Tech Stress: Too Many Remotes!

Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a home theater setup. It’s not a big fancy room, but I’ve got really comfortable furniture and a big screen, surround sound system, HD satellite dish receiver, video game systems, a Roku Netflix player, an iPod system, a DVD player, and an HDMI switcher.

With great technological power, comes great remote control responsibility. What do I mean? Well, whenever anyone besides myself or my roommate want to operate the system to do something, we have to pick up a few different remotes and switch it over for them, and say “OK, this one does the sound, and this one does the TV, and this one controls the movie.”

I’ve used other universal remotes in the past, but I’ve recently been turned on to this new setup, Yamaha neoHD – the One System to Rule Them All (otherwise known as a Media Control Device). Instead of needing a bunch of remotes, or plugging up a remote to a computer and programming complicated activities, the neoHD systems allow you to connect all of your devices to this receiver box that has 3 HDMI inputs and a pair of component ins, and one composite input. When powered on, the neoHD presents the user with three options: “Watch,” “Listen,” and “Play.” Once selected during setup, the device walks you through a series of questions and from then on, you should be able to stash your remotes out of the way. The device has three IR outputs on the back of it, and while most device codes from manufacturers are embedded, it still has the ability to learn more from your existing remotes.

The neoHD is also a really advanced receiver, and does all the latest sound technologies all the way up to Dolby TrueHD, has the fancy room sound adjustment feature (you hook up a mic and play test sounds and it adjusts the sound to fit your room and setup). It also has pretty good connectivity to your portable devices (USB flash drives, iPod, etc.) through optional connectivity accessories. If you pick up the WiFi version, it also comes with the ability to connect to your computer and play media from your PC, or connect to Rhapsody music service if your computer happens to be off.

If you don’t already have a speaker system, you can pick up the 2.1 speaker package as a bundle with the higher-end neoHD system for just a little more scratch. I want this, and if anyone has the financial ability, you should totally pick this up for me as a combination Christmas / Birthday present!

If you want one, get a Yamaha neoHD Sweepstakes Entry by doing one of the following:

a. by Tweeting: “I just entered to win a #neoHD b/c I have too many remotes, visit (http://urlbrief.com/e44caa) to enter”

b. or enter via http://urlbrief.com/e44caa

Enter to win, and leave us a comment telling us why YOU desperately need the new neoHD media control system (over run with remotes, confusing home theater setup?) and that you’d like to enter the contest. Also, find neoHD on Facebook and be sure to become their friend!