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ESPN "The Ultimate Remote" Universal Remote | 
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| Brand: ESPN
Category: CE
List Price: $299.99
Buy New: $199.99
You Save: $100.00 (33%)
New (3)
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Color: Red/Silver
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0 x 0
MPN: DMR-1
Model: DMR-1
UPC: 718122806935
EAN: 0718122806935
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Access ESPN.com on your remote to get realtime stats and scores for your favorite players and teams | | • | Text-message friends and family directly from the remote | | • | Browse select websites and even shop online on your remote via click365 technology | | • | 2.2-inch QVGA screen has a built-in light sensor that automatically adjusts brightness according to room lighting | | • | Control virtually countless devices with easy setup--no PC required |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The ESPN Ultimate Remote is the ultimate sports fan's remote--browse team and player stats as you watch the game, get personalized programming guides, text message friends and family, and even shop online all from the remote. A 2.2" QVGA screen automatically adjusts brightness according to ambient light. Control up to 18 devices with no PC required for setup.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 you gotta have it June 15, 2008
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
New remote is terrific. Opened box. Turned it on. Set up is easy. It found my wi-fi unit and off we went. Logged on to web site once and I am able to send and receive emails. Amazing. I get daily weather, ESPN news and it works well as a remote. TV Guide listing on remote screen is cool. I can watch one show while finding content on the remote screen. A nice feature.
Fully Loaded June 19, 2008
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
This remote isn't really like any other remote you may have ever seen or used. In fact, I would say it is like a mini internet-connected PDA that is also a remote. After switching it on for the first time, it looks for and connects to your wifi network and then asks you to fill in your zip code and time zone, set up your guide and only then add in devices like your tv and dish box.
Adding in devices was fairly straightforward but for my devices there was some trial and error involved. For example, I have a panasonic and sony tv. The sony was no problem but for the panasonic, the remote presented a lot of different sets of codes and I had to go through quite a few before I got one that worked. Later, I realized it didn't have all the keys and I had to go back and look (more carefully) for the right set. I finally got the right one. I also have Dish which it knew straight away.
The home menu of the remote looks very much like a cell phone with icons for applications like TV listings, weather and messaging. The weather icon changes with the outside temperature and conditions which is nice. If you 'click' it, it gives you a five day forcast which is a feature I would use quite a bit.
The tv listings are an amazingly useful feature. I immediately setup a 'lineup' with only the channels I watch in it. I also set up some favorite shows that then appear in their own list. If you click on these then the remote tunes that channel which is very neat. I found I could hold the remote vertically, while looking at the screen, and it still changed the channel meaning the IR must come out of the remote at an angle and you don't have to worry too much about pointing it. The data always seemed to be correct and you get descriptions about each episode. The beauty of the tv listings is simply that you do not need to switch away from the current show to find out what's on other channels - an essential if anyone else is trying to watch TV!
The remote also has activities which allows you to set up 'watch dish', 'play ps3' and 'all power off'. I was skeptical that this would work and plesantly surprised when the remote, seemingly by magic, worked out from my keypresses how to change the input on the TV. My only gripe is it chimes after changing the activity and volume doesn't work until you press 'ok' which seems to be unnecessary. Oh, the remote does not work with a PS3 (which is blue tooth - nothing does) which is a downer. I still got it to change inputs on the TV for the PS3 by putting in a 'dummy' device which helps.
The remote is loaded with other features, some of which I am still finding by accident. For example, the 'ESPN' icon opens the ESPN Mobile site for all that has to offer. It is very handy to be able to access this although you might want to make the font bigger (which you can). There are other mobile sites too, such as WSJ and ABC news. There is even the mobile Amazon site although I am not writing this review through it! You can add in your own mobile links and store them in 'favorites'. I already use this more than I do on my actual cell phone (and its free because its over wifi, of course).
There is an icon called 'Headlines' which has news snippets and pictures in it that are loaded instantly. If you want the full story, you can click through to a slower but more detailed page in the browser.
Messaging can send email and text messages which is fun for trash talk and taunts. The text messages are free. There is a search icon that is good for finding out trivia and plot explanations for confusing movies! It even has a version of minesweeper with online high scores.
In summary, it is a fully loaded device unlike any other remote. It doesn't come without downsides including the things already mentioned. It is not particularly comfortable to hold, some of the keys are a bit wobbly, it is bright red (although I knew that when I ordered it) and it might seem a bit complicated. But it is fun and functional and has people talking when they see it (although I'm fed up of explaining what it does).
