Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote (Silver)
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote (Silver)
Customer Review: Not ready for prime time
Summary: 1 Stars
I faithfully used my prior Logitech Harmony 880, and when it finally broke, I decided to upgrade to Logitechs's flagship 1000 model (which I have been using for several months). However, the new Harmony 1000 is so painful to use that I am seriously considering swallowing the $500 and buying another 880! I have had to dig out my original device remote controls, and once again have 3 different remotes littering the coffee table. My wife has given up, and completely refuse to use this thing anymore.
Problems specific to the 1000 model:
1. It uses 'beta' software and crashes regularly. Adding salt to the wound, there is no reset switch, and you have to pry open a stubborn battery latch, remove and replace the battery, and then wait several minutes to reboot.
2. The touch screen is cumbersome, it is not very customizable, and it is poorly laid out. The unintended result of streamlining this remote and removing the hard buttons is that it forces the user to navigate multiple menus just to get to the desired buttons. However, you cannot rearrange the screen to simply include you most frequently used commands, nor can you choose which set of buttons first pops up when you choose an activity.
3. The touch screen forces you to actually look at the remote to find the buttons you want, like the guide or menu button. Also, the screen saver kicks in after a few minutes, and then forces you to first joggle the device to 'wake up' so you can see the screen.
4. The shape makes it very difficult to use with one hand (and I have large but agile monkey hands).
Those are my top complaints for the Harmony 1000. I do still enjoy a good universal remote, but this is not the model to buy. Please note that it you happen do get a Logitech universal remote (the 880 was fine), be prepared for a Lengthy set up process to get it correctly tweaked. It takes a long time for Logitech's remotes to change settings, and tweaking your first remote for optimal efficiency can take an hour+.
Customer Review: Excellent Remote Control
Summary: 5 Stars
Logitech keeps improving their Harmony line of remote controls, and this one is much better than their previous units. The Harmony 880 had a few issues that have now been resolved with the 1000; most notably, the power connections are much better. When the 880 was placed into its docking station, it often failed to make a proper connection with the power contacts causing the unit to not charge properly. This was sometimes caused by dirty or corroded connectors, but the location of the contacts almost encouraged that to occur, both on the charging station and the control itself. Also, the 880 was prone to random resetting, especially when being docked. That may have been related to the power contacts which resulted in the unit often not being fully charged.
The touch-screen of the 1000 is much more intuitive than trying to find some of the small and unusually-shaped buttons on the other models, and it allows you to include ALL of the functions from the original remote.
The "help" feature is great for correcting anything which gets out-of-sync when using the highly-automatic activity buttons, such as when you use "sleep" to shut of the TV. It quickly steps you through the various devices, correcting anything it needs to using your answers to its checklist questions.
Logitech chose the most important functions to be included as real buttons, and their choice is exactly what you want. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to exchange the location of the volume and channel buttons; most other controls on the market have volume on the left and channel on the right and I find myself pressing the wrong ones on the 1000, especially after using the hotel remotes on a business trip. But that's only a minor inconvenience.
The bottom line is that I really like this new unit and recommend it to anyone who wants a single powerful remote to replace all of their original remote controls. Heck, it even works to control the blinds and my robotic floor vacuum.
Customer Review: Good, but flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
The Harmony 1000 is Logitech's answer to some of the more spendy touch-panel programmable remotes. There is a lot to like here, but the Harmony 1000 has a few flaws that keep it from being perfect.
Setup of the remote is as easy as the other products in the Harmony line. Setup is done through Logitech's PC or Mac-based setup utility, which is then synced with the remote through a USB cable. The setup software has wizards that take you through the most basic setup functions, but tweaking the settings takes a little bit more effort. Unfortunately, the UI is a bit clunky, and it can be hard to find the commands you're looking for.
Once the remote is set up, it generally works pretty well. The touch screen is colorful and responsive. Some may not appreciate the lack of tactile feedback, so if you're accustomed to remotes with hard buttons, the 1000 takes a bit of getting used to. One complaint is that the buttons' hotspots tend to be along the bottom of the button, and sometimes pressing anywhere above the bottom border will activate an adjacent button. Again, this takes a bit of getting used to, but it's pretty intuitive after a while.
