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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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touchscreen
Customer Review: Brilliantly functional
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned one of the first generation universal remotes for years. However, it soon turned out that it wasn't able to actually take over all the functions of the original remotes and soon enough it was just one of the five or six remotes littering my couch. Frustrated over this situation I bought the Logitech Harmony One, and it solved my problem. Brilliantly so. Not only can it handle all functionality of even obscure brand devices (it knew my Peekton DVD player and my cable company's digital decoder), but programming it is as simple as can be. No more cumbersome, button by button transfers by pointing your old remote at the new one. Simply install the software, enter your devices with their model numbers, link the remote to your PC via USB, download the settings to it, and you're done.
However, the true brilliance of this remote is not in the easy setup and its truly universal applicability, but in the fact that it doesn't treat your devices as a random collection of separately operating electronics, but as an integrated system. This is done through the programming of `activities'. The setup through the software is, again, dead simple. Once done, you can select your activity on the touch screen, and the Logitech does the rest. For example, if I want to watch a DVD I no longer have to switch on my TV, my DVD player and my amp successively. I just hit `Watch a DVD' and the remote switches on all the devices I need, and also switches my amp and TV to the right input channels. It switches off all other devices (unless there are machines you always want to keep running, you can tell it that too). So not only can you throw out all your old remotes, the Harmony performs the same operations faster and without confusion.
All this ease of use is packed into a sensible, stick-type remote that has some touchscreen functionality, but thankfully didn't dispense with ordinary push buttons (the more I encounter touchscreens, the more I feel they rarely add true functional benefits but more often than not remain stuck on the level of a tempting looking gimmick). The Harmony is motion sensitive, which means it springs into action when you pick it up. When not in use you can leave it in the docking station - no batteries are needed. A five star invention if ever there was one.
Customer Review: Pretty good remote
Summary: 5 Stars
I just purchased this remote and I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with it so far. I just have one complaint though. It is about the software that is used to program the remote. Mine keeps saying that the software is incompatible with windows 7. When I go in to trouble shoot this however, Windows and Logitech can't seem to figure out why this is happening. When I go to the software though, it seems to work for the most part. It just seems to not be able to let me reconfigure the buttons. On the good side, this remote controls every single thing that it says it will. I just want to move some of the buttons around to suit my liking. I'm gonna keep in touch with Logitech and see if they are going to fix this minor problem and get back with you. Overall, very nice remote.
Part 2: I finally got this remote and software to work properly. For some reason, when I first purchased this remote, it would not work right with or without compatibility mode in Windows 7. All of the sudden, this past Sunday, it just started working. I can now reconfigure the buttons on the touch screen. The remote is set up perfect now and I am able to work my PS3, TV, and receiver without any problems at all. I highly recommend this remote for anyone who wants one that controls absolutely every piece of home theater equipment with no trouble at all. Don't forget, in order for this remote to work with the PS3, you need to purchase the expansion module that turns the infrared signal into bluetooth signal that the PS3 can recognize. I paid less than $45 for mine. Good luck.
Part 3: When the remote came to my house and I unboxed all the pieces, I hooked up the remote and had it programmed in less than 10 minutes. With a remote this advanced, you cannot expect to have it programmed fast like one of those cheap remotes you buy at your local supermarket. If you couldn't figure out how to program that VCR you purchased in 1985, then you have no business buying a remote this advanced in the first place, and then blaming your lack of technology knowledge on the manufacturer. This remote does a set of commands in a certain order and it performs them accurately. Remember, this remote can also learn commands from other remotes just in case you would like to customize it to your liking.
Customer Review: Fantastic, but not perfect...
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used a Harmony remote for years- I bought my Harmony 550 back in 2006 and it was the last piece of my living room system (aside from my beloved old Yamaha receiver) that was the same in 2011. This year, however, I decided to upgrade to a shiny new Harmony One and relegate the old 550 to the system in my den- appropriate, since the den is where all my old electronics go for a relaxed semi-retirement.
Setting up the One was pretty easy- transferring all the settings over from the 550 using the fantastic Logitech software took a matter of minutes. The One's touchscreen is gorgeous and Logitech does the display justice with customized icons for the "A,B,C" buttons for the cable box (more on that later) and icons for PS3 controls. The remote feels well-made, as did my 550, and rests comfortably in the hand. The mix of soft-touch and piano-black plastics feels high-end and reinforces the initial impression of quality. The white illumination for the controls is nice and just bright enough to be clearly visible. The remote fits snugly into the attractive dock for charging. Range is good, but you have to keep the remote pointed pretty much right on target- same as my old 550.
