Adding the Telewest TVdrive to my home AV system (Hitachi 42PD6600 plasma, Panasonic SA-XR70, Xbox 360, Xbox running XBMC) increased my number of remotes to 6 (I have two remotes for the 360) and using the system was becoming too complicated. For example, for a ’simple’ task like watching TV I had to:

• Turn on the TV and turn it to EXT6 using one remote
• Then grab the AV remote and select the DVR input using another remote
• Then turn on the TVdrive and select a channel using another remote

If I wanted to then play on the 360, or watch a film on the Xbox, 3 remotes again would have used.

Finding a good all-in-one remote seemed like a good idea, which wouldn’t reduce the number of actions necessary, but would at least mean I could use one remote. But then I discovered the Harmony range of remotes from Logitech, which achieved this objective and even more.

Instead of just being a simple replacement for your current remote controls, Harmony remotes can be pre-configured with common “activities’. I plumped for a Harmony 885 which has 8 preset keys for activities. One of my activities is ‘Watch TV’ and all I have to do now to replicate the stages out-lined above is press this button ONCE and the Harmony sends the correct signals to all the necessary devices to make this happen. It even remembers what the previous state of devices was, so if the TVdrive was already on, it won’t send the ‘power toggle’ command to the device which would result in it being turned off.

Whilst in ‘activity’ mode all the keys on the remote can be configured and controlled so for instance if to turn the volume up whilst watching TV you need to adjust the TV volume, then the volume controls on the remote will adjust the TV’s volume, but if to play 360 you need to adjust the amp’s volume then the volume controls on the remote will adjust the amp’s volume. The Harmony Remote even has a very cool help wizard that walks the user through fixing any problems that might occur. Simple.

All of this happens automatically, so using any AV system is a doddle. Even my 4 year old niece who can’t read had no problems using my system when I had to do a bit of babysitting the other day. Each activity is displayed on the remote with an icon so all she had to do was pick an activity - Watch DVDs, Watch TV, Play Music, Xbox360 or Play Radio.

You are probably thinking that setting up all of this up took hours, but in fact it only took me about 30 minutes. Programming other universal remotes probably takes hours as each code has to be entered or learned. Harmony remotes are configured by connecting to a PC or Mac with the supplied USB cable, installing the driver software, and then entering the model numbers for your devices, explaining how they are connected e.g. the Xbox is connected to EXT4 on the TV. The setup wizard then suggests activities based on the devices available, although custom activities can be created.

The remote can also control other home devices. I’ve even managed to configure my fan heater so that I can raise/lower the temp with tL

Subscribe To RSS Feed Updates (What is RSS??)

Bookmark & Share

Related Posts

• Mac Sik Infra-Red Remote Reduced From $999,999.00 To $25.95
• How To Make All Your MP3s Play At The Same Volume
• Playstation 3 Remote Control Solutions
• Should I Buy A HP MediaSmart Server?
• Xbox360 Media Center Extender Vs Modded Xbox
• 5 Things You Can Do With Your Wii-mote
• Microsoft Says Xbox 1 Graphics Are Better Than A Wii