Home > Consumer Reviews > SONY Universal Remote Commander(R) Remote Control

It seemed to work well at first. I had some problems getting it to set, because it requires more force than you'd expect to trigger the set command. Successfully got it to work for a Zenith TV, Panasonic VCR and RCA VCR. It also worked on a Sony STD-D550Z receiver, although not all the commands would work. It would run the basic commands for a Sony 5 disc DVD player, but couldn't switch discs (very annoying). I'd still have to pull the DVD remote out of the drawer if I planned to cycle through CDs or wanted to view more than one DVD. I could not get it to work on the Sony STR-DE985 receiver I just bought. Like the other review I read, I'm pretty amazed it doesn't work on Sony devices. The inability to learn commands makes this remote pretty much useless, even if you have Sony devices. Waste of money

I did a lot of research before buying this remote (actually, two of them.) I successfully programmed the RMV401 to recognize a GE TV, a JVC VCR, a Pioneer DVD, a Sony Sat., and a Sony CD. I was getting excited. Then I tried to get it to recognize a Sony Receiver (STR-DE685). It wouldn't. Went through all troubleshooting. Called Sony help line. They walked me through all troubleshooting, then finally said: "We don't guarantee compatibility with all components." Ok, I can understand not being compatible with a component made in Finland, but a SONY! Unforgiveable. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. So I have to return both of them (long drive back into the city), and continue searching. It's too bad, because this is an ergonomic and well-designed remote, except for this problem. The problem with all Remote makers is they don't specify which components are compatible. They should do this.