Home theater guys, tell me about uni-clickers

[oilwell1415]

I am fed up with having to juggle 4 remotes and want to get a universal. I was pretty much sold on the Logitech Harmony 1, but I've read many reviews that all say the people have the same problems. That is a small percentage of the people, but enough to make me concerned.

What I need to control is my TV, receiver, DVD player, and cable box. I am interested in RF cabability (which the Harmony 1 doesn't have), but it would just be for lights and fans so is not absolutely needed.

I don't mind spending money for quality, but I hate to give it away unnecessarily. What do you control your stuff with and would you recommend it?

 

[BigSweezey]

After spending money on a couple, I realized they all suck. If you get the logitech, don't waste your time with the automatic programming...just manually do it.
IMO for the price it wasn't that much better than the 50 dollar(i forget which brand) one I had. Right now I'm using the comcast remote. Day to day functions it works fine, just have to pull out the factory remotes if I go changing stuff.

 

[Sinister04L]

I have a Harmony One and love it. I control 3 tv's, 3 cable boxes, a receiver, 2 soundbars, DVD player, BR player, PS3, and Xbox 360 all with that one remote. 13 remotes in the drawer is a beautiful thing. It was easy to program and I haven't had a single problem with it.

 

[hoamskilet]

I have a Harmony One and love it. I control 3 tv's, 3 cable boxes, a receiver, 2 soundbars, DVD player, BR player, PS3, and Xbox 360 all with that one remote. 13 remotes in the drawer is a beautiful thing. It was easy to program and I haven't had a single problem with it.

+1. absolutely love mine. I have it controlling 2 tvs, my av receiver, ps3, xbox, a dvd player, and a cable box. Zero problems and was easy as hell to program

 

[txyaloo]

I've had a Harmony 680 for many years, and it's still kicking. My only gripe with the Harmony remotes is Logitech can decide to disable functions on a whim, and their setup software sucks, but other than that the remotes just work. I wouldn't hesitate to get one.

 

[oilwell1415]

Those are similar to the majority of reviews I have read. The problems I keep seeing are that it doesn't work unless pointed directly at the device in question, the touchscreens don't work well, if you turn off a device manually the remote gets confused, the apps sometimes don't work, and a few others. Have any of you actually experienced any of these things?

 

[theraapster]

I have two other models from the Harmony line, so the only question that I can answer is that yes, the remotes can get "confused" if you turn a device off without using the remote. There is a nice help button that you can then press and it is usually able to solve the problem very quickly. This isn't really a problem, it is just how the remotes are designed because they don't have a way to probe the device for its on/off status.

 

[txyaloo]

I have two other models from the Harmony line, so the only question that I can answer is that yes, the remotes can get "confused" if you turn a device off without using the remote. There is a nice help button that you can then press and it is usually able to solve the problem very quickly. This isn't really a problem, it is just how the remotes are designed because they don't have a way to probe the device for its on/off status.

This.

The management app sucks. Mine doesn't have a touchscreen so I can't comment on that aspect. LOS isn't a big issue with the model I have, either, but I don't have the Harmony One.

 

[WireEater]

I have the Logitech Harmony 720 and I love it.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-720-Universal-Remote/dp/B000GD3J3G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1275595007&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Logitech Harmony 720 Universal Remote: Electronics[/ame]

I got it at Target a few months ago. There happened to be a pricing error on it $37.78 (retails @ $130) so I bought it. It can control up to 12 devices at one time. You can configure to turn on 4 devices while turning off 6 others at the same time, or how ever you prefer. It can control pretty much ANYTHING that is controlled by IR, including appliances, lights, fireplaces, gaming consoles, etc. It has a nice LCD interface and a charging dock station.

 

[hoamskilet]

Those are similar to the majority of reviews I have read. The problems I keep seeing are that it doesn't work unless pointed directly at the device in question, the touchscreens don't work well, if you turn off a device manually the remote gets confused, the apps sometimes don't work, and a few others. Have any of you actually experienced any of these things?

The touchscreen on mine works just fine. You do have to keep it pointed at the devices until they turn on, but it's only a few seconds

 

[sunburned]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Advanced-Universal-Control/dp/B00093IIRA/ref=dp_cp_ob_e_title_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1275595007&sr=8-1%3Ftag%3Dcitofgamonlco-20]Amazon.com: Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote…[/ame]

I got the Harmony 880 as a gift a few years ago and I'd never go back to using regular remotes again. The cable box remotes are supposed to be used as a universal, but they suck ass. Programming it is easy and the LCD screen makes things simple.

The remote just assigns buttons for certain things you want to do. Want to watch a movie? Sets your TV to HDMI, turns on the DVD player or whatever, turns the surround sound to DVD. Play a game? Same sort of thing. It can't control my PS3 because it's remote is blu-ray, but there is a $30 adapter you can buy to make it work.

Definitely makes any sort of AV watching easy. I try to convince everyone I know to get one.



The one thing I wish it did, and maybe it does, is have a built in sleep timer. When I go to sleep, I leave the TV on, but that includes the TV, Cable and surround sound. I set the sleep timer on the tv, but everything else stays on all night. I wish the remote had built in timers to turn everything off at a certain time. Again, I haven't really done the research yet, so maybe it already does this?

 

[Sinister04L]

Those are similar to the majority of reviews I have read. The problems I keep seeing are that it doesn't work unless pointed directly at the device in question, the touchscreens don't work well, if you turn off a device manually the remote gets confused, the apps sometimes don't work, and a few others. Have any of you actually experienced any of these things?

I can point it in the general direction and it works fine. Zero problems with the touchscreen. If you turn off a device manually generally the remote will recognize it. If it doesn't there's a "help" button you press that will ask if it's on or off and it will straighten it back out. It's pretty intuitive.

 

[hunterp]

The only issue I've had with my Harmony 1 is with trying to program in sequences. For some reason, it just can't figure out the input selection scheme on my hdtv. Now I just use it to control the individual devices and it works very well.

 

[skidad62]

I have the Harmony 1 in three rooms driving every combination of application - they are fantastic!! I'd do the manual programming yourself - just follow the instructions - it's simple enough. My wife generally hates remotes - but LOVES the Harmony 1.

 

[65fastback2+2]

love my harmony one...getting an 1100 in the near future though

 

[65fastback2+2]

The only issue I've had with my Harmony 1 is with trying to program in sequences. For some reason, it just can't figure out the input selection scheme on my hdtv. Now I just use it to control the individual devices and it works very well.

if your tv doesnt have assigned inputs and you have to cycle through them with an "input" button you have to tell the harmony software the order of the inputs

 

[mineralgrey01gt]

hmm i might look into one of these harmony one's for my bed room. I have 3 remotes but hate changing through all them and not being able to fool with the ps3 by remote and such

 

[hoamskilet]

I have the Harmony 1 in three rooms driving every combination of application - they are fantastic!! I'd do the manual programming yourself - just follow the instructions - it's simple enough. My wife generally hates remotes - but LOVES the Harmony 1.

A big +1 to that. Any new people that come over to the house my wife has to show off "her" remote haha.

 

[SnakeStang96]

Logitech is the way to go. I have a Harmony One also and will never get rid of it. Its pricey but I also work at Best Buy :banana:

 

[65fastback2+2]

Logitech is the way to go. I have a Harmony One also and will never get rid of it. Its pricey but I also work at Best Buy :banana:

5% above cost sure does help