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Worth it

post #1 of 9
4/22/12 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
I have a Harmony 700, and its lagging is starting to get to me. I see the One is running much cheaper than it used to be. I'd also consider a URC but I have two requirements: 1) My wife needs it to be 1 button switching from TV to Movie etc and 2) I have a PS3

1) Is the One worth it
2) Should I look at a URC

Thanks all!
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post #2 of 9
4/22/12 at 6:47pm
FWIW, I had the 900 and just gave it up a week ago because the lag got to me. I'm not sure why remotes and calculators are so far behind.

Also, you can have the remotes switch between activities "seamlessly" as long as you program them with the TVs discrete on and off codes. So then when the next activity tries to turn the TV on, instead of it sending the power signal (then turning the TV off), it just sends another 'On' signal, leaving the TV in the on state. I'm currently looking at Xsight and URC. Still haven't settled though. URC seems nice, but the ergonomics are bugging me.

EDIT: What I meant by lag, was the screen, not the actual IR signal. I'm realizing now that's obviously not what you meant. Oops. Even with the RF to IR transition, there wasn't much noticable lag.
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post #3 of 9
4/22/12 at 7:17pm
The lag on a One will be the same as it is on a 700. If you only have a few devices, the One is overkill. Performance is the same as other models.

Any remote that does macros can do what your wife wants. Any remote can control a PS3 via an IR adapter. Of the remotes I have experience with, JP1, URC and Xsight have zero lag. But to be honest I don't notice lag on harmony either. When I press a button a signal is sent instantly.

Perhaps the lag is actually in the device, in which case no remote will be any different. What devices are lagging?

URC is really in a different class than harmony. I don't see them as comparable.
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post #4 of 9
4/22/12 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Perhaps the lag is actually in the device, in which case no remote will be any different. What devices are lagging?

Its mainly been two separate AV receivers (Sony and Yamaha). Also when I switch from TV to PS3 it takes way too long - 15 seconds sometimes/

Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

URC is really in a different class than harmony. I don't see them as comparable.

What about the xsight ARRX18G. I see some people have worked out how to get the Harmony PS3 adapter to work with it
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post #5 of 9
4/22/12 at 8:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crcostel View Post


Its mainly been two separate AV receivers (Sony and Yamaha). Also when I switch from TV to PS3 it takes way too long - 15 seconds sometimes/

What about the xsight ARRX18G. I see some people have worked out how to get the Harmony PS3 adapter to work with it

Since you're talking about adjustable delays, you can make that zero if you want. It's not really harmony's fault. But I bet if you shorten them, you'll break them because your TV needs that long from a cold start. I define lag as the delay between pressing a button and a signal being sent, with all adjustable delays set to zero. This ranges from zero to just a few milliseconds on every remote I've ever used.

I use Xsight remotes primarily (I have an 18G and 12G), and I've also read it works fine with the harmony adapter. I just use Bravia sync to control my PS3 and don't use any adapter at all.

To speed up my macros, I put all my input commands both at the beginning and end. So cold starts have the right delays and warm starts switch to the right inputs immediately. That would be difficult to program on harmony.
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post #6 of 9
4/23/12 at 10:59am
Wait, what lag are you referring to?

Have you gone through and tweaked all your delays?

Have you organized your activities so the device that takes the longest to start is turned on first?
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post #7 of 9
4/23/12 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

To speed up my macros, I put all my input commands both at the beginning and end. So cold starts have the right delays and warm starts switch to the right inputs immediately. That would be difficult to program on harmony.

It's not too difficult. You can add additional commands to the activities.
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post #8 of 9
4/23/12 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by poormanq45 View Post

It's not too difficult. You can add additional commands to the activities.

It is quite difficult for several reasons.

- Additional commands run after all the commands made by the wizard, so there is no way to make them run first and avoid the delays.

- Additional commands can't be added to activities on all recent harmony remotes (One+, 200, 300, 600, 650, 700 or Link) at all. You can do it with the older software on some of those models. But you have to start a whole new config from scratch and lose devices (for example a 700 on myharmony has 8 devices, but only 6 with the 7.7 software).

- To do it on older models, you'd have to raw learn fake power commands that are actually a combination of discrete input commands and discrete power commands (in order to make them run first).

- Raw learning discrete commands is difficult in itself because they rarely exist on OEM remotes.

It's a trivial task on just about every other universal remote brand.
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post #9 of 9
4/23/12 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

It is quite difficult for several reasons.

- Additional commands run after all the commands made by the wizard, so there is no way to make them run first and avoid the delays.

- Additional commands can't be added to activities on all recent harmony remotes (One+, 200, 300, 600, 650, 700 or Link) at all. You can do it with the older software on some of those models. But you have to start a whole new config from scratch and lose devices (for example a 700 on myharmony has 8 devices, but only 6 with the 7.7 software).

- To do it on older models, you'd have to raw learn fake power commands that are actually a combination of discrete input commands and discrete power commands (in order to make them run first).

- Raw learning discrete commands is difficult in itself because they rarely exist on OEM remotes.

It's a trivial task on just about every other universal remote brand.

Woah, I didn't realized that they changed that with newer remotes. That sucks.

Alright, I guess I didn't realize the exact order that you were wanting. It is annoying that you can't put added commands above the wizard stuff.

Indeed, it's so easy on any other universal remote. It's too bad that no one has created an intuitive remote that also allows you to take fully manual control of everything.
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