 Slick Gimmicks Can't Distract from Fundamental Flaws July 30, 2008
17 out of 25 found this review helpful
The ESPN "Ultimate Remote" boasts a mix of universal remote and smart phone functionality in a single handheld unit. Unfortunately, in its ambition to deliver it all, it ends up doing none of it very well. Far from the "ultimate" remote, it actually is a significant step backward from many of the current-gen home theatre remotes, and none of the tacked-on Wi-fi gimmicks can save it from those shortcomings.
I've owned a Harmony 880 remote for over a year now and will be using it as a point of comparison vs. the ESPN Ultimate in this review.
SETUP
After initially charging in its cradle, the remote connects wirelessly to your broadband home network (802.11 b/g). Supply your WEP/WPA password and you're ready to go. This step was very simple and worked well.
Next, you supply your time zone, location and TV service provider in order to set up your channel listings. You also must register your remote via the manufacturer's website in order to make the remote's Internet capabilities fully functional. By this point, you'll have noticed that the remote plays sounds via a horribly tinny speaker as you navigate menus and click on selections, including the famous SportsCenter "Da-Da-Da---Da-Da-Da" theme snippet. Luckily, you can turn off this gimmick from the main menu options.
Finally, on to your home theater components. You need to tell the remote one-by-one what types of components you have as well as the manufacturer of each. It then starts walking through code sets for each, guessing as to which one is right for your components. You confirm with a keypress on the remote whenever it has found a match.
Cycling through code sets went the way of the dodo for universal remotes about a decade ago, and for good reason. It takes too long to initially set up and even then, you're in the dark as to the exact key mapping that's been loaded. I much prefer the Harmony's PC application that allows me to see (and customize) every aspect of the remote's setup. The packaging for the ESPN Ultimate touts that there is no need to connect it to any PC or drag it all over the house to set it up. But instead of highlighting a plus, they're actually exposing a minus: I'd much rather have the ease and limitless flexibility that a PC interface offers, and frankly, if carrying my remote around the house ever becomes an issue, it's time to stop watching TV and get more exercise anyway!
Also, the ESPN Ultimate's pre-loaded list of recognized devices did not include several components that my Harmony was able to find immediately, including the Philips Streamium media player, Xbox 360, etc. And there's simply no way in 2008 any universal remote should expect a user to do the point-and-learn remote dance anymore.
Setting up activities (system-wide setups for common tasks like "Watch TV" or "Watch a DVD") is also very last-gen, requiring the user to really map out macros step-by-step and then program them in to the remote. The questionnaire that the remote uses to walk you through this setup is bare-bones and not very helpful, leaving much of the manual configuration to the user. Follow all this up with trial-and-error testing, and you've got a very long process ahead of you. Again, contrasted against the simple PC application that the Harmony uses to intuitively set up its activities, the ESPN Ultimate really falls short in the ease and flexibility departments.
PERFORMANCE - HOME THEATER REMOTE
As a home theater remote, the ESPN Ultimate offers good signal strength and very little delay (actually better than the Harmony). For its steep price, I'm amazed that RF isn't included, so the remote requires line-of-sight in order to communicate with devices.
Since the setup was so lousy, I was left with lots of guesswork as to which keys to exactly what, and I quickly found myself having to go through way too many keystrokes for the most simple of tasks. For example, when I'm watching a DVD, I sometimes want to tweak the volume for the center or rear channels. On my Harmony, I was able to easily configure some of its programmable soft keys to control these AV receiver functions while keeping the rest of the remote dedicated to the DVD player's functions. Not so with the ESPN Ultimate - here, I had to actually switch over to the AV Receiver and then root through menu after menu to find where I can adjust these settings. That meant that the entire remote was then assigned to control the receiver, so I couldn't pause/rewind the DVD.
It grabs TV listings from your wireless network to display on the unit, but isn't this just functionality overlap? Doesn't every Tivo and cable box have an on-screen schedule now? You can set which shows are your favorites and have the remote remind you with its obnoxious sounds, but you can't tell it to send a "Record" command back to your Tivo or VCR. So the TV listings are there, but they don't really belong on your remote, do they?
PERFORMANCE - INTERNET
The ESPN Ultimate also uses its wireless connection to surf the mobile web. It comes preloaded with several sites spanning news (Yahoo), business (WSJ.com) and sports (ESPN, of course).
Speed is decent and the LCD display looks very good. The default text size on the small screen will challenge some users' eyes.
I found that accidentally wandering into any site that isn't mobile-friendly will lock up the remote. I was still able to control home theater devices, but the main menu and anything web-related was unavailable. This has happened to me twice after only using the remote for a week. In each instance, I had to pry off the back cover and remove the lithium ion battery. Luckily, the remote didn't lose any of its initial setup each time I had to do this, but every time felt like rolling the dice.
