At peace with One.
August 11th, 2008 by Myk Crawford
It’s guys night out. Football, beer and some beirut (aka beer pong). And then the phone rings…
Wife: “Honey, I can’t make the TV work. Your sister and I want to watch a movie, but we can’t figure out how to make it come up.”
Me: “Use the receiver remote to switch the TV to HDMI2. Then switch the receiver to Video2. Then hit the DVD button on the receiver remote and push play. Then push the receiver button the remote so you can control the volume.”
Wife: “Sigh….. it’s not working. How come there are five remotes on the table and you’re the only one who knows how to use this?”
Me: “Ok let’s just start over. Turn everything off.”
Wife: “Nevermind!”
Me: “Wait, it’s not that hard to do. It’s only like 3 steps.”
Wife: “I can barely hear you anyways, forget about it. Don’t come home late.” (Click)
This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. What was easy and protocol for me, is not so much the same for my wife. I’d tried to convince myself that I “needed” one long ago, but up until this point, I’d never run into the nightmare that ensued above. I’ve always been in love with the Logitech Harmony remotes, I just was never able to pull the trigger on one. I finally pulled that trigger.
The Logitech Harmony One is a technical advancement in home theater that many have been waiting for. The look, the feel, the functionality…. the touchscreen! It just a downright sexy piece of tech gear. It can control up to 15 devices (I have 5) and multiple “Activities” like “Watch HDTV” or “Watch a DVD.” They are customizable so you can create your own like “Listen to Radio” or “Play PS3/Blu-ray.” You push one button on the remote, point it at your devices and the remote does the rest by switching all your devices to the correct inputs/outputs/channels/etc and even turns off the other devices not being used if they were on
Universal Remotes are all about the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) and the simplicity and ease of use after you’ve cast all your other remotes to the junk drawer, is all the acceptance she’ll need. Set her up with her own page of her favorite channels and all she has to do is touch the on-screen logo and it goes to that channel. She tried to “Watch HDTV” and something didn’t work? All she has to do is use the help button and the remote will ask her the questions to fix the problems. (i.e. Is the TV on? Is the TV on now? Did that fix the problem?)
Well it must be a chore to setup then? Nothing that good is easy, right? Wrong. Setup of an electronic device has never been easier. Hook up the remote via USB to your computer, it walks you through the setup. You tell the system what devices you have and what you want to do with them and you’re done. The best thing is that this is a smart state machine and does not program using macros. It know the state of each device at all times and does not require the myriad of IR codes like other remotes. Whatever hell you’ve got yourself into in the setting up of your home theater, the Harmony One is your lifesaver.
In my search for ways to customize the remote with custom channel icons I literally stumbled upon a great site for Harmony icons at http://www.iconharmony.com/. It includes hundreds of networks and channels and many of their sub “HD” channel logos. Amazing! I setup all the favorites on the 4 available pages.
$199 (Buy)
