Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touchscreen
by Logitech
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List Price: Our Price: $159.99 You Save: $40.00 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touchscreen
Customer Review: I LOVE THIS REMOTE! Should have purchased a long time ago!
Summary: 5 Stars
Just received my Harmony One remote in the mail and couldn't wait to get home and program it. At first when I took it out of the box I thought something was broken inside because you could hear a rattling noise, but I soon learned that this is the motion sensor that turns the remote on after it has been sitting unused.
I've read some reviews where people say that it took them a few hours and that Logitech's estimation of 30 minutes for set-up is wrong. I am very tech savvy and couldn't imagine the set-up taking more than 30 minutes to 1 hour.
First, I wrote down the model numbers for my JVC TV, Samsung DVD/VCR and Insignia AV Receiver. Then downloaded the software onto my computer (Vista 32bit) and followed the directions for the software.
I did make sure to confirm before hand that my equipment was supported by this device. You can check this out at www.logitech.com.
After using the set-up wizard (which seriously took no more than 5-10 minutes) I unplugged the remote from the USB cable and tried it out on my system.
Everything worked perfectly and I was basically set-up.
I did spend at least another hour or so playing around with settings, setting up my favorite channels & icons, but this was fun and allowed me to get a good feel of the remote and what it can do to make my life easier. It wasn't a burden or waste of time like other reviewers mentioned.
I watched TV for a few hours and the remote functioned seamlessly the entire time.
Here's a few more points:
Aesthetics/Comfortability: The remote is slightly larger than any of the original remotes that came with my home theater products, but it's not annoyingly large. It fits comfortably in my hand (I have med-large hands) and seems to be weighted ok. The only thing I had trouble with is manually selecting channels by pressing the number buttons which are located on the bottom of the remote. They are in a weird spot, but thanks to the on-screen favorites, I probably won't ever have to manually enter the channel numbers. The remote is sleek and clean looking, but does attract fingerprints extremely fast. Not a big deal because it comes with a small cleaning cloth - thanks Logitech.
Touchscreen: The touchscreen is nice and easy to use. It's very sensitive, but I don't think it's heat sensitive like my iPhone, so if you've got cold hands, there is nothing to worry about because it should work all the time! The icons on the screen are easy to read and understand, but text/writing may be too small for some.
Delay: The delay after pressing a button is actually a bit faster than when using my original remotes - this can be changed if needed with the Logitech software.
Battery Icon: When you place the remote in the cradle a battery icon showing 1/4 of the battery being charged shows up on the touch screen. This icon is not functional and does not indicate actual battery level. There is a small icon on the upper right hand side of the screen that indicates battery level.
This really is a great product and I would recommend it to anyone looking to simplify their home theater system.
Also, I did tons of research and looked everywhere for the best price and like usual, Amazon.com was the winner!
***UPDATE 2/18***
The remote has definitely made my life a bit easier and I love not having to juggle 3 remotes!
I recently purchased a TV from Amazon and had to update some of the settings on the remote. Again, this took a matter of a few minutes and after that everything was working perfectly again.
I ended up returning the TV the next day because it was defective, so I had to re-program the remote again which is very easy to do.
So far so good and I am still very happy with my purchase.
Customer Review: By far the best universal remote... Ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
Yeah I know - you buy this fancy TV or receiver and the writing on the side of the box says it comes with a "Universal Remote"! Wow, so you'll be able to control all your devices with one remote, right? The problem is that most universal remotes stink. They simply reek to high hell of a powerful vessel of fertilizer. (trying to avoid using 4 letter words here!)
So then you go out and buy that $35 programable universal remote that is supposed to solve this problem (it said so on the box?) Even most of those third party universal remotes that you buy (you know, the ones where where look in the back of the manual and key in the code for you device?) also stink.
Why? Well imagine telling your grandmother over the phone how to turn on the TV. "Well, grandma. First you have to turn the TV on so press "TV" and then "Power." Next you need to put the TV on HDMI1 because that's where the receiver is set to. Then turn the receiver on, no don't push the power button that's controlling the TV. First push Receiver and then Power. Why isn't it working? Well the TV is now off since you pushed the power button twice. Did you turn the cable box on? Wait what input is the receiver set to? OK, wait you need to use the receiver volume not the volume on the TV."
-it just plain old doesn't work. It completely sucks actually! How I wish all the device manufacturers would come up with a universal way for all these devices to inter-communicate so that they all know what they are supposed to do when someone wants to "Watch TV".
While that may happen some day, the solution for now is the Logitech Harmony series of remotes.
