What Universal Remotes are you using?

[Hyfi]

I am ready to try a Universal and retire the 10 individual remotes. What models are you using and what do you like-dislike about them?

Thanks for any input.

[Slosh]

I've been using a Marantz RC 2000MkII for the last ten years and it's awesome. Never had a problem teaching it any commands. It's long since out of production but there is always ebay. Since it's so old there's no online data base of codes for it so you have to program everything manually but that's no big deal to me. It's a battery hog but I solved that with two sets of Ni-MH rechareable batteries; one set is always charged and ready to go.

Lots of the newer remotes can be programmed from your computer via USB. I would look for one with at least some 'soft' keys that can be renamed for specialized functions unique to a particular piece of gear. Personally I don't like the touch-screen remotes because you have to look at them to use. I like tactile buttons. Also make sure the icons are on the buttons themself. No point in having backlighting if you have to turn on your room lights the read the remote's face.

NP: Jim O'Rourke - Eureka

[Duds]

My brother just got a Harmony 670 for xmas. I did some research over on avsforum.com and for around $120 it seems like a great universal remote. Some have said it eats through batteries quickly, but I think I read that's due to the buttons lighting up everythime you touch one, and I am pretty sure you can turn that feature off.


I am ready to try a Universal and retire the 10 individual remotes. What models are you using and what do you like-dislike about them?

Thanks for any input.

[N. Abstentia]

Harmony 880. Don't get no better!

[Rich-n-Texas]

Harmony 880. Don't get no better!
Harmony 880. Don't get no better! :cool:

[Worf101]

The Harmony One's pretty dang good too... Allows my luddite ole lady to switch from TV to DVD without needin' my help.

Da Worfster

[elapsed]

I'll second the Harmony 880, been using this remote for 3 years now and still love it. I also bought an 880 for my parents, though it had a stuck button - Logitech customer support immediately shipped a replacement, no questions asked. Very impressed overall

cheers,
elapsed

[audiobill]

Harmony One.

Have had it for about one month, now. It is great for others in the family, who just simply need to select "watch movie" and point it and it does all the rest.

One problem is that it does not always get the av equipment command on first try. At this point, I need to press the "Help" button and it sends another signal that gets it right. Unfortunately, this occurs about 50 percent of the time.

Cheers,
Bill

[Hyfi]

Thanks for all the input. I am looking at the 880 for price to feature ratio. Having a hard time figuring out what the 1000 does different or if it's just this years model for an extra $100.

[elapsed]

Thanks for all the input. I am looking at the 880 for price to feature ratio. Having a hard time figuring out what the 1000 does different or if it's just this years model for an extra $100.
Sure, you're paying extra for a touch screen. I prefer the 880 as I can hold it in one hand, and also I'm a fan of the 890 as you can control devices without line of sight (though its initially a bit of a pain to wire the IR transmitters!)

cheers,
elapsed

[Swish]

Like nearly everyone else said. I use one for my HT room and, once properly programmed (you go to their website and input all the info about your audio and video equipment, then connect your Harmony via USB and program the sucker), you can hit one button to 'play music', 'watch TV', or 'Watch a DVD' and it will turn on all the equipment and switch the audio/video inputs so there's nothing to do but enjoy. My amps are the only thing I need to switch on and off manually. My wife was ready to kill me before I got the Harmony, and I found one for a great price on e-bay.

I would highly recommend you buy rechargeable batteries for it too, because they get eaten pretty quickly. Mine takes 4 AAAs, and I keep a charged set on back up so I don't have any down-time.

[Auricauricle]

Presently I use a Sony RM-AX1400 UR. The programming of the remote is done via USB. The process is somewhat tedious as the computer is in a different room than the stereo and the layout is rather spartan, requiring users to remember functions locked in. Although there is a small screen that describes functions in use and the capacity to set up multiple arragements of set-up applications, it could be more user friendly. In spite of these inconveniences, it is robustly built and was easy on the wallet when I bought it at the local pawnshop. It ain't a Harmony, but it'll do....

[Rich-n-Texas]

Like nearly everyone else said. I use one for my HT room and, once properly programmed (you go to their website and input all the info about your audio and video equipment, then connect your Harmony via USB and program the sucker), you can hit one button to 'play music', 'watch TV', or 'Watch a DVD' and it will turn on all the equipment and switch the audio/video inputs so there's nothing to do but enjoy. My amps are the only thing I need to switch on and off manually. My wife was ready to kill me before I got the Harmony, and I found one for a great price on e-bay.

I would highly recommend you buy rechargeable batteries for it too, because they get eaten pretty quickly. Mine takes 4 AAAs, and I keep a charged set on back up so I don't have any down-time.
Swish, do your amps have "trigger" inputs. If they do, and your receiver/pre-pro has trigger outputs then you can connect them and when you power the receiver on, the amp powers up as well. Of course I don't know what type of amps you're talking about so take it FWIW.

[Slosh]

I've never investigated the newer PC programmable remotes because I'm perfectly happy with my ancient Marantz, but one thing I really like is - it being it's fully manual and all (except for RC5 gear, of course) is not every command is programmed into it; only the ones I want. For example, I purposely left out my pre-pro, TV, and DVD players' set-up codes so that way no one can accidentally (or otherwise) mess with my settings. I would assume you can delete stuff out of the data-based type remotes too.

All my macros work fine too. When mine (eventually) dies I think I'm just gonna replace it with a PDA, that I can add VisualMR too and use it for much more than a mere remote.

[Gerall]

Harmony 688. Does everything I need it to do. I control 8 devices with it and it performs flawlessly. It is hard on batteries but that seem to be a common trait. Nice part is that if you lose the programming, just log into the harmony website with your profile, hook up the remote, and download it to the remote. All is as it was. If your device is recognized, then all the functions will be there. If not, you can use existing remote as the Harmony is a learning remote. If this one gives up one day, I will surely purchase another harmony. The only beef I have beside battery consumption, is how the number pad is way at the bottom of the remote. It is quite easy to drop it when keying in channels with it.

[Hyfi]

I would highly recommend you buy rechargeable batteries for it too, because they get eaten pretty quickly. Mine takes 4 AAAs, and I keep a charged set on back up so I don't have any down-time.

The newer 880s come with a recharging base. Maybe that is how they solved the quick killing of batteries.

[Swish]

The newer 880s come with a recharging base. Maybe that is how they solved the quick killing of batteries.

With all the waste in the world, ideas like this need to be made more frequently. Thanks for the info.

[Hyfi]

So I ordered a Logitech Harmony 880 from Circuit City for $119.

I had no problems with the software or navigating thru non-intuitive menus since I support software like that for a living. The remote has codes for every device I added but....

When choosing to Watch a VHS, which turns on my TV and VHS, it somehow sends a Start command after it turns on so you have to manually press Stop at startup. I added 3 2-5 second signal pauses and 3 more Stop commands to the sequence but it is not sending a proper Stop even after using the Learn Command from existing remote.

Second problem I am having is when turning on my Harman Kardon AVR635 for any of 3 activities, the AVR stays on whatever input it was on when turned off instead of switching to the correct input for activity. If I use the Help button, it fixes the input in 2 seconds but it will never remember what it just fixed. I have to use the Help button every time to get it right.

The 3rd thing I can't seem to figure out is how to re-order the devices listed on the screen to have the ones you always use at the top. It somehow creates this list randomly and there is no reorder option.

Can anyone offer any suggestions about these issues?

[N. Abstentia]

For the VHS problem (what's a VHS and why do you have one??) just go into the setup and uncheck the 'send play command at startup'.

H/K problem try adding a delay, or tell it to manually change the inputs at the end of the command. Should be in the 'reorder commands for device' or something like that.

3rd thing, they are in the order that you have them on the screen like this:

1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8

Just move them like you want them!

[Hyfi]

For the VHS problem (what's a VHS and why do you have one??) just go into the setup and uncheck the 'send play command at startup'.

There is no option such as 'send play command at startup'. What remote are you looking at? I have added 5 delays and 5 stop commands. It waits the delays then sends a start.


H/K problem try adding a delay, or tell it to manually change the inputs at the end of the command. Should be in the 'reorder commands for device' or something like that.

I have tried and tried but it will not remember the correct settings. I remember during initial setup, it asked me if the AVR stayed at the last input it was at when turned off but I can't get back to that now. Trying to figure out how to set it back to new to start over.


3rd thing, they are in the order that you have them on the screen like this:

1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8

Just move them like you want them!

The above layout is for Activities and not Devices. There is an option to reorder activities but no option on the devices tab.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Hyfi, if there's a tape loaded in the VCR when you start the "Watch a VHS" activity, some VCR's like mine will automatically start playing the tape when the VCR is powered on. It's a function of the VCR, not something coming from the remote.

I'll help with some of your other questions when I can, but there are a few topics about the 880 in the Home Theater forum somewhere. I dug around briefly; couldn't find any, but they're there.

With the exception of N.Abstentia's suggestions, I don't think you're going to get 880 specific questions answered here in the RR forum. Just a thought.

[Hyfi]

So I ordered a Logitech Harmony 880 from Circuit City for $119.

I had no problems with the software or navigating thru non-intuitive menus since I support software like that for a living. The remote has codes for every device I added but....

When choosing to Watch a VHS, which turns on my TV and VHS, it somehow sends a Start command after it turns on so you have to manually press Stop at startup. I added 3 2-5 second signal pauses and 3 more Stop commands to the sequence but it is not sending a proper Stop even after using the Learn Command from existing remote.

Second problem I am having is when turning on my Harman Kardon AVR635 for any of 3 activities, the AVR stays on whatever input it was on when turned off instead of switching to the correct input for activity. If I use the Help button, it fixes the input in 2 seconds but it will never remember what it just fixed. I have to use the Help button every time to get it right.

The 3rd thing I can't seem to figure out is how to re-order the devices listed on the screen to have the ones you always use at the top. It somehow creates this list randomly and there is no reorder option.

Can anyone offer any suggestions about these issues?

2 out of 3 issues resolved. I emailed Logitech about the problems. They did something to my profile and told me to refresh the remote. After doing so, the VCR and Receiver issues were resolved.

They told me they have no way of re-ordering the Device menu so if you add component from another room, they get mixed in with the main ones and may push one you always use to the second screen.

OK, I am now real happy with this remote.