Have a couple of questions regarding the 890 - I know there are several threads, but searching for this stuff would take me hours, so I hope someone will indulge me.

Can the RF extender be expanded to control more than 8 devices? I suppose you could just add a second RF extender to the system if you needed to?

For my other questions, I suppose I should just state what I want the controller to do.

First, can the activity buttons be custom named however you choose? For example, I will have two satellite receivers hooked up to two different TV's via a component switcher. One TV is in the family room, the other in the basement theater. I want to be able to have an activity that will let me watch either receiver in either room. Can I name an activity "watch Tivo Up" to have all the inputs come on upstairs, and another that says "watch Tivo Down" to do the same thing for the downstairs room, turning on my HT receiver with it? Finally, zone 2 of my receiver controls a whole-house system with speakers in 8 zones. Can I have an activity button say "whole house" and then have the next buttons that come up control my zone 2 inputs (i.e. CD player, satellite receiver, radio, etc)?

In the manual I downloaded from Crutchfield, it looks as though the activity screen can be different for different rooms. There is a picture in the manual where the remote says "living room activities". Does that mean I can just set the remote up to have different activities in one room vs. another? Basically, I can have 8 discrete activities for my family room, and 8 for my theater (or is it 7 for each room, since one activity would have to be to change rooms)? That would be truly outstanding.

Second, I plan on having a 4 input, 2 zone component switcher. It has no remote - but commands can be taught to any remote. So for example, one could set a button on the Harmony to concide with "input 1, room 1", another for "input 2, room 1." My question is, once I program these into buttons on the harmony, can I then just forget about which button does what and just program them into an activity? For example, if my Tivo is input 1, and my family room is room 1, I would want "WatchTivoUp" to set the switcher to output the Tivo signal to room 1 (input 1, room 1), turn the Tivo on, turn the upstairs TV on, and then show the Tivo controls. Is this easy to do?

I've read some great things about the Harmony's, and also seen some threads that bash them and say that a URC or RTI product is a lot better. I'm sure that's true, but an RF capable remote from URC costs at least $500, the RF base station is not included and is at least $150 more, and it almost certainly needs a pro to program the features I described above. It would seem like with wireless internet, the Harmony could be easily programmed by me to do the things I describe above. Is that correct?

Thanks.

Have a couple of questions regarding the 890 - I know there are several threads, but searching for this stuff would take me hours, so I hope someone will indulge me.

Can the RF extender be expanded to control more than 8 devices? I suppose you could just add a second RF extender to the system if you needed to?

For my other questions, I suppose I should just state what I want the controller to do.

First, can the activity buttons be custom named however you choose? For example, I will have two satellite receivers hooked up to two different TV's via a component switcher. One TV is in the family room, the other in the basement theater. I want to be able to have an activity that will let me watch either receiver in either room. Can I name an activity "watch Tivo Up" to have all the inputs come on upstairs, and another that says "watch Tivo Down" to do the same thing for the downstairs room, turning on my HT receiver with it? Finally, zone 2 of my receiver controls a whole-house system with speakers in 8 zones. Can I have an activity button say "whole house" and then have the next buttons that come up control my zone 2 inputs (i.e. CD player, satellite receiver, radio, etc)?

In the manual I downloaded from Crutchfield, it looks as though the activity screen can be different for different rooms. There is a picture in the manual where the remote says "living room activities". Does that mean I can just set the remote up to have different activities in one room vs. another? Basically, I can have 8 discrete activities for my family room, and 8 for my theater (or is it 7 for each room, since one activity would have to be to change rooms)? That would be truly outstanding.

Second, I plan on having a 4 input, 2 zone component switcher. It has no remote - but commands can be taught to any remote. So for example, one could set a button on the Harmony to concide with "input 1, room 1", another for "input 2, room 1." My question is, once I program these into buttons on the harmony, can I then just forget about which button does what and just program them into an activity? For example, if my Tivo is input 1, and my family room is room 1, I would want "WatchTivoUp" to set the switcher to output the Tivo signal to room 1 (input 1, room 1), turn the Tivo on, turn the upstairs TV on, and then show the Tivo controls. Is this easy to do?