This is a remote control that you connect to your computer via USB to set up. You simply answer a series of questions about your hardware (what kind of devices to you have and how are they hooked up?) It's slightly painful to set up but once it's done.. I'll just say OMG
Now my great grandmother could probably operate my complete home theater system if she were alive. When you want to watch TV just press "Watch TV". When you want to watch a DVD just press "Watch DVD." The remote "knows" what state all your equipment is in and fires out the correct IR commands to make it all happen.
It's not perfect. Sometimes the dog walks in fromt of the remote when it's firing out the commands and the equipment gets out of sync. The solution is usually simple, just press "Help" on the remote and it will quickly direct you back on the right path... Honestly this hardly ever happens once you get used to using it.
Setup is also not quite as easy as one would like - but I'm not sure how you could do it any differently. This stuff is inherently confusing, especially when you have multiple devices all interconnected in ways that the remote can't possibly know unless you tell it.
The remote is a bit pricey but, believe me, it's worth it. If you want to save a few bucks Logitech makes a whole line of these remotes, some are under $100 and they work just as well but they're just not as ascetically pleasing. (I also own the Harmony 880 for my second home theater system. It works just as well but just feels a bit "cheap" and the buttons aren't as nice.)
I honestly just recommend you buy this remote, however. I mean, really? You probably spent thousands on your home theater system and your coffee table is littered with 5 remotes that nobody can figure out how to use. All that money spent and you're probably still picking up one remote to adjust the volume and then another to change the channels and a third to control the DVD, right?
Just spend the money. I promise you'll (finally!) have one remote on your table.
Customer Review: Overall a good tech toy!
Summary: 4 Stars
I recieved this remote as a gift. Like most people I was looking for a way to get rid of the 4-5 various remotes that cluttered my coffee table. I'll try keep this review as short as I can, since I remember reading some pretty long reviews before I added this item to my wish list. However, the setup of this remote is a little complex.
As a background, I have a slightly complicated AV setup. I have a hi-def flat screen, an older TiVo DVR (non-HD dual tuner), a newer Motorola HDTV cable box with built-in HD DVR, and an older Sony DVD/VCD recording unit. My older non-HD TiVo DVR won't play nice with my cable providers HD channels or ON-DEMAND content, and the cable provider's HD DVR has a pathetically small hard drive. It only stores around 20 hours of content, compared to my TiVo's 180 hours. The newer HD TiVo won't work for me because my cable provider will not provide the loose M-Cards required for channel changing as well as HD and on-demand content. So I balance my HD and non-HD recordings and live viewing between the two and need full control of both devices.
If this review sounds like a foreign language to you, and you don't have anyone to assist you with startup, this product may not be for you. The person setting this remote up needs to be very familiar with how AV systems work together. Programming this remote will require at least one person in your house who is fairly tech savy. I troubleshoot and repair industrial electrical control systems for a living, so this isn't too hard for me, but the learning curve may be a little steep for some users.
While the setup program is Windows based, it isn't the easiest software to use. The actual device functions are controlled by a series of setup menus that are often tough to navigate through. The questions that the software asks you during setup are often not very direct and can lead to some less than ideal device control results if not corrected. For example, on my first attempt I could only change channels on my HD cable box by selecting the channel from the on-screen guide. The direct entry numerical keys were outputting to the Tivo. Overall though, once you get use to the setup, the remote works very well.
Logitech was being very optimistic when they wrote the manual. "A quick 30 minute setup" turned into three hours for me the first night I tried. After that marathon session the remote setup was about 75% complete. As is common to my working life, I was thinking about my setup problems with the remote later that night. The second time I tried, being more familiar with the interface, I fixed my initial setup mistakes and had the remote completely setup in another hour or so.
If you can get used to the quirky setup, this remote WILL completely replace all of your existing AV remotes. It can "learn" any custom functions from any of your OEM remotes. These can later be assigned to start-up or shut-down sequences for any combination of devices, or used as custom keys to control specific device functions. Most of my issues revolved around DVR type devices. These are typically never powered "OFF" or in a "standby" mode, since they won't record anything in these states. For whatever reason, the Logitech designers make you go though the setup several times to ensure that these devices are not switch off in any of your various device viewing modes.
Once setup properly, I think most people will really enjoy this device. They could do a better job making the software easier to navigate. But I suppose if you have that many remote controls you are probably pretty familiar with how the devices are all connected. I hope this helps and good luck!
Customer Review: One to Rule Them All...
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Logitech Harmony One remote as a Christmas 2010 gift for my husband. He's been fighting with the past few universal remotes provided by Time Warner which are supposed to be able to control our TV, DVD player, etc, but somehow never work correctly. After extensive research into several different brands as well as other Logitech universal remotes, I decided that the Harmony One best suited our needs due to the price range and the number of existing devices we own (the limit of 10 still gives us a lot of growing room). We're not gamers, so we have a relatively limited number of devices to support (Hi def TV, DVD/CD player, tuner, and TW cable box).
