The remote of my AV 10 is metal, quite heavy and substantial. Does not feel like junk and inspires confidence.
I never wrote that OEM remotes are junk- they're made to order and if a manufacturer wants heft, they get heft. You understand how to use it- it will definitely not instill confidence in someone who's flustered by a bunch of buttons. You should hear the comments when non-techy people see the cables behind their system- some need a nap, so they can forget what they saw ("OMG, there are SO MANY cables!"). I heard that last week- 3 HDMI, one set of Composite/stereo, the speaker cables and one subwoofer cable, plus power for each.
The big problem is in designing a remote that's understandable by most people and can operate without some kind of degree in warped logic. A system that uses a remote for each piece requires a lot of button pressed just to watch TV, unless CEC is used and that can present its own challenges.
Consider this, for Watch TV:
Cable box Power- if it can control an AVR, great but if not, not so great.
TV Power, possibly TV input
AVR power (or press the input button, if the AVR will turn on just by using that)
AVR Source input (if it can't use that for turn on)
Cable remote for changing channels, guide, menu, etc
AVR remote for volume- if the Cable remote will control that, the Audio button may need to be pressed.
Switch to another activity/source device:
AVR source input button
Pick up different source remote and hope it doesn't look to similar to that of another device.
he TV show Modern Family addressed this in one episode- the husband told the wife that their dumbest kid could learn to operate the system better than she could and it was true, but the wife finally learned. Curb your enthusiasm addressed it too but that only involved a cable remote and the TV.
The problem with remote control SYSTEMS and universal remotes- the engineers who design them understand the logic for programming, but that doesn't mean it makes sense to people who aren't programmers.
I returned to a house last week to do some setup and connections about 13 years after I originally installed the system, because they had dropped ATT, switched to Spectrum and they also bought a Roku to use the Spectrum app. After the appointment had been made, I was also informed that they had gotten a Xumo box from Spectrum, which really makes the Roku a bit redundant, but it's still useful. The dad isn't a tech guy, the college-age son isn't, either. I thought most kids were able to understand this stuff better, but, well.....I had texted simple instructions for inserting the HDMI that had been connected to the cable box into the ROKU and since they use ALL of the remotes for all activities, they would use the Roku remote, rather than the Spectrum and use the same Sat/Cable input on the receiver. They didn't understand how to do it. In testing the system, I had to use the AVR and each source remote (depending on what was used) and the TV remote, in order to start using the system. Then, I was informed that the dad wanted me to make sure the VHS HiFi worked and since that only has a composite output, they now need to switch the input on the TV, then switch back when they want to watch anything else. The dad was originally resistant to me finding a universal remote and they have used the system for 13 years. Yes, the son and I created a cheat sheet.
I'm looking for a universal remote and will recommend using a Composite - HDMI converter, to simplify using the VCR.
The problem with heavy remote controls- people drop them and if one of those lands on a hard floor, it needs to avoid damaging the floor AND survive the fall. Also, people have little kids, dogs and childish husbands who can and will damage a remote that actually works fine, but the husband didn't like it, so he threw it onto the Oak floor. Yes, that really happened.
