Having owned the remote for two months we have become familiar with the functions and button layout. Switching between devices is quick, choosing from the list on the LCD display. Though not as sleek and pretty as the Harmony 670, the URC RF20 feels like a sturdier device.

Initial setup was quick for the TV, DVD player, DVD carousel, VCR, and DTV converter we use. There were several functions that did not initially work for a couple devices, but the URC RF20 “learned” those functions directly from the original device remotes. If we didn’t have a remote for the URC RF20 to learn from, we’d have been stuck with very basic functionality.

The LCD display is only five characters wide, so function names are condensed or truncated to fit. The remote is also rather large, but we appreciate function over form.

Evaluation: +4 stars for capability, -1 star for difficultly in learning to configure.

There are two things a universal remote control (URC) might be expected to do. First, replace several remote controls that would otherwise be required. The RF20 can replace up to 10 separate remote controls, but all the RF20 did was reproduce their commands, then it would not be worth the candle. Second, simplify operation of an AV system; useful simplification would enable a person to operate the AV system without remembering complicated sequences of button pushes. I can simplify operation of my system well enough with the RF20 that it is worth the candle.

My living-room AV system consists of the following:

* New Sanyo HD TV

* New, HDMI-switching, Onkyo receiver

* New, Dish-System HD box with DVR

* New Sony Blu-Ray DVD

* Old Panasonic VCR.

* A 5.1 array of old Polk speakers

There are five AV boxes, each with a different remote control, and each designed and built by a different manufacturer. The ability of the RF20 to control this system should be a fair test of its “universality.”

“Worth the candle” means worth the purchase cost, plus the effort to configure it, plus the effort integrate control commands. Make no mistake. Learning to configure the RF20 is hard. It is hard despite an heroic effort by the RF20’s manufacturer to create a how-to manual and a how-to presentation. It is hard because the command language is so inconsistent that each useful sequence of commands must be memorized.

Units of an integrated system play well together. For example, to play AV signals from Dish, one has to turn on the Dish box, turn on the receiver and configure it to use the Dish signal, and turn on the TV. The RF20 can do all this with one button push. The difficulty in general is figuring out what RF20 should command.

In addition, what you want to control may not be controllable. For example, you may want to turn all units “off” that are “on”, but do nothing to a unit that is already “off”. You can do that to the Sanyo TV and Onkyo receiver because they have separate “off-only” and “on-only” commands, but my other three AV units have only a combined “on/off” command. One can sometimes find a way to create an “off-only” macro (e.g., the Dish system) or find an “off-only” command from an old remote control (e.g., the Onkyo receiver), but I have not been able to find a way to create “off-only” command for the Sony BDVD or the Panasonic VCR.

Other observations:

* It is essential that a URC be able learn commands.

(The URC does not have “pre-programmed” commands for several of my AV units. Neither do any of the five remotes that came with the system.)

* It is essential that a URC be able to implement macros.

* For me, good documentation is essential (forget the URC-R50).

* Various manufacturers have proprietary methods for turning “on” the AV units of a multi-unit system. (I tried this in my master bedroom–Panasonic HD TV connected to a Panasonic home theater system. First problem, the Dish HD box is not made by Panasonic. Second problem, I do not yet understand how to use this system because it is so confusing.

It is easy to set up and use; even my technophobe wife uses it without complaint.

I found setting up a macro in this unit to be a breeze. The manual is not well written in this regard; one needs to generalize the instructions that are given. Once you get the idea, you will find it silly simple to program.

I was originally unsure if the larger LCD window of this unit was really needed but now am pleased I went with this model.

Tips: 1) always use fresh batteries in remotes that are “teaching” this unit.

2) if a button that has been “taught” only `kinda works’, redo the teaching and prolong pressing the button that is doing the “teaching”. This will clear up any problems.

So bottom line: a very nice device with a good user interface but some quality issues.

But then there’s the bug. One of the ‘features’ of this remote is ‘erasing commands’. Why would you need this? Well, perhaps you decided to rearrange your screen buttons, and you didn’t need one any more, so you cleared the label and deleted the command (key or macro). And here’s the bug: the ‘learning’ method for programming buttons DOES NOT WORK, if a macro has previously been stored to the button. One would expect that any old command on a button would automatically be erased when a new command (key or macro) is saved, but that is not the case. The work-around for the bug is that you must manually erase the command first. So this is clearly what the ‘erasing commands’ feature is for. But that reason is not documented in the manual, and neither is the bug itself.

