Unbreakable TV/Remote

jnmiller324

Are there an TVs or remotes out there that are unbreakable? Or at least some type of protective shield or case? My mom keeps getting frustrated & angry when she can't get the TV to work & she ends up throwing remotes & breaking them or worse, throwing them at the TV. Thanks!

SusanB-dil

Hi JnM - I googled "unbreakable tv remote control" and found a couple that might work. 

amazon has at least two that I saw that you may be able to program to the tv set needed, and look rated fairly well...

Universal Big Button TV Remote - EasyMote | Backlit, Easy Use, Smart, Learning Television & Cable Box Controller, Perfect for Assisted Living Elderly Care. Black TV Remote Control

Flipper Big Button TV Remote for Elderly - Universal Simple to Read, Proprietary Favorite Channels, Supports IR TVs, Cable, Satellite & Soundbars -  

M1

Hope one of the simple ones may work for you for a while j.  We've had to pretty much give up on remotes and cell phones, doesn't matter how simple, my partner just can't do them any more.  She can still barely manage to dial a number on the landline, if she has help.  The funny/not funny part comes when she insists that the TV remote is a telephone and is then baffled as to why calls she made on it did not go through.

harshedbuzz

If she's at a point in her dementia where she can no longer reliably work the remote, then odds are she won't be able to learn to use a new, albeit simpler, version. One of the gentlemen in mom's ALZ support group bought his DW a "Flipper" when the Xfinity remote became beyond her skillset. It was a big fat fail. When dad started to struggle with the remote (similar to M1's experience dad often used to attempt to change channels using his flip phone or the remote to the ceiling fan), the fellow support group member lent her the "Flipper". Dad was unable to parse it at all. He'd lent it out several times and nobody had any success with it.

If she is throwing them, I might set the TV and disappear the remote keeping in in a drawer in another room which is what we ended up doing. Alas, this meant dad would fiddle with the input cables but he was prone to doing that anyway. A friend's mom always misplaced her remote, so she attached a cable to it and affixed it to her mom's recliner with a hidden safety pin. That might work here.

HB

harshedbuzz

ETA: the friend also covered most of the buttons on her Xfinity remote with black electrical tape so mom could only change channels and volume. This was a spare remote from a previous gateway that still worked.

Michael Ellenbogen

TThey do not make remotes that a no breakable.  I just to fix them at one time. They do make ones that you can talk to if that is easier.  I may also be able to help you REPAIR  some if you tell me what the issue are. Just reach out to me privately as I will forget to com back to this.

aannaa

I saw something like this on Amazon

sophirolr

Thanks for sharing this info.  I need a remote control that my neighbor can't break. She often started watching TV after I read roku reviews on https://roku.pissedconsumer.com/review.html . I even often come to visit and we watch movies together. But the only problem is that she often breaks remote controls - she can stand on it and fall into it and stop working

Kibbee

If I let DH have the remote he can’t operate it, starts pressing random buttons, and ends up messing everything up.  After having to call Tech Support a couple times to get the remote reset I finally learned my lesson.  So now I am the official channel changer and volume controller around here.  A bit of a hassle but still better than the alternative.  I do let him have a remote for the TV in his bedroom, since he likes to watch late at night.  But all buttons except the power button are covered with tape, so I have to select a channel and adjust the volume when I get him set up for the night.

I also had to hide the remote for his lift chair.  Best case he would try to use it to operate the TV, worse case I’d walk into the room and he’d have managed to engage the lift function and be raised up and about to fall out on his face.  So I’m the official recliner operator as well!

NuttyProfessor

Get the Flipper TV remote!

Super easy to use, and may head off the frustration that's causing your LO to throw the remote in the first place.  I got one for my mom after she started having difficulty with her regular TV remote, and she loves it.

mommyandme (m&m)

Unless you put a plastic shield over the TV, (like they have now in front of cashiers)  or something like that, any remote can break the TV.  I’d secure a cable to it so it can only go so far.  Probably not one that would allow bounce back so your LO doesn’t get hit on its return.  

There definitely comes the time when our LOs just need more assistance with all these once simple tasks.  Sorry for this issue.