Xbox 360 Intelligent Remote Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this to go with my new Xbox 360 so that I could watch DVDs more easily. The fact that it was a learning remote was neat, but not critical.
Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Backlit
- Learning (see notes)
Cons:
- Low powered IR emissions
- Learning (see notes)
- Went screwy on me and I had to reset by removing batteries
The build quality of the remote is pretty decent for a low-end remote. It's not really heavy or solid feeling, but it's not dirt-cheap feeling like the original Xbox DVD remote (the green/black one). It fits in your hand OK just like any remote of this shape or size would. The buttons are the typical rubber buttons you'd expect, and I have had some issues with the directional (arrow) buttons not popping up immediately as they can get slightly wedged in the plastic case. This is only on the large buttons, primarily the left and right direction buttons.
The backlight is green LED and makes the keys easy to see in the dark (see the Customer Photo I added). You must press a button to activate the lighting which could send a code that you don't want - there is no "turn on light" button. The backlight stays on for a very short time (probably 1 second) which was somewhat annoying to me. This is undoubtedly due to the use of AAA batteries and not wanting to use them up too quickly.
The learning was easy enough to program and IMO, I prefer having to take the time to program buttons rather than get this gigantic sheet of paper with a million tiny codes on it for every make and model of equipment, punch the codes into the remote, find-out that some buttons don't work, then try the next code, and so-on. If you've ever used a pre-programmed universal remote, you'll understand. To program this Nyko, I simply got my original remote out, placed it end-to-end with the Nyko, started the learning sequence, and pressed the desired button on the remote to be learned. Fast and easy, but yes, you do have to do each button individually.
The learning did have one problem though: it replays the codes too quickly. I programmed my TV's volume up/down into the Nyko. When I press the buttons on the Nyko, the TV volume jumps up/down rather than smoothly going up and down like with the factory remote. I'm guessing that the Nyko re-transmits much faster when a button is held down, thus causing the TV to jump from 1 to 5 to 10 on the volume rather than 1,2,3,4... This made the remote unusable for anything that needed careful control.
The IR emitter seems to be either under-powered or mounted so far back in the plastic case that the beam is very directional. When using my Tivo, TV, or stereo remote, I just point them in the general direction of the units and they work. With the Nyko, I often had to carefully aim the remote at the device and press the button several times. I did have brand-new batteries in the unit as well. This was my largest annoyance.
The switching between the "360 mode" and "learned mode" is somewhat annoying as other reviewers have stated. There is no real reason I can find to justify this since the 360 controls are at the top, and the others at the bottom with no/very little overlap.
Last night, I had the remote do something weird. I was trying to watch a DVD in the 360 and the direction (arrow) buttons weren't being received, yet the 'enter' button in the center and the Xbox colored buttons worked fine. I fiddled with it for a minute and could not get the arrows working (which is somewhat critical when navigating a DVD menu) and ended-up pulling the batteries out of the remote to reset it. After that, it worked fine. Obviously there is some bug in the remote - at least in the version I got.
Overall, this is an OK remote and if you only have a limited budget for a 360 remote, it might do the trick. However for me, the issue with having to aim the remote and try several times to get things done is too annoying and I'm returning mine (bought locally, fortunately). I suppose it's the old issue of "you get what you pay for" and perhaps spending another few bucks on the official Xbox 360 remote would fix these issues.


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09-25-2007 - Brand New Item. Description - NYKO 86014 XBOX 360(TM) SMART REMOTE

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