Universal Remotes

[kenaf]

So, I was just looking at the Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote found here..

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Advanced-Universal-Remote/dp/B00119T6NQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231371818&sr=8-1

Yes, I know its pricey, but it got me thinking about just how nice a remote could potentially be. Anyone have any experience with these fancy remotes?

What I'm really curious about is getting these things working with gaming consoles. On Logitech's website, the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii are all in their device database and listed as "supported". I know it would probably be pretty pointless with the Wii, so lets ignore that one.

Since I use my Xbox 360 as a DVD player and for Netflix streaming, I could see how it would be nice to be able to run the 360 from a universal remote instead of picking up the 360 remote. Also, when I get a PS3, I'll want to use it as a Blu-Ray player, so the same applies.

I have read that you have to buy a USB dongle for the PS3 since it uses Bluetooth, so with that it sounds like you can get the PS3 working with a universal remote. Anyone know anything about the 360?

[stubadub]

The 360 should be pretty standard, since it uses a standard RF line of sight kind of input for its remotes. From what I understand, you essentially program this remote from your computer, and you can set it up so that one button press can turn on your tv, your receiver, and your xbox, and set everything to the correct setting so you can see and hear it.

I'm sure this would be great for anyone that ever comes into my house. They all get very confused when I give them the rundown "This is to turn on the tv and select which device you're going to use, this is to change channels on the direct tv box, this is for volume (and btw you'll need to select the device on here as well), this one will be for dvds and hd-dvds, and this one will be for blu-ray and it can also do dvds." If I mention Blu-Ray I usually have to explain what it is; if I say HD-DVD they just assume I meant that my dvds are in Hd, I am playing them on an HDTV of course. (as a side note, when family comes over they keep commenting on how much better the picture is on my tv than their own, and every single time it comes down to "you are watching standard definition cable on your TV, this is an HD signal")

I really should buy one of these so that I don't have to have these conversations on the rare occasion someone is visiting and I've left the house. The sheet of written instructions never seems to help, and I always get a call where I'm told nothing works, and they've tried hitting every button. It's just so hard for me to spend so much on a remote when it seems so straight forward to me.

[damnedeyez]

It's just so hard for me to spend so much on a remote when it seems so straight forward to me.

There's something to be said for not having a handful of remotes cluttering things up, too...though I still haven't convinced myself it's worth the price, either. Maybe if/when one of them breaks on me.

[rplunk2]

I've had some experience working with the Harmony remotes and I'd have to say that they're pretty amazing. One you get used to the way it works it's amazing how nice it is to use one remote to control literally everything. You probably aren't looking at the most full-featured and high-end Logitechs, but some of those will even control the lighting in your home if you set it up. Crazy. Anyway, if clutter bothers you, it's totally worth it.

[drghoo]

I love Harmony remotes!! I currently use the 880 model that I got on sale at Amazon for $100. Normally a $150-200 remote that I got lucky with good timing. Before that I used the 659 to death and loved it. The ability to program from the computer is epic and the help guide when somebody's stuck is very useful. I went through headaches dealing with Universal One remotes, RCA universal remotes and Philips just for basic programming & operations. I cannot recommend the Harmony's enough though I think the Harmony 1's a little pricey. Maybe you can get lucky like I did with an online deal.

[crzy8sal]

Depends how excellent you expect it to be. I returned mine after a few days of testing. (Harmony One)

I found that it was pretty clumsy in some ways, like, you set up "activities" where the remote like, turns on the receiver first, then the tv, and then the DVD player. However if for some reason the tv didn't receive the signal because you didn't point the remote straight at it, you still have to manually go turn it on, and it gets tedious.

More importantly, there's a very noticeable delay between you pressing the button and the device receiving the command. It was this way with every device I was controlling with it, the tv, receiver, and my media center. It takes like half a second or so. Of course for some devices like the TV it doesn't matter at all. However on my media center I liked scrolling through lots of files and movies etc, and the delay between each button press made it horribly tedious.

Either way, I found it not to be worth the money and the hassle. The individual remotes still work better for me.

PS- I don't think it works with the PS3 or Wii since they don't have an IR receiver. They're in the database and will allow you to set the tv to the right channel but they won't turn the PS3 or the Wii on.

[drghoo]

Depends how excellent you expect it to be. I returned mine after a few days of testing. (Harmony One)

I found that it was pretty clumsy in some ways, like, you set up "activities" where the remote like, turns on the receiver first, then the tv, and then the DVD player. However if for some reason the tv didn't receive the signal because you didn't point the remote straight at it, you still have to manually go turn it on, and it gets tedious.

More importantly, there's a very noticeable delay between you pressing the button and the device receiving the command. It was this way with every device I was controlling with it, the tv, receiver, and my media center. It takes like half a second or so. Of course for some devices like the TV it doesn't matter at all. However on my media center I liked scrolling through lots of files and movies etc, and the delay between each button press made it horribly tedious.

Either way, I found it not to be worth the money and the hassle. The individual remotes still work better for me.

PS- I don't think it works with the PS3 or Wii since they don't have an IR receiver. They're in the database and will allow you to set the tv to the right channel but they won't turn the PS3 or the Wii on.

I believe you can adjust the delays between device commands. I had the same thing happen to my tv cause it needs to heat up first. Had it remedied when I adjusted delays. Don't know about the Ps3 functionality, but it works great with the basic commands I've used with my 360. Wii is a non issue due to nature of it's signals I believe.