In fact, another problem with this remote is the manual. It appears glib and superficial. It leaves out some important details. One of the most powerful features of this remote is the macro capability, but the manual explains this only through one example, for the ON button on the MAIN page. It does not give any general step-by-step procedure for setting up a macro command on a button for an individual component. Most users will eventually be able to figure this out, but the manual should have more detail. In fact, what is missing from the manual is a chapter on how to set up macros for users who are serious about using this powerful capability. Also important is button layout, which is a design issue. For the screen buttons, for example, the most frequently used commands should be on buttons that are closer to the center of the remote — that is, lower on the screen, whereas less frequently used or more destructive commands (such as RECORD or CLEAR COUNTER, for example) should be further away — higher on the screen.

You should also be aware of the large amount of time that it can take to set up the remote as you might like it to be. The Pre-Programmed Code Method of setup is fast, but usually doesn’t set up all of the buttons that are on the original remote. The Learning Method is also fast, once you have designed the button layout you want. You may, for example, set up the OFF button to actually do RECORD, since the ON button does the ON/OFF function for a component (this is the layout taken by one of the pre-programmed codes for a VCR). But doing the design of the button layout, and particularly learning how the various setup features work, then setting up macros, then changing things when you see how you can improve your layout — these things can take a really long time. And the manual does not give you any help with some of these issues. And then of course you may want to document some of your layout, especially if the OFF button invokes RECORD, for example.

Yet another little ‘bug’ is in the manual’s macro example. If the ON button is programmed in this way, then the ON buttons for the individual components no longer work as you might expect. That is, you may wish to play a CD and so you just want to turn on the audio amplifier (and the CD player). But now the AUDIO ON button invokes the MAIN ON button, so everything comes on instead. The manual doesn’t warn you of these problems.

For the remote itself and its capabilities, I would probably grade it a 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. But because of the bug and the manual, it is tempting to grade it as a 1. So the compromise is 3.

Another great feature that improves usability is called “punch thru” where you can set the volume/mute (and some other) buttons to control one device (like your TV) even while the remote is being used to control another device (like your DVD player), meaning you don’t have to switch the remote from DVD back to TV just to quickly mute the volume.

The editing of button labels, the programming of button functions using the “learn” mode, and other setup operations are all pretty easy. Once you’ve done it a couple of times, it’s simple to do again without referring to the instruction book. Speaking of the instruction book, I am very impressed with how clear it is (how unusual that is!) with easy-to-follow, illustrated steps. There is an instructional DVD provided, but I didn’t watch it as I had no need to do so.

When I started to set up this remote, I found that the automatic programming using the numeric codes for the different vendors’ devices wasn’t very complete, and trying to use the programmable buttons as they are labeled by default was confusing. I made much faster progress, I was less confused, and I ended up with a much more usable remote, when I realized I should just fully customize the buttons by using the ability to edit the button labels and using the “learn” function to set the button functions (which is surprisingly fast and easy).

I’m a quality assurance professional and I view software, hardware, and documentation with a critical eye, and I am usually exasperated with what I see on the market, and often frustrated in my personal use of complex devices. But this remote control is extremely well-designed, clearly documented, and highly usable.

The only thing I don’t understand is why the manufacturer has such a poorly-chosen generic company name! The manufacturer is Universal Remote Control, Inc., based in Harrison, NY.

I know some of the other people mentioned that there was no RF in some other reviews, but they were either not believable to me or they were not clear enough for my liking. The Product is called ‘RF20′, so I assumed there was RF. I was wrong. In fact there is no RF support, well at least not the kind used to control RF devices. Instead it can talk RF to the base station, which in turn will talk IR to all the devices. So neither device apparently actually controls ANYTHING via RF. Now I read a lot of reviews before purchasing this remote and though I am happy with it as an IR universal remote I am disappointed to learn that it controls NONE of the RF devices I have.

I use an HTPC, which had an ATI Remote wonder until all the buttons got too squishy to work anymore. I also have an RF keyboard and a few gamepads. This can not replace any of this. It does not talk to any of the RF recievers no matter what I try.

I should have known after reading other people say it did not do RF, but you never know what they really know. So let me give you a word of wisdom. If you are planning to use this for an HTPC be sure to have/get an IR receiver to pair with this (USB-UIRT for instance, or an old IR receiver from an old remote). It is nice that you can use the RF-to-IR capabilities to get extra range, but you still need IR and it seems there is no way around it. So good luck.

The moral of the story is that this is not much good for replacing RF remotes especially HTPC remotes like ATI. It does however seem to work well enough as a normal remote for IR devices with decent range and button firmness, etc.

Enjoy.