I have an interesting a/v setup in my car that uses two different remotes to operate. I'd like to replace them with a universal remote to make life easier. I know I can do what I want with a urc remote and some programming, but I dislike urc's support policy and I thinking of trying a harmony.

The setup consists of two headrest monitors, each with a dvd player in them. The monitor/dvd players use the same remote to operate (remote 1). For example, to turn the driver's side monitor on, you aim the remote at the driver's side monitor and press the power button. To turn the passenger's side monitor on, you aim the same remote at the passenger's side monitor and press the power button again. Dvd control, input selection, etc. for each monitor works the same way.

Additionally, I have a mediagate mg-25p for movie playback (remote 2). The mediagate should be pretty easy to control, but I will probably have to add it manually as I doubt it is in their database. I can do that, correct?

So, for the monitors, I think I'll have to create 2 identical devices as the remote will get confused trying to control two different monitors in two different states with the same remote. Correct?

I don't know enough about the harmony's to know if they can handle this, so any insight is greatly appreciated. Also, which harmony should I look at (I'm eying the 550)? I'd like to spend <$80, the price of the urc rf20.

So harmony experts, can this be done? Is there a better approach?

Thanks!

Yes, Harmony can handle this (you can create two same devices and assign them to different activities. Alternativeyly you could just put the remote in "device" mode where it doesn't worry about state. You can learn other remote commands). The only thing I would caution is that my harmony seems to send a much stronger signal than any of my other remotes (which I like, but may not be so good in your situation). So it may control both of your headrests systems even when you point it to just one of them. I have no way of knowing this for sure. I bought a used one off ebay for pretty cheap. I have 2 of them, I think they are both 680s (older models, but work well for me - they are the only remotes i use).

A Harmony could handle this, but it might not be ideal. The main reason being the IR signal strength as newlinux suggested. My Harmony's IR is A LOT stronger than any of my original remotes, so I would say it would almost certainly control both your systems at once.

It sounds like a pretty simple setup, so have you considered one of the much cheaper One For All remotes?

I have been looking at the ofa remotes, but the thing I don't like about them is they have tons of buttons that either do nothing or do something different than what the label says. That drives me crazy. I'd rather have a remote that has hard buttons for the normal stuff like #s, transport controls, vol, channel, etc. and lcd labels for the unique things.

The ir receivers in each screen are recessed so that you really have to aim the remote at the display you want to control. I'm going to do some tests this weekend with a spare home theater master remote I have that is also very powerful to see if this will be an issue.

Additionally, I have a mediagate mg-25p for movie playback (remote 2). The mediagate should be pretty easy to control, but I will probably have to add it manually as I doubt it is in their database. I can do that, correct?More likely than not they have codes for mediagate, it's not that new. And they have codes for much newer products. They even have codes which cannot be learned from an original remote.

So, for the monitors, I think I'll have to create 2 identical devices as the remote will get confused trying to control two different monitors in two different states with the same remote. Correct?
That's correct. But Harmonies are activity-oriented: you will need to create also two activities - one for each monitor.

More likely than not they have codes for mediagate, it's not that new. And they have codes for much newer products. They even have codes which cannot be learned from an original remote.

That's correct. But Harmonies are activity-oriented: you will need to create also two activities - one for each monitor.

good to know. I wish I could look at the databases and read the manuals for the harmony remotes, but you need to register to do so. It makes research very frustrating...

I'm not really concerned if the devices aren't in the database as long as I can teach the commands to the remote.

Any suggestions as to which remote I should look at? the 550 seems like a good start, and is pretty cheap on ebay.

Thanks!

My first criteria - price: cheaper is better.
Second - features, but in this case you don't want rechargeable and you don't need RF. I like more soft buttons.
Third - convenience, like button layout, shape,..., but this is very personal, you won't know until you try.

Little update:

After using the media player for a while, I found that you only need a few buttons to actually use it - up, down, left, right, enter and power. The monitors have on-screen buttons to control them that rarely (if ever) get used.

So, I took the cheap way out and bought a weemote dv. Hopefully it will be here next week and I can program it and report back. This should be a much simpler solution than the harmony.

I'm still intrigued by the harmony, though. I may buy a 550 to play with in our living room to replace the mx-700.