Logitech Harmony One – Advanced Universal Remote Control
Posted by Notcot on Mar 30, 2010 in Home Cinema & Video |
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Without a doubt the best universal remote i have come across, easy to use, easy to set up*, and looks the part. The colour screen is clear and the backlit buttons perfect.
I read all of the reviews before i bought this and thought that i would have to spend over an hour setting everything up, but as long as you do your planning right* you will be up and running in no time. (30 mins max)
I found the software easy to use (i’m no pc expert) and the troubleshoot system very good. (remote didnt turn Sky+ on/off at first but easily rectified via following clear & concise instructions)
The remote will not control your Wii or PS3 as it does not use bluetooth but i found this a bonus, sometimes you need to switch back to watch tv without turning off the game console (especially if the kids are half way thru a level and will lose their progress if the system shuts down (the usual excuse for “five more mins pls dad”)). You can still set everything up to switch to the right input etc then just push the wii/PS remote on/off button.
* To set up properly and quickly i would recommend:
Download your fav channel icons from: http://www.iconharmony.com
Make a note of all your fav channel numbers
Get the exact model numbers of your kit (Most on front or back of systems) but not needed for Wii / PlayStations etc
If using an AV amp make a note of your input settings
Tell the wife/kids etc they cant use tv for 30 mins and leave you alone!
One last note, go to the Logitech home page ( http://www.logitech.com ) to check your systems compatability first, this is a great way to make sure that this remote will actually replace all your others. No point in spending any money on something that only does half the job, but i doubt you will be disappointed.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’ve upgraded from a Logitech Harmony 525 to the Harmony One and it’s a definite improvement but they’ve still got a way to go before it’s perfect. Like I say I’m not new to these remotes but it still took a while to set up, so I can see how it would be off-putting for a lot of people. That said, now it’s up and running, it does precisely what it is supposed to do. The 4 remotes that I wanted to replace are now tucked away in a drawer and look likely to stay there. Compared to the Harmony 525 it has a much better feel, the buttons don’t feel cheap as they did on the 525, and there’s no longer any lag between pressing a button and something actually happening.
On to the bad stuff…
The software is poor. You can spend time arranging stuff, go into a new tab and then find that all of your previous work was erased because you didn’t save it.
Lack of physical red, green, blue and yellow buttons. Yes you can put them onto the screen but it’s just not the same (see my next point below). A real backwards step as my old 525 had them.
The touch screen is a nice idea but very imprecise. I frequently end up selecting something other than what I wanted to pick. Poor.
Overall I’ve given it 3 stars but it’s by no means bad and I’m happy with mine, I just feel that Logitech were close to having a superb universal remote with the 525 and the Harmony One still feels like work in progress.
Rating: 3 / 5
After receiving the remote and inspecting the fabulously styled remote and charging cradle, information is transferred to the remote by connecting a USB cable to a hidden connector on the remote – After a wait for the initial charging period to finish – then it was time to begin programming the remote!
I was replacing 6 remotes (Sky+, 42″ Sharp Aquos, Sony Bluray, Sony AV Receiver, Sony SACD & HDMI switch), and attempting to make switching from one activity to another as simple as possible for my whole family.
Setup for the devices was relatively easy, but not as straightforward as the manual would suggest. The programming procedure is by means of a PC based application and an online database of devices and their codes. By selecting type of device, manufacturer, then model you can filter down to the exact model you have, failing that the Harmony 1 will perform as a learning remote, but still requiring the PC based application to manage the learning process and attribute the learnt code to a chosen button.
It all went smoothly, and then it’s time to program the Activities, such as ‘watch a film’ which in my situation involves turning on the TV, turning the volume down (a mute signal means the TV screen displays a ‘mute’ message!) and selecting the correct input, switching on the amp, and selecting the correct input – a macro. The remote performs flawlessly. If you then select ‘listen to music’ the remote ‘knows’ the current state of the devices (whether they’re on/off etc) so will change the Amp’s input, turn off the TV, and turn on the SACD player – it’s seamless!!
Other nice features are being able to have favourite channel icons when watching TV (there is a great website out there which has done all the hard work for you by creating a huge array of icons – this is great for my children who recognise the channel icons (cbbc etc) and with a single press the Sky box is set the channel string (e.g. 602) and it magically turns over!
If the remote gets out of sync with the device (users manually operating devices, or using another remote) then the ‘help’ button walks you through simple questions such as ‘is the TV on’ with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ choice, and then manages to fix the problem.
Some reviews mention that the remote does not have the coloured buttons Sky users need, they are correct that there are no coloured physical buttons. When you bring up you Sky ‘device’ or are performing an activity which uses it, by pressing the ‘command’ button on the screen brings up 4 large coloured buttons – it works great.
