JVC LT-42P300 LCD HDTV Review - Remote Control

Remote Control Summary
• Large and poor balance • Buttons have poor tactile feedback • Can be used as a universal remote
	Viewing Effects	Page 8 of 16	Audio

Ergonomics & Durability (4.60)

The JVC LT-42P300's remote is the exact same model we've seen come with previous JVC HDTVs, which is not a particularly good thing. The problem is that it's large, clunky and unccomfortable to hold. The balance at neutral, with your thumb on the directional buttons, is not bad, but the size of the thing means that if you shift your hand even a little bit up or down the remote quickly becomes unbalanced. With a plethora of buttons studded across the entire face you'll be doing this often. The buttons tend to be large and are made of soft plastic. Unfortunately there's not a lot of key travel and the buttons feel squishy so you don't get a lot of tactile feedback. We wish that JVC had taken the opportunity to roll out a new remote to go with their new HDTVs, unfortunately they have not.

Button Layout & Use (5.25)

The JVC LT-42P300's remote is studded with buttons along it's entire length. The remote is rather wide, but even those with smaller hands should be able to reach channel and volume buttons from the directional pad, albeit with a bit of a stretch. Reaching the rest of the buttons, however, will definitely require you to shift your hand, with the subsequent balance problems we mentioned above. Unfortunately some of these buttons are necessary a lot of the time, for instance the power button or the input controls. We were pleased that the LT-42P300's remote works from a wide angle.

Programming & Flexibility (6.0)

If you're willing to put up with the JVC LT-42P300's shortcomings you can use it as a universal remote for the other devices. There are clear instructions on how to set this up in the manual along with a list of codes for most major A/V manufacturer devices.