I've read some great things about the Harmony's, and also seen some threads that bash them and say that a URC or RTI product is a lot better. I'm sure that's true, but an RF capable remote from URC costs at least $500, the RF base station is not included and is at least $150 more, and it almost certainly needs a pro to program the features I described above. It would seem like with wireless internet, the Harmony could be easily programmed by me to do the things I describe above. Is that correct?

Thanks.

No love? :( Can someone with an 880 or 890 help me out?

It would be a lot easier to answer if you numbered your questions. :)

It would be a lot easier to answer if you numbered your questions. :)

I'll do that! Thanks.

It would be a lot easier to answer if you numbered your questions. :)

OK, here goes - I realize it's still wordy - I just want to explore this stuff before I plop down $400 on a Harmony, vs. spending twice as much on a URC. I greatly appreciate any help.


1) Can the RF extender be expanded to control more than 8 devices? I suppose you could just add a second RF extender to the system if you needed to?

2) Can the activity buttons be custom named however you choose? For example, I will have two satellite receivers hooked up to two different TV's via a component switcher. One TV is in the family room, the other in the basement theater. I want to be able to have an activity that will let me watch either receiver in either room. Can I name an activity "watch Tivo Up" to have all the inputs come on upstairs, and another that says "watch Tivo Down" to do the same thing for the downstairs room, turning on my HT receiver with it?

3) Zone 2 of my receiver controls a whole-house system with speakers in 8 zones. Can I have an activity button say "whole house" and then have the next buttons that come up control my zone 2 inputs (i.e. CD player, satellite receiver, radio, etc)? Better yet, can "whole house" just be another room with it's own set of activities - see question 4.

4) In the manual I downloaded from Crutchfield, it looks as though the activity screen can be different for different rooms. There is a picture in the manual where the remote says "living room activities". Does that mean I can just set the remote up to have different activities in one room vs. another? Basically, I can have 8 discrete activities for my family room, and 8 for my theater, and 8 for "whole house?" (or is it 7 for each room, since one activity would have to be to change rooms)? That would be truly outstanding.

5) I plan on having a 4 input, 2 zone component switcher. It has no remote - but commands can be taught to any remote. So for example, one could set a button on the Harmony to concide with "input 1, room 1", another for "input 2, room 1." My question is, once I program these into buttons on the harmony, can I then just forget about which button does what and just program them into an activity? For example, if my Tivo is input 1, and my family room is room 1, I would want "WatchTivoUp" to set the switcher to output the Tivo signal to room 1 (input 1, room 1), turn the Tivo on, turn the upstairs TV on, and then show the Tivo controls. Is this easy to do?

6) It would seem like with wireless internet, the Harmony could be easily programmed by me to do the things I describe above. Is that correct?

You could have numbered your first post by editing it. Just kidding. :)

1. I'm not familiar with the RF capabilities of the 890.
2. The Activities can be named whatever you want. You can also put them in any order. So there wouldn't be any restrictions on that. If you're asking about operating them both at the same time with RF from anywhere in the house, hopefully another user will jump in.
3. You can customize any button with any command. Same with the LCD. What you want to appear is what you would program.
4. Yes, you can have up to 255 Activities. Although I'm not sure anyeone would even come close to that limit.
5. Yes, it's very simple to set up those types of commands. But once again, hopefully a RF user can confirm the multiple room range.
6. You just need an internet connection and the supplied USB cable to update your remote. You can do it from any computer.

