Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 659
 THE BEST April 8, 2007
Daniel Ross (Chicago, IL)
101 out of 101 found this review helpful
This is, without a doubt, the best remote control extender I've ever used. I have used three before this one. I have the X-10 Powermid in my bedroom and bought this one for my basement. I have a 50 inch plasma in my basement and I didn't want to put my cable box right underneath it or buy a media cabinet. I think it defeats the whole purpose of putting a plasma on the wall. I read the reviews on this RCE and figured I'd try another brand. I was very happy to see that the positive reviews were right on the money. I hooked it up in about 5 minutes. It was simple. My cable box is now located in the closet behind the TV. This RCE puts the transmitter inside the remote control. You replace one of your batteries with their battery shaped transmitter. The transmitter could care less in which direction you aim the remote control. This is so much better than the X-10 and others that require you to point your remote control at a receiver. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and I'm always wondering if my remote control batteries are dead. This RCE works every time. I'm going to get another one for my bedroom.
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br /Bottom Line: Finally a remote control extender that works! I love this product.
Best kept home theatre secret July 11, 2008
esanta (San Jose, CA USA)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
Although I have been a home theatre enthusiast for close to twenty years, I had never heard of the Next Generation Remote Control Extender; it was inexpensive enough that I figured it would be worth a try, but did not have very high expectations; all the competing solutions are much more expensive and require some sort of external stick-on transmitter for the remote, so how good could this possibly be?
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br /I just installed it in a new inexpensive remote I purchased (Sony RM-VL600) and it works spectacularly well. I was suspicious of the range, but was surprised to discover that it works throughout my entire house.
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br /The principle is simple: you replace one of the batteries in your remote with a clever little gadget that picks up the RF signal as you press the keys and transmits it to the base station, which converts it into infrared signals that are blasted to the component you want to control.
br /The transmitter is shaped like a AAA battery; a part of it is hollow so you can stick a 2/3 AAA-sized battery into it, which lets it serve the dual function of transmitter and battery. The package comes with two of these rechargeable batteries and one AA sleeve for remotes that use AA batteries.
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br /The receiver base is shaped like a flying saucer and about the size of a coaster. It is powered by a small wall DC power adapter. The bottom hides a door under which you will find a battery trickle charger with two slots, one AAA and one 2/3AAA. This lets you keep the spare 2/3AAA battery always charged and ready to go. There is also a sensitivity switch for "special cases".
br /The dome contains a blaster that you point at the device to control; in the back a jack lets you connect a remote blaster (supplied) if you need to control a second component out of reach of the base.
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br /After having serious problems with other RF remote extenders costing several times the price of this one, I'm thrilled to have found an inexpensive product that works so well. Highly recommended.
It WORKS! March 28, 2008
Bill (Newport News, VA USA)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I recently purchased an inexpensive digital converter box, to upgrade my analog sets into the digital age. The converter is in the den, and is supplying a signal to three sets, two of which are in other rooms, out of remote control range...not a convenient setup.
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br /I needed some sort of remote control extender, and decided to give this one a try based upon the price and the many positive recommendations.
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br /Simply put, this unit deserves the praise that it has been getting! It's functioning flawlessly...the remote for the new converter now works in any room of the house, with no stumbling or hesitation.
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br /One caveat to keep in mind--the supplied batteries (one of which has to be inserted into the remote that you wish to use) do come with a charge, and as such the instruction sheet didn't recommend charging them before the initial use. That initial charge that these batteries come with may not be strong enough to work with all remotes, as I quickly found out. The converter box remote, which uses a single battery, would not work at first, unless you were in the same room and pointed it directly at the converter. A VCR remote, which uses two batteries, would work though. This led me, initially, to the erroneous conclusion that the converter box remote was somehow incompatible with this product.
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br /If you're anxious to start using the remote control extender upon receipt, and if you find that your remote isn't functioning properly with it, don't give up immediately. Charge the supplied batteries for a few hours and then try again...that's all that was needed over here.
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br /Excellent, affordable, and so tiny that it's unobtrusive...am VERY happy!
Best remote extender ever! February 15, 2007
Woody (Midwest)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
If you have a need to control devices from a distance, this is the product for you.
br /Install the transmitter in the battery compartment of your standard remote, place the receiver near the devices to be controlled, and you are done!
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br /No need to spend more money on a new remote, train a remote and no need to position a relay component in the room that you are controlling the device from.
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br /This thing is amazing that it internally picks up the remote signal, and turns it into RF for transmission to the extender receiver.
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br /The IR is strong on the receiver end, and basically just needs to be in the same room as the devices to control. (it also comes with the wired extender if you need to place the control on the front of a device.
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br /You can control multiple devices from the same receiver, and use the original remote controls too.
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br /I am controlling a Direct Tivo from a room 3 floor's up on the opposite end of the house, and from 3 separate locations with 3 separate remotes. Distance is great.
br /I use the same receiver to control an outdoor sound system, using the factory remote.
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br /If you want to use more devices, just purchase the additional transmitters to put in your remote controls.
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br /This is an outstanding device that is extremely simple to setup and use.
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br /Two thumbs up!!
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Works Better than I dared hope March 5, 2008
H. Mclaughlin (Los Angeles, CA USA)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
I love having all my AV equipment out of sight in an AV cabinet- and this gizmo is what makes it possible. I ordered one on the strength of the glowing reviews, and was pleased to find that it works exactly as others have said. I can control the AV equipment from literally anywhere in my house.
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br /Also, in my own use, I found a few unique things I hadn't seen mentioned in other reviews.
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br /First off, in the tight space of my AV closet, the unit didn't send signals perfectly to all my equipment- probably because it needs to be located a little farther away from the devices than space inside the cabinet would allow.
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br /I solved this by adding the "3Eye Triple IR Mouse Emitter" (which is 3 separate IR bulbs on a wire, you stick over the IR ports on your AV gear, then attach to the mini plug on the Remote Extender). Voila! With the direct connection to my devices, this thing never misses! If you have trouble, and can't locate the RCE far enough away from your gear, or there's interference in the IR signal, try the 3Eye device, it'll likely solve the problem. (Note: The RCE comes with a single IR cable, but it can only control one device).
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br /Then I had another challenge arise- I have an audio receiver located almost 50 feet from the AV closet, in another cabinet. I wondered could I run an IR emitter cable that far, and have this control that device also? (And of course, without giving up control of the AV closet devices).
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br /The answer: YES!
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br /The Remote Control Extender only has one minijack, but a simple $2 dual-headphone adapter jack that you can get at any electronics store works to make it 2 jacks.
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br /More of a challenge, I wondered would the IR emitter work via the dual adapter with the triple Eye, PLUS attached to 50 feet of headphone extension cable with mini-jacks.
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br /The answer: YES!
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br /So little signal strength goes through the cables, that you can extend modestly long distances, adapt with a splitter, and run as many IR bulbs as you need off the same mini jack, with no loss of IR performance.
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br /So I merely ran the long cable through the wall to my stereo cabinet, plugged both IR emitter sends into Remote Extender (via the adapter), and now my universal remote controls literally EVERYTHING- even devices over 50 feet apart- with just this one extender!
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br /This is a product that simply WORKS, and works well. An amazing product for the price. If you're looking for a way to hide all your AV gear and still be able to control it, and even if you need odd control options that require extended IR cables, this is the gizmo that will handle it!
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 659
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