iPhone remotes

[Razz]

Has anyone tried any of the iPod remotes that were featured in last month S&V?

I'm very interested in both i-Got-Control and the Re

Both look very promising and for only $70 i'm about to pull the trigger on one of these.


John you around? Love to hear your opinion on these, that is if you have set one up yet.

 

[Razz]

.......anyone........

 

[CMonster]

I just looked at the i-got-control website and watched one of their videos and I wouldn't buy it. No activities, no macros, no thanks. I just took a quick look at the NewKinetix Re and it is activity-based so I'd go with that.

 

[yromj]

I just saw this thread.

It's an IR solution, so if you have line of sight to the equipment it will work. The lack of macros is a big deal to me, too. (Merely having a collection or IR commands does not a universal remote make, IMHO.) Also, while the "no programming" feature may sound great, it also means no customization, either.

John

 

[Razz]

How about the other one John... the Re.

 

[yromj]

The Re looks a LOT better. For what you're looking for, it ought to work great.

:text-threadjacked:

Now I'm thinking about if I were to set one of those up for a customer instead of a URC remote. Pros & cons:

Pros:

• Price- $70 bucks for the hardware is a lot cheaper than $429-599 for a typical URC.
  
  Familiarity- The customers who be candidates for this are most likely already comfortable with their iPhone/Pad/etc. That means it's not another device they would have to get used to.

Cons:

• No RF- It probably seems that I harp on that a lot when talking about these things, BUT it's a HUGE deal to the vast majority of customers I deal with. Even if their gear is in the same room, it's almost always behind a closed doors. Then there's the 25-30% who use 2nd zones with their systems and love to be able to sit ouside by the pool or the lake and control their system.
  
  Flexibility?- This one I can't verify from their description, but I like to be able to assign macros anywhere. It allows me to truly customize a remote for each customer. One example of this is the two buttons I put on virtually every remote I program: "Go to TV" and "Go to Movie". I place these on the screen for the opposite device (TV on the blu-ray, Movie on the cable/dss) and I tell everybody it's my "Guy Button". Undoubtedly while watching a movie someone will need to go the bathroom or want popcorn...something. Rather than sit & wait most guys would rather check on the game. By using those two buttons they jump back and forth quickly and easily. I've also had instances where I've controlled parts of 3 different devices from the same screen.
  
  Availability- My experience is that the husband buys the remote, but the wife is the one who falls in love with it. What happens when the guy has the remote in his iPhone and is not home?

Ultimately I think it's a very cool device and has a great deal of usefulness and value. I also think that it could ultimately be a stepping stone for some people to a dedicated universal remote.

John