The two biggest problems with the 1000 are its power and stability. The IR signal is woefully underpowered, and more or less requires a direct line of sight to register with your home theater components. In particular, the unit has a problem powering an Xbox 360 on and off, though it works pretty well for system navigation once the 360 is on.
Also, the remote is prone to locking up, requiring removing and replacing the battery to hard reset it. This tends to happen when the remote doesn't seat well in the charging station, and makes intermittent contact with the charging leads. The remote will go to sleep on the station when this happens, but when you try to use it next, the soft buttons don't respond.
All in all, the 1000 is a solid product that is just one firmware update from being excellent.
Customer Review: Read this if you're researching if its a good idea to buy H1000
Summary: 4 Stars
So I'll keep it simple and short.
This is a new technology and like any new technology it has its little kinks here and there. But don't listen to the other reviews that are complaining about this product. If you are not a technical person or do not like gadgets then this product may be a little difficult to use and setup, although Logitech has a good customer service department there to help you. This is not a ready-to-use product so expect to spend some time setting it up and playing around with it a couple of times to get it to work the way you want it. The beauty of this thing is that it won't go obsolete since most of the buttons and functions are programmed and Logitech simply updates your remote as it makes the remote better (so unlike other remotes where once you buy it you're pretty much stuck with it the way it is, this remote will continue to be as updated as Logitech wants it to be over time)
If you're somewhat of a techie like me, this thing is a breeze and although you'll have to tinker with some stuff to get it up and running but that's the fun part. And the benefits you reap, incl the "wow" factor from your frieds definately beats the time needed to invest in getting it to run to your specs.
Note that I had to buy the wireless extender and you will most likely have to do as well if your devices are not within "exact" line of sight with your remote (i.e. if you're sitting on your sofa and your device is not in a place where you can directly point the remote at it then you'll need the wireless extender). So plan to spend another 100$ on teh extender but but but... it's worth it. You can literally be on another floor and control your devices from almost anywhere in your home. Pretty cool.
Needless to say I like this thing and don't regret buying it at all. I read all of these reviews before buying and almost didn't do so but overall the feedback was positive so I got it and I'm pleased I did.
Customer Review: Absolute piece of crap
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this remote about 3 months ago to work with my Samsung Plasma TV, a Directv HD-DVR and a Yamaha YSB-1100 AV/speaker. Installation was a pain, since the User Interface is completely useless. For example, I had to program the remote and the RF adapter separately to use with the DVR (even though the DVR works on RF, I had to use the adapter and keep the DVR on IR). Well the instructions say to first plug in the remote via USB, then they instruct you to plug in the Adapter via USB, they DONT say unplug the harmony, so needless to say the software is too stupid to differentiate between the 2.
I have a real simple setup, a TV, an AV receiver (the yamaha) and the DVR, and a PlayStation 3 (but the only thing the harmony can do is select the TV and AV receiver inputs since the PS3 uses Bluetooth). No complex switching at all. Well after screwing around for several hours, I finally got it to work, then it would lock up, or it would get stuck continously sending unwanted commands, the only way to make it stop was to pull the battery. Then when I would select an activity like Watch TV, it should turn on the TV, the AV receiver, and the DVR thats it....then 20 seconds later it would change the TV input. I called support, and they said they fixed it, but it kept doing it, I cant seem to figure out how make it stop. I've been in the computer business for 27 years, I design complex enterprise SOA architectures, and I can say that I'm qualified to call this thing a piece of *%V)&*t. I hope I can still return it, since i've had it for about 3 months. But now I sit with 3 remotes on the coffee table, and couldnt be happier, no more cursing at this thing. This should be a tip off, Logitech has a support division solely responsible with the 1000. I cant speak to the other harmony remotes, but this is an awful device. It doesnt feel well i the hand, hard to use with one hand, no intuitive buttons to feel, just a real bad idea, with poor execution.