SeKiSlim, Universal, programmable remote control with large buttons.

Sooner or later when you have an elderly relative unable to cope with stuff that seems simple to the rest of us; you will find yourself looking at TV remote controls. There are a large number to choose from out there but I suspect we all take a similar journey.At first you start with a control that has big buttons because the relative cannot see the buttons.I soon found my parents still struggled with knowing which buttons to use even when they could see them.With Parkinson's and Dementia the big button controls alone were not an effective solution.The next step is to then go for an even simpler control with just volume Up/Down, Channel Up/Down, and Power. You also have to have an 'AV' button which my parents find incredibly confusing. TV's when my parents grew up you just turned on and that was it. None of this pressing 'AV' to navigate through 10 inputs with acronyms they will never understand or remember such as HDMI2, AV2, PC, COMPONENT etc. But you have to have an 'AV' because TV designers are all young and don't consider older customers. My parents TV's can't be set to default to the input source they need.The next obstacle will be how easy the buttons are to press. They need to be responsive to a light touch as many elderly people can't press buttons easily. I've got through a fair few models before I found these controls. They have a lighter touch than all others. The soft buttons are elevated out of the control casing. This is very important and I have not found a better alternative.Another thing to consider is weight. Something younger people would not normally consider. When you are in your 80's even picking up a remote control is not easy. These units are feather light. This is important for people with Parkinson's or similar problems. They are however a little flimsy but not dis-proportionally so.If you stamp on them with army boots they will still break but they are robust enough for most people.The buttons are labelled and grouped logically and clearly but they are probably not going to be large enough for many elderly people to read. The all important power button is red and at the top so in my experience it can usually be identified by an elderly user. The volume and channel buttons are logically grouped with a distinctively different smaller button for 'AV' selection.These controls also come in a variety of different colours. This is very important option that needs consideration. A bright coloured control will be easier to find in a busy room. It's unlikely you will have many bright orange, white or yellow furnishings so the controls in these stand out in a room. It makes life easier for the elderly finding the control. If you have light coloured fabrics a darker colour may be more appropriate.Programming the control is of course an essential element. Many alternatives used to come with codes for all popular TV models at the time but I rarely found they worked. This model just requires you to teach it the corresponding Infared button press - regardless of the TV model. I have had no difficulties with this on my Panasonic TV's. Pressing two buttons down and pointing it at the original control when pressing the button you want to clone is as easy as it will ever be.Out of the many controls I tried these definitely worked the best for my elderly parents.They are light.They are responsive.They are easy to set up.They have the bare minimum buttons to reduce confusion.They come in many colours to suit an elderly user's environment.They are cheap and although you may find you have to buy a new one every year or two through wear and tear they are still the best option for elderly users.I would recommend buying more than one if you are buying for the elderly. When one gets lost or damaged you don't want to wait for a replacement and you also don't want to have to try and retrain an elderly person to use another model if they are no longer still selling these controls.I also use them myself for my TV's as they are easy to find and use.I have more than one for each TV to get round the problem of losing one behind the sofa for a few weeks from time to time. At this price it's worth it. They are much effective than the models you get with most TV's.These days TV's all come more buttons than a 1980's Texas Instruments scientific calculator all of whichhave stiff button's the size of a half a tic-tac - most of which you never use. Obviously you can't replace a complex muti-role control such as a Sky or Virgin on demand system with one of these controls but for simple TV control options you won't do better than this.

This remote felt a little cheap, but that is fine for the cost. Once the batteries are in and it has a bit of weight to it, it feels a bit more solid then.If it did work correctly, the only negative would be that the buttons require a rather firm press (especially if you don't press them right in the centre) to register compared to standard remotes, but they may get better in time.The best thing about it is that the direction you point it just doesn't matter so long as there are not large solid objects between or close to the remote or receiver, it works wherever you face it.On to the big issue with this remote. Amazon have already sent me a replacement, which means I've got 2 faulty ones from a faulty batch, or they are all like this and nobody has noticed, which i don't see how can be the case.Basically the mute, volume down, volume up, channel down and channel up buttons all once in a while send out the identical signal as the power button.In my case, I use this remote with an audio amplifier. All the buttons programmed fine and I use the channel buttons to switch between 2 inputs, and volume and mute as expected. This amplifier can only be powered on and off by a physical button, so I don't use the power button on the remote. I use it for a very different purpose. Turning my fan on and off. After a few hours of having the remote to control my amplifier and not even using my fan, once in a while, any of the 5 buttons I mentioned clearly send out the identical signal as the power button, which unexpectedly turns my fan on. To confirm this, I just pressed the mute button 30 or so times, and then randomly, my fan comes on. Another roughly similar number of presses on any other of the 5 buttons mentioned, and it goes off.Amazon sent me a new remote and the first thing I did was program the power button with another device in a different room. The power button again works no problem; turns the device on and off with 1 press (or whatever you set to button to do). But I also tried randomly pressing the other buttons which haven't even been programmed to do anything yet, and once in a while, they send out the same signal as the power button on the remote.I have tried retuning both remote to different devices, and the same thing is always the case. I can't reliably use it without it sometimes sending out the power button's signal without that specific button even being pressed.Since I expect the majority to be using this remote with just one device, if they had my problem, you would often find that your device randomly switches of when you press buttons with a different function. It is an incredibly obvious problem to notice that I can't see why people won't have mentioned it if they have it.I have contacted SEKI and will see what they say.If I hear from them - or I get a working remote from amazon, this could easily get 5 stars. But having 2 defective ones doesn't get my hopes up. A remote like this should make it simpler for people who find modern remotes with so many buttons overwhelming. This fault will make it unusable for most, which is why I am puzzled how I have had 2 with the same issue.

Took a chance ordering this remote. Wanted a better, easier remote for my bluetooth speaker and was unsure as to whether this would work...but it does!Setting up this remote is quite simple, but you must have the original remote in order to allow the Seki to 'learn' or copy the code so it can control your tv, stereo or almost anything you want. You can program each key individually to suit your needs. This remote will hold all your settings once programmed, even when you remove the batteries and replace them and can easily be re-programmed in the future to control something else if you wish.Although i just bought this to replace a poor original, i would recommend it for anybody that would like a simple remote that enables just the basic controls such as volume up/down, channel up/down, power on/off & mute. It is around 18cm long and very light in weight with buttons well spaced apart and easy to press. I would imagine that elderly people would find this remote very easy and less fiddly to use than an original one.I previously tried a number of other remotes to operate what i wanted to without success until this one. Worth every penny. A good quality, well made item that does the basic stuff...very well!

This was purchased for someone with severe arthritis, works perfectly, easy to program (so long as you have the original remote) purchased the bright green version as she loses remotes all day everyday, only down side it does feel a little cheap but it was inexpensive at the same time.

After getting them programmed I found them easy to use