Universal remote controls

[Tan]

Hi

I have been thinking of bying a universal remote for a while but as my collection of boxes in the lounge grows and my wife will be at home on maternity leave I thought that I had best get on with getting one before she gets two annoyed at all the remotes.

What universal remotes are good? My main requirement is that I want to be able to press one button to tuen on multiple sources, e.g Watch TV, so it will turn on the TV, select the AV channel and turn in the SKY box.

I have seen the following remote at Richer sounds, but not sure if its any good.

LOGITECH HARMONY 555

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Regards

Tan

 

[timskemp]

All the harmonys are like good. Easy to set up (plug into PC and tell the s/w what equipment you have) and good transmit power.

Mine (can't remember which model it is) eats batteries, other than that it's great.

 

[davidpavey]

I`ve got the Harmony 1000, which I love, but I believe the Harmony One, is slightly cheaper and easier to use. Try AVforums, they love them

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Another recommendation for the Harmony.
I've got a Harmony 785, I discounted the Harmony one as it doesn't have the 'hard' coloured Red, Green, Yellow & Blue buttons'. I think it's pretty much similar to the 555 but it's got a colour screen and has rechargable batteries and comes with a charging base station.

Like most of the Harmony remotes you can set up Activities:

As an example I set up the following:

Watch Sky
Watch DTV
Watch PVR
Listen to CD's
Watch a DVD
Jukebox

All of these will switch on the required components and select the correct audio and video inputs, you can even set it differently for each activity. E.g. that you always control the volume using the amp, channels via the sky box for the Watch Sky setting or eject the DVD tray as the last thing when selecting Watch a DVD etc.

You can also get it to control most IR based devices, including lighting control, air conditioners etc.

It's pretty easy to setup using the PC, the software that comes with the remote is okay but there's also a web based utility which is neat. Takes a little longer to tweak the settings to get it just right.

Also like the fact that I can add icons for favourite channels, just did most of those at the weekend.

I love it but the best result was from my wife, she doesn't moan about how complex it all is (I previously managed to get down from 4 remotes to 2). Now we've just got this one!

Let me know if you want to know any more...

 

[et0609]

I can recommend a Harmony 1000. They are very good and good value, I think Amazon are selling them for £150. Setup is easy, the battery is rechargable you just sit it on a stand, the touch screen is good and the online database has codes for just about any AV device.

 

[219]

Philips Pronto series are about the best there is , but not cheap .

Totally programmable touch screen on which you can create your own icons/screen layout using the software that comes with it . Boundless possibilities for both IR and RF control .

Find out everything you ever wanted to know here - Welcome to Remote Central: Universal Remote Control Reviews & More!

The most versatile thing this side of an AMX or Crestron system .

 

[malc_n]

Hi.

I can endorse both Logitech Harmony and the Philips Pronto ranges.

The Pronto is totally flexible and customisable, BUT, and its a big but, it can be very time consuming getting it set up exactly how you want it. Many AV installers will offer the programming as a service, usually costing almost as much (in some cases more) than the unit itself.. However, you will end up with something which exactly replicates how you want to use your system.

With the Harmony, you lose a little on the flexibility, (for instance if you want to change button layouts etc), but its up and running very quickly.

I recently swapped from a Pronto 970 to a Harmony One, as I changed a number of my components I decided I didnt have the time to spend completely reprogramming the Pronto... Might get around to it when I have some spare time

The Harmony One is a great little unit, but yes as someone pointed it, it might be nice to have "hard" red/green/yellow/blue buttons at times.

Cheers

Malc

 

[Tan]

I have seen the following remote; PHILIPS SRU9600 PHP SRU9600 UNI REM reduced at PC world to £19.95.

For £20 is looks ok, but I am not sure if it will be able to do the multiple controls that I want to do i.e. switch on TV and sky box, or turn on TV and Amp and DVD player.

My TV is a Philips, the amp is Marantz and the DVD is Onkyo.

Does anyone have any experience of these?

 

[malc_n]

Looks like a bargain. Had a quick look on the Philips site and says it supports macro's, so you should be able to program to turn on all devices, or just some for an activity (eg watch dvd turns on tv, dvd and surround amp and sets to correct inputs).

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Same Philips one half price for £19.97 in Curry's

EDIT, now out of stock

 

[corned]

First time I have come across a genuine all-in-one remote. Great stuff!

But to all you audio- and techno-philes out there, I have another question relating to IR commands and the reception thereof.

My AV cabinet, for practical reasons, does not face into the centre of the room, so it is sometimes difficult to get IR commands accepted from a sitting position, because of the angle of attack from the remote(s). Some pieces of AV kit have wider reception 'cones' than others.

The question is - does anyone do a kind of stick-on wide-angle lens which you can put onto the sensor window to widen the scope of the IR reception for that piece of AV kit? If you understand what I'm saying?!

 

[A-AvantGarde]

The question is - does anyone do a kind of stick-on wide-angle lens which you can put onto the sensor window to widen the scope of the IR reception for that piece of AV kit? If you understand what I'm saying?!

Sometimes you can get lucky with signals bouncing off glass etc. You can also get IR blasters which I believe are extension sensors that can be positioned anywhere (although I think your equipment needs to support them).

 

[Tan]

After a bit of searching around I located one of the Philips units at the Oxford branch of PC World. My brother has collected it for me, can't wait to get my hands on it and see what it can do.

Thanks all for your help.