Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touch Screen
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touch Screen
Customer Review: First-class remote, but software needs help
Summary: 4 Stars
If I could, I'd give the remote itself 5-stars, and the software 2-stars. Instead, I averaged it out to a '4' since you'll be using the remote a lot more than the software...
First the pros: The remote is excellent. There are plenty of "hard" buttons to control all the common features of all the common devices out there. For the more esoteric features, the touch-screen comes into play, and you can add virtually anything you want.
Also, the "activity-based" mantra really works well: you want to watch a Blu-ray? Click the appropriate activity, and the remote can power up your TV, A/V receiver, Blu-Ray player, and even an HDMI switch if you need it, select the appropriate inputs on the devices, and then all the buttons will be able to control the appropriate things: Volume from the A/V receiver, play et. al. on the Blu-Ray, etc. And you can customize this to your heart's content. My old "1 for All" remote had this to a small degree, but this remote takes it to several magnitudes better. No more constant mode-switching on the remote, or trying to adjust the volume only to have the TV volume (which you don't use) change! And for those who need to go into a specific device for a more esoteric button-- that capability is still there.
The look/feel of the remote are excellent.
Cons:
I can sum this up in one word: SOFTWARE! The config software is horrid. Well, that's probably too harsh -- they're on the right track. It has the appropriate level of hand-holding for less techy users, but lets those of us who want to get into the nuts & bolts do that too, with a little work. Make that a LOT of work.
Here's some problems I had with the software:
1) First, the software insisted that I must want to watch TV by using the tuner in my DVD-R/VCR on initial setup. And it refused to let me go back and remove this device (and the unwanted command to switch to a particular input on the TV). Later I found that if I added a new "Watch TV" activity from scratch, it gave me a lot more options -- but I only found this after a lot of missteps.
2) The touch-screen comes with a lot of functions pre-customized -- including a lot of things that my devices didn't have the capability to do. For example, on my Sony A/V receiver, there were several dozen "switch to input" commands -- including duplicate-sounding things like "DVD" vs. "DVD/LaserDisc". I went through and removed the ones that didn't apply, but this left "holes" in the touch-screen where the missing buttons were. And get this -- the only way to move things around in the touch-screen is by clicking up/down arrows -- one click at a time. I spent several hours just trying to remove the blank lines. Why wouldn't they have a "remove dead space" or even a way to delete a blank line and push everything else up?
3) While fighting through the above, I finally had it right. Then I clicked "done" and was told my session had timed out. If you didn't know -- the software requires you to be online, and all settings are saved in an online account. In this case, my login timed out, and I lost everything I had done with remapping the blank space. I was NOT happy. Later I noticed a small warning that said to click the done button at least once every 5 minutes to avoid losing work. This is NOT acceptable software practice...
4) There doesn't seem to be a way to delete commands that aren't used in my device. In one case I learned a command, forgetting to type in a name, and it was saved as "MyNewCommand". There doesn't seem to be a way to rename this OR delete it so I guess it's saved for posterity, forever... I don't know how much memory is in these devices but I hope I never get to the point where I've learned too many commands and can't remove them... (I'm jaded on this from previous learning remotes...)
5) The interface is very clunky. You very much feel like you're on a "Web 1.0" app. Screens largely consist of options with radio buttons, which you click "next" to proceed through. After you upload commands to the remote, you're asked if things worked, or if you want to make more changes. Strangely, there doesn't seem to be any difference no matter which answer you give -- either way you're taken back to the main config screen.
6)The online code library has some issues. The biggest one for me was with my ancient Kenwood CD changer: it was correctly identified as a "CD Jukebox" but all of the commands were as if it were an A/V receiver (and none worked). So I had to learn every command from the old remote... Also, numerous buttons on my Sony TV (about a year old) needed to be learned, as well as on my Sony A/V receiver. In the latter case, I was unable to learn some functions, such as Sound Modes-- not sure if that's Sony's fault or the remote's...
7) Finally, it's hard to know what functions to map to what buttons, due to naming. On my Sony TV, I was given inputs such as "InputHDMI", "InputCpt1", "InputHD1", etc. None of these actually controlled the HDMI or Component inputs on my TV: Instead, it turns out "InputVideo1" - Video3 controlled composite, "InputVideo4" - Video5 were Compoent, and "InputVideo6" - Video7 was HDMI. And for good measure, "InputVideo8" was VGA, not "InputPC". Very confusing... Not sure why they have you type in a very specific model number if they're only going to give you a generic Sony codeset...
