Harmony Remote owners, your input requested

[Rich Stern]

Need some feedback from those of you with Harmony (or other brand) intelligent/programmable remotes.



After reparing some basement water damage from the recent floods here in GA, I've decided there is no time like the present for reworking one of the basement rooms into a more formal home theater. I'm going with front projection onto a wall. The components (audio system, DirecTV DVR, Blu Ray player, and eventually a PC) will be mounted in a cutout in the rear wall of the room, directly opposite the projection screen. The audience will be seated looking toward the projection wall, which means their backs are to the audio/video stack.



My goals for the remote control:



1) Make it dead simple for novices to do things like "Watch a DVD" or "Watch TV" or "Listen to a CD". I know Harmony remotes can do that, but I've read mixed reports about their button layouts and overall ease of use.



2) Have intuitive, reliable control, i.e., not having to point the control anywhere but toward the screen, or even not point it anywhere at all (if RF).



The walls and ceiling in this room are already sheetrocked, but the carpet (on concrete) is about to be replaced, so I have some ability to run/hide wires around the room. My preference is for an IR or RF solution, but I will run wire if it's justifiable for a good solution.



Comments appreciated.

 

[Todd Z]

I know George C has one and I love the thing.... I can sit down in the man cave and do what ever by 1 push of the button.... IT is touch screen, lighted, and rechargable...



I think his is the harmony and is also set up using the computer...



hopefully he can chime in..



Todd Z

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Harmony's are great if you are willing to spend the time to set them up how you want. Out of the box quick setup works but is clunky and slow. Once you add all the customized buttons and get your macros all setup they are amazing.



All of my devices were/are easily found and controlled by my harmony including my media center pc.



My buddy has a similar setup to what you are describing and he used a IR repeater instead of RF and it seems to work well. I think the only reason for that was he was already running wires (started off with unfinished basement) and RF is a pretty big price jump.

 

[ray moyer]

HECK YEA DUDE GET ONE!!!!



they are awesome!!!!



can eliminate soooo many remotes and go through walls and everything its awesome!



also if you get it from best buy you can have some one set it up soo you dont have to touch it



i think its like a 150 set up tho... but worth it if you have a complete setup (sound system, blue ray, tv, anything else connected to you reciever...)





those are awesome....



im thinking bout getting a 73" DLP from our magnolia line with a surround sound and harmony remote



whew... how much fun it would be to play video games on that tv haha

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I have the Harmony 880.



I LOVE it. Yes, it took a couple of hours to set up and get working properly, but having used it for several years now I am SURE that I have recouped that time investment by no longer having to:



1) Finding a missing remote of the three our home theater used to need.



2) Shuffling through remotes when needing the right one for the task at hand.



3) Helping wife, or kids to do something that's not obvious with two or three remotes.



4) Changing batteries.





I like the Harmony 880. It's layout is pretty simple. It has a glow button to light up everything (and a little motion will light it all up too...I think there is a mercury switch).

 

[bob k 2]

Get it!

I have the Harmony one remote and got rid of 5 remotes with it.

set up is pretty easy plug it into your computer and add devices..

i got it for my late wife,she couldn't figure out all the remotes and this one was a breeze

i set it up to watch dvds it would put the Tv and dvd and stereo all on the right channels with one touch

same for just watching tv

great remote.

 

[Sal Adinolfi]

I have the Harmony 880 I love it.. except for having to put it on a charger.. If it had AA or AAA batteries I would like it better.. the Remote can be used while on the charger. so not to big of an issue.



If you need to have RF and not just IR I would go for the 890.



there are also even more crazy ones like the 1100 it is really nice.



Tech support with the Harmony has been outstanding.. I had one remote that stopped charging.. was a known issue and they sent a new one out almost a year after I bought it.



Also got a NEW Stereo system that didnt have all the functions listed on the web. they helped me get it setup and done right..



the setup is not hard. just time consuming. but well worth the time to setup the remote.



Hope this helps.

 

[Mike Roncarati]

I also can recommend the 880. I love the fact that it has a charger, it actually helps me find it! The battery will last a bit even if you don't keep it there. Only thing that doesn't work great is the clock on the thing. Never stays set right whether it's on the charger or not. Anyone else have that problem?



Bottom line is get it! Program it once and it'll ask you how you want to control everything for each "activity". Even controls the XBox 360.

