The Bottom Line
At the time of this review the R7 was priced $39.99 at several Pricegrabber e-tailers.
Pros
- Buttons are large, easy to read and press
- Has all buttons needed to operate any device
- Reasonably priced
- Easy to program and operate
Cons
- Doesn't look like a high end product - no LCD screen
- The finger pad doesn't illuminate when pressing any button.
Description
- The R7 has a gray casing with light gray accents. The buttons are large and legible.
- Line of sight signal strength is 30-50 feet. The battery cover won't come off when dropped.
- SimpleSound and MacroPower special features can control all devices at the same time.
- The learning function is capable of 160 IR commands at 15kHz to 100kHz frequencies.
- It uses two AA batteries, is 2 1/8" x 1 1/8" x 8 3/4", and weighs 6.9 oz.
- The R7 has a one year warranty from the date of purchase.
Guide Review - Product Review: Universal Remote Control , Model R7
- Stereo
- CD player
- VCR
- TV
- DVD player
- Cable/satellite receiver
- Auxilliary device
Overview
The R7 has hundreds of pre-programmed codes for most TV/Video manufacturers. It also has SimpleSound and MacroPower. They gives the user control of every programmed device at once. The R7 has a learning function that allows it to learn individual commands from any TV/Video device's remote control that doesn't have a pre-programmed code.
How Does It Rate?
Let me get the bad news out of the way:[
- The R7 doesn't look fancy.
- It doesn't have a LCD screen
- The user must press the 'light' button to illuminate the key pad.
These aren't deal-breakers.
The good news begins with how it works. The R7 is easy to program and work. The owner's manual is easy to understand. Within minutes I programmed my two Samsung televisions, satellite receiver and CD player with the pre-programmed codes.
I then programmed an Oppo Digital 970HD DVD player with the learning function, which took about ten minutes to complete...it worked like a charm. If that failed I could've used the auto-programming function as a last resort.
SimpleSound and MacroPower were also easy to program and use.
The Bottom Line: The R7 is a simply-designed universal remote control that is pound-for-pound one of the best universal remotes on the market. This is something I would buy.