At the very least, I've been able to get the remote to do what I want it to, and that's the main thing. So I do recommend this remote-- I just recommend Logitech give the config software a major overhaul! This remote is going to make driving my system SO much easier...
Customer Review: So close, but yet so far.
Summary: 3 Stars
The good: the remote itself is sleek, nice to look at and to hold, with a bright screen and an easy-to-use button layout.
The bad: programming it is difficult, even for experts, in several different ways. And it still won't control all my devices.
(This is a too-common problem for fancy devices these days: good hardware, bad software.)
I bought the Harmony to solve two problems:
(1) Tame a setup of A/V components from different manufacturers (i.e. exactly what it's designed to do)
(2) Hide the fact that our TV, an older Sony model from slightly before the HDTV era, defaults to 4:3 aspect ratio, but can be switched to 16:9 (the HDTV or "widescreen" aspect ratio) by pressing buttons
My setup consists of: said Sony TV, a Panasonic A/V receiver, an AppleTV for movies and music over the network, a Sonos music system, and a Nintendo Wii. (Note that the Harmony can't control the Wii or the Sonos (because they don't respond to infrared commands). That's not Logitech's fault, but it does make the Harmony less useful.)
One pass through the remote setup wizard, and we had most of these devices working. However, the setup software is extremely clunky, requiring many many clicks to do simple things. Change the order of items in a list, like, take the latest-added activity (of 6) and move it to the top of the list? There are a pair of arrows next to each item in the list, which move that item (and then after you click the up arrow, you need to move the mouse where that item moved to, and follow it, nudging it upwards -- so best would be just dragging it where it goes, ok would be a fixed-position "move up" button that you could click repeatedly, but worst of all is what Logitech actually did, where you need to carefully move and click 6 times). That's bad UI design.
Configuring, and reconfiguring, activities is difficult for two reasons:
(a) the software follows a "wizard" interface with a bunch of radio buttons at the upper left, and "next" buttons at the lower right. Settings are rarely editable directly; just to rename something on the main screen, for example, involves clicking "Settings", Rename (a radio button, not action button), Next, typing the name, hitting Save, clicking Done. To add a button press to an activity setting, though, involves "Review settings for this Activity", Next, "Yes, but I want to add more control", Next, Save, Next, Next, and *finally* now I'm at the screen "Custom actions: please review the actions" with an Add button. I really haven't found an easier way to get to this screen.
(b) every time you want to test the settings, you have to "update remote", which takes about 5 minutes. That's a long time to wait to see if simple changes worked the way you want, and discourages experimentation.
Anyway. Got the basic devices set up, and the "Activity" paradigm works ok for me. Now to teach the Harmony to set the TV to 16:9 when using the DVD player, Wii, or Apple TV, and 4:3 when using the VCR or tuner. I'd like a button on the remote to toggle the TV mode, and I'd also like it to automatically enter the right mode when I select an activity.
Problem is, on the native remote for this TV, there's no "toggle aspect ratio" button. You have to do it through the onscreen menus, with an 11-button sequence: Menu, Left twice, Down 5 times, Right, Up, Menu. Still, that should be easy for a remote as smart as the Harmony, right? Program that sequence, tell the Harmony to invoke it in response to activity switch or button press, done. I wish.
I found that I *could* program this into the activity switch, but could *not* program it in response to a button, because custom sequences can only be 5 codes long. And in both cases (as an automatic part of the activity switch, or as a custom sequence) I had to specify this over and over for each activity -- even though I've programmed it in for the DVD player already, I have to do it again for the Wii and the AppleTV -- there's no way to reuse the sequence I already taught it. And for each button in the sequence, I have to: click "Add", click "display list of commands", click the command to send (DirectionLeft for example), click OK. That's 4 mouse clicks all over the screen. I have to do that 11 times for the sequence. And I have to do that 3 times for the different activities that need the sequence. That's a lot of clicking. I'd like to see it be about 2 clicks per action, and only have to set up the sequence once.
Another glitch is inconsistent device support:
- the Harmony can't control the Wii, and knows it. Anywhere it would want to, there's a button onscreen reminding me it can't. Fine.
