Recently, my family’s DVD remote went missing. This was bad news, as we like our movies. In another way, however, it worked out great, as it forced me to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: buy a universal remote. So I headed to several electronics stores, and ended up buying a Philips Universal remote, much like the SRU2103 shown here.

I’ve always liked Philips gadgets; they’re a good compromise between price and quality. This particular universal remote is another example of that balance.

I control three primary devices with it; my Sony widescreen HD television; my Panasonic DVD/VHS player; and my DirecTV satellite dish with TiVo. Setting up the remote was easy. The directions in the manual were simple and clear. I got the codes needed for each device (most popular brands have multiple codes, and you sometimes need to go through a long list to get to the right code for your particular model) within the first few options for each.

Most importantly, the remote works very well. I have no trouble controlling any of the devices with the remote, and it hasn’t given me any problems yet — not bad at all for a remote that sells for under $20. The only gripe I have is that I wish it had more TiVo functionality. Most of the functions I can do with one button press on my DirectTV remote, like recording and deleting, take two (and often, more) steps with the Philips remote. And backlighting would be nice, to be able to use it more easily in the dark.

Ultimately, however, those are minor quibbles. I could get a huge remote costing $100 or more and get all that functionality and more, but for the price, it’s a winner.