Beginner

Pecker · 20-11-2009, 12:11 PM

Right, I need an all-in-one remote.

Cheap. Capable of working at least 7 devices. Easy to programme. Idiot-proof. Idiot's SWMBO-proof. Did I say cheap?

And I'm a complete novice.

HELP!

Steve W

Jamie · 20-11-2009, 1:10 PM

Sounds like a Harmony to me.

One of the cheaper models sounds like it would fit the bill. Other people know far more about Harmonys. My only slight woory is the 7 devices thing, think the 525 does 15 devices max?
There are others that do less though. Logiciels your man as he really does have an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Harmony, hes the mod on this sub-forum so will probably be along shortly.

Broadsword · 20-11-2009, 1:53 PM

Seems a Harmony ONE is the answer. Its around the £80 - £90 mark but it will do all you want and be wife friendly.

As long as your technically minded and patient the setup should be a doddle.

The older models, such as the 525 will do the same thing control wise and software and are much cheaper (£40 ish) but are not as well built and in the same league design wise as the ONE.

You pays your cash...................

**logiciel** · 20-11-2009, 3:06 PM

Thanks JB *blushing*
You'll be fine Steve with a 525 but a One has just about enough Added Value to make it worth going for.

Pecker · 20-11-2009, 4:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broadsword

Seems a Harmony ONE is the answer. Its around the £80 - £90 mark but it will do all you want and be wife friendly.

As long as your technically minded and patient the setup should be a doddle.

The older models, such as the 525 will do the same thing control wise and software and are much cheaper (£40 ish) but are not as well built and in the same league design wise as the ONE.

You pays your cash...................

Regarding the part I've highlighted, to put this in context, I'm still trying to figure out where to shovel the coal in to the back of my PC to make it work.

Any chance of a very quick run through of what I have to do?

Steve W

Broadsword · 20-11-2009, 4:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pecker

Regarding the part I've highlighted, to put this in context, I'm still trying to figure out where to shovel the coal in to the back of my PC to make it work.

Any chance of a very quick run through of what I have to do?

Steve W

But you can set up an amplifier right? That's more complicated than setting up a Harmony.

The software is all using wizards and is designed for people such as yourself who may not be the most technically minded. You just tell it what kit you have and what activities you want to use. It then puts together the power on macros, and the input selection macros so that when you press the activity button, i.e Watch SkyHD, it knows to turn the TV on, turn on SkyHD, Turn the amplifier on, select the correct TV input and the correct amplifier input. It then also maps the buttons to give you control over sky and the volume buttons on your amp. You don't have to worry about that side of things if you don;t want to, the remote will do it for you.

It then remembers whats on and off and what inputs things are on so when you switch activities it doesn't turn things off that's on and so on.....

Very clever bit of kit.

The hard part is the troubleshooting you will no doubt have to do when for example one key press moves the menu item on your tv two spaces or the TV doesn't go to the correct input when you press the watch DVD activity. That's what this forum.... I mean logiciel is for. There is always a solution though and that's where the patience comes in.

You then might find you go looking through the options in the harmony software and discover what the remote is capable of and features that you dindn't know about. If your that way inclined of course.

A harmony or pronto is a must for any AV nut IMO.

**logiciel** · 20-11-2009, 5:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broadsword

As long as your technically minded and patient the setup should be a doddle.

Technically minded in the sense of believing when told that computers don't run on coal any longer, and patient in the sense of not kicking the TV when the programme starts late, but definitely a doddle, in any sense!
Broadsword has given you the requested run-through, but he won't mind me doing an action replay.

Look in the lists of devices for the type, manufacturer name, and model number, for each one you want the Harmony to control.
Decide what combinations you want it control them in, such as TV/Satellite/Amplifier or TV/BluRay/amplifier, select the types of Activities to match the combinations and specify which device each set of buttons - video, audio, channel, navigation, play and record, etc - is to control in each one.
If anything doesn't work perfectly first time round you have all the options - the built-in Troubleshoot, playing around in the software, coming to the forum - maybe even finding me around at the time.
Logi

technogran · 20-11-2009, 6:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broadsword

Seems a Harmony ONE is the answer. Its around the £80 - £90 mark but it will do all you want and be wife friendly.

As long as your technically minded and patient the setup should be a doddle.

The older models, such as the 525 will do the same thing control wise and software and are much cheaper (£40 ish) but are not as well built and in the same league design wise as the ONE.

You pays your cash...................

I'd love you to state where to get the Harmony One from for £80 to £90 pound. I can only find it for £112! Please state where it can be bought for that price.

TG

**logiciel** · 20-11-2009, 7:49 PM

Threads like this one Harmony One £79.99 come up quite often, and there's always the forum selling section to keep an eye on.

Jamie · 20-11-2009, 8:48 PM

Harmonys are simple to setup being wizard based.
Once its working you can then move on and do extra advanced things, like setting up sequences to do advanced functions with one button press (For example I have a macro that moves through my amps menu and turns on/off my centre, and also one that navigates the Sky menus to turn on/off the subtitles)

Believe it or not masochists like me find the Harmonys too basic! I personally use a Pronto which is essentially a blank canvas. I even have custom buttons created in photoshop from scratch. But you have to be slightly weird to take it to that extreme.