- the Harmony can't control the Sonos, but doesn't know it, and occasionally asks me what setting to send to the Sonos.
- the Harmony *can* control the AppleTV, but intermittently knows it -- it sometimes lets me program commands for it, and sometimes uses the same indicator it did for the Wii, telling me it can't send commands to the AppleTV! Meanwhile, it's under the misguided impression that the AppleTV has a tuner, separate inputs, and all sorts of commands it doesn't offer (I think it's in the database as an Apple-built "media center PC" with generic capabilities). This makes the setup wizard more complicated, as it asks me questions with options that don't apply, like "do you change the channel with the receiver, TV, or Apple TV".
Anyway, now that I have it set up, the remote itself is nice and I finally have it doing what I want. The programming software, however, is a chore and a bore.
Customer Review: My opinion: This is absolutely the best universal remote available!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a long review, intended to provide more current information and ideally give some insight about using this remote in real life circumstances.
I don't agree with the few folks who gave this a poor review and rating. Of course, they were representing their opinions, as entitled, and I am doing so here. Sometimes people review similar but different models or brands, and to be clear, I am giving my opinion of the Harmony One universal remote. This is an amazing set of technology, and clearly the best universal remote I have evaluated, used and owned throughout the years. Sure, one can usually find some negatives if determined to do so. For me, there are none. Yes, it would be great if it did Bluetooth in addition to IR so I wouldn't have to manually press the power button on my PS3/Blu-ray console, but it doesn't and I knew that before I bought it. And, as of this writing, I am not aware of any reasonably priced consumer universals that do both.
To the person's review that recommended waiting for some "rev 2" of the Harmony One, I added the following comment:
"You may have received one that was produced very early in the manufacturing process. I got mine in February and have zero problems with accurate programming for my Yamaha RX-V3800, Sony KDS-60A2020, Toshiba HD-A20, Audiovox Sirius, XM Mini-tuner, Sony PS3/Blu-ray, and Nintendo Wii. I also have experienced no problems with the IR--in fact I can aim it anywhere in my 13 x 24 room, even at the rear corners, the ceiling, floor--anywhere, and everything powers on/off as programmed.
Folks, you don't need to wait for any "rev 2", just let it download and install the most current firmware and software. It's amazing how great, and intuitive this Harmony One is. And no, I am not affiliated with Logitech or any of its suppliers. I'm just a consumer who appreciates a well-engineered product that meets or exceeds expectations based on what it claims to do."
3/4/2008 update: In addition to the gear listed above, last night I installed my new Yamaha YDS-10 iPod dock that's paired with my Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver. This dock has no remote (nor does my XM mini-tuner) and it took me a just few minutes to figure out how to control it with my One, emulating my receiver's remote.
I also saw someone who complained that this remote is "huge".
In my opinion the size is perfect for me. It's about the size of the remote that came with the Scientific-American 8380HD cable DVR except the One is noticeably thinner, about the same size and thickness as the remote that came with my Toshiba HD-A20, and a great deal smaller than the remotes that came with my Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver and my Sony KDS-60A2020 RPTV.
I also like the size and layout options for the touch screen. You can change the physical buttons to do almost anything your equipment is capable of being controlled to do. For example, my HDTV has a button that cycles through the screen sizes, such as zoom, expanded zoom, etc. I changed the One's "E" button on the lower right to do this when I'm using the "Watch TV" activity. The physical buttons can be set to different functions for each activity if you want, or they can be set to the default for the specific make and model of your device for every activity. You can also create as many screens of functions (visually represented as icons) as needed to do simple, expanded or highly complex tasks. You can revise the layouts, reorder the icon displays, rename activities, on and on. Notice I said "you can" a lot, since you don't need to customize or create anything complex to do basic remote activities and functions unless you want to.
I started out easy by adding each of my devices (all of mine were found in the Logitech database just fine), then activities such as "Watch TV", "Play HD-DVD", "Listen to Sirius", etc. These activities power on all needed devices for the activity, and make sure all others are powered off. This was great for my wife, who only needs to pick up the remote (the backlight automatically illuminates) and touch "Watch TV". She shuttered every time she previously had to do that with all the devices' individual remotes, and sometimes needed to call on me to get things "unstuck". Admittedly, this was sometimes difficult for me too, especially when I bought my new A/V receiver.
