The King of Remote Controls: Philips Prestigo Universal Remote Control

The Prestigo line of universal remote controls is the pinnacle of smart devices for integrated home electronics. The device is a stylish touch screen that contains the database fro 300,000 devices. It can be programmed easily to control 20 different items, and shows only the buttons you need. It also has hard keys for most commonly used functions such as volume, channel, play, pause, etcetera. A 2.8" full color screen with touch sensitivity provides the custom functionality.

The key to the remote's uniqueness is an intelligent ability to handle multiple electronic devices to accomplish a specific task. For example, rather than turn on the TV, then the home theater system, then the cable box or Blu-Ray player, one simply presses "watch a movie" on the touch screen. Product updates are available online via a USB connection. Another useful feature is the 500 channel icon memory. With a database of over 10,000 icons for popular channels worldwide, the Philips Prestigo allows channel selection by simply touching the icon for the channel
The Philips Prestigo SRT9320 20 device universal remote is available online from Amazon and Ebay for around $175.00USD. Electronics stores such as Best Buy do not yet carry the remote. Prices may come down a bit as the remote gains wider distribution, so it may pay to wait. Also, older Phillips brand remotes are being discounted to make room for the new touch screen varieties, so be on the lookout for deals.

If $175 for a remote is too far out of budget, consider doing without the touch screen and purchasing the Philips Prestigo SRU8112/27 12 device universal remote. If you can live without a touch screen, you can have most of the functionality of its big brother. The 12 device version has a 2" color screen, and the same huge database of devices it can control. They are available at online retailers as well as home product stores such as Sears. Woot.com listed the device as the deal of the day for $35, but that is certain to be out of stock soon. Most other retailers list the 12 device remote at around $50-$65.