I thought that H would enjoy the new remote, but his reaction has exceeded all expectations! After several days of use, he has made a point of expressing his pleasure with this remote several times. It started when he was programming the unit from the laptop with the included USB cable. I was going about my business around the house while he was doing this and I would hear from the living room exclamations of "This is sooo cool!" Of course there would be an occasional "Oh, crap!" but that was usually the result of clicking the wrong button on the screen and having to go back and edit something. Not the fault of the remote or the online software, just H jumping the gun before he had entered some necessary info. He admitted that and said the online Logitech software is pretty intuitive.
I was a little worried about setting up our receiver/tuner since it is pretty old (1997) and I wasn't sure Logitech would have that model in their library. No worries. H plugged that model number into the setup and the Harmony One was able to recognize it. The only problem was that he couldn't figure out how to change the tuner function to DVD when we wanted to switch to that activity. However, by using the "learning" feature, the Harmony One was able to copy that function from the original tuner remote and add that to the "Watch a DVD" activity. Voila, problem solved. The Harmony One has all of the standard buttons but there are a couple of specialized buttons on the TW remote that we find extremely handy, such as "List" (view saved DVR shows) and "Rewind" (go back 15 seconds). H was able to easily program those functions as macros and add them to the "soft buttons" on the touch screen.
So far, we haven't found anything not to like about the Harmony One.
1) It's easy to set up, although it may take an hour or two to get it configured and customized to your specifications. Be patient, it's worth the time spent.
2) No more looking up multiple component codes that never seem to work correctly.
3) It's never been this easy to switch activities (watch TV, listen to CDs, etc).
4) Customizable functions!
5) Charging cradle eliminates the need to cannibalize other remotes and small electronics for AAA batteries (I never seem to have enough fresh ones handy).
6) Physical unit is ergonomic and well balanced with no sharp edges. This remote just feels good in your hand.
I expect that we will continue to use the Harmony One for many years (hope it holds up). When the time comes to replace it, we will probably continue to use Logitech universal remotes as long as they continue to be this easy to configure and the company maintains quality construction and ergonomic design.
Customer Review: Pretty good universal remote. Far superior to others out there.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have read a lot about this remote over the last half year and decided to finally break down and buy one because I was sick and tired of using 5 different remotes for my home entertainment system. I have tried "much cheaper" so called "universal" remotes in the future and they are horrible. This one is quite good, and when compared to the other universal remotes on the market, it's far superior.
The setup and initial programming of the remote is a breeze. If you are able to simply read the model numbers of your home entertainment components (typically they are printed on the front of the component, and they are always printed on the back near the serial number), than you will be able to successfully set this remote up. It's very easy. And for the people that say it won't control certain components, I feel that is not true. Not only does it seem to have every componenet known to man in it's database, on the outside chance that it does not have your component, you can "teach" it to learn the functions of the OEM remote with just a little bit of effort. I had yet to find a universal remote that worked for my HD Cable Box and sure enough, this one works beautifully.
The ONE and ONLY complaint I have is that sometimes the remote is a little bit off and doesn't turn on all the components when I use the "activities" feature. The activities feature is designed to turn on and tune all components used in a certain "activity". For example, for my "Watch a DVD" activity, I have it set up to turn on the HD TV, the Blu Ray DVD Player, the audio receiver, and then also tune the audio receiver to the DVD input and tune the TV to the "HDMI 1" input which is what I have my Blu Ray DVD player plugged into via an HDMI wire. So in theory, it should be 100% all set to watch a DVD by using that ONE button on the touch screen. I'd say for me, about 75% of the time it works correctly. But usually it's when I have it pointed directly at the system and keep it there for about 5 seconds (so it can complete all it's functions properly). Other than that, I have nothing but positive things to say about this remote.
One cool thing I found out you can do with it is that you can actually control what component is turned on first in the list of what needs to be done for an "Activity". I currently have my DVD player plugged into the audio receiver so it's powered from that. The reason I do this is because I fall asleep to a DVD or "TV on DVD" and my DVD player does not have a "sleep function", only the receiver does. I didn't want the receiver to turn off and leave the DVD player running all night. So, since it's plugged into and powered by the receiver, originally the remote was trying to turn on the DVD player first, then the receiver, then the TV. Since the player was being powered by the receiver and the receiver had to be turned ON for it to power it, I had to make sure the receiver was being turned on first in the list for "Watch a DVD" activity. So now, it turns on the receiver, then the TV, then the DVD player, then tunes the TV to my DVD input and then tunes the receiver to DVD input for audio.
It easily left me at ease with putting all the OEM remotes in a box and storing them away. I haven't ONCE needed or wanted to have to get the old remotes. This one has been great. It's very customizable and you can pretty much set it up to control everything you want.