X10 Powermid PM5900 Remote Control Extender Kit - Includes a Transmitter and Receiver - (Infrared Only No Video)

I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Most of the reviews I have read about the Powermid are where someone put their A/V gear in a closet in the next room or in the basement directly below the living room. These weren't very helpful to me in solving my problem. I want to control my TiVo in the living room from my bedroom. The bedroom is about 45' away from the living room, and there is a right angle in the hallway connecting the two rooms. The radio signal has to penetrate no less than 3 walls to reach the receiver. I read such glowing reviews of the Powermid, I thought I might as well give it a try. It probably couldn't be any worse than the IR/Radio repeater set I paid about 25% more for at Radio Shack. The Radio Shack unit was horribly unreliable, had to be positioned and repositioned and I would have to hold the remote at a funny angle right in front of the transmitter to get it to work. And then it was intermittent at best. The Powermid works flawlessly. I plugged it in, and it just works. Every click works every time. I have the receiver/IR emitter up high on a shelf, not even directly aimed at the TiVo. The transmitter sits across the bedroom from where I have the remote. I think the Powermid's stellar performance is due in part to the reasonably sized antenna on the receiver unit. No visible antenna on the transmitter unit improves the aesthetics. The power supply is via a standard 110-volt cable, no floor slugs or wall warts, and the cords are plenty long.

This IR remote extender is very easy to install and worked well the first time I tried it. The transmitter is sensitive enough to receive IR signals from remotes at 15 feet. I tried a Harmony One and a Harmony 300i. The reviewers that needed to be within 5 feet to get a signal through might have remotes that don't emit very strong IR signals. The "angle of attack" needs to be pretty close to face-on (remote needs to be fairly well-aimed at the transmitter), and once and a while it will take a second key press to get the signal through. But if you're closer than about 12 feet, it is more forgiving. My receiver is about 45 feet from my transmitter, on a different floor, through several wood-frame walls. Didn't try it at greater distances, but no problem from this far away. The biggest problem I had was aiming the receiver (the unit with the antenna) at the devices. There isn't room in the cabinet to place the receiver in front of the devices, so I had to place it on a shelf about 7 feet away, at about a 45 degree angle from straight-on. Works well from that position. I could use the external LED emitters (I already have a couple from a Sony MRD-D1 video modulator system that I could adapt), but it doesn't seem necessary. The devices are small and unobtrusive, although I agree that the pyramid shape is a little strange. I would prefer something more rectangular which would fit in tight spaces a lot better. The angled front surfaces make it somewhat hard to aim at the best angle to the remotes and devices. But I have to rate this product 5 stars, because it is so easy to install and works so reliably.

I purchased the Powermid Remote Extender through Amazon seller X-10 Express. I wanted the ability to change channels in my office from a receiver located in our family room on the same floor. The family room is located about 25 ft from my office. The transmitter and receiver, then, are probably 25-30 ft apart and the signal must go through a couple of walls (drywall). The first set of Powermids I purchased worked great for about three or four weeks. Then, one day, they just stopped working. I called X10 to troubleshoot the issue and they said the units were defective and asked me to contact X-10 Express (the seller) to request a replacement. I contacted X-10 and they required that I send the defective unit back (I had to pay shipping costs) and they would send a replacement. I sent the defective unit and received a replacement about 10 days after they had received the defective unit (too long in my opinion). I hooked the units up and they worked great for the first day. The next day, however, same issue - they just stopped working. All the lights work on the units, but the receiver doesn't change the channels. So, I'm 0 for 2 on this product and have sent an email to X-10 Express requesting a refund. Regardless of their reply, I'm not going to rate this product any better than the lowest score. If both units didn't work at all from the start, then you could feasibly blame it on the environment (e.g. too many walls, radio interference, etc.), but the fact both units worked and then stopped working lead me to believe it is just a poor product.

I am totally impressed with this remote control extender. I have used the other types that use an IR receiver and you tape the repeater device on the front of your equipment. They work, but only if you put your electronics in a closed cabinet in the same room. I wanted to get the clutter of my electronics out of the room so that I would only have a wall mounted HDTV in the room with no cables showing. I read the reviews on this Powermid Remote and thought I'd give it a try. My surround sound system, DVR/Cable box, Blu Ray, DVD recorder, and 3rd DVD players are all hidden away in a credenza in a bedroom with an HDMI switch and single HDMI cable that I ran through the wll to the TV set. I was concerned about this working with the equipment closed up in a small cabinet with the face of the equipment very close to the door which practically blocks the IR sensors. I'm happy to say it works flawlessly even in that situation. It even allows me to hook up the DVR and Blu Ray player to my bedroom TV too without paying the extra monthly cost to the cable company. Set up is easy, in fact really nothing to it. Place the transmitter unit in the room you want to sit in, and the receive unit (the one with the antenna), near the equipment to control. They plug in so there's no batteries to worry about. It's that simple. One unit works with all of my remote controls. I've had no trouble with any of the devices I'm controlling. I had to laugh at the reviewer who said the top is sharp and he worried about his kids til I opened the box and touched the top. He was right.. they are sharp. I would not hesitate to buy another one if I needed more. It is extremely good!

