some apps are no longer supported for it. I know it’s ancient, but I hate to get rid of something that still works.
Except for one thing; in the winter, the remote for the cable box gets very finicky. When it’s cold enough, it barely works at all. And having two remotes is kind of a pain in the neck. So I went online looking for a universal remote, and it seems like companies are starting to abandon that market.
So what do y’all use to control your entertainment options; cell phone, computer keyboard, or will you cling to your old remote until we pry from your twitching, dead fingers? Maybe one of you can convince me to join the 21st Century and join a streaming service or two.
While we’re on the subject, why would a remote stop working in cold weather?
Bedroom tv is roku, so we use phone. Living room. There isvonly chromecast, so casting is mostly from phone and we use the google home app. For radio, it is Iheart app, or alexa.
Sorry about the remote. We pretty much do not use remotes anymore.
Living room TV is attached to a dedicated media computer so I use a wireless mouse. TV remote died so I have to turn the TV on and off by walking over and using the button, like a poor person!
On a slightly more serious note- I now have a slightly smart flatscreen tv. It may be smarter than me. I was stunned that the remote has no number buttons. I think the assumption was that all owners would have either cable or use streaming services. I have neither (I’m broke most of the time). However, thanks to living an apartment that is halfway below ground and surrounded by three story buildings, I only get 20 broadcast channels anyway. My sister in law put her hulu on my phone. I’m unsure how or if I can broadcast from phone to my tv.
I was afraid of that. When I’m home, I like to take my shoes off and empty my pockets. I leave the phone on my nightstand next to my bed. It would be annoying to have to carry the phone around, especially if I don’t have pockets.
Our new-ish Sony receiver has an interface that works well on a smartphone. It’s out of reach for a normal remote. It was crap-pish, but got an update a few months ago and now it’s nice.
This situation is perfect for getting a Roku. You can get one for less than $20 and it lets you access all of the streaming services that no longer work on your ‘smart’ tv. Also, you don’t have to jump right into a paid service. Roku gives you access to a lot of free, ad-supported channels. If you find yourself enjoying the conveyance of on-demand streaming vs watching whatever is on cable and starting from wherever it happens to be in the movie (rather than the beginning), you can start paying for some of the premium services like Netflix or Disney+. Disney will have an add supported plan soon, so it will be relatively inexpensive as well.
Full Disclosure: I own a shit ton of Roku stock.
I mainly use AppleTV and the AppleTV remote. Occasionally the tv will not come on automatically along side the AppleTV and I have to grab the tv remote, and I also need the tv remote to switch inputs when I want to play games, since there’s no auto-on when I turn on the Nintendo and no automatic input switch.
I downloaded an app for my phone that let’s me do that, but it’s a rare enough occurrence that it hasn’t become a habit. And I wouldn’t even have bothered except we now have a remote eating puppy and all remotes have to be put out of reach, which makes it less convenient to have to juggle a rarely used one.
Back in the day we used a “learning” remote. It wasn’t just programmable, it would actually learn the functions of other remotes by pointing them at each other. And you could set it up to function exactly how you wanted it to. It wasn’t frustrating like some programmable remotes can be.
This was a great way to combine all remotes into one. TV, VCR, DVD player, stereo, the fireplace TV stand we had, everything. It totally rocked. It was made by Zenith.
First, are you sure that the problem with your remote is not that the sun is lower in the sky and is beaming directly into your viewing room? Bright sunlight can reduce the effectiveness of an IR remote.
Second, we’re old-fashioned. There are five remote controls on my coffee table (A/V receiver, TV, ROKU, cable TV box, and CD/DVD player…plus a special custom subwoofer control) and we use them all. It’s just natural to use each dedicated remote as intended. I tried using an “all-in-one” and even a Logitech programmable remote ($$$). In each case, iimportant buttons or features were absent. When a single remote starts to get a bit flaky, I either open and clean it (primarily the buttons) or buy a new one (about $15) on eBay or Amazon.
It happens at night, too, so I don’t think that’s the reason.
I’ve taken a few remotes apart. There’s usually a rubber membrane with little metal disks embedded in it; press the button (the membrane) and the disk presses on some contacts to complete a circuit. I wonder if there’s just some dust built up on the contacts, and slight voltage drop from cold batteries (even new ones) isn’t enough to overcome it.
Having two remotes isn’t the end of the world, but it just seems so inelegant. Even one remote kinda sucks when it comes to entering text; using the arrow keys to navigate an on-screen keyboard.
I appreciate all the suggestions so far. Keep 'em coming.
If you want to simplify and save some money I’d really suggest getting rid of cable tv all together. If your viewing habits are still stuck on channel surfing live tv with network channels and live local sports there are great streaming services like Directv Stream, HuluLive, YoutubeTV, Sling that replicate the cable tv experience/interface.
These all run on devices like a roku for example. The roku remote is small, simple and replaces the tv remote also. It’ll act as your tv’s power and volume control. You can put away the tv remote and forget about it.
We’ve been using Harmony remotes the last ten years or so, they’ve handled all our various a/v equipment updates seamlessly. What will happen if/when they stop maintaining that equipment /app database? I think the industry assumes their cockamamie CEC approach will work well enough in the future. I have my doubts.
ETA: Idk what to say about the cold remote issue, never experienced that. We’re in California though…
Maybe if you use an RF instead of IR remote, that would help?
Same here. For some dumb reason we sometimes cannot get the recordings from the local streaming service to play, so we have to locate the other remote which operates the other box. I have a bunch of shows to watch, but haven’t, just because I have to play with the other box.
Hubby put the remote app on his phone and ipad, but we normally just use the remote, except for when the battery gets too low.
Re entering text, I, too, used to get really pissed off about having to enter my user name and passwords for different services. I dug out an old folding BT keyboard I used to use with my cell phone. It paired right away with my TV (Samsung) and I use it whenever text entry is appropriate. It also pairs with my Roku unit.
We have cable which includes TiVo. Our remote is from the cable company. It controls the TV, cable box and TiVo. The remote also has a Netflix button. It’s pretty simple. Our TV is a “smart TV” but it’s at least 8 years old so it’s not as smart as a newer TV would be. I guess it’s smart enough for us.