Sony RM-D10P Remote Commander

Contributed by Erin ([email protected])

General Info on the RM-D10P

This unit is essentially a large flat remote control that lets you enter titles using a keyboard (english QWERTY, katakana char's in the upper corner of each button, numbers 0-9, plus a button for each symbol).
There are also a bunch of control functions located above the keyboard ( have a closer look at the layout).
The unit takes two AA batteries (included) and sends IR signals to the recorder (no cable required).
According to The MiniDisc Page, the RM-D10P works with the following units: MJ-L1, DHC-MD99/MD77/MD5, CMT-M11C, MXD-D1, and MDS-S37/JE500/JE700/503/J3000.
The back of the RM-D10P package states (in japanese) that it does *NOT* work with the following units: MDS-101, MDS-102, MDS-S1, MDS-S30, MDS-S35, MDS-501, MDS-302, MDS-303, MDS-JA3ES, MDS-MX1, Q-bric(CMT-M1), DHC-MD1, DHC-MD7, DHC-MD9, ZS-M1, PMC-M2, MZ-1, MZ-R3
As noted on The MiniDisc page, the RM-D10P will not work with the MDS-S37 if the audio bus is connected. This piece of information did not appear in the manual of the RM-D10P, but rather as one of those little green paper inserts that Sony loves to put in when something was discovered too late to change the manual :).

Impressions of the RM-D10P (based on using it with an MDS-JE500)

Pluses:

This baby looks slick! It kind of has a sleek, refined look about it: it has very little in the way of logos or writing on it - just a tiny MiniDisc logo in the centre, and "KEY BOARD REMOTE COMMANDER RM-D10P" in small writing, plus the Sony name.
Finally, I can enter song/disc titles at a decent rate! (but not as fast as I'd like to, see the Minuses section below :). I did get pretty adept at using the AMS jog dial to scroll to the correct letter on the JE500, but the RM-D10P is easily 5 times faster. This is obviously the biggest plus of the unit (the whole reason I bought it).
It's also great to get each edit function on a separate button. The JE500's faceplate controls force you to scroll through your edit options (Erase ?, Combine ?, Move ?, etc.) until you find the one you want. With the RM-D10P, you just hit the button you want for the function you want. There is also a CANCEL and an UNDO button.
The NAME button is separated from the other editing buttons - placed in the lower left hand corner. I find this very handy as this is probably my most used edit function.
The lid has a magnetic 'clasp' on one corner, so it doesn't flap around (nice).
The unit has some CD synchro buttons, for cueing up your Sony CD player to the correct track and putting it in standby mode. I haven't used these since I don't have a Sony CD player.
The unit also has the basic MD functions on it, of course: Play, Pause, <<, >>, |<<, >>|, and Stop.
There are 3 clear buttons at the bottom of the unit for selecting which character type to input: CAPS, SML, or katakana. They light up when you press them, and the appropriate one lights up as you type. This is mildly helpful.

Minuses:

The keys aren't offset! (ie. they're in straight lines one beneath the other, unlike the computer keyboard in front of you). This was the first thing I noticed when I looked at the pic of the RM-D10P. Actually, they keys are offset, but way too much - the 'A' is directly underneath the 'W'. Arr. At first I found that this hampered my finger placement, but after a little experimentation I found that if I place the unit at a fairly sharp angle (right side of unit towards NE direction), it feels OK.
Typing speed cannot exceed some very low wpm number :(. Perhaps this is because it's an infrared device and is only designed to send 1 discrete signal at a time (ie. a remote control button push). I find I have to slow my typing speed down a LOT to compensate, otherwise I end up wth txt lie ths. This kinda bummed me out, but it is still infinitely faster than using the AMS dial to enter text.
The rubber in the buttons feels a little on the cheap side.
There is no backspace key! (or at least I haven't found it yet). You can use the << and >> to scroll your cursor around, then use the cancel button which works as a delete key (ie. deletes the character immediately in front of the cursor). But there's no way to just go back one character as well as delete that character in one button push. You could use the << button and then enter a new character, but the character your cursor is on top of will be pushed forward (ie. insert mode is always ON - anyone know a way to turn this off?)
There is no SHIFT key. I didn't really expect this, but I thought it would have been a nice touch. So the only way to get a single capitalized character is to hit CAPS to turn caps on, then type the character, then hit CAPS again. This may have to do with how Sony thought this device would be held: from the keyboard layout (no offsets) I would guess that Sony expected people to hold the unit in one hand and type with the other hand. In that case, it would be tough for people to hold down one button while pressing any other one. This makes sense if you're sitting on your couch using the RM-D10P as a replacement for the regular remote, but I happen to keep it on my desk, right next to my real keyboard :).

Summary:

For US$75 I have to admit the RM-D10P is a little extravagant, considering you don't actually get any extra functionality, just somewhat better ease-of-use. But if you're an impatient person like me and you can't stand scrolling through the entire alphabet to get to the character you want, it might be worth it.

I found the slow speed dictated by the IR kind of disappointing - don't get this unit if you type 80wpm and expect to be entering your disc/track titles at lightning speed :).