Thread by @BigSquishyDM

So this thing that looks like Bruce Wayne's garage door opener is the TV-B-Gone™. It's sold as a prank device, and comes in some 1950s style packaging that extols the virtues of a life with-out TV.

Ultimately it's pranking folks into thinking their TV is malfunctioning.

Now I did not get this for such pranking activities. I ultimately got it for work. Why?

I have #ADHD which means that the more steps there are to something, the harder it is to do or remember to do them all. I've also got arthritis which makes repetitive long trips a real pain.

There is one remote in the church that turns on all of the monitors I need to turn on for our Wednesday night community dinner, and our Sunday morning services. One outside my office, two in the fellowship hall, and one outside of the youth group room on the second floor.

Two things happen. I lock up stairs and forget the remote because it's late and I may as well be someone with Alzheimer's sundowning.

So I have to trudge back down stairs, grab the remote, and go up stairs. Or go down stairs, continue turning things off because I'm in a pattern

Go back up stairs, swear, go back down stairs and grab the remote, and then go back up to finish locking up.

Or, I remember the damn remote, but when I'm done with the monitors, I slip the remote in my pocket and my poor object permanence has me take it home.

So, universal key chain remote it is!

There were others, but they were claiming to only be able to do 500 tvs at most and I was worried that I'd get it and then have to start tinkering, finding out it wasn't compatible, return the product, get a different one. So on.

This one claimed nearly all tvs, and it only had an on off feature, which is all I needed.

So I tested it out on my parents T.V. and mine. Both worked. I tested it out last night at bingo and it turned off all three monitors at once (last game was done, don't worry.)

And I tested it at work. All seemed to go off and on just fine.

It's not instant by any means. You do have to stand there and let it cycle through all the on/off codes (it's done once the red light in the corner stops blinking). Max time it should take is 69 seconds (Nice)

The main problem is that you need to be closer than a regular remote depending on where you are at. I was half a room away at a bingo hall and turned off some monitors, but at work, with the angle of the ir sensor I had to be almost directly near them.

Furthermore, if you only press once, but if you accidentally point it at something that shouldn't be off while that light is blinking it will turn that off too.

Great of you are pranking everyone at B-Dubs and being a dick. Not great if you aren't.

All and all it's ok. Not the best or worst product I've purchased but it does the job. There are other remotes that are just bare bones that I think I would want to try. What I would really like is if @Google would put an I.R. blaster on their phones.

It is actually a pretty decent accommodation for weirdos like me that keep forgetting things because of neurodivergence.

Untill then though, if you are like me and don't have IR compatibility, it's a decent option. Could be better. 6/10