REMOTE WONDER II

Remember the day you upgraded from a Toshiba TheaterView TV to a Cinema Series? Or perhaps, for you Sony fans, from the regular Sony TV to an XBR? If so, one of the first differences you probably noticed was the enhanced remote control unit. ATI’s newer REMOTE WONDER II unit reminds us of this same upgrade experience in a lot of ways.

REMOTE WONDER vs REMOTE WONDER II

Thumbpads compared

REMOTE WONDER II is a lot more than just a cosmetic upgrade, distance is increased to over 60 feet, and in addition to the six programmable buttons (also found on the original REMOTE WONDER) ATI adds four auxiliary buttons.

The new remote control unit has a finish that’s much less glossy, sporting a dull grey instead. This gives the remote a more professional look that’s more at home on the couch with the rest of the remotes in your home theater system. Physically the new remote is longer, yet thinner than the original REMOTE WONDER and the buttons themselves on REMOTE WONDER II are much less spongy than the buttons on REMOTE WONDER. In fact ATI has discrete buttons for channel and volume control, this change, along with the redesigned Mute button makes it harder to accidentally hit the mute button while adjusting channels or volume level.

One of the other drastic changes is the new thumbpad for mouse control. The thumbpad on REMOTE WONDER II provides more tactile feedback than its predecessor, making manipulation slightly easier, although to be honest you still have to learn how to adjust to the mouse movement. ATI has also adjusted the position of the left and right mouse buttons in order to make room for the dedicated channel and volume selectors.

In our opinion, the open setup menu (located just below the “9” key on the keypad) and mulTView buttons (located below the “7” key on the numeric keypad) are located too close to the “7” and “9” keys on the keypad. These buttons were located in the same area on REMOTE WONDER, but more space was present between them on the older unit. Now the buttons are so small and located so close to each other that it’s easy to press both simultaneously on accident, especially if you have a large thumb.

Note the slim spacing on RW2, especially near the programmable buttons

Four new auxiliary buttons

ATI probably should have shifted that bank of buttons further down on the remote control unit as there’s plenty of dead space on the bottom of the remote. We feel the same way about the programmable buttons C, D, E, and F, which are located very close to the rewind, fast forward, play and pause buttons on REMOTE WONDER II. On the original REMOTE WONDER unit, the programmable buttons were much further apart from these buttons.

One very cool aspect of the new REMOTE WONDER II unit are the four auxiliary buttons. These buttons can be used to control whatever devices the user defines and, as an added bonus, are backlit for viewing in the dark.

USB pods compared, RW2 is the black pod. Note the size difference.

The other notable difference between REMOTE WONDER and REMOTE WONDER II is the size of the USB breakout box, which interfaces with the REMOTE WONDER II unit. Whereas the original REMOTE WONDER featured a fairly small pod, REMOTE WONDER II’s USB pod is massive and will eat up more space on your desk. On the top of the unit is a short, yet sturdy antenna.