Last weekend I was in walgreens to pick something up when I spotted the Colossal Universal Remote Control.

The remote is 11" by 5". Compared to a standard Tivo remote, it's positively colossal!

Obviously, I had to have this. Even my daughters would have a tough time misplacing this. I bought it and took it home. I put in two AA batteries and entered the standard Sony universal remote code and wham, it was controlling our Sony TV.

However, all it could do was turn the TV on/off, change channel, and work the volume. When I tried to change the video input, the menu would come up, but there was no way to select a new input.

There are three buttons on the top of the remote for TV, VCR, DVD. They can be programmed to any code and are not tied to one function. I looked for the code for my Oppo upconverting DVD player, but saw nothing. Scouring the web was fruitless as well.

I was a bit disappointed that it couldn't do much more than the TV. On a whim I googled looking for a Tivo code. Sure enough, Brookstone sells a rebadged Colossal remote (actually made by Innovage) and in the user's manual is a code for a Tivo (111).

Amazingly, it worked and the Colossal Remote was running the Tivo. I can pause, rewind, fast forward easily. The record button even works. The channel up/down works, as does the numeric keypad. But without a guide button or directional buttons, you are very limited in using your Tivo.

The girls think the remote is neat, but I want my $10 back.

Posted by michael at February 11, 2008 09:28 PM