ERGONOMICS
With all of these buttons to press, I became acutely aware of how cheaply-made the remote feels. Aside from looking like a toy with its atrociously garish red keys, it also feels like may fall apart after routine use. The keys sit loosely in the unit, and even rattle if you gently shake it. Also, sometimes even the lightest key press can result in a horrible torqued plastic groan - the previous reviewer who said that it looks and sounds like it's made of Legos was right on.
And if anyone wants to defend this remote by saying that I just don't know how to use it - you may actually be correct because it comes with no instructions! Only a quick start guide is included in the package. To get the entire manual, you must register it online and then the website contains that info spread out over multiple html pages - you can't even download the entire manual as a PDF. I thought that this thing was supposed to be so PC-independent!
The unit comes with a docking cradle and charging cable. The cradle stands the remote up almost vertically, adding to its already high "sore thumb" factor whenever it's docked. The remote itself has a port for the charge cable if you want to avoid using the cradle, but managing the mini-USB cable on its own would be difficult and look messy.
CONCLUSION
Part universal remote, part smart phone, the ESPN Ultimate performs neither function set very well. It tries to use gimmicks like the ESPN look and sound to hype up demand, but it can't compete with many other universal remotes currently on the market (often for less money). Finally, it locks up during routine use and feels like its cheap build could break at any time. Spend the money on a better-designed dedicated remote and leave the web browsing to your laptop or smart phone.
PROS
* Beautiful LCD screen for displaying mobile web pages
CONS
* Clunky setup routine takes too long and you never end up with the configuration that you really want
* Reliability - unit locks up repeatedly
* Cheap materials - the remote looks and feels like a toy
* Price - there are much better multi-function remotes on the market for less money
Best Remote ever June 17, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is one of the best remote I have ever had. With this remote, you can send and recieve text messages. It is so cool when you're watching a movie you can go online and read about it. You can press guide on your remote and look at what's on other chanels without disturbing others. In additon, this remote can be used in the living room and bedrooms.
If you're into technology and you like fancy things this remote is definitely for you because it does it ALL. I highly recommend to everybody.
 Great handheld wi-fi "thing" but remote, not so much July 24, 2008
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
First, this is a mighty attractive remote, bright red with white print, and fits the hand nicely. It has a nice bright screen and just looks darn cute sitting on the coffee table. I like the charging base also, which props the remote upright and offers easy retrieval.
I had some trouble setting it up initially. It kept hanging up on "searching for wireless" until I decided to enter the IP address manually. It turned out that it found the wireless but had stuck on the searching screen for some reason. Anyway, the wi-fi was working, then it was time to set up the devices to use with the remote. This was quite easy, and didn't require being plugged into a computer as the Harmony remotes do.
You simply choose what piece of equipment you are setting up, scroll through a list of brand names, and then the remote will try out all the different codes while you watch. When one of the codes works, you have to be quick on the trigger finger to stop the searching, and then, indeed, the remote controls the TV, DVD, and all the rest.
Where it falls short of the Harmony remotes is in putting it all together so that anyone can pick up the remote, choose "watch DVD" and have the remote power on all the necessary devices and set the video input so that it's done without further intervention. If this is possible with the ESPN remote, I haven't figured out how to do it, which in itself makes it harder than the Harmony, since that is all taken care of with the online setup.
Now, where this remote gets fun is the non-remote parts. You can access the internet for news headlines, weather, and of course sports scores, with an emphasis on ESPN sites, but the ability to go anywhere online. You also give it your location and it downloads up-to-the-minute TV listings, which is a really nice touch. You can even customize the TV listings for different family members so that only their favorite channels are listed.
There is a messaging section for sending text messages, presumably about the big game being watched in many locations by you and all your friends (or the awards show, or really, just anything). I am a little past the target age for IMing, but I can see this being a very popular feature with the kids I see constantly texting on their cell phones in the mall.
It's somewhat of an unfair comparison, because of the extra features on the ESPN remote, but as a universal remote only, I like the Harmony remotes much better for ease of setup and ease of use. Even the cheapest Harmony remote is simpler to operate as a remote than this one, for a lot less money.
However, though the price seems a bit steep to me, that could be because I typically have my laptop computer handy when I'm watching TV, so I can access all the online spots easily without the ESPN remote. If my only computer was a desktop in another location, I would get a lot more thrill out of the online features, and I'm sure that's the case with a lot of potential customers for this remote.
All in all, there is plenty of "wow" factor here.
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