The big screen remote controller was the first to give up the ghost, followed closely by that of the home theatre. Both are LG brands and are out of warranty.

For six months after that, i had to leave the comfort of my couch to operate these appliances. It was not much fun.

Eventually, i decided to pick up a replacement remote controller at the nearby mall. The Game store in The Palms mall, Lekki (Nigeria) usually stock most of these accessories and i was not disappointed.

I had never heard of the brand, “One for All“, but i was particularly attracted to this particular universal remote controller on display, thanks to its attractive packaging and design. It is very stylishly built and oozed of quality but a bit pricey at about N7,300 (US$45).

It is indeed a very good product for the price you pay. The fit and feel of this remote is very nice. Expectedly, it was not South African made like a lot of products in that store, it was made in The Netherlands.

Christened “SmartControl” – it is a remote controller that promises to be easy to set up, easy to use and with a bunch of simple macros that let you complete Herculean tasks like switching on your TV, Blu-ray player and home cinema system at the touch of a single button.

Setting it up was not particularly a breeze but eventually i got it done – controlling my DSTV cable decoder, TV and HiFI from a single remote. The controller has 6 configurable buttons to control a total of 6 devices, however, you have a ton of Manufacturers and models of  appliances to choose from. I would be very shocked if there is a single device that can not be controlled with this device so long as it is a Television, Cable Decoder, DVD Player, MP3 Player, Amplifiers or Game controller.

The downside of this device is that it does not come with any batteries bundled with it and sometimes, programming it can be a pain but that can happen with any programmable remote with such a setup.