The last round of home theatre upgrades I acquired resulted in the back of our couch becoming the track for a train of remote controls that I'd reach for in succession to do something (that should be) as simple as watching TV. Turn on the display, adjust the aspect ratio. Turn on the digital STB, change the channel. Turn on the amp, select digital TV, maybe adjust the DSP… You get the idea. The SRC-1600 can do all these things — once appropriately set up with the macro function — with a press of a single button. It took this seemingly miraculous feat to pique the interest of my wife, who, along with friends and other family, frequently commented on the rather crass lengthening of our remote control choo-choo train. Now I plan to hide the train so she's forced to learn to use its single replacement: the SRC-1600.
I won't be hiding the factory remotes too far away, though, because it takes a while to tweak the unit to handle the less frequently used (but still handy) functions of all the controlled devices. After more than seven nights of button twiddling I still find myself teaching the SRC-1600 a thing or two. For this you'll need the original remote in line of sight of the SRC-1600 so it can learn the key. This is made easier by the learning IR eye being located at its base, meaning you don't have to turn it upside down to receive a code from an original remote.
But back to the beginning. The SRC-1600 is a pleasant-looking device that combines hard buttons with a touch-screen LCD. I like the combination. The touchscreen provides for two ‘pages' of keys and makes you feel very 21st Century when using it. But there's nothing like good old, proper buttons to press and hold for frequent commands such as volume and channel.
The unit has an aluminium fascia which provides a reassuring sense of solidity. It feels nice in the hand considering its width. I've recently noticed the sound of something loose in there when violently shaking the device, as one is prone to when watching cricket, but this might also have resulted from being knocked off the coffee table by a little girl who has quickly learned that this one is Daddy's favourite pointing sticks and wishes to mimic his action. Or perhaps it's the lovely, deep azure backlighting that draws her attention. This is now also my favourite colour – soothing and alluring.
Both the LCD and hard buttons are more than adequately back-lit when requested, by pressing the conveniently located button sitting in line with the right-hand thumb. Southpaws will, unfortunately, have to learn to use their fingers for this or turn it upside down. Backlighting is, of course, essential for use in darkness and thus essential for use in home theatres.
The device is claimed to be "Incredibly easy to set up and program". Agreed (though perhaps not incredibly so), but the press release fails to mention that the process is considerably time-consuming. To be fair, it won't take too long if you're just after basic control functions. But you'll be busy for a while if you like everything tight and oiled.
The device claims to contain hundreds of popular remote control codes in memory, but I couldn't be bothered looking up what mine were, so tried entering the matching codes listed on a large sheet supplied with the unit's instructions. None of them matched any of my remotes. This isn't really a problem because you'll likely find that customising the buttons is required. It really doesn't take long to teach the SRC-1600 buttons once you've got the hang of the learning sequence. You do have to enter each one individually, however, and you'll probably end up doing it more than once.
You'll also probably end up changing the names of the soft buttons to suit your needs. This is also very easy once you're familiar with the process. It would be handy to have a naming function for the (variably pre-set) soft buttons but too much really can't be expected of this entry-level remote. It already offers a lot for its modest price.
It took a while for the writer to twig that you can add buttons from different devices into the same soft page (beer and set-up is a fun, but not terribly efficient, combination). This provides for even greater flexibility should you be prepared to invest the set-up time.
Setting up macros is a little harder. I found entering time delays necessary in order to spark off the chain of events successfully and more than a little experimentation was required to get it right.
Sunwave flags the unit's "punch-through" function as a new feature in its range. This allows hard and soft buttons to simultaneously control different devices. The obvious application here is to control receiver volume for whichever video source is selected. How any learning remote control could be without this feature is beyond me. Look out for it if you're in the market for a learning remote. Remember, pure convenience is the objective here.
Relegating your various original remotes to a bottom drawer will cough up more than a few extra batteries for the house and the SRC-1600 provides other power advantages. It has a flash memory to ensure your hard-earned entries never disappear when changing over batteries. And the frequency with which you'll have to replace its four AAA cells is reduced by a clever power-preserving function. The unit automatically senses when you've picked it up and is immediately ready for use. Likewise, it automatically powers down when sitting idle for a short period.
Cost: $99
See: www.altronics.com.au