Now I've been adding more customizations and more complex combinations and functions iteratively. As I use this remote I'll think of some other button or function I'd like to have and add that to a list, then every few days I'll add a bunch of them at one time. For me, this is fun.
I haven't had to read any manuals, although I did use the built-in Help button to resolve an operator error (I had specified the wrong function), which it did very effectively and intuitively. The PC software for programming the remote is top notch. I do have recommendations for making this a bit more user friendly, which I will be sharing with Logitech's customer support. I'll list one of them so you don't get nailed like I did: when customizing buttons and doing a lot of setup activities, beware that the application (into which you must logon) times out. When it does, you will lose every change you made since your last save. So, make several changes, save and keep going. None of my recommended software enhancements are critical, nor would any of them have prevented me from buying this. And none of them were cause to not give this my five-star rating.
Customer Review: Awesome Universal Remote
Summary: 5 Stars
There are some people that will look at the price tag for this remote, gaffe at the price, and continue on with their date, possibly noting to someone else that they just saw a $200 remote. I will be the first to tell you that yes, this remote is expensive. Very expensive, in fact, for just a remote. Don't let that deter you! This remote, while expensive, is very, very good. It will save you a lot of headaches when friends and family come over and want to watch TV on your complicated home entertainment setup.
A word of caution though: if all you have is a TV and a DVD/VCR/blu-ray player, then you're probably better off just using the remotes that came with it (if you have them).
What's great about the Logitech Harmony line (and this remote in particular) is that it works for pretty much everything. If you have a device that has, or once had an IR (Infrared) remote, you can control it with this remote. If you've got a complicated set up at home, possibly involving an A/V receiver with surround sound, a tv, a dvd player, an xbox 360, a cd changer, and other things, you can control all of them with this single remote without any difficulty. If you've got a PS3, you can buy an add-on to control that as well. Maybe you've got remote controlled lighting? This remote (possibly with an add on) can control that as well. Maybe you've got some super obscure, possibly homemade IR device? It can even control that.
What separates this line from other universal remote lines, however, is the level of control offered, combined with the ease of use. You don't need to remember all of the commands and the order of the devices you need to use. You don't need to remember to switch back to your receiver to adjust the volume, and then back to the cable box to change the channel. The remote handles all of that seamlessly. All you (or more importantly, anyone using your system) needs to know is to press the "watch TV" button, or the "watch a DVD" button.
If your home entertainment system consists of 3 or more devices with separate controls each product, then you really don't need to look any further. Grab a harmony remote, and stop having to put up with the hassle and clutter of multiple remotes.
Which Harmony remote to get is a tougher question. If this would be your first harmony remote, and you really aren't sure if it's worth it (it is worth it), then I'd recommend getting the Harmony 550, or similar remote, which can be found for about $50 refurbished, or on sale. The feature set is similar enough for you to find out if you'll like it. If you already know you want a harmony remote, here's how the One compares with other remotes in it's line:
* As mentioned, all of these remotes have a similar feature set that control a large number of devices, in the neighborhood of 20 devices. This remote is no different.
* Compared to many of these remotes, this remote feels far more comfortable to hold. It's very ergonomic, with nice curves.
* Compared to the 800 line (880 in particular), it is much easier to find the right button in the dark, and it's easier to tell if you're holding the remote backwards.
* Compared to the 800 and 600 lines, the button responses feel much better. You know when you've actually pressed a button.
* Compared to the 880 in particular, this remote charges much easier (no fiddling with placement on the charger), and seems to hold a charge better. I had a poor 880 though, so your mileage may vary here.
* Compared with the 500 and 600 lines, this phone has a rechargeable battery built in, along with a charging station that helps prevent the remote from being lost (as default behavior is to put the remote back on the charger when finished). This is both a positive and negative, depending on your behavior.
* Compared to practically all other lines, this remote features a touch screen system as well.
* The touch screen is a little slower than it's button controlled counterparts (but it's also a little more intuitive)
* Compared to the 500 line, the screen area is much brighter and in full color.
Ultimately, what sold me on this remote were several factors: The 880's charger wasn't any good, and I didn't like the button layout on that line. The 550, although a solid remote, has a dim LCD screen that makes it difficult to use. The 670 had very uncomfortable buttons. The Harmony One corrected all of these issues at a reasonable price (when compared to the 890 and the 1000). It featured buttons that were comfortable to use and had a more physical response when used. I would highly recommend the Harmony One to anyone that was considering an advanced universal remote, with 2 caveats:
1. They MUST have a computer. There is software involved with this remote that requires a Windows or Mac operating system.
