JP1 Remotes

I bought a 8810 remote and didn't have much luck with it. Things didn't work like the manual said they did. So I took it back and got an 8910 thinking the little video display would give me some insight into what was going on. It doesn't work either. When you press the SAT button it displays DVD, and when you press AUDIO/RECEIVER it says TV. I like the looks of the All For One remotes and the features they are suppose to have, but they seem to have a problem with quality control or something. Is my experience common or did I just have a run of bad luck??? I'm an electrical engineer and computer geek, you know the guy everyone else comes to for help setting up their stuff, so I don't think the problem is not understanding the manual. What's the real deal with these remotes? Thanks.

The problems you describe are NOT quality control issues nor any other form of unit defect. They aren't even serious UI design issues. The problem IS "not understanding the manual"

You won't find many fans of OFA documentation here. It isn't your fault you didn't understand the manuals. Some information is badly documented and the rest is missing entirely.

I can't tell what was wrong with the way the URC-8811 was setup from your description as you provided no information. However the URC-8910 is easy to diagnose from your description.

There is a process described in the manual call "Mode Map" which lets you change the device modes of each of the device buttons. It sounds like someone may have done some programming on your URC_8910 before you got it, or maybe some of them came like that. Either way, you could easily use Mode Map to revert each device button back to it's default mode.

You could probably also do it using the MFR RESET function, but this one definitely isn't described in the manual, here's how it works...

1) Press and hold SET until the screen display changes
2) Press RECORD
3) Follow the on-screen prompts.

Thanks for the quick responses. I've returned both remotes and bought a Philips that's working OK, but I'd rather have a OFA that worked. On the 8910 I did set up my TV and DVD, and I also had it learn a couple things. But what was strange was that when I discovered that the RX/Amp button appeared to be mapped to DVD, I did a reset to restore factory defaults but nothing appeared to change. I will probably go out and buy another 8910 today because I refuse to let technology defeat me. Because of the popularity of these remotes, I assume bad chips and other defects are not common.

If you did a reset based on the instructions in the manual, what you did was an OPS RESET, not an MFR RESET. The OPS RESET doesn't change the setup codes assigned to the device buttons, it just deletes keymoves, macros and learned signals.

I would strongly recommend that you return the Philips and get an OFA instead (and it is "One For All" not "All For One", which is a common mistake).

If you're a techie like you say, I also strongly recommend that you get a JP1 cable too, as that will enable you to make the remote do absolutely everything you could possibly want, except make the toast (and we're working on that! )

You can't buy JP1 cables in stores, you can just get them online. I sell some models of OFA remotes and I also have JP1 cables, so if it makes it easier you could get both from me. I have the URC_8811 for $19, JP1 cables for $15 and Priority mail shipping is $4 (which generally takes 2 days).