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Logitech Harmony Remote

I found it quite frustrating that Logitech provided an How it Works page which didn't illustrate the full functionality of the remotes.  The photos left me wondering if the remote control was able to full control my Audio/Video equipment when it clearly didn't have a button suitable for ever function.

In particular I was concerned about being able to program the remote for the Picture-in-picture controls of my PVR (DVR) since the photos of the remote showed there wasn't dedicated buttons for the task.

The screen on the harmony remotes obviously opens possibilities, but again there was no details on the Logitech site about what functions the screen hides. 

I wasn't prepared to invest multiple hundreds of dollars on a universal remote so I was only interested in the Harmony 525 which, I could see from the photos, only had 4 buttons on the sides of the screen, as opposed more expensive models that have 6 buttons.  Again, I didn't know how this was going to limit what I could do with the remote.

So I took the plunge and bought the 525 and all my concerns were quickly bought to rest.  This remote can do anything you want it to.

My A/V set up is perhaps more complicated than most peoples are.  I have a TV, AV Reciever, 5 disc DVD player, PVR, Nintendo Wii, iPod and a laptop.  Some devices go via the AV Reciever, whilst others go direct the TV which means sometimes keeping my video and audio channels in sync is complicated.  Sometimes I need my audio in stereo, or digital, or 6 channel surround sound (DVD-Audio).  The Harmony remote handled all this, and more with ease.

Logitech marketing says you can have your new Harmony remote configured in minutes.  This would probably be true if your A/V set up is pretty simple, but it took me many hours of configuring and trialling to get the remote to operate exactly how I wanted.  But this isn't a fault of the remote.

The Harmony remotes are configured using a web-based application you need to register online to use.  All your settings are stored online, which is great if you have easy access to the internet, but sucks if you don't.  My brother doesn't have Internet access (yet) so this remote is no good to him.

The good thing about it being online is that there are really good odds all details about your remotes already exist in Logitechs database.  The commands for my Humax PVR-SMART remote were.  This means if you've lost your remote you can still configure the Harmony remote to control the device.

Completing basic set up of the remote is reasonably quick and easy using the wizard.  It takes a whole lot more time to iron out the nitty gritty details to suit your preferences.

The remote works on activities.  Typical activities include "Watch DVD", "Watch TV", "Listen to CD" etc.  Each activity is listed on the screen.  The arrow buttons below the screen allow you to scroll though multiple pages of activities.  Selecting an input will turn off all un-needed devices, switch on those that are needed, and sets the TV and reciever to the correct input.

After you've selected an activity the screen changes to display options for that activity.  This is where I keep in my Picture-in-picture buttons for my PVR activity and you can keep any number of buttons across multiple pages.  So even though there might not be a dedicated button for every command, you can still put any of those commands on the screen.

You can also press the device button to access all the commands from any of your device remotes.  So, with the Harmony remote you can throw away all your other remotes.

But as I said earlier it's the nitty gritty details that takes so long.  I needed to tell the remote that it take 5 seconds for my TV to turn on before it can try and send other commands to it.  I needed to make sure the receiver switched to the correct sound mode each time I switched activities.  I had to tell it to always leave my PVR on, even when I change activities or press the power button.  The Harmony remote has an awesome amount of flexibility, but it can be tedious to set them up.

It can even handle switching inputs on your TV when your remote only has a button to toggle them.  The remote will remember the current input and send the appropriate number of toggles.  My TV remote is like this, but the Logitech database also had commands not available on my original remote to switch directly to inputs.  The Harmony remote even handles TV's don't remember what input they were last on when you next turn it on, and TV's that will ingnore inputs that aren't connected.  The Harmony remote is smart, but it takes time to configure you devices at this level of detail. 

I've only found one real issue with the remote.  You can learn commands from an original remote, and this overwrites the command from the Logitech database.  But there is no way to go back, or unlearn a command.  Which could be bad if you accidentally override a command not available on your original remote.

On the forums I also heard that in recent version of Harmony software they removed the ability to send multiple commands from a single button.  I don't see this as something that would ever effect me, but thought it was worth mentioning.

I've seen a few other universal remotes that retail for not much less than the Harmony 525, but none of them could do what this remote does.  The 525 build is pretty good quality, although pressing some of the more awkward buttons causes it to creak.  The higher models displays more options on a single screen, and in colour, but I don't think those features are worth the extra cost.

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