Re: Review: Harmony One Universal Remote

My Harmony controls my satellite receiver just fine, and it's a Bell from Canada. The Harmony series are preprogrammed with thousands of devices, but in the rare case that something doesn't work, just give them a call.

For example, my satellite receiver has a button called PVR, but the Harmony has DVR. I tried to use the function of having my remote learn from the satellite remote, but it wasn't working. So I called tech support, and in no time they had it fixed for me. I don't know how, but they did something to the programming online to make it work. Can't beat that.

considering I was able to program my window air conditioner unit remote control functions right into this remote, yes I know I'm lazy, my guess is that it would work. I think anything that sends an IR signal, can be learned. Again, it takes a while to individually program a bunch of buttons via the "learning way" and then especially editing the screens and so on, but the end result is very good. The pre-programmed commands also work, but I typically like to lay out the commands in an order that is most useful to me, so that is whay I typically re-program everything.

I am also curious as to how this thing operates the Onkyo TX-SR705, does anyone have this receiver? I was also worried about my Dish remote, but that has been answered. oh and also, can you do more than one profile, for example, if I want to take this unit in my basement to my rec room/theater room, can I have another profile there so it will operate the equipment in THAT other room?

Blu,

I wrote the review, and I have an Onkyo 705 receiver. Like any other universal remote, the Harmony basically replaces the Onkyo's remote, function for function. It just does things more easily than the Onkyo remote, replacing many of the Onkyo remote's hard buttons with touch-screen buttons, which are clearly labeled.

I also like the ease of the Harmony's macros. You just press the touch screen button for, say, "Watch a Blu-ray Disc," and the Harmony turns on the TV, switches it to the proper input, turns on the Onkyo receiver and switches it the proper input, and switches on the Blu-ray player. Press "Off" and everything turns off automatically at once. One button does it all. Most other universal remotes have macros that can drive you crazy programming, but the Harmony does it all for you. You just tell it what equipment you have, and it programs the macros for you.

John

John,

Thank you very kindly for responding to my post, i am glad that i had the chance to read your response, and i am pretty much sold on getting this unit now.

I do not really care so much for the Onkyo remote, and am glad to hear that this one has better functionality with it. I just feel that the Onkyo remote is VERY clunky and awkward, although very sturdy.

Once again, thanks you for the response on this item i am looking forward to purchasing!

Blu,

Yes, the Onkyo remote is big, heavy, and clunky, as you say. However, it does have the ability to work as a very good universal and handle most of one's other remotes, plus it's very easy to program. That said, the Harmony One beats it in terms of looks, feel, and ease of use.

John

So a friend of mine came over yesterday for a visit and he saw my Harmony 520 and asked about it. I told him how it works and how easy it is to setup and that you update it via USB, etc. He LOVES it :p He wants one now and was going to search for one as soon as he got home.

The Harmony remotes offer a lot of convenience and you don't need to get a super expensive one to enjoy the benefits.

"The Harmony remotes offer a lot of convenience and you don't need to get a super expensive one to enjoy the benefits." --Falcon

That's very true, although I did find one exception. My cousin gave me a Harmony about a year ago as a present. It was Harmony's little $100 job. While it was extremely good looking, I'm afraid my wife and I found the buttons much too small to see and manipulate easily, and we reluctantly returned it. I think one of the main things Harmony did to upgrade the Harmony One was to make sure all the buttons were easy to see, read, and handle.

John

I watch my Blu-ray movies with a drive in my HTPC. Can anyone tell me if this remote would work well with Vista Media Center? I use PowerDVD Ultra to view my movies so it would be great if it could get the PC out of sleep mode and fire up the PowerDVD software.

Thanks!

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[Post edited by kghoops on Apr 14, 2008]