I'm sure there are a couple out there, but I just got my remote and after a week of use thought I would give a review. I love this thing. I'm a huge gadget guy, and out of all my toys, Razr, PSP, HT gear, etc this has become my favorite gadget ever.
If you have any questions, post them up, I will gladly share my knowledge and opinions on the unit.
Retail is around $250, but I found the remote on PCMall.com for $177.
It shipped to me in about 2 days. Packaging is really nice and was the first sign that I really got a good product. The package comes with the remote, docking station/recharging station, power cord, and installation CD. The fit and finish on the unit is second to none. It looks professional, and includes every button you would need on pratically any setup and IMO they placed them in very accurate positions. Meaning that buttons you use more are closer to the native position of your thumb and spread out to the lesser used buttons being the farthest away.
Now alot of the UNI remotes I checked on had buttons you would press to gain access to each system you needed. This remote uses macros to change every system to the appropriate function on one click and then automatically places the main system you will be using for that function as the controlls. System functions that do not have assigned buttons on the control layout are assigned a button next to the LCD window and text for that function appears next to the button on the LCD window. For example, my Comcast Motorolla Digi Box/PVR has My DVR button and a button for On Demand (on demand tv and movie rental). So since there are no buttons on the remote for My DVR and On Demand, these two functions appear as text on the LCD screen and the text is assigned to a button that is next to the text on the LCD.
After initial charge you hook up the remote via USB to your computer and the software essentially is just drivers and a program that allerts you of remote updates to firmware. When you hook in the remote, it automatically opens your browser and goes to the Logitech Harmony site.
On initial setup the site asks you about every piece of hardware you have, brand and model number. Then it asks you simple questions for each piece as it sets them up one at a time. For example when setting up my digi box it says, "When using your digi box what do you want to control your sound? TV or Denon Receiver?" You pick the correct answer and you are set. You do this for all your stuff and it sets up all the macros for you.
Then after you are finished and you are setup the remote works as follows. The unit has a motion sensor, so when not on the dock, the unit powers off the LCD to save battery. Whenever it is moved it comes alive. The LCD will display options (you can customize the text too) like "Watch TV", "Watch DVD," "Listen to CD," "Play PS2," etc. Let's say I click "Watch DVD." My TV changes channels to my component input, the receiver changes to DVD input, the DVD powers on, and my digi box powers off. Then the remote is set to DVD commands and the LCD displays any commands next to buttons that don't appear on the remote body. Next I want to watch TV. I press "Activities" the LCD switches off extra DVD commands and lists my choices of what I want to do again. I click "Watch TV". TV switches to DVI input, receiver goes to TV input, digi box comes on, all non used components power off. This happens for whatever I push. If I were in say DVD mode and want to do something special with my receiver I can press "Device" and the remote switches to receiver commands and I can do whatever I need to and then switch back to DVD mode.
Unique to this unit which is amazing! is the "Help" button. Let's say I hit "Watch TV" and the remote turns on my digi box and receiver, all other components are off, but my TV didn't switch on because the remote was blocked or something. I click "Help" and the remote asks me questions until the problem is fixed. "Is the digi box on?" yes "Is the TV on?" Click "no" and the TV comes on and everything is back to normal.
The LCD screen quality is magnificent! The icons are very good resolution (they were update last month from a poorer quality ones). Battery life I can't comment on, because whenever the unit is not in use I have it plugged into the dock so it stays fully charged. But a really good feature is that even though it's rechargable, they have included a removable battery, which looks frighteningly close to a Nokia cell battery. So if there was a problem with the battery it would be very easy to repair.
Total setup time on the net was about 45 minutes, maybe less. I ran into maybe 3 problems which were repaired within 15-30min simply by going back to the site and choosing a specific piece of equipment and using a menu with drop down boxes for each button to customize buttons for control features.
Bonuses include customizing the names of the Activities you want to do, downloading your own personal background to the unit, downloading personal pictures that are used as a slide show to save the LCD from image burn when in dock or if you dont have the screen shut off when not in use off the dock. You can also customize the icons to an extent.
This remote is a godsend and saved me from using 5 remotes. It's perfect IMO, I couldn't ask it to do anything else, and it does more than I could possibly even need it to do, but without getting in the way of what I do need it to do. Hell, if you have a newer PS2 with the IR input on the front, it will even power on your PS2 and you can use the control to control the DVD inputs or play games (playing games is a bit extreme though). You can also use it to control computers with IR inputs, and Media Center PC's. The unit is grey with black and chrome accents and it is actually lighter than about 3 of my other controllers.
Yes, it is expensive, but it's a god send, and this will be the last piece of HT equipment I buy till I'm out of grad school so that and the fact that I have not one dissapointment gives me huge peace of mind in my purchase and the purchase price. And suprise suprise, it is the darling and center of attention of my setup. One would think it would by my HDTV or perhaps my 7.1 surround, but tu'che, it out shines them all.
