Logitech Harmony One

[Big Aura]

I'm considering buying one of these gizmos, because they appear to be "on sale" marginally less often than a TM Lewin shirt, and appear well-regarded here. But before I do, I have some questions... and would appreciate any input the good community of what hi-fiers have to offer.

1. Does anyone use one with a Humax Foxsat? Does it work well (work with the "i" function etc)?

2. I find the Foxsat remote buttons are a bit "non-responsive" and require heavy pressing to work (with the result that (in trying to key-in 101) I press "1" nothing happens, again, and so on then it goes "111" and I have to start all over again.

3. Does it 'broadcast' a bit stronger than other remotes? Some of my kit needs a very clear line-of-site to work the equipment, whereas other remotes happily ping around the room until they reach the relevant kit.

4. Am I right in saying it has a clear "watch DVD" button and it auto switches the amp, turns on the DVD player etc?

5. Does this mean I have to leave everything on Stand-by? I normally properly turn off telly and amp each night. The foxsat and DVD player are, by default, standby only devices (unless I unplug).

6. Erm, that's it... Any help gratefully recieved.

Cheers
Garry

 

[Big Aura]

anyone? anyone? Bueller? Surely someone must have an opinion?! [joke!]

 

[Big Aura]

actually, one follow-up question. Does it have the 4 colour buttons for teletext use? Can't see them on the website - but perhaps it's a US model. ta

 

[kena]

No 4 colour buttons - You have them on the touch screen -

You can adjust key delay, device delay to tune . It doesn't broadcast stronger than other remotes and doesnt like objects in the way.

No watch DVD button - You setup your activities and they are on the touch screen part of the remote and you set what devices are used within that activity . e.g. Watch TV uses TV & STB, Watch DVD uses TV, DVD Player & home cinema

Power - You can have remote power devices off/on but I prefer to control manually so its your choice.

Hope this helps

 

[Big Aura]

very helpful, thanks. The "not liking stuff in the way" part is probably a deal-breaker. Have a coffee table that calls for all manner of contortion when trying to change channel..! cheers.

 

[kena]

Yeah thought that, That I would say is it's only drawback otherwise it's brilliant

 

[Anonymous]

It is very good, but you have to get used to it, and it won't know if you do something manually on the player such as switch it on and then grab the remote and hit "Watch a DVD". So, you have to respect the fact that it's only a one way flow of traffic.

Takes a bit of getting used to, and you do the set-up on a PC. Logitech are very helpful though and if your kit isn't responding the way it should, they'll alter the commands to get it to work.

I'd buy it again. It basically does everything you'd want and appears to be a bargain. Just don't think you'll be throwing away your old remotes. Keep them in a drawer nearby. They'll be useful more often than you'd expect.

 

[kena]

Will Harris:. Just don't think you'll be throwing away your old remotes. Keep them in a drawer nearby. They'll be useful more often than you'd expect.

I would have to disagree with you Will , once support sorted out correct switching for Freesat & Analogue on my Panny I haven't used my 4 old remotes. Been 2 months now..

 

[Big Aura]

Hmmmm. Torn a bit. Kena - so do the four teletext buttons "appear" on the LCD display, or do you have to summon them? My missus will not be happy if I buy it and it doesn't cure all problems!

On the manual interface - if, say I manually turn on the DVD player, will the remote decide it hasn't been turned on, and the turn it off when I select "watch a DVD"?

Does anyone know of anywhere in london that has them on demo?

 

[Anonymous]

Honestly, they are really good and at this price, they're worth just taking a punt on. I tried to answer all the questions I had before I bought, and in the end realised that it's quite a sophisitcated device and the only way to really understand it was to buy one. It's colour touchscreen, which for the money is an unbelievable bargain. It feels like it should cost £150+

When you pick it up, the backlight and screen come on. It's knows you've picked it up. It's that good.

 

[professorhat]

Just so you know, the Harmony 555 does have the four colour buttons built in and it's also cheaper. The drawbacks are no colour screen and no rechargeable battery. Since a couple of my devices rely heavily on the colour buttons, I got this one and it's excellent.

 

[Binman]

Big Aura: On the manual interface - if, say I manually turn on the DVD player, will the remote decide it hasn't been turned on, and the turn it off when I select "watch a DVD"?

I have a 555, and if you manually turn on the DVD player, then press 'watch DVD' it will turn the DVD player off. It does have a 'Help' button though. If the above happens, you just press 'Help' and it will ask you "is the TV on? Y/N".....'is the DVD on? Y/N'..etc.. and sort out the problem.

My 555 doesn;t have a problem with coffee tables etc, seems to have a good range too.

 

[Big Aura]

Cheers Prof. The 555 doesn't "do it for me" in terms of aesthetics.. If someone can confirm the 4 colour buttons show up on the touch screen, that could be the clincher for me... Unfortunately the discount code for Play.com doesn't apply to the 885 model, which does have the sleek touchscreen and four-coloured-buttons....

 

[cram]

Yes you can get the four colour buttons on the touch screen. From ease of use I would suggest moving them to the four corners of the touch screen - it's a bit too easy to touch the wrong button imo.

 

[Big Aura]

Good stuff. Thanks all. Will hopefully pass final credit committee approval this evening.

 

[kena]

Garry,

Yes here a pic , the white bar above activities toggles between favourites (channel icons) and commands (any command you want)

Cheers

Ken

 

[Big Aura]

thanks - that looks good. Didn't actually get to talk to the other half last night, as she was working late. Instead, I went to see Star Trek, which (minor inconsistencies aside) I can highly recommend!

 

[kena]

Excellent its Star Trek or Wolverine for me this afternoon, teacher training day so son not at school.

 

[Big Aura]

Wolverine is, apparently, decidedly average.

Star Trek does what Casino Royale did for Bond, or the Dark Knight did for Batman. People applauded at the end. I want to be Kirk.

 

[Dan.m]

Cram.

How do you move the icons?

 

[kena]

Do you mean icons or buttons ? For icons go into Settings , set up favourites and icons and use arrow up/down to position in the 6 positions available.

For buttons In your activity "Watch TV" or whatever select Customise Buttons then under additional buttons you can rearrange them.

 

[legoyoda]

I Have a Harmony 885 (bit like a "one" but has a worse lcd screen but a few more buttons including the colour buttons). IF you do decide to go down the Harmony route you need to be aware that you WILL hate the thing for the first few weeks as everything has to be fiddled with to get it working exactly as you want it to (such as a device turning on at the wrong time or, more likely, THAT seldom used button on the pack in remote hasn;t ben programed to the Harmony yet so you need to add it in and try again).

However, they are birlliant and having a remote that, at the touch of ONE button will turn on the TV, AMP, DVD player, set all the right inputs, dim the lights and press play all in under 10 seconds is fantastic.

Put in the work and you'll never need another remote again. I've managed to reduce the 7 (large) remotes I would have laying around down to the one Harmony device and everything now works flawlessly. It's not even stretching the capabilities of the device!

 

[cram]

Dan.m:

Cram.

How do you move the icons?

There's a whole section in the software for defining what goes on the touch screen and where. It's easy to use