Elegance Meets Functionality - A Good but Not Perfect Universal Remote

Background
I loved my Sony RM-AV3100 (see my review: http://www.epinions.com/review/pr-Sony_RM-AV3100_Remote_Control/content_183117778564) universal touch screen remote.  It offered features such as touch screen and user customizable onscreen labels years before both of these became rather commonplace.  However, its monochrome screen was getting a little dated compared to all the snazzy colour LCD screens on Logitech remotes.  In addition, being a Sony product, it was not blessed with a longevity gene in its product DNA.  After two years of flawless enjoyment, I had to say goodbye to this remote – well, dropping it on the hardwood floor was the final nail in the coffin.

So I started looking for another remote around early 2007.  My selection criteria are:
* Touch screen
* Colour LCD
* Activity-based commands

I preferred a tablet-shaped controller, and the lineup of these controllers was pretty thin at the time.  I like the Logitech 1000 but it was a little too pricey back then.  I checked out the Philips 9800i on line and liked what I saw so I bought one.  I just recently retired this unit (sold it on eBay) after purchasing a Logitech Harmony One to replace it.  The much touted Harmony One is a bit of a disappointment for me after the Philips in some ways.  I was planning to write a review on the Harmony One but I thought I ought to set a proper context by reviewing the 9800i first.

Targeted Market
I did not have an overly complicated home theatre set up, so I could not use that as an excuse to justify the 9800i.  It was a geek-buy for me, pure and simple.  The 9800i should appeal to computer geeks and audio/video/remote fanatics alike.

Packaging
The folks at Philips did a great job packaging this unit and created an appealing product that was befitting for its price point and targeted audience.

The unit was well presented inside the packaging, bundled with a charging dock, stylus, USB cable, manual and a CD.  It took less than a minute to set up the charger to charge up the unit before first use.  The first charge took 3 hours.

Form Factor and Features
The unit itself was very sleek and the two-tone colour scheme was eye-catching.  The LCD was backlit and bright.  It measured 3.5” diagonally and displayed 65535 colours.  It was packed with 32MB of RAM and 32MB of flash memory.  Next to the LCD screen was a set of buttons, arranged in a functional and logical manner.  There was a USB connector on the side, charging socket on the bottom edge, and a built-in hidden speaker.

The unit, with the built-in batteries, was not heavy at all.  It was considerably lighter than the Sony, and it was easy to hold in your hands.  To me, the heft and feel of a handheld device is very important.

Initial Setup
Many reviewers complained bitterly about the level of difficulty encountered during device set up.  My experience with the unit had been consistently straight forward and not remotely difficult.  I think It is really a question of expectation.  In my opinion, one must expect to spend a few hours to set up a highly programmable remote control so that it will work in a way that makes the owner’s life easier.  A certain amount of tweaking and fine-tuning is a necessity when it comes to this type of universal remote control. 

The set up process was fully prompted by on-screen instructions.  A “wizard” took me through all the steps from creating a “room”, identifying the devices within it, creating the activities for the room, to finally testing the set up. 

To hone in on the proper command code sets for all the devices in a room, the unit offered three different approaches.  The first method was Learn & Match.  In this mode, the unit stepped you through a few questions to identify a specific device.  Then it would prompt you to hit certain buttons on the original remote while pointing it at the IR receiver built into the top edge of the unit.  After a few buttons, the unit would determine which code set to use and they you could try out the various on-screen buttons to confirm the code set selection.  Of the three programming modes, I liked this one the most.

The second way to program the unit was Autoscan.  The unit would narrow down some basic information about the device (e.g. type, brand, etc.) and than fire a bunch of commands from a number of code sets until one was identified as appropriate.  I found this approach a little on the iffy side, and it had a tendency to miss buttons.

The last programming method was called Select and Try.  It was meant to be the last resort approach when the other two methods failed to narrow down to one code set.  Based on the type of device and its brand, the unit would offer a number of applicable code sets on the screen for selection, arranged in decreasing relevance or likelihood to succeed.  It was a relatively painless and effective process.

Room- and Activity-Based Control
Room-based control was a rather clever idea, assuming you had a need to carry the unit around in your back pocket as you moved from room to room.  Let’s face it, light as the unit was, it was not exactly pocket friendly – not unless someone came up with a around-the-neck pouch for this unit.

Once programmed properly, you would start by choosing a room and then zooming in on the activity you desired.  Activities were grouped under categories of Watch, Listen and Watch/Listen on RC9800i.  Under each category was a list of sub-activities.  For example, under “Watch” you would find Watch TV, Watch DVD, etc.  One click of the activity button would initiate a series of commands, from switching on the devices, selecting the right input, to choosing the favourite channel, etc. 

These strings of commands were usually fairly bulletproof.  However, every once in a while, one of the devices in the sequence would fail to turn on, or the input selection on the TV would be messed up.  When that happened, you could use the “Fix” button to step through the sequence, activating only the commands that failed to execute.

Networking and EPG (Electronic Program Guide)
The network set up left a bit to be desired.  First of all, it refused to connect to a wireless network that did not broadcast its SSID.  With the SSID broadcast switched on, I then encountered another problem.  The unit couldn’t connect to the router with 128-bit WEP encryption turned on.  Strangely enough, it worked with 64-bit encryption.  In the end I abandoned the idea of connecting the unit to my network altogether since I had no desire to broadcast the SSID and step down the encryption to 64 bits.  As a result, I did not have a chance to test out EPG since EPG required network connectivity. 

With the unit not connected to the network, I also did not bother with the Philips Media Manager software, which was supposed to allow streaming of MP3 and pictures to the receiver via an UPnP device.

The Buttons (Physical and Virtual)
I liked the simplified layout of physical buttons on the right.  They were easy to find by feel, and could be used single-handedly.  The drawback of a simplified layout was virtualization of numeric keys and a few other less frequently used buttons.  So, to punch in a channel number, you had to look at the screen to hit the right numbers. 

Peeves
1. The unit came with a stylus, but not a recess or cavity to store the stylus.  Therefore, the stylus was destined to get lost.
2. Battery life of the unit was not very impressive at all.  I guess that explained the relative light weight?  With a full charge, I was able to deplete more than half of the battery just by adding a new device to the unit and programming it.  The rest of the time, the unit needed to be charged up at least twice a week.
3. The unit had a tendency to freeze up suddenly.  There was no rhythm or reason to these freeze-ups at all.  It was quite a nuisance to flip the on/off switch every time to reset the unit.
4. The unit did not support customization of buttons.  It did not allow arrangement of on-screen buttons on the same page or movement of them amongst pages.  It was not possible to rename or create buttons either.  Sony AV3100 was one generation older yet it had this handy feature even back then.

Summary
Combining the peeves listed above with the reset problem and the network connectivity issues, the Philips RC9800i was not the perfect control that it could have been.  It was very well designed, and easy to use most of the time.  It was a good product 85 to 90% of the time but the last 10-15% kept it from being a superb product.  However, I really liked the simple layout of physical buttons as well as the feel of these buttons. 

Now that I am using a Logitech Harmony One, I find the Logitech unit way too busy, with too many buttons.  The Logitech buttons lack a solid feel when pressed, and the remote scratches way too easily.  Quite frankly, despite all of its minor flaws, I actually preferred the 9800i over Harmony One in terms of usability and convenience.  I guess you can say I was spoiled by the Sony AV3100 and Philips RC9800i.  I am planning to ditch the Harmony One as soon as I can find a reasonable replacement.