The display is bright and easy to read, has a robust resistive touchscreen with adjustable sensitivity. Battery life is suprisingly good, and the device only needs charging every 3 days.
In total i’ve spent around 3 hours getting the remote to work 100% correctly, and every now and again it’s just a little ‘tweak’ to improve functionality. I have now put away my other remotes, after the initial period of not having the Harmony working 100% and keeping them as a ‘backup’ measure.
The next step is to use one half of a Powermid remote extender so I can use the IR harmony one to control RF based products (Domialite home automation)
With the remote at < £80 now on Amazon it's an even better buy!
Rating: 5 / 5
I’ve had this remote since pretty much the week it came out and I love it. It has proved to be everything the spiel claims, and far better value for money than expected. I like my gadgets, but even I wondered if £130 (back then) was perhaps a touch profligate for a remote; the other half was utterly convinced it was. She has since revised her opinion
When I bought it it was to control a Samsung TV, Sky HD, and an xbox 360. And it did the job well. These days I have it controlling an Onkyo surround sound amp, a Panasonic TV, Sky HD, an xbox 360, a Sony VCR/DVD combo player, and a Squeezebox, with an intelliplug behind them all. Oh, and my Macbook too…
It does exactly what any good gadget should do, which is provide power and flexibility without sacrificing usability. Simple activities are simple to set up (“Watch TV” turns the TV on), while complex activities are only as time-consuming to figure out as they would be to do with the origianl remotes. My most complex activity is probably “Play Wii” which means “turn the TV on; change to component input; turn the amp on; change to squeezebox input; turn the squeezebox on; go to squeezenetwork; play BBC 6music; turn the TV volume up”.
Even without using the activities, just as a traditional universal remote it’s still far and away the best I’ve used. Since buying it I have twice bought other devices which were so new they didn’t appear in the device database — but the first appeared within a week, the second took about 4. Not that it really matters, because I programmed it from a similar device (and a little help from the original remote) on the first day. It’s really so easy.
Friends still baulk at the price I paid for a remote control, but it doesn’t take long for them to be impressed and tempted themselves. Showing them colour logos of my favourite Sky channels right there on the remote’s scren is normally the clincher.
This remote rocks. I have no hesitation recommending it.
Rating: 5 / 5
I moved to this from the Harmony 1000, which I didn’t like because of its shape and the touch screen. The Harmony One is a much more pleasing device, working in the same way, but with mechanical buttons rather than the touch screen of the 1000.
I configured this by adding the remote to my existing setup for the 1000 that transferred all the remotes and operations without any further action required by me – setting up the 1000 had been trivially easy, with most of the time taken by installing the software, downloading the updates and figuring out the model numbers of my equipment.
I only had two problems – my dvd player did every operation twice, and the wrong device was used to control volume when listening to music. The first problem was solved by a call to the tech support line – the call was answered after a couple of rings and the rep fixed the problem for me quickly (though in retrospect I wish I’d gotten him to explain how to do it myself). The second problem went away when moving to the Harmony One, so I don’t know what was wrong.
The handset itself is light, and a good fit in my hand; the construction is solid and pleasant to look at, though the buttons are perhaps a little squishy. The cradle is well designed, with wide power connectors on the handset. It lights up when you move it, with each button being displayed perfectly. Most operations are easily done with the mechanical buttons.
The top third of the device is a touch sensitive LCD screen; the screen responds to a light touch, with a pleasant feedback sound – each side can be pressed to scroll through available pages, with the center displaying up to 6 buttons well sized buttons – I haven’t yet triggered the wrong action by accident.
Similar to the side buttons, there are two lower buttons to switch between operating mode; typically you will be using the “activities” mode, where the handset tries to do the most appropriate thing for any button press – fast forward will control the dvd, volume will control the tv (or whatever); if you need to, you can switch to a specific device and the handset will control that device alone; I rarely need to do this.
The LCD also displays what you’re currently doing, the time and battery level.
Pressing the power button will turn off any device that is on, and switching activities will toggle the power of all the appropriate devices; I only have 4 components though, so I don’t know how well this would work with more – I also don’t have to switch inputs for tv vs music, though from other reviews I understand this works well.
I haven’t tried using the software to change the configuration of any of the buttons yet, I may do so at some stage, though at the moment I am happy with the default settings (other than turning off the annoying assistant, which I recommend everyone do as soon as possible).
I am very happy with this remote; well worth the money and better, IMO, than the Harmony 1000 which is a much more costly device.
Rating: 5 / 5