2. They MUST have an internet connection, at least during the initial set up. For some unknown reason, Logitech created an account based system to use the remote, and needs to receive updates from a central server for new devices. After this set up, the remote operates just fine without an internet connection, but updates and adjustments probably require these as well.
Customer Review: Can't program individual buttons oops yes you can!
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and daughter love this remote. I've lived with the softkeys of the Marantz 'remote of the gods' for more years than I can remember. The coolest thing about that remote was that every single button on the remote could be programmed for an individual device, plus 4 pages with 10 softkeys per page.
It took a lot of time to program each button on the old Marantz. It took even more time to program each macro. But when you had it almost set up right, you knew what little things you still had to reprogram and you could do just that.
But once you were done, you were the only one who knew how to use the thing, unless you engaged in continual spousal training.
I'm convinced that remote was designed by a man who wanted a great excuse to hog the remote.
The H1, like all the Harmony task-based remotes, auto-programs its macros according to tasks you give it. you can also give it more advanced tasks, like switching your receiver's DSP input from coax to optical when going from DVR box to DVD player, and vice versa. You can program those steps right into the "watch a DVD" or "watch TV" macros. With the Marantz, you could program dozens of macros into the thing, but except for macros 1, 2, 3 and 4, only you knew the supersecret locations of the macros and how to run them. Plus, who besides you knew that the big '1' button powered up the whole system for TV, and the big '4' button powered it all down, with '2' and '3' serving to switch between dvd and TV?
Even a gadget freak like me can draw the line at multiple thousands of dollars for a TV. I intend to go on using my good ol' Panasonic Superflat 36 incher until the day it dies. I'm much more about the sound than the picture. My receiver is the third big Marantz that has driven my 5 KEF Reference satellites. No puny little eggs here: the speakers mounted at the corners of my 5.i system were each over $600 when new. The center channel was more. I want that room to sound good.
When the Panny gives up the ghost I'll be able to use those fancy HDMI thingies on the back of the receiver with a real live Blu-Ray player and HD DirecTV, and either a really good projector and screen or a very large direct view HDTV. For now, it's DVD and standard def.
The H1 works very well for almost all of it--except for one major hole that irks me in my system.
When I want to control basic TV functions like subtitles, the up-down-left-right buttons on the Harmony 1 work fine--but the center 'select' button does not work. If the remote were programmable like the old Marantz, you could just make that center button memorize its function in TV mode. But with Harmony you're stuck with whatever the Mother Ship does. And Logitech has decided to place the 'select' button up in the touchscreen and call it 'action.' So every time you want to do something that ought to be intuitive, you have to search the screen for that action button before you can do it. And since this type of action requires multiple presses of that button, that means multiple chances for error on the touchscreen. You might accidentally press the page turn softkey or the "activities" softkey, both of which will then require you to page back to the screen you need just to press that damn action button.
It's annoying in the extreme, and though it doesn't ruin the experience it makes it unpleasant.
I'm sure I'll put up with it until I switch TVs. If it happens with a different TV I'll be back to reduce my rating from 4 stars to 3. The thing is supposed to work, isn't it?
Of course, with a function list as deep as a Marantz home theater receiver, you can't expect the H1 to be able to completely mimic the remote that came with the device. Thankfully Marantz has placed most of the receiver's functions in onscreen menus, which the H1 navigates with ease. And unlike with the Panny, with the Marantz receiver the "select" button actually "selects" what you click on, thank God.
It also does a very good job of mimicking the DirecTV DVR remotes. I still prefer tactile buttons for red, yellow, blue and green. But there's nothing that can be done about that with a universal remote. This one goes about the solution quite elegantly, with full color buttons on the touchscreen. Way to go, Logitech. The other buttons do what you hope and expect them to do. As remote control technology advances, a lexicon is slowly developing for remote functions that hopefully soon will become more of an 'industry standard' cross-platform programming language. If and when that develops more fully, universal remotes like the H1 will become even more powerful devices that will mesh more completely with the equipment they're designed to control.
(March 2010) I take it all back! Found the functionality in the software for customizing the buttons. Of course it was there all along, and Your Reviewer is an idiot.