If you have any questions, post them up, I will gladly share my knowledge and opinions on the unit.
Retail is around $250, but I found the remote on PCMall.com for $177.
It shipped to me in about 2 days. Packaging is really nice and was the first sign that I really got a good product. The package comes with the remote, docking station/recharging station, power cord, and installation CD. The fit and finish on the unit is second to none. It looks professional, and includes every button you would need on pratically any setup and IMO they placed them in very accurate positions. Meaning that buttons you use more are closer to the native position of your thumb and spread out to the lesser used buttons being the farthest away.
Now alot of the UNI remotes I checked on had buttons you would press to gain access to each system you needed. This remote uses macros to change every system to the appropriate function on one click and then automatically places the main system you will be using for that function as the controlls. System functions that do not have assigned buttons on the control layout are assigned a button next to the LCD window and text for that function appears next to the button on the LCD window. For example, my Comcast Motorolla Digi Box/PVR has My DVR button and a button for On Demand (on demand tv and movie rental). So since there are no buttons on the remote for My DVR and On Demand, these two functions appear as text on the LCD screen and the text is assigned to a button that is next to the text on the LCD.
After initial charge you hook up the remote via USB to your computer and the software essentially is just drivers and a program that allerts you of remote updates to firmware. When you hook in the remote, it automatically opens your browser and goes to the Logitech Harmony site.
On initial setup the site asks you about every piece of hardware you have, brand and model number. Then it asks you simple questions for each piece as it sets them up one at a time. For example when setting up my digi box it says, "When using your digi box what do you want to control your sound? TV or Denon Receiver?" You pick the correct answer and you are set. You do this for all your stuff and it sets up all the macros for you.
Then after you are finished and you are setup the remote works as follows. The unit has a motion sensor, so when not on the dock, the unit powers off the LCD to save battery. Whenever it is moved it comes alive. The LCD will display options (you can customize the text too) like "Watch TV", "Watch DVD," "Listen to CD," "Play PS2," etc. Let's say I click "Watch DVD." My TV changes channels to my component input, the receiver changes to DVD input, the DVD powers on, and my digi box powers off. Then the remote is set to DVD commands and the LCD displays any commands next to buttons that don't appear on the remote body. Next I want to watch TV. I press "Activities" the LCD switches off extra DVD commands and lists my choices of what I want to do again. I click "Watch TV". TV switches to DVI input, receiver goes to TV input, digi box comes on, all non used components power off. This happens for whatever I push. If I were in say DVD mode and want to do something special with my receiver I can press "Device" and the remote switches to receiver commands and I can do whatever I need to and then switch back to DVD mode.
Unique to this unit which is amazing! is the "Help" button. Let's say I hit "Watch TV" and the remote turns on my digi box and receiver, all other components are off, but my TV didn't switch on because the remote was blocked or something. I click "Help" and the remote asks me questions until the problem is fixed. "Is the digi box on?" yes "Is the TV on?" Click "no" and the TV comes on and everything is back to normal.
The LCD screen quality is magnificent! The icons are very good resolution (they were update last month from a poorer quality ones). Battery life I can't comment on, because whenever the unit is not in use I have it plugged into the dock so it stays fully charged. But a really good feature is that even though it's rechargable, they have included a removable battery, which looks frighteningly close to a Nokia cell battery. So if there was a problem with the battery it would be very easy to repair.
Total setup time on the net was about 45 minutes, maybe less. I ran into maybe 3 problems which were repaired within 15-30min simply by going back to the site and choosing a specific piece of equipment and using a menu with drop down boxes for each button to customize buttons for control features.
Bonuses include customizing the names of the Activities you want to do, downloading your own personal background to the unit, downloading personal pictures that are used as a slide show to save the LCD from image burn when in dock or if you dont have the screen shut off when not in use off the dock. You can also customize the icons to an extent.
This remote is a godsend and saved me from using 5 remotes. It's perfect IMO, I couldn't ask it to do anything else, and it does more than I could possibly even need it to do, but without getting in the way of what I do need it to do. Hell, if you have a newer PS2 with the IR input on the front, it will even power on your PS2 and you can use the control to control the DVD inputs or play games (playing games is a bit extreme though). You can also use it to control computers with IR inputs, and Media Center PC's. The unit is grey with black and chrome accents and it is actually lighter than about 3 of my other controllers.
Yes, it is expensive, but it's a god send, and this will be the last piece of HT equipment I buy till I'm out of grad school so that and the fact that I have not one dissapointment gives me huge peace of mind in my purchase and the purchase price. And suprise suprise, it is the darling and center of attention of my setup. One would think it would by my HDTV or perhaps my 7.1 surround, but tu'che, it out shines them all.