So how do I like it, now that I've had it for a month or so? Well, it's quite a toy, and probably more remote than I need. The touchscreen is as cool as ever, and the way the color of the background shifts from white to orange when you go from activity to device control will never not be awesome. Is it perfect? Well, no. If you have a DVR, then you have "A,B,C" buttons to control the DVR functions and the program guide. In order to reduce the button count, those buttons are located on the touch screen on the One. I would have liked that valuable real estate for favorite channels, but no...
Anyway, the only thing better than the perfect remote is the nearly-perfect remote with one little niggle you can whinge and moan over while all your friends hate you because their wives would beat them senseless for spending $170 on a remote. So the One succeeds not only as a remote, not only as a cool tech toy, but also as an object of envy for all your buddies (or, in my case, my dad, who bought one within an hour of playing with mine), and who could ask for more than that?
Customer Review: Best remote ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
I received one of the Harmony One remotes as a Christmas gift to replace the 4 remotes I had in my living room and I love it so much, I just bought another one to replace my Sony RM-AV2100 touchscreen remote. One MAJOR advantage over the Sony is its size. The Sony is HUGE and often requires two hands to operate certain buttons on the touchscreen. The rechargeable Lithium ion battery is a nice touch, and battery life is maximized if the auto-off feature is left at its default. Not sure what technology it uses for this...probably a quartz rate sensor...but the screen turns off almost immediately after the remote is set down. When you want to use it again, you don't even have to push a button to get the screen and backlighting back on. Movement of the remote from its resting position is enough to tell the remote that you want to use it. I have 4 components in my living room entertainment system, and it controls them all flawlessly. When I select the "Watch TV" activity, it turns on only the components that I need to watch TV, and turns off the ones that I don't. If I am watching TV and want to watch a Blu-Ray, I simply press the "Watch DVD" button, and it does everything that needs to be done...turns the Blu-Ray player on, turns the cable box off, changes inputs. When I go back to the TV, it does everything in reverse. I used to have to manually put my TV back on the input for my cable box when I finished watching a Blu-Ray...but not anymore. I have seen some reviews saying that this remote is too directional. I disagree with that. I can have this remote more than 90 degrees off axis from my entertainment system, and it still controls every component in it perfectly. For the longest time, I have had to keep at least two remotes in my living room, because no other remote was capable of controlling all of the functions on my Denon ADV-700 Home Theatre System. Well...this one controls all of those functions. The software is extremely simple to use. Any questions I had were easily answered on the tech support page at Logitech's web-site. The favorite channels feature is fun to program, since it has 4 pages of 6 channel buttons each, which you can customize with your own 75X44 images. This remote is top notch...and no...I don't work for Logitech.Customer Review: $186 is 3 times more than this remote is worth.
Summary: 1 Stars
I wanted to like this product. Having had an HP iPaq with the Nevo IR universal remote and reading the product description, I figured this remote would have the same BASIC capabilities. Not so much. And that is to bad, because, I as an engineer can see just how easy it would have been to make this a great remote device.
Why is it not a good device?:
It carries no basic information. Even worse, you have to be online in order to do anything with this device. Want to teach a button some different IR information. Cool. just log on to the internet. Let us check that your program is up-to-date. IS it? God help you if it is not because if it is not you will wait for our download.
Even without a new download. We are not going to a give you the option to reorganize your buttons.
Want to control the volume of your TV while in "general" control of your DVD player. Beter be a patient person. Because it is apparent that this remote has to do a lot of work, and take a lot of time, to access the code from the TV information, then pull it up and send it out. Want to lay on the volume? Expect to find yourself freaking out as you push the "down volume" button as your TV blasts out at you, reminding you of the issues this remote has.
I was able to program my NEVO in 2 hours and it worked with no internet coneection. I could control my TV while it was set to run my DVD or DTV box. I wanted to send info. I just added a virtual button and NEVO "learned" it to do what its function was. (I know it sounds hillbilly :) )
If you have to control your TV, this is a good remote.
If you have to control your DTV box, this is a good remote.
If you have to control your DVD player, this is a good remote.
If you want to control all of these and more? KEEP LOOKING!!!!
I am an engineer. I like the construction of this device. But it just does not lend itself to the logical and efficient use it is intended for.
MY HP iPaq was down and I thought this might take its place. I have spent $60 to get the parts for its repair now because this piece or trash could not measure up.
If this remote cost $60, it might make the cut. But never for $186