Universal Remote / Blu-Ray

[Starbreaker]

I have a Sony BDP-S301 that I bought for super cheap off Ebay. It works perfectly aside from the fact that it doesn't have a remote. You can't even play a Blu-Ray disc or a DVD unless there's a remote.

My standard universal remote won't work, but are there any out there that will work on Blu-Ray Players? I really don't want to spend more than I absolutely have to either. Ordering the part from Sony is $62.50, and most new universal remotes I see are $100+. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Irishman]

Anything in the Harmony series from Logitech should be fine.

They're learning remotes that you program online. You plug in the remote to your PC or Mac and go to the Harmony Remote website, and find the model number for your Blu-ray player, then it downloads all the codes it has in its extensive database into the remote.

Easy as pie.

 

[Starbreaker]

Thanks, but I was actually looking for something cheaper than the price for an actual replacement remote.

 

[Irishman]

Sorry, nothing that I'd recommend.

 

[Starbreaker]

Me and my stupid ebay decisions.

 

[FordSVT]

Did you know up front it didn't have a remote?

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

It's stupid of Sony and other companies to build these things so that they won't function if the remote is missing. Or maybe it is ingenious, but either way it is annoying.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Starbreaker said:
Thanks, but I was actually looking for something cheaper than the price for an actual replacement remote.

Well, you get what you pay for, you know.

IMHO, the Logitech Harmony remotes should be a part of the building code and required in every home, they are so damn useful. You will literally never need to use the remotes that came with any of your products, ever again. I had mine programmed to control my BluRay and HD-DVD players before I ever *bought* the frakkin' things.

 

[FordSVT]

Argus Skyhawk said:
It's stupid of Sony and other companies to build these things so that they won't function if the remote is missing. Or maybe it is ingenious, but either way it is annoying.

That's not entirely true. Every DVD player I've had can at least play a DVD without the remote, one being a Sony. The thing with DVDs is the menus; most players do have stop, play, ffwd., etc. on the front of the machine. One of mine has a "cursor" button that will cycle through menu items, pressing play selects it. It's just a PITA if your player can only play the DVD and you can't cycle menu items.

And it's not like they make you buy the remote separately, it's not their fault if you lose it. If they can simplify the design of the player and provide a more intuitive interface with a remote, that's what they should do, IMO.

 

[Starbreaker]

FordSVT said:
Did you know up front it didn't have a remote?

Yes, but I was under the impression that I could press the play button on the display panel to play movies, but lo and behold that doesn't work. I do know the buttons work, because they will play audio CD's though. Anyway, I've relisted it on eBay, and I'm buying a PS3 from a friend for the same price because he's getting one of the newer versions. It all worked out in the end.

 

[Johnny Rico]

So let me get this straight...you bought a Blu-Ray player on Ebay for a "steal", and yet you won't pay $62 for a new remote?

Question...do you have any idea what remotes, in general, cost?

Judging by the actual price of the average unit, beit a dvd player, sat receiver, or what have you, I'm thinking that the majority of the cost of the full unit is the cost of the remote.

For example, a E* ViP 622/722 receiver runs about $150. A replacement remote is about $80 or more. I think because remotes for the older receivers were that much.

Because think about it. A remote is a transmitter that uses a circuit pad to transmit numerous infra-red or UHF signals to a base unit.

 

[Starbreaker]

Johnny Rico said:
So let me get this straight...you bought a Blu-Ray player on Ebay for a "steal", and yet you won't pay $62 for a new remote?

Question...do you have any idea what remotes, in general, cost?

Yeah, pretty much. I'm reselling it right now and it's actually already up to more than what I paid for it, so I'm not complaining. This PS3 deal was better and I was lucky it came along. What can I say? I'm cheap.

 

[Deleted 2]

Johnny Rico said:
Judging by the actual price of the average unit, beit a dvd player, sat receiver, or what have you, I'm thinking that the majority of the cost of the full unit is the cost of the remote.

(...)

Because think about it. A remote is a transmitter that uses a circuit pad to transmit numerous infra-red or UHF signals to a base unit.

And why would that be so expensive to make?

 

[Captain Intrepid]

Johnny Rico said:Judging by the actual price of the average unit, beit a dvd player, sat receiver, or what have you, I'm thinking that the majority of the cost of the full unit is the cost of the remote.

For example, a E* ViP 622/722 receiver runs about $150. A replacement remote is about $80 or more. I think because remotes for the older receivers were that much.

Because think about it. A remote is a transmitter that uses a circuit pad to transmit numerous infra-red or UHF signals to a base unit.

Not so much, they charge that much for a replacement remote because they can, and it makes them money.