You could have numbered your first post by editing it. Just kidding. :)

1. I'm not familiar with the RF capabilities of the 890.
2. The Activities can be named whatever you want. You can also put them in any order. So there wouldn't be any restrictions on that. If you're asking about operating them both at the same time with RF from anywhere in the house, hopefully another user will jump in.
3. You can customize any button with any command. Same with the LCD. What you want to appear is what you would program.
4. Yes, you can have up to 255 Activities. Although I'm not sure anyeone would even come close to that limit.
5. Yes, it's very simple to set up those types of commands. But once again, hopefully a RF user can confirm the multiple room range.
6. You just need an internet connection and the supplied USB cable to update your remote. You can do it from any computer.

Thanks. And you're right about just editing the first post - I admitted the post was still wordy :). I started to type it in question format, and by the time I was done realized I had pretty much copied all of the stuff from the original post. Oh well, slow day at the office.

So, it appears as though you can set up different activities from different rooms. I've seen a lot of posts bash the Harmony remotes for being far inferior to a Universal or RTI. I have no doubt those products are more robust, but how much more so? Seems like the Harmony can handle about 95% of what most people would have.

So, it appears as though you can set up different activities from different rooms. I've seen a lot of posts bash the Harmony remotes for being far inferior to a Universal or RTI. I have no doubt those products are more robust, but how much more so? Seems like the Harmony can handle about 95% of what most people would have.
- The two really major differences that people tend to focus on between the URC and Harmony are the construction/ergonomics and the ability to run macros. The URC remotes are much sturdier and some people find them to be more ergonomic. I like the 880 style remote a lot more. If you don't need to run a macro besides the Activity, then the Harmony would be fine.

RTI is in a different category since it is offered by installers.

- The two really major differences that people tend to focus on between the URC and Harmony are the construction/ergonomics and the ability to run macros.

OK, I'll show my ignorance here, since I don't have a remote yet - what is the difference between an activity and a macro? I thought an activity is a series of commands consolidated to one button - same as a macro. I'm obviously missing something in a big way.

RTI is in a different category since it is offered by installers.

I know you can get the Universal products at retail outlets - but isn't the programming very difficult, and best left to a professional? Whereas the Harmony is aimed at folks who want to do it themselves on the internet.

OK, I'll show my ignorance here, since I don't have a remote yet - what is the difference between an activity and a macro? I thought an activity is a series of commands consolidated to one button - same as a macro. I'm obviously missing something in a big way.
- The Activity IS a macro. The problem is that once you run the Activity, you can't run additional macros.

Ex: If you press the "Watch Tivo" button, the Harmony will send all the signals needed to power on, change inputs on your receiver, TV, Tivo, etc. However, once you are in the "Watch Tivo" Activity, you can't run additional macros. So if you needed to program another macro to do something else, you can't. This is a simple case, but to get to the "To Do" list using the Tivo, you have to press Menu and then 2. You wouldn't be able to create the macro within the "Watch Tivo" Activity to send both commands.

If you don't need to set up any additional macros, then it wouldn't be an issue.


I know you can get the Universal products at retail outlets - but isn't the programming very difficult, and best left to a professional? Whereas the Harmony is aimed at folks who want to do it themselves on the internet.
- Hopefully an URC person can chime in. I'm not familiar with the programming.

- The Activity IS a macro. The problem is that once you run the Activity, you can't run additional macros.

Ex: If you press the "Watch Tivo" button, the Harmony will send all the signals needed to power on, change inputs on your receiver, TV, Tivo, etc. However, once you are in the "Watch Tivo" Activity, you can't run additional macros. So if you needed to program another macro to do something else, you can't. This is a simple case, but to get to the "To Do" list using the Tivo, you have to press Menu and then 2. You wouldn't be able to create the macro within the "Watch Tivo" Activity to send both commands.

OK, I think I get it - what you're saying is once you select an activity, you then have to do all commands individually. Isn't that basically like just having the Tivo remote in your hand once your "Watch Tivo" activity is selected?

As long as using the Harmony remote to operate the Tivo is no more difficult than using the Tivo remote itself, I'd be ok with it.

Thanks for your help.

