What the hell could possibly make a remote worth 129 dollars? Well, let me preface this by saying that 129 is at the LOW end of the Harmony remote line, and as such, I was curious and hesitant as well. I finally broke down and bought one, and here's how it stacks up.
What's right:
I have a hellishly complicated setup, and any cheaper all in one remotes would have severe difficulty controlling my cable box, and off brand audio system, not to mention the constant switching on the remote to set inputs/etc. This remote fixes that by using what are called macros, for example, I push a button that says PLAY XBOX 360 and it will turn on the TV, turn on the XBOX, turn on my audio system, and after waiting a few seconds for the television and audio system to full boot up, set the correct input for both. If I decide I'm finished with the games and would like to watch a show on my DVR, I press the button that says WATCH DVR, and the remote, remembering what was already on and where everything is set, will make all necessary adjustments (XBOX off, audio input changed, TV input changed) in a single press. While I am in DVR mode, the remote knows to use my audio system for volume controls and all without having to change "input" modes on the remote. This is frickin wonderous, considering I always had to use a minimum of four remotes to control my system before, and no 20 dollar Wal Mart remote could have fixed that.
What's wrong: This thing could be pretty daunting to program for someone that isn't technically proficient. Even with the high number of buttons, there are still some missing from my cable box/DVR remote. The fix for this is the ability to program individual buttons, but they aren't labeled(unless you use one of your precious 4 LCD hotkey spaces), and again could cause problems for someone not familiar with the remote. My cheapo off brand audio system was not fully supported in the database, but they even thought of a wonderful fix for this. During programming, if a function is missing, you can choose a button to map it to, and simply point the old remote at the Harmony, and the Harmony will learn the command. Since I am technically proficient, and was able to program this remote to perfection, the only thing that keeps it from a perfect rating is that some of the buttons are laid out weird, for example when you mean to press OK it is easy to press DOWN by accident. Also, the feel of the buttons is off, especially if you are used to a DVR/ all in one remote. Out of the box remote users won't notice as much of a difference.
Overall, this gets pretty damn close to my highest recommendation, and if you have a complicated setup, this is the way to go. Even if you don't have a game console, I highly recommend any of their other models. If you do have a 360, there's a decent and relatively low requirement 20 dollar rebate involved. 9.3/10 Purchase one of deez !
3 comments:
THe problem with these universal remotes that control everything is a pretty big one. Although most have some sort of time delay with their macro settings, some prdoucts just dont jive together. Case in point, I tried setting up a Sony Universal Commander or whatever its called, and the time delay was not significant enough to allow the pioneer amplifier to turn on and let it warm up and then recieve the signal to switch to whatever input you wanted. Same goes for the higher end tvs which take time to boot up often. I have found this to be a signficant problem when attemtping to use these universal solutions with high end a/v products.
I guess I should reiterate that all programming comes from an online database that includes information for each specific model of TV and Audio system, and in that information the remote will know exactly how long it takes for either system to boot up, and thus alleviating your problem. You could have inferred that if you read my entire post by the way.
You could have inferred that I hate you if you read my comment.
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