The Remote


Generic is the name of the game when it comes to the remote included with the PVR1100. Unfortunately, in this case generic is also synonymous with “cheap” since the buttons seem a bit too sticky for their own good and then entire thing is far from ergonomic. The remote is at the heart of every media device so its design and overall ease of use are paramount to a user’s experience with the product it is controlling. So, while all of the functions are easily recognizable pictograms I constantly found myself having to turn on the lights if I was using the PVR1100 in a dark room. This is because all of the buttons are the exact same size so controlling “by feel” as done with other remotes is next to impossible.


Even though we didn’t find it to be the easiest thing in the world to control, all of the remote’s functions are laid out in the instruction manual quite well. The ability to control the sound output is a bit pointless in our opinion especially since (for whatever insane reason) the default volume on our review unit was set to ZERO. After a good 15 minutes of troubleshooting, I finally remembered that there was an individual volume control even though it should have been set to a default volume and left at that.

This unit presented another problem for me since the remote does not register holding down a button as any more than one button press. For example, on most TV and all-in-one remotes on the market, pressing and holding down the scroll button will allow you to quickly cycle through menu items. The same goes for buttons like the volume control where a normal remote will keep increasing the volume on your TV as long as you hold down the volume button. This doesn’t hold true for this remote since you will have to keep clicking the blasted button over and over again in order to repeat the command. Want to quickly cycle through 100 pictures? Get ready to press than scroll button 100 times. Want to increase the volume by 20 points? Keep tapping on that there Increase Volume button a whole 20 times.

Other than that, all of the buttons we could want are on this remote without any being hidden behind odd shift commands or any other exoteric means. The Record button -which is the one button that you will most likely be using the most often – is denoted by the universally recognized red circle while additional functions like Zoom are also in easily accessible positions.