OK, I think I get it - what you're saying is once you select an activity, you then have to do all commands individually. Isn't that basically like just having the Tivo remote in your hand once your "Watch Tivo" activity is selected?

As long as using the Harmony remote to operate the Tivo is no more difficult than using the Tivo remote itself, I'd be ok with it.

Thanks for your help.

That's pretty much true. You program your LCD and hard buttons for each activity. Your Watch Tivo activity would switch your remote to whatever layout you chose. If it was me I would have most of the Tivo buttons active and would add some other commands to the LCD soft buttons such as Aspect Ratio for the TV and Sound Mode for the receiver and my volume controls would be for the receiver. This is all fully customizable. A Watch DVD activity would do the same, but it will have mainly your DVD buttons active.

In addition to the Activities you also have Devices. Clicking Devices and choosing Tivo would convert the remote to your Tivo device settings. Here you could have all the Tivo remote buttons mapped using the hard buttons and the LCD soft buttons if there isn't a hard button counterpart. Typically you use the Device options to tweak your components with seldom used commands such as calibration or other rarely used functions. Devices basically mimic your old remote and Activities are your custom layouts that you program to make things smooth and easy.

- The Activity IS a macro. The problem is that once you run the Activity, you can't run additional macros.

Ex: If you press the "Watch Tivo" button, the Harmony will send all the signals needed to power on, change inputs on your receiver, TV, Tivo, etc. However, once you are in the "Watch Tivo" Activity, you can't run additional macros. So if you needed to program another macro to do something else, you can't. This is a simple case, but to get to the "To Do" list using the Tivo, you have to press Menu and then 2. You wouldn't be able to create the macro within the "Watch Tivo" Activity to send both commands.


Not True. You can run another macro, by going back into activities screen to do what you want. For example, the Close Captioning enable option on Dishnetwork HDPVR is hidden and requires several keystrokes. I have created an Activity for that and it works fine when I am watching Tv. The only downside is that you need to go back to your Activity screen to do that (one extra keystroke)

That's pretty much true. You program your LCD and hard buttons for each activity. Your Watch Tivo activity would switch your remote to whatever layout you chose. If it was me I would have most of the Tivo buttons active and would add some other commands to the LCD soft buttons such as Aspect Ratio for the TV and Sound Mode for the receiver and my volume controls would be for the receiver.

Very helpful, thanks. Leads me to a follow-up question - if my Tivo serves two rooms (hooked up to a basement theater with receiver, and TV upstairs with no receiver), could I have my upstairs room "watch Tivo" activity have the volume control my TV upstairs, while my basement theater "watch Tivo" activity would then have the volume control my stereo receiver? I realize a simpe work-around would be to just go to device mode depending on what room I'm in, but it would seem that my first option would be viable as well, correct?

Very helpful, thanks. Leads me to a follow-up question - if my Tivo serves two rooms (hooked up to a basement theater with receiver, and TV upstairs with no receiver), could I have my upstairs room "watch Tivo" activity have the volume control my TV upstairs, while my basement theater "watch Tivo" activity would then have the volume control my stereo receiver? I realize a simpe work-around would be to just go to device mode depending on what room I'm in, but it would seem that my first option would be viable as well, correct?

Yes.

BTW, I think you can create a trial account on the Harmony website and set all this up and see what you think.

Yes.

BTW, I think you can create a trial account on the Harmony website and set all this up and see what you think.

Wow, that's great. Thanks for the heads up.

Not True. You can run another macro, by going back into activities screen to do what you want. For example, the Close Captioning enable option on Dishnetwork HDPVR is hidden and requires several keystrokes. I have created an Activity for that and it works fine when I am watching Tv. The only downside is that you need to go back to your Activity screen to do that (one extra keystroke)
- You can do this, but IMO it defeats the whole purpose of having a Macro within the Activity. If you use an Activity to run a Macro, that's literally four button presses to activate the Macro and go back to your Activity.

Activity button > Activity > Activity button > Activity