Where's my remote?

February 6, 2007 9:00 PM

Where's my remote? If you can't tell me that, does there exist a universal remote with a cordless phone-like paging feature?

I know about the Loc8tor (extraneous "t" if you ask me), but it's a bit spendy ($100 for the base package). Every cordless phone I've owned has had this essential feature (push a button on the base, and the phone rings/beeps until you find it), but I've never seen a remote with it built in.

posted by Rock Steady to Technology (17 answers total)

Check under the sofa.

Failing that, something like this might work. It's not built in, but it's cheap enough that you could attach it to the bottom.

I'm unfamiliar with any remotes that have this feature built in.
posted by quin at 9:17 PM on February 6, 2007

Best answer: check in berween the couch cushions, and some TV's come with a remote that has the feature.. you hit something on the TV, and the remote starts beeping.
posted by magikker at 9:32 PM on February 6, 2007

Check the bathroom, did you take it in there with you?
posted by illek at 9:48 PM on February 6, 2007

I used to have a thing like this on my keychain that would beep when I whistled at it. You could glue it on, too, like the device quin linked.
posted by Addlepated at 9:56 PM on February 6, 2007

My Dad tried gluing the keychain thing on but it turned out that the vacumn cleaner set it off and the battery kept dying. Next he tried using Velcro tape so that he could stick it to the corresponding tape that he liberally applied to the couch and coffee table (my Mom loved that one). Combined with a strict regime of sitting in the same spot it was reasonably effective. These days he has a remote that is just so unbelievably gigantic there is no way to lose it. He has privately admitted that he hs no idea what 90% of the buttons do, but he likes being "able to see it from space".

btw, did you try the fridge? Easy mistake to make. Laundry hamper, patio table and by the phone in the bedroom are also popular but off the beaten track.
posted by fshgrl at 10:11 PM on February 6, 2007

Buy extra remotes. Velcro them to the back of the unit. Use only in case of emergency.
posted by frogan at 10:53 PM on February 6, 2007

frogan raises a good point, I have a universal that does everything, and another universal that does all the same stuff, but not as comfortably. and yes, a third universal that does most of the work of the first two, but in a less cool fashion.

Your solution might not be an expensive remote finding toy, it might just be to duplicate your tools across the board.

Also, do you have pets? If so, look in all their hidey-holes. My dogs have, on occasion, run off with the thing that I give more attention to then I do to them. And I've found a remote buried under their beds.
posted by quin at 12:13 AM on February 7, 2007

Check the vcr machine, if you still have one. That's where our 2yo hid ours for over a week back in 1999.
posted by LadyBonita at 3:11 AM on February 7, 2007

Lair. Your 2 your old wasn't even born in 1999.
posted by Crash at 7:04 AM on February 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

It's on top of the TV.
posted by bink at 7:09 AM on February 7, 2007

It's on the back of the couch. That's where I always find mine when it's lost.
posted by spinturtle at 7:53 AM on February 7, 2007

I often find my remote buried under the heaping pile of crap in the middle of my floor or on my desk. Try checking there.

Failing that, it's often under the bed. The bathroom is also a good place to look. I have an odd habit of putting whatever happens to be in my hand in the fridge, so look in there too. Good luck!
posted by !Jim at 10:15 AM on February 7, 2007

Response by poster: Embarrassingly, it was in fact between the cushions of the couch ("Yes, honey, I already looked in between the cushions"). The number of times I have found it in the fridge or bathroom is, frankly, worrying. I once found a BOOK I had been reading in the fridge. I'm loath to glue anything to my fairly sleek remote, but it looks like that is the only thing to be done.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:03 AM on February 7, 2007

Next time, utilize The Twelve Principles.
posted by fidelity at 11:14 AM on February 7, 2007

In college, my roommate and I were always losing the remote. Our solution was to put the 'Cro' part of velcro on it and stick it to our salvation-army couch. It would even stick when tossed from several feet away.

YCMV -- Your couch may vary.
posted by Wild_Eep at 11:17 AM on February 7, 2007

Now that I think of it, we employed a different but useful technique when it came to scissors. Seemed like we could never find a pair of #$@^*& scissors in that room, which was only 14 by 10 to begin with.

Our solution? Saturate the room with scissors. Whenever either of us were out, we'd just habitually buy another pair of scissors. After 8 pairs or so, we never had trouble finding some, they were always in plain sight, no matter where you were in the room there were always some within an arm's reach.
posted by Wild_Eep at 11:30 AM on February 7, 2007

Wild_Eep: Used to do that with lighters. Buy them by the bag-full, get a new one freely. Periodically, gather the loose ones up and put them in the drawer with the new ones. Worked well. Remotes? Too expensive.

I'm seriously considering a decent universal. Watching the PVR requires the use of THREE remotes! PVR remote, projector remote, and audio remote.
posted by Goofyy at 5:12 AM on February 8, 2007