I purchased the PowerMid X-10 to extend my Logitech Harmony Link (the BEST app-driven universal remote! (also has add-on to control PS3... $$)) from my living room to my bedroom. I decided on a RF/IR extender because it's much cheaper than purchasing another Harmony Link. When I received the X-10 Transmitter/Receiver set, I tested it and IT WORKED well. (Harmony Link & X-10 Transmitter in LR, X-10 Receiver in BR) I then "installed" the X-10 Transmitter into my existing entertainment center in LR. Even though the indicator LEDs on both PowerMid units were blinking properly; it STOPPED WORKING with the BR equipment. (LR = LED TV, PS3 (off), AppleTV (Ethernet), BT transmitter (for speaker), Cable box, Soundbar (all in one DVD/5.1 audio), cable modem, wireless router - a lot of stuff! :: BR = LED TV, AppleTV (wireless), Cable box - much less). I moved the X-10 Transmitter in the LR about 5 feet from the LR entertainment center and IT WORKED again. Relocating the X-10 Tramsmitter may have decreased any wireless & LED interference (this is a known issue in the community but I couldn't find documentation from the manufacturer), but the line of sight between Transmitter & Receiver was much better too. I was considering returning the PowerMid. I'm glad I gave it one last shot. Also, considering the complexity of my setup, I was concerned about lag time (responsiveness). So far all is performing very well! Now I can control all my equipment from ANY room. 4 stars! Could improve reception (shift to BT between Transmitter/Receiver??), but with some creativity, it may work very well for you too!

These X-10 remote extenders work very well. I used them to extend a Time Warner (Samsung) DVR into a bedroom. I used a 50 foot A/V cable and RCA splitters to run the audio and video into the bedroom. Then I used this extender to control the DVR from the bedroom. An LED comes ON in the bedroom pyramid when it receives IR (but no LED indication when the other pyramid re-transmits). Here are several notes: 1) Put the pyramid labeled "transmitter" in the bedroom. This is not intuitive, but it is the RADIO "transmitter", so it goes in the bedroom. 2) An LED comes on in the bedroom pyramid when it detects an IR signal (the Time Warner remote activated the LED). 3) However, the LED did NOT come on for the Dish Network IR remote signal, but the extender still worked, and the Dish Network box was controlled. 4) It extended Sony, JVC, and Panasonic Televisions OK. 5) My girlfriend took the x10 home and set it up, and claimed that it did not work. Why? Because her TV in the bedroom is made of metal, and she blocked the radio signal between the pyramids by putting the TV in-between. Once we moved the bedroom pyramid so there was no "radio shadow" from the TV, the signal went through the sheetrock wall just fine and the system worked fine. 6) The IR sensitivity of the pyramids is fine. The IR receiver worked from over 20 feet (maybe more, I couldn't get further away in that little apartment). Same (a good 20 feet) for the IR transmitter. I did not test the radio sensitivity and distance. 7) The pictures on Amazon do not show wall transformers, however the x10 extender comes with two wall transformers. A little mis-representation here? Still, no complaints.

Love these! I been trying to figure out a RC system for my Home Theater and was really hoping for an RF control that I could set up. I purchased the Logitech Harmonty 1100 remote control and was really excited about it. I set it up and it worked like crap. To much delay and very slow function time. I couldn't take it anymore so I sold it. I've been waiting months and months to find a remote that was RF that I could replace it with. But, not being a rock star and wanting to spend some ridiculous amount for a remote it didn't happen so I have been stuck with the remote IR system that came with my projector to use in the mean time. Well I have seen tons of IR remotes that had my interest but when I was building my theater I didn't run wires for such a system. That's where the PowerMind 5900 has saved my butt. I wanted something that I didn't have to run wires for and didn't have a slow reaction time and it would be an RF/IR system also. I recieved this product very shortly after I purchased it and with easy hook up it's been great! Works well and responds fast! Just stuck the transmitter in the closet with the equipment, placed the receiver out in front on top of my sub and works like a charm!! I would definitely recommend this product to any and everyone that is in need.

Pros: The X-10 worked where the Nextgen extender did not, because of the NextGen having compatiblity issues with my remote Good range from transmitter to receiver, but so-so range from remote to transmitter Should be compatible with just about any remote, unlike the fancier ones which rely on IR conversion direct from the remote itself Cons: Transmitter is somewhat sensitive to what angle you point the remote at if you are sitting at more than a few feet away from it. Limited range when aiming the remote at the transmitter, but it also depends how strong of an IR signal your remote emits. As long as the transmitter receives a fairly strong IR signal from your remote, then the WIRELESS range to the receiver should be good. However, it appears that the maximum range you can be from your remote to the transmitter is 7 to 12 feet, manual claims 20 feet, but I doubt it would ever work that far away. Again, this is just the range of how far your remote can be from the initial transmitter when doing the IR, and has nothing to do with the wireless range of the "2 triangles" between each other. This range limitation does depend on your remote's strength and how much you feel like pointing the remote exaclty at the correct angle. My Phillips SRU 8015 emits a strong signal and from 11 feet away it works most of the time as long as I am pointing it in a fairly tight angle towards the transmitter. Still a bit frustrating because I have to position the remote at almost the perfect angle when sitting 11' away from the first triangle (the transmitter).