Philips RU880 - Complete Disappointment

Hi,

I have just purchased a Philips RU880 after reading great things in the forum here. Letsautomate.com took my order yesterday afternoon and it was with me before 10.30am today so full marks to them.

However my enthusiasm turned to frustration when none of the codes worked for my Toshiba 210E DVD or my SKY digibox (Grundig). No problem I thought, I'll just get it to learn. No chance. I managed to make it learn about 3 keys from other remotes in about an hour in between the thing crashing, freezing and even turning the language into German for me as I attempted to transmit the key presses.

I know it only cost £41 but I expect the thing to actually work.

Has anyone else had similar problems or do I have a knackered one?

Andrew

 

Well, from talking to the Philips helpline it would appear that:

"as this unit is now 2 years old, new equipment is not likely to work with it"

This applies to device codes & learning facilities. I am not impressed as there is nothing on the Philips website to alert you of this.

I think vendors of these units should also make potential buyers aware of this.

Andrew

 

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I am very surprised there wasn't a preprogrammed code for your digibox. I am fairly certain there should be one. Have you tried the search facility?

I've spent ages playing around with mine to learn codes for a hitachi tv and hitachi dvd, with not the slightest problem.

However, I have read in the forums on remotecentral that some people have experienced their's crashing.

Perhaps you have a dud.

You could try going to currys, who sell them and taking your original tosh remote to see if theirs learns OK

It does seem odd though that your unit won't work the digibox, cos I've just looked in the Philips user manual and it even quotes code '004' for bskyb.

I smell a rat. Let me know how you get on.

 

I wouldn't take too much notice of what philips customer service just told you - they know nothing.

I contacted them a while ago, and they knew nothing about the light dimmers or video sender they make!

There will always be a small number of devices that will not work with any learning remote. As it happens this unit is probably one of the better ones on the market.

 

Hmm...

I have tired almost every code manually and the search facility.....thing is I think it has totally died now as it wont learn a thing now.

I reckon I must have a dud one but even the support guy from where I purchased it said it may not work with the DVD. Seems no point in having one of these unless it controls everything!

Right pain having to use it in German too!

Andrew

 

All working now....

Seemed that the newest equipment I had was sending such strong signals that it was overloading the learning sensor. By using natural light and holding the 'beams' at a 45 deg angle I could get the unit to learn everything required.

I think that vendors should make buyers aware that the unit is 2 years old now and has not been updated at all with codes for newer equipment meaning that everything will have to be learnt.

Otherwise, real bargain for £41!!

Andrew

 

Glad you got it working.

Did the sky code work by the way?

 

Yes Sky code worked thanks!

 

£41!! You lucky so & so! By the way, did you 'unlearn' it German? If not you could always sell it to Reiner. (For a small profit obviously)

 

Yes.....after the first 3 or 4 times I learnt what the necessary menu options were in German to sort it out.

I can now have a full conversation in German providing I only use the words "Timer, Special & Language".

Since my discovery as posted above about getting the "beams" right, I have programmed virtually everything possible and it is working perfectly.



Andrew

 

got one of these for xmas, being playing around with it for a while and the things gone into German...........how the bloody hell do you get the thing back in english

help..........please..... (its driving me crackers)

mark.

 

Use these key presses exactly to get you back into English...

1. Hold Down Smart Button for 3 Secs
2. Down Arrow Once
3. OK
4. Down Arrow Twice
5. OK
6. OK
   [/list=1]
   
   You should now be back in English and believe me after doing it about 10 times, you learn the order!
   
   Make sure you use the method I described in an earlier post when learning....that way it won't overload the learning sensor and keep changing to German...
   
   Mine is working perfectly now.
   
   Good luck!

 

many thanks for the help, back in english now and am slowly but surely getting all my codes into it.

thanks, mark.

 

I tried this with my Kenwood 5050 remote, but the remote
does either not receive anything or crashes with all the lights
on and speaks German after reset.......

Any more detail on how to do this ?

Also, I got the volume control working, but I can not hold it down,
I have to go up/down one step at a time. I am VERY disappointed !!!

BJ
PS. luckily I learned German back in Denmark ;-)

 

to cure your volume problem. Learn the volume button, by NOT letting go. For example, press the volume button you wish to learn and do not release it until the learning remote says "ok"

That way the learning remote, does not learn the end part of the remote code.

 

Weel, that's more than I can say. Only my junk VCR works. My Kenwood amp, Panasonic DVD and NEC projector is truggling to talk to the bl**dy remote.......

BJ

 

You need to be patient. At first I could only get my two older bits of equipment to work (TV & Video - 4 yrs old).

By using natural light and holding the remotes at a 45deg angle about 10-15 cm apart I managed to get every other remote to talk to it (even brand new stuff).

I now have it working perfectly but did have 2-3 days of total frustration. Its a good little remote though and I am glad I bought it.

 

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier.

I bought the 880 just before Christmas after much frustration juggling remotes, but soon realised that this remote was not an ideal option.

I found it impossible to program in my pioneer 535 DVD player or my Yamaha RX396 Amp, my denon DRA-F100 stereo, or my VHS unit.

It kept reverting to German language and losing codes.

Basically after having it a week, i returned it to the shop where i exchanged it (plus some more cash) for a pronto.

My advice - you want a universal remote - GET A PRONTO!