Cheap, works great, and cat-proof

So my dad has some fancy-schmancy Sony remote that can probably fly the Space Shuttle. You can press 800 buttons on it and it gets up and does an Aboriginal Rain Dance while remotely activating a ukulele in Singapore. Unfortunately my mother can’t figure out how use it to turn on the TV.

The All-in-One remote is vastly cheaper. You press the black “TV” button on top, then you press the red “power” button in the middle, and your TV comes on. Sure, there’s no ukulele in Singapore, but I don’t live in Singapore and don’t really like ukuleles.

I’ve got the seven things this thing controls and it works on all of them (except the Sirius Satellite Radio, because I’ve been too lazy to look up the code).

Basically this is what you can expect when you open the package:

1) Open the package. This may be the most difficult part. I really want to write a review on those plastic packages that you need a broad sword to open. They are really, really, really aggravating.

2) The directions have a list of all different types of equipment. Each piece of equipment comes with a 4-digit code. You hit the device you want to work, hold the setup key for about 2 seconds, punch in the 4-digit code, whack the setup key again, and hit the red power button to see what happened. Generally it works.

3) In the unfortunate event that you bought your receiver at a pawn shop and the brand isn’t listed, you’ll either have to go to the internet, or try some other brand and hope for the best. I went with the latter idea and got the remote to work well enough on my Techwood Reciever.

4) You clap your hands because somebody in Peru did not just lose their satellite reception after you “accidentally” hit three sixes I a row one your brand new $600 remote.

That’s pretty much it. Simple, cheap, works great. And if your cat happens to cough up a slimy hairball on it, I can tell you from experience that it is water-resistant. And anything that you can get a slimy hairball off of is an awesome deal in my book.