Sony RM-AX4000 Home Theater Remote Control

Home-Theater is wonderful but what a mess all those remote controls make. You could place them in a large basket but how can you easily get to the remote you're looking for? Consolidate all your remotes into one! Sony RM-AX4000 remote control comes with Sony's easy to setup PC software. It's the perfect remote control for today's home-theater system, consolidating multiple remote controls into one. Exciting and convenient, this remote features an XPRESS Function for executing a series of commands, and enabling you to operate several AV components just by pressing a single key. It also controls up to 16 components, and with the Sync-up Key, synchronizing operational status on remote and alternate components is done with ease. Also featuring Tivo(tm)/DVR functionality and an illuminated LCD touch screen allows you to highlight and view your choices. Uses 4 AA batteries Learning function for programming other remotes signals you need (only infared signals). Almost 500 non-Sony commands pre-set at the factory for use with non-Sony components. Clock and Timer Function Using a maximum of 8 timer macros, turn your components on and off automatically Non-volatile memory function to keep your settings memorized

The Sony RM-AX4000 Home Theater Remote Control can handle everything in your home audio-visual system, doing away with remote control clutter. It can control up to 16 components, and can operate several different components with a single key. The remote control comes up with PC software to customize and program the remote. An XPRESS function can execute a whole series of commands, and the sync-up key makes it easy to sync operational status on remote and alternate components. The RM-AX4000 works with Tivo and other DVRs. You can use the clock and timer function to set up to eight timer macros and turn components on and off automatically. A memory function preserves your settings, and a learning function can program signals from other remotes that use infrared signals. Four AA batteries power the illuminated LCD touch screen.

I have owned and used 3 universal remotes before (2 Denon & 1 sony). As with its predecessor, this is a great piece of hardware. It can learn/present all of my IR controlled devices I have - Amp, plasma,DVD, LD, VCR, Tape (!), MacMini, lights, aircon, tower fan. In addition, it now saves all the learned codes on the PC's HDD, so if it ever loses the volatile memory, it can reload the whole thing from PC. Don't assume to have it working with all your equipment out of the box - it takes about a day (in my case) to learn and program this thing. The PC interface allows it to do even more than the older models, including the ability to assign a macro to every button, soft or hard. The new AirSlide is cool, and it is thinner than the old models. Its ability to record IR codes and store it as a text file is interesting - I look forward to swapping codes with others. On the downside, there are a few glitches: 1. The lack of the component select hard buttons means changing 'mode' is now 2-click. You have to press "component" and then the soft buttons for Amp, DVD, etc appear. It can, however, fit more components since they are soft buttons, and the labels are now programmable. 2. In Xpress screen and Component select screen, the volume buttons don't work. So if you movie is too loud and your remote happens to be in these 2 screens, you might fumble for a while. 3. In the 4000A model, somehow there is no setting for the hard volume button to always control the amp. The manual says it can, but the menu on the controller does not have the option. I had to get around it by setting all components' volume control hard button to macro to the amp's volume up/down.

This is an excellent product from Sony. it works, is nice and easy to use.

This is the third of the latest of the Sony Remote Commanders I have purchased. This by far is the easiest to program and use. It took less than 30 minutes to find the codes and to insert my own programmed buttons. My first one took 6 hours, the second 2 hours. So, it's definitely improved since 2001. My friends call it the "Star Trek" remote because of the size and design.

Just a quick post to tell you, DON'T USE THE PRE-SETS OR WIZARD. Add a device. Go to Advanced. Pick the button. Learn the function. It will save you a tremendous amount of time. And, it's really no different then setting up an older remote, like the Sony RM2000. My only issue??? ALL OFF doesn't work either. So, I set a macro to button 4 instead.

I was skeptical about buying this based on a few terrible reviews. But I was pleasantly surprised with how well the software works (v 1.1 running on WinXP), and how easy it is to program the buttons to do everything imaginable. It took a couple hours but now I have my whole system working perfectly with a single remote. If you're looking for something simple that will work out of the box, look elsewhere. But if you're comfortable with computers and like to tinker, this product offers incredible flexibility. Highly recommend.