Universal Remotes offer a way out of Remote Control hell so I thought I would try One For All’s latest remote the Digital 12 (URC-7781). I was interested in this because of the Home Theatre Mode, more on that later.

The first thing I did was set it up to control my TV. This was just a case of entering the device code for my TV. In the back of the manual are hundreds of codes for most manufactures and for most devices, you can also go to their website and use a menu system to find your device. So getting my TV working was easy and setting up my Denon Receiver was just the same process. The next device I setup was my Xbox 360, there was a code for the original Xbox but not for the 360, so I used the learning mode of the remote to learn the function from my Media Center Remote. I was able to setup all the main function and control the 360 in the dashboard and Media Center mode.

The Home Theatre Mode enables you to mix and match the controls from the various devices you have setup already. So I setup the transport controls (play, pause etc) to control the Xbox 360 and the volume buttons to control the Denon Receiver. So you don’t have to flick between different modes on the remote when watching TV on the Extender, I just leave it in Home Theatre Mode. The other neat function is the Marco system. With this I setup the A button to switch the TV in to the the right mode for the Xbox 360 and turn on my Receiver. The B button switches the TV and Receiver off.

One thing I couldn’t get working was powering on the Xbox 360 with the remote. I programmed the power button of the remote to be the Green Button of the Media Center Remote and while it functioned as the green button when the Xbox was powered on it would not actual turn on the Xbox on from cold. I can’t figure out why this yet. If I could get it to work I could have a macro to turn on all the devices which would be great.

The Remote is sleek with a piano back case and a two line LCD display to indicate with device you are controlling and the buttons light up when pressed. You can name the devices

Would it pass the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor)? Well I gave it to my wife to use and while she couldn’t understand why I would want to spend half an hour "playing" with a remote control she was happy using it. The test will be if we stick to using it and not go back to the separate remotes. Is it worth £39.99? time will tell.

The Digital 12 (URC7781) retails at £39.99, the Digital 2 (URC7525) retails at £14.99, and the Digital 5 (URC7556) at £24.99, thanks to OneforAll for sending me the unit.

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8 thoughts on “One For All Remote”
  1. I tested a universal remote control a while back for work and it wasn’t great. I love the idea of being able to use just one remote rather than contorting myself into all sorts of compromising positions to retrieve the various remotes the kids have scattered all over the place. If the Digital 12 (URC-7781) is as user friendly as you make it sound, I’d definitely consider investing in it.

  2. so far so good. I have not gone back to other remotes. It would be better if it worked with the Xbox out of the box

  3. Hi there I just bought one and its driving me crazy. I can get it to power everything but the sound on my freeview is not working now. When I go to tv I can control the volume by switching to av and then i get stereo sound but if i switch to free view i lose the sound… anyone got a magic wand to fix this problem with

  4. bought a one 4 all URC 7556 cant get it to work at all on my Mirai 32 tv DTL832E600
    no codes on one4alls website best regards john

  5. Help! I accidentally locked myself out of 3 channels and have no idea what code to use to retrieve them.I have to provide a “lock code’ ( 4 numbers) by using 10 key pad” What are these and where do I find them? Help!

  6. i am having problems making a button on remote be multi functional ie. if a button on original button was used to slect different sounds (news,movie,action,sports). It only selects one cant flick through. Any ideas?

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