Universal Remote/Virgin Set top box

Wench

Anyone know if tesco/argos/etc do a Universal remote that will work with the Virgin tv box ? - I've seen a few for Sky on the market, but not Virgin.

jannowretired

No, I looked into this a few years ago, Virgin remote codes are specific to Virgin.

Kurtis_Blue

Just phone Virgin I'm sure they will just send you one.

spike7451

It's a question I got asked a lot at VM,As far as I'm aware the isn't any brand of universal remotes that work with cable.

Nilrem

If you just want/need a replacement remote giving VM a ring an explaining that a button doesn't work and you've replaced the batteries normally results in a new one being sent out free (I did this a while back as a couple of the buttons had died, and a good clean didn't fix it - not surprising on a 5+ year old remote).
Failing that Ebay often has them, but you have to be careful to get the right one for your box/area from memory.


If you want to reduce remote clutter then the Logitech Harmony and similar higher quality universal remote work fine with VM (phillips Pronto is another from memory) as they are a lot "smarter" than normal ones, as well as being able to work with the slightly different IR range (and completely different IR codeset) that the cable boxes use*.
You programme the Logitech remotes by using the software, which logs into an online account and basically downloads the commands specific to the devices you want it to control, and is extremely versatile (IIRC Logitech will try and find/create profiles for any devices you have which don't have an existing code set).
This also means that whenever you upgrade the remote you can simply connect it to your PC, log into the online account and it configures the new remote the same as your old one with no fuss.


The downside is that the Harmony remotes start at around £40 normally, but you can sometimes get the older models (525, 535, 555) cheap, although the newer low end models don't have the screen that shows what several of the buttons are doing.
I've got a 555 here and it is an absolute joy to use, as it actually asks you questions during setup that determine how you use it so for every action you can tell it to turn your TV and cable box on with a single button press, and that when you're watching "cable" you want the remote to control the TV's volume, but the STB's menu, channels etc (and when you want to watch a DVD it knows you want to turn on the surround sound and use that rather than the TV volume controls), and you can manually select to overide the automatic selection of what buttons do what during each "activity" if you want (it defaults to the "channel up/down" acting as a second chapter skip/back on DVD and blu-ray playback, I changed that to TV volume so I have the remote able to control both the TV and Surround volumes during DVD playback).
It let me move 5 remotes from my desk and replace them with the one that really does work properly, unlike the half dozen "universal" remotes i'd tried in the past.


IIRC Logitech have a page on their site which lets you select what devices you have, and then offers up a list of their remotes which work with all of them.

Sorry if I sound like an Advert for Logitech, but I am still really impressed with the remote after a year+ of using it and would definitely replace it when it goes.



[edit]
This appears to be the cheapest current Harmony with screen.
It's £30 and "only" controls 5 devices, but if it's anything like the 555 and 525 I've got here (15 and 5 devices respectively), it'll be easy to use and work a treat. I think Logitech also offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee for the Harmony's, but I can't remember which models it applies to, and have never used it.


*IIRC it's a code range/frequency normally used for infrared communications between computer devices.

Wench

Thanks a lot. Damn things muted, and i cant unmute it :rotfl: