Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote (Silver)
by Logitech
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List Price: Our Price: $236.99 You Save: $263.00 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $142.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote (Silver)
Customer Review: Disappointing, No... Really Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I looked at every review on the market including the ones on Amazon, and nothing prepared me for what I was getting. The remote is just not worth the money. It feels too light and flimsy, the performance is just terrible. The touchscreen is very slow to respond and requires you to tap the same thing several times. It feels clunky and it often misses one component and requires you to go through the 'Help' Process.
Plus it remembers what it did, even if you don't want it to. God forbid you turn your tv off by yourself and leave something else on, because the next time you tell it you want to watch tv, it will turn your amp off and your tv on, forcing you to fix it... again.
The setup took forever, and if you're thinking that you can use this as a remote for your devices, forget it. It has the 'capability' to act as an individual remote, but its obviously designed around its own style of 'activities' so actually accessing the specific controls for a device is only through a tiny submenu, AFTER you pick an activity, its not a real remote replacement if you channel surf or anything like that.
Plus, amazon implies that it works with z-wave components (lights dimming etc) but it DOES NOT. Logitech had support for this feature and then removed it... why? I have no idea. It's only supported in the 880 (and that's straight from the horses mouth) so you'll have to go one remote DOWN from top-of-the-line to get that feature. (WTF?)
The only way I could theoretically seeing this work better, is with the IR/RF extender (another 100 dollars) and actually moving your components somewhere else. But if you're a normal person, like me, you don't have a place to stick all your components besides your living room. And it seems stupid to buy an RF extender just to make sure you hit the components that you will -no doubt- often miss, while using this remote.
The software database of devices is pretty good, but if you have a custom built windows media server, you'll have trouble, the software in general is typical of logitech, shiny but crappy. They excel at hardware and fail dismally at software, except with this product, where they failed at both. It's pretty but that's all I can say for it without reservations...
Customer Review: Not Advanced
Summary: 2 Stars
Unfortunately, it is going back. I was so enthusiastic about the Harmony 1000; the small size, color touch screen, learning capability, vast database of brands and models, charging station, etc. However, after using the remote for several days I found the remote requiring more precise aiming and attention than my older Sony RM-AV3000 touch screen. I can point the Sony in almost any direction and it finds the target, not the Harmony 1000. Actually, the Harmony screen instructs you to "continue pointing at the device" while performing an activity. Additionally, I found it interesting that with the vast database of brands and models that Logitech did not know that my television (listed and accepted in their database) did not know that my TV required a cycling of inputs. With that example, I programmed the Harmony activity to watch a DVD, however, when turning on the TV it powers on to the last used input, not the input required for watching a DVD. Although I eventually resolved the issue, the remote required an additional 30-50 seconds of "direct aim" at the TV to cycle through and end at the correct HDMI input. In another example, my cable box DVR was successfully identified by Logitech, however, the activities for watching cable had some 8 levels within the activity (like a folder inside a folder inside a folder, etc.) If you want the function on page 8, you have to press the arrow down key eight times to find the function. With that said, I also found that functions with names that exceed 5-6 characters are truncated, thus making it difficult to figure out what the button does. For example, two function buttons are side-by-side on the remote, both functions perform differently, however, if they both have the same first 5-6 characters, that is all you see (e.g., PowerON and PowerOff both appear as Power......you now have to guess?)
HONESTLY, I am lazy and impatient when it comes to entertainment. The objective is to get the movie going, not waiting for a remote to turn on the system. Besides, when you get comfortable in your favorite chair or sofa, who wants to reach for a remote that requires so much attention? I'll keep my Sony, it's not color, but it gets the job done and in half the time.
Customer Review: GREAT IDEA - MEDIOCRE EXECUTION
Summary: 2 Stars
OKAY - I'll admit that I could not resist the idea of tying all the remotes into one unit. ONE workable unit that was smart enough to turn the audio / surround processor, the TV, the Cable Box, and/or the DVR if I'm recording and yet not turn it on if I'm not! Tempting as hell.
The usual suspects have other offerings. None - short of a custom programmed Niles Audio system at a cost of approximately $9k plus - offer this much potential bang for the buck. The thing can even be taught to speak Insteon and X-10's native language. That would mean - for me- the ability to control lights, drapes, heating/cooling, and even outside ice melting cables on the drive and walks all from this one fairly simple remote.
Turns out "simple" isn't the term that fits it. The complexity of programming was far beyond my expectations. The model numbers of a particular machine often have to be entered manually. The "worlds largest database of remote function codes" is also the slowest to load and respond to anything! I thought I was on a dial up given the slow response time on their web site! Their customer service reps seem to be offshore and sound distinctly Indian (like Bombay) to me. Not bad if you're Indian but not much help if you're an American.
The one thing I did right was the fact that I charged the purchase to my AMEX card. When this piece of badly designed junk refused to program like th instructions claimed it would and could and the idiots in customer-lack-of-service didn't bother helping and mainly sounded bothered that someone would dial them up to ask a QUESTION about their product - that's when I called AMEX and had the purchase reversed. The merchant didn't want to take the damned thing back! So thanks to Amex I crammed it back down his throat in spite of his "no returns" policy.
Someday, someone may do this and do it right. It's a great idea. But for now, no one has done it right. I felt that nearly $400 was a lot of money for this gadget and I expected it to work. It did not and does not.
Save your money and save yourslef some grief.
Buy anything else. A tin can and string is more reliable.
Customer Review: Nice, but has some flaws....
Summary: 3 Stars
Bought this remote about 2 months ago to "simplify" our home theater control and setup. We had recently purchased a new plasma TV with HDMI input and new DirecTV HD PVR with HDMI output. Since my Pioneer receiver is getting old, this complicated the I/O on my system. So now, to watch different sources like DVD, Satellite TV, VCR, Laserdisc, etc.....you have to change inputs on both the receiver and TV. So, just getting the system on and configured correctly is difficult for people like my parents, in-laws, babysitters, etc. We were looking for a good universal remote, with easy to see/read buttons, and the ability to control things with one touch.
Overall, this remote fits the bill. The touchscreen buttons are large enough to see and the remote controls every component of my system. It is fairly programmable, you can even re-program the hard buttons. Had some problems with software lock-up for the first 1.5 months, but a new Firmware image just came out and I haven't had a single lockup since. Hopefully that problems is solved.
I would recommend this remote for anyone who is tech savvy, but not for beginners, unless you have a very simple setup and are just trying to eliminate several remotes. If you have anything slightly complex, the setup can be frustrating (getting IR timings right, customizing menus, etc....).
Pros: Cost for a touchscreen remote is pretty decent, sleek design, recharging dock is nice.
Cons: Software lockups (hopefully fixed now with new firmware Dec. '07), not the greatest programming interface (web based, not overly intuitive), could use a few more "hard" buttons for very common things like PVR/DVR control (play, stop, rewind), slow response to soft-button pushes can be a little frustrating, more IR transmitters would be nice (I've noticed that "newbies" will be looking at the screen to push buttons and might not have the remote pointed directly at the devices). Higher screen resolution would be nice so that channel favorites icons (for NBC, HBO, CNN, whatever) are more distinguishable. Battery cover is hard to open (this was an issue when I had to remove batteries constantly due to lockups).
Customer Review: I would avoid getting this one
Summary: 1 Stars
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but after having the Harmony Remote 1000 for a little over a year now, I've come to the conclusion that this remote just plain sucks. I purchased this as part of a new home theater I built. All of the remotes that came with the hardware I purchased work flawlessly, except for the Harmony. Well, specifically the touch screen portion of it. The actual physical buttons work just fine. Power on/off, check. Volume up and down, check. Change channels (one up or down at a time), check. Recent channels and mute buttons? Check. Using the touch screen for anything useful beyond powering up the systems - worthless.
Initially I thought it was something in my IR system that might be bogging things down. But when I go get the remotes that came with the devices the 1000 is supporting - they all work without a hitch. So I can only believe it has something to do with the touch screen and it's lack of good interoperability with the rest of the hardware/software.
I was surprised this wasn't an RF remote when I first purchased one, and Logitech has a new RF one coming out that I guess I'll probably get and try it out. Hopefully that one is better because it has a lot more physical buttons vs. the touch screen.
It's certainly not because I'm not "holding" the virtual buttons down short enough, or long enough, or in the right way. I can see the signal indicator showing it's sending something. Or it buffers up the actions I wanted it to perform, and then they all go through at once, or not at all.
I've tried turning the unit off and on again by removing the battery. I've tried reinitializing the device by re-doing the entire setup from scratch, and it always falls into the same glut of uselessness.
If Logitech ever needs someone to test a future release of a product, let me know - I'll be more than happy to help to make sure whatever replaces the 1000 or the 1100, is far better than this little bundle 'o crap.
Oh - did I forget to mention, this is my second 1000? The first one was DOA.
Thanks for listening to me rant. I appreciate it.