One Remote to Control Them All

Remember the days when you actually had to get up and change the channel on the television? Well, not any more. Now you just point your handy remote control in the general direction of the television, and change channels to your heart's content, without moving off the couch. Unless, of course, you need a different remote - the one for the stereo or the DVD player or the VCR. Then, unless you planned ahead and had all those remotes within arm's reach, you have to get up, find the right remote, and then figure out how to make it do what you want it to do. Sound familiar?

We have a lot of remotes in our house. I'll be the first to admit that I don't always know which remote I want for what thing, and when I do get my hands on the right remote, I don't always know which button to push. Luckily for me I have teenagers in the house, and they usually seem to be able to figure it out.

For people who don't have teenagers to figure out how to use all the remotes, or just for people who want to simplify things and get all those remotes off the coffee table, there's the new Yamaha neoHD. It's a really nifty system that allows you to control everything with one very simple remote. When I say everything, I mean everything - TV, DVD player, BluRay, iPod, gaming system, Internet radio, and more. The remote is very basic and easy to use, allowing the user to make selections via the clean and simple on-screen interface. Basically, decide what you want to do - Watch, Play, Listen - and then choose your desired source. You don't have to figure out what channel the TV has to be on so you can watch a movie on the DVD player or what to set the stereo on so you can see the picture and hear the movie, too.

Complete control with one remote! It sounds great. I really love the idea. What I don't love right now is the price tag - because I'm cheap. Unfortunately I missed the chance to enter to win one, because I wasn't paying attention. I do plan to find NeoHD on facebook so I can keep track of what's happening in the world of Yamaha NeoHD from now on.

What do you think? How badly could you use one of these?