JP1 Remotes

1Click · Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 13 Location: Australia

Hi,

My first post, so be gentle, please.

Have the experts/cable makers etc on this forum ever tried to have their own model of remote made? by the likes of UE/OFA or similar. If so what stopped you from going ahead, costs with production?

The reason I'm asking is there is really nothing in Australia unless you want to pay $100 or over for anything that is programmable with good to excellent build quality.

I've just bought a Harmony 785, only cause it was on special, half price, still A$120. But I have to say, the build quality leaves alot to be desired, and I can't see it lasting too long, not in my house anyway,with 2 boys under 5yrs.

Thanks in advance,

Very Happy

The Robman · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:32 am Post subject:

The two main obstacles are (a) the cost and (b) how to sell the remotes once you get them. UEI doesn't deal with small numbers, so if you were to get them to make a custom remote, you would need to be able to order at least 100,000 remotes. Keep in mind that their usual customers are brands like "One For All" and "Radio Shack" and OEMs. When an OEM can't justify making that many remotes, the next option is to use one of UEI's "off the shelf" remotes, like the Atlas and Cat48, etc.

If you think there would be a market in Australia for JP1 remotes, you could look at buying some "One For All" remotes, or maybe the Atlas, in smallish numbers and then re-selling them yourself.
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Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

vickyg2003 · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:56 pm Post subject:

I see that some is selling the urc-8910 on Ebay.Au for 25.00 shipped. They are selling here for the same price, although these may be knock offs, its hard to tell. For 25.00, its hard to find a better remote.
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mdavej · Expert Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 4501

IMO, here in the US at least, most tend to be remote snobs. We JP1ers are a relatively small group. If a remote doesn't cost at least $150, the general public assumes it can't do anything and won't even consider it. JP1 remotes aren't even on most people's radar. So they end up with a harmony. I suppose they are either unaware of JP1, don't believe how powerful it is, or assume it's too complicated. They don't realize a harmony "activity" is just a macro that any JP1 remote can easily handle, even without a cable, and that harmony software is actually more complicated than JP1 software. Ironically, they'll drop several hundred dollars on a remote, yet cringe at spending $30 on a cable for a $20 remote.

As anyone who's ever tried to resell a few JP1 remotes on this board can tell you, the market just isn't there.

The bottom line is you could try to sell a killer universal remote for $20, but very few would buy it. You'd have to put a high price on it just to get people to notice.

That being said, all the elements for a harmony killer from UEI are there, but they have yet to connect the dots and release the kind of product that has all the flexibility of JP1 and the ease of use of harmony. They tried with the Xsight, but both JP1 and harmony still leave it in the dust. If an individual could do it, that would be great, but the odds of success are pretty low IMO.

The Robman · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:16 pm Post subject:

If someone wanted to do it though, the trick would be to find out where these ebay sellers are getting their Atlas remotes from. If they can sell them for $9 a pop (or whatever the current price is) they must be getting them for much less than that.

Of course, for a JP1 remote to be worth anything, you also need a JP1 cable and there's no cheap short cut available there, because they're all made by hand. So while I'm sure Tommy would give you a small break on the price if you were ordering them in bulk, I doubt the price would drop that much.
_________________
Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

R2-M0 · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 92

The real question in my mind is why UEI hasn't simply created a nice, consumer-friendly GUI for JP1, and sold it (along with a cable and a $20 JP1 remote) for $100 US. After all, if a group of hobbyists can put together IR and RM and all these extenders and special protocols in their spare time, surely UEI could find themselves a professional full time developer or two to create their own version.

You'd get all the power and flexibility of JP1, along with the "elite remote snob" pricing that would earn it respect in the eyes of the average consumer. Heck, it would even look like a bargain compared to a Harmony, at that price point.

classicsat · Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: 279

To respond to Americans being remote snobs, I will counter that with most people will go for the ultra cheap universal remote, and complain it doesn't do what they want.

1Click · Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 13 Location: Australia

vickyg2003 · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:31 am Post subject:

1Click · Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 13 Location: Australia

mdavej · Expert Joined: 08 Oct 2003 Posts: 4501

The Robman · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:23 am Post subject:

1Click · Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 13 Location: Australia

This is about it for us down here,

http://www.ambertech.com.au/products.php?sectionID=6&catID=104&assID=98

Dunkin Donuts apparantly opening this year, we have Krispy Kreme, but only in the major cities.

underquark · Expert Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 874 Location: UK

There are Donut Kings in Oz. If you want doughnuts, though, you have to go to Krispy Kreme.