 

[Rob Allen]

Highly recommend it. I had an 880 and have recently upgraded to the ONE. I've even added my Honeywell fan. If I could program it to get me a beer from the fridge & order pizza, I'd be set!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Rich,



If you get a Harmony I can send you a ZIP file that contains all the artwork for all the different channels (HBO, ESPN, Lifetime..., etc) of the typical cable network so that you can customize your "Favorites" buttons on the LCD screen.



TJR

 

[Rich Stern]

Rich,



If you get a Harmony I can send you a ZIP file that contains all the artwork for all the different channels (HBO, ESPN, Lifetime..., etc) of the typical cable network so that you can customize your "Favorites" buttons on the LCD screen.



TJR

Appreciate the offer. Can you put it on getvolery.com so I can install PuTTY at the same time?



Thanks, all, for the helpful comments. Looks like the 880 is the one to beat.

 

[George C]

Rich,



You can't go wrong with the Harmony remotes. I have an old 628 for the living room setup and the Harmony One for the man cave theater setup. I did not get the 880 because I did not like the button setup but that's just personal preference.



The One is controlling a Samsung LCD, Blu-ray, Cable Box, Onkyo receiver and even my A/C. It is rechargeable like the 880 and this one is also a touch screen which I love. The charge lasts for about a week before dying.



Like the others said they are easy to use and setting up the macro for 1 touch is excellent. My wife and other non-techies can watch a movie or tv with one click even with complicated setups. Only thing is it is not RF.



George

 

[Chris Whitman]

Hey bud,

I have the Harmony 1000 and its a great remote... Took me about 30 to 60 minutes to completely program so it was idiot proof for the people in the house..... and the interface that harmony uses on the computer to program it was so simple to use.



I have mine set up as 3 icon... Watch Movie, Watch TV and Listen to Music.

When you push the button it turns everything on and sets the proper inputs and volume levels. Then it goes to a custom screen for that process that has a play button, pause button and acouple other buttons... Plus the Mute and Volume main buttons work for that specific funnction.



I have back buttons so they can change to other options also....



Best thing I have purchased for my system in along time to make my life easy at home... I no longer have to be there for people to watch TV or movies as they thought it was so complicated to turn on and off...



Cheers

Whit

 

[Bill V]

I have a Harmony 880. I would highly recommend Harmony--but not the 880/890. It doesn't sit well in its recharging cradle, and the contacts don't often make the necessary contact to charge it. This is the second one of this model we've had this issue on--the first was replaced under warranty. I've heard/read that some of the more recent models (900, One, etc.) have fixed this issue, so I'd stick with those.



Rich, you've definitely shown over the years that you have plenty of tech savvy, so you can ignore the concerns some have voiced over setting it up--if anything, you'll find it TOO simple. It's very non-tech-geek friendly. The only thing I don't like is that it needs to be done online, you need to set up a username and password to do it, and if you have more than one Harmony device, each needs a separate username and password. Are Harmony settings really something that need password protection??



For the concerns about pointing the remote--get an IR repeater, put the sensor near the TV, and run the wiring through/behind the walls to your components. See parts of the following thread:

 

[Dan Long]

I've got the 880 and the 890. The charging cradle was a little finicky with my 880, but my 890 has never had a problem, even though they use the same type of charger and contacts. The will light up when you move them (not a mercury switch, just a little ball that closes contacts when it moves), which is nice when watching movies in the dark. The only issue I've really had is that the LCD went bad in my 890, but it was an ebay refurb that I got cheap. I got an LCD from an 880 on ebay and swapped it out myself, everything works great again. I would definitely get the 890 or maybe the 1000 so that you have the RF capabilities for your setup. My equipment is in a cabinet I built into the wall around the side of my fireplace, so the only thing visible is my 50" plasma.

 

[Rich Stern]

Follow up: I wound up with the Harmony 610. Was cruising thru the clearance aisle at Target, came across one for fifty bucks, figured I would try it. It's not as fancy as the 880 and other color screen models, doesn't have a charging function, but it does uses the same PC software interface. It's also limited to controlling five devices. That's fine, since that happens to be the number of devices in my HT setup.



The Harmony's IR signal is a lot stronger than the individual remotes. Sitting ten feet away, I can point it at the center of the projection wall, and the signal gets enough bounce to reliably operate the equipment ten feet behind me.



It's very easy to use, and the family is quickly adapting to it, and, along with reliable operation, that is most important. Mission accomplished.



Thanks to all for recommending the Harmony brand. I'm impressed with how well these remotes work.