How many remote controls do you have in your house? Many people have one for each piece of electronic equipment. This causes confusion at times especially if they look alike in any way. The simple solution is to get a universal remote. Universal remotes are able to operate numerous equipment like televisions, VCR’s, cable boxes, home theater systems, etc. To put it another way, a universal remote is a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of consumer electronics devices. There are many different shapes and sizes of universal remotes, but they all work in the same way. Some are limited to operating only on equipment that are of the same brand, however the majority can work with just about any brand.

Some brands of universal remotes are:

- LG
- Panasonic
- Motorola
- Philips
- Hughes
- Jensen
- Zenith
- RCA
- Magnavox
- Comcast

Whichever you choose to use is your own choice. I personally would look at the price and then the features (the more features usually mean more money). Universal remotes make life a lot easier and save on time trying to find the correct remote for your TV or VCR.