Off topic, universal remote controls

[Cloggy]

Do many of you guys & Gals use a universal remote control, for your TV's, hard drive recorders, audio systems and blue ray players?

Sorry this is a non bike question, but I was hoping to get some free advice from helpful forum members .

I'm looking at something similar to the Harmony one from Logitech but I'm not sure if it'll do what I want it to do.

As I understand you can program functions into it to set it up for "watch TV"," record present channel", "Play DVD/CD" etc by loading it with a sequence of commands (a sort of macro).

I would firstly like to ask anyone with experience of these sorts of remote controls to please post any useful info (I'm a total noob on this subject).

Secondly, a more specific question, can I program "menu" choices into one of these remotes. To be even more specific I have to select the TV input (HDMI 1,2,3 or scart) via the TV "home" menu, will this be possible using a preprogrammed function for the universal remote control?

Most of my stuff is Sony (TV, audio, blue ray), apart from the WII and my digital decoder/recorder which is from UPC (the local cable company), which I think is either Thomson or samsung.

I find these sorts of remotes to be very expensive but if they can do everything I (and mrs Cloggy) wants then it might just about be worth it :thumbup:.

Thanx

 

[lytehouse]

My son bought this for us for Christmas:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/377&cl=us,en


I can't really answer any of your 'techinal' questions, but IMO it works pretty well. Once in awhile, it needs to be re-set, but I like being able to use 1 remote for all the gadgets.

 

[necrotimus]

I am not an expert on the subject but my brother is. The short answer to your question is their are remotes that will do everything you want to do I just don't know about this specific one. (And unfortunately you may not know until you buy it).

Most remotes that allow macros will allow you to perform any action you can do with the normal remote and even assign specific buttons on the remote for certain things. You should also be able to set up things like the volume up button when controls the tv even though the channel button works on the cable box. Macros are very powerful but take some thinking to set up the desired sequence. For example when I push ON on my universal remote it turns on the receiver, TV, and cable box on and automatically sets the receiver on the cable input regardless of what it was on when I turned it off.

One feature that I love about my remote is it uses RF frequencies instead of infared. There is a control box that receives the RF signal and uses IR flasers that you stick on your devices. This is most usualful if you want to hide your equipment in a cabinet or something. The control box gets the signal and sends the IR signal to the device with a small cable in front of the receiving port. So I can change my channels when I'm not even in the room.

Anyway like I said I'm not an expert but there should be a remote out there that will do everything you want to. From the reviews and price of this one my guess is this one will probably have everything you are looking for.

 

[CHEMIKER]

The answers to your questions are yes, yes, yes, and yes respectively. We have the Harmony 670 and love it. What I like about it is that you program it from your computer through a USB cord which makes it a lot easier than other universal remotes.

Yes, it will control all of your HDMI inputs. I have mine set up where when I press "watch TV", it turns on the TV, and sets it to HDMI 1 which is what the TiVo is hooked up to.

When I press "watch movie" it turns on the TV and sets it to HDMI 2, turns on the XBox, and turns on the receiver. Also, after I press "watch movie", all the controls for playing a DVD control the XBox, but the volume button controls the volume on the receiver.

Another nice thing is that it has a screen for the "soft" buttons, and you can program which functions are associated with the screen buttons for each mode. For instance, there is no picture in picture button on the remote, so in TV mode, I have one of the soft keys set to picture in picture. When I press "watch TV", one of the options right there on the screen is picture in picture.

As far as finding your equipment, since you program the device from your computer you have access to thousands of devices. I found it very easy to find my devices and suspect there are very few devices if any that this remote won't control. Heck, I could even program mine to turn off automatic lights if I had them, or control a robot to get me a beer :iconbeer:.

The whole thing is very easy to program and work; I have been very impressed. It looks like the one you're looking at has all the features mine does and more.

 

[Cloggy]

My son bought this for us for Christmas:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/377&cl=us,en


I can't really answer any of your 'techinal' questions, but IMO it works pretty well. Once in awhile, it needs to be re-set, but I like being able to use 1 remote for all the gadgets.

Thanks for the info, I was also looking at several other remotes, but I think the main limitation is how many pre programmed functions it has, I started by thinking 4 was enough but I kept coming up with new combo's

I am not an expert on the subject but my brother is. The short answer to your question is their are remotes that will do everything you want to do I just don't know about this specific one. (And unfortunately you may not know until you buy it).

Most remotes that allow macros will allow you to perform any action you can do with the normal remote and even assign specific buttons on the remote for certain things. You should also be able to set up things like the volume up button when controls the tv even though the channel button works on the cable box. Macros are very powerful but take some thinking to set up the desired sequence. For example when I push ON on my universal remote it turns on the receiver, TV, and cable box on and automatically sets the receiver on the cable input regardless of what it was on when I turned it off.

One feature that I love about my remote is it uses RF frequencies instead of infared. There is a control box that receives the RF signal and uses IR flasers that you stick on your devices. This is most usualful if you want to hide your equipment in a cabinet or something. The control box gets the signal and sends the IR signal to the device with a small cable in front of the receiving port. So I can change my channels when I'm not even in the room.

Anyway like I said I'm not an expert but there should be a remote out there that will do everything you want to. From the reviews and price of this one my guess is this one will probably have everything you are looking for.

Thanks, that remote box sounds cool, we used to have a lot of our stuff behind (tempered)glass doors but luckily the kids are growing up a bit so we can trust them with most things nowadays.

The answers to your questions are yes, yes, yes, and yes respectively. We have the Harmony 670 and love it. What I like about it is that you program it from your computer through a USB cord which makes it a lot easier than other universal remotes.

Yes, it will control all of your HDMI inputs. I have mine set up where when I press "watch TV", it turns on the TV, and sets it to HDMI 1 which is what the TiVo is hooked up to.

When I press "watch movie" it turns on the TV and sets it to HDMI 2, turns on the XBox, and turns on the receiver. Also, after I press "watch movie", all the controls for playing a DVD control the XBox, but the volume button controls the volume on the receiver.

Another nice thing is that it has a screen for the "soft" buttons, and you can program which functions are associated with the screen buttons for each mode. For instance, there is no picture in picture button on the remote, so in TV mode, I have one of the soft keys set to picture in picture. When I press "watch TV", one of the options right there on the screen is picture in picture.

As far as finding your equipment, since you program the device from your computer you have access to thousands of devices. I found it very easy to find my devices and suspect there are very few devices if any that this remote won't control. Heck, I could even program mine to turn off automatic lights if I had them, or control a robot to get me a beer :iconbeer:.

The whole thing is very easy to program and work; I have been very impressed. It looks like the one you're looking at has all the features mine does and more.

Well I think this has sold it to me, all singing and dancing that sounds great :cheer:

 

[bcityroller]

Another vote for a Harmony remote (whatever type suits your needs). I've had customizable remotes for over 10 years and nothing was easier to setup and use than the first Harmony I bought 5 years ago (a 510 I think). It's the only remote that my wife (and visitors to the house) have been able to make work all the time without hosing up the equipment.

A few of the high use buttons gave up a couple of months ago and I replaced it with a refurb 550 for $30 on Amazon - sweet deal IMO. The first remote was 15 mins to setup using the PC. This new remote was literally 30 secs b/c you have an online user account with a button that says "replace my remote" and it just uploads all the existing settings to the new remote.