Remote Control Question
 

Am I the only person who thinks the TIVO Remote Control has a mind of it's own? I put mine on the arm of the sofa or on the footstool and the stupid thing just ends up on the floor every time and I spend so much time trying to find the stupid thing :rolleyes:

So now I keep reading about these Harmony Remotes and wonder if it's worth getting one of them and if so which one as there seem to be a variety of models :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

The harmony remotes are good if you have a lot of devices to control as you can put away all your other remotes and just use one remote.

I've obviously got used to my harmony but i found the Tivo remote not very good for button positions etc, but i guess it could have been the other way around if i'd used the Tivo first.

There are several new models out, but the one that seems to be the most popular is the Harmony One (I have one of those and an older 885 for the bedroom setup). Be aware that there aren't any hard coloured buttons on the harmony One, but they are there on the touch sensitive screen and work fine for me there.

This could be a good place to browse to decide which one would be best for you.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/remote-controls/

When I bought, I wated for the deals to come around on Amazon and the like because they're not cheap, but they seem to be discounted regularly, so if you can, it's a case of waiting for a good deal.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Thanks for that, I have seen the Harmony One in Curry's for £139, might get that and see how I get on with it :D

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I don't know if they charge delivery, but it's actually cheaper direct from Logitech:

http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/remotes/universal-remotes


Looking at their current range, the 'One' is the one i'd get if buying again; I love my harmony one!

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Harmony One 94.98

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/1975...JSDndJRHFcWw==

Harmony One 103.00

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/logitec...ipaqm&istBid=t

Who says shopping around doesn't pay ;-)

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Good find at dixons; I avoid pixmania as I've seen reports that they sometimes sell grey imports.

:D That's not the kind of 'shopping around' we were talking about on the other thread, unless you're suggesting that AlabasterLyn rings dixons up and threatens to take her custom elsewhere unles they sell it to her for £5! :D

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I didn't even think to look on the Logitech site as I could only fine a USA one earlier. It's odd that Dixons are charging so much less than Curry's, I thought they were both owned by the same company :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Be aware that there aren't any hard coloured buttons on the harmony One, but they are there on the touch sensitive screen and work fine for me there.

If you absolutely must have hard coloured buttons the Harmony 900 has them - but it's almost twice the cost of Harmony One:shocked:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

The pricing of Harmony remotes has always defied logic in my view (punn intended). Until recently, the One was around £160 on the logitech site and varied between around £80-120 on Amazon, depending when you bought.

Play did a few limited time offers and sold it for £70; I always seemed to miss those and paid £84 from amazon just under two years ago.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Available here if you live near a store

http://www.richersounds.com/product/...gi-harmony-one

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I'm not really sure what you mean by 'hard coloured buttons' :confused:

Don't really want to spend any more than I have to as I am saving up to get the latest Samsung tab thing when it comes out ;)

Will the Harmony remote make my TV come on and change from HDMI1 to HDMI2 without me messing about with the TV remote I am currently using. You can tell I am not very good with technology.

---------- Post added at 15:31 ---------- Previous post was at 15:28 ----------

I do, we have one about 2 miles from here :D

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Happy Days :D Enjoy if you get one. I've never used one myself.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Rather than being hard buttons, the coloured buttons on the Harmony One are on a touch screen, so you just touch the screen where the red icon is to activate a red button command.

The Harmony uses 'activities'. You'll create an activity called Tivo (You can call it what you want) and by touching that on the touch screen, it will turn anything on required for that activity and switch it to the correct input, so, one touch, switches everything on.

In my case, it switches my AV amp on and changes the input to Cab/sat, switches the TV on and changes the input to HDMI 1. I've told it i always leave Tivo on, so it leaves that as it is.

On the harmony remote, the volume buttons control my amp and all the other buttons control the Tivo box or TV. I can tell the Harmony what buttons control which function on which device. It's all programmed by connecting the harmony to the PC via USB and following the instructions in the Harmony software.

It will also act as just a remote control for each device, if you want it to, and you can switch between the two modes.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Richer Sounds have 2 left in stock, so I have reserved one :D

The 'fun' will start when I try to get the thing to work :shocked:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

You'll be fine. it really is well set out and takes you step by step through setting it up for your equipment.

You add the Tivo as a Cisco CT8685

There's a cable forum thread here:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/11...te-thread.html

and the AV forums link I posted earlier has some Harmony experts on it.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Thanks :D

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Just to point out, that the back of the One is also slightly curved on the back at the bottom, but flat at the top, so not sure if it will siut your arm chair, but i've compared it with the tivo remote and it's more stable on flat surfaces, but to be sure, maybe have a look at it before you buy?

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Going to try the Harmony 300i as it seems to have most of the TiVo buttons.

I'll let you know how this works out:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...6&d=1305391458

Regards


John

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Well done. I have a harmony One and it's really very flexible indeed.

Regarding HDMI source switching on the TV, that should be possible too but will depend upon the exact specifications support by your TV - it has to allow discrete source selection commands, though you may be able to come up with a system that manages even with a source cycling approach, for example if the TV always goes to the same source when switched on initially this would not be too hard to do. I have a Samsung TV and although the TV's own remote does not have discrete selection of source, the TV supports the discrete source selection codes and these were already setup in the Harmony database.

I've made that sound far harder than it really is - the online database of activities and supported devices means it's really straightforward.

The Harmony One is far more stable than the Tivo remote too, with a less rounded underside and a better centre of gravity - so should spend far less time chasing it around the floor.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Well so far I've got myself into a right muddle. I can get the TV to work, but apart from the volume I can't do anything else with it. Can't change channels or anything like that.

With the DVD recorder it keeps turning it on and going to play a DVD when in reality I want it to go to the DVD HD bit, but can't work that out.

It also isn't working with the Home Cinema System in that it keeps wanting to play a CD on it.

I will have to phone their support line on Monday as they are closed now.

I must be having a very blonde moment :shocked:

I like how it doesn't slide off the arm of the sofa though, but not sure it's worth paying out £100 for a remote that is just going to sit there looking pretty.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I'd never seen anyone before who would happily pay out £100+ for a remote control! blimey, must have more money than me for sure.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Well that's what they cost and lots of people have them, so I'm not the only one with more money than sense :shocked:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

One remote to rule them all, I suppose (and the Harmony's do have a good reputation) :)

Actually, I'm also thinking about getting one in the near future, so I can replace my Blu-ray, V+ and TV remotes with just the one remote.

So, will be interested to see how you get on with it, and hopefully you'll be able to overcome your initial problems with it :tu:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

TBH, until you've used one, i can understand that comment. but once setup, it makes reaching for the right remote a thing of the past and clears the clutter of multiple remotes.

---------- Post added at 11:25 ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 ----------


Sorry to hear you're having problems setting it up. I can assure you it's worth persevering. I''m sure logitech support will sort you out.

If you're talking about the DVD/HD recorder, I've found on my panasonic, that because it's slow to start up, it ends up on whatever it was on last (DVD or HD). I've just added the appropriate buttons to the Harmony avtivitys so that i can switch it over to which one i want once it's switched everything on.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Well today so far I am still having problems with it. I turn the TV on, I get a blank screen and HDMI1 no longer does anything. My DVD recorder won't do anything other than play from the HDD setting and the Home Cinema System isn't doing what it's supposed to. I can't even put it all away as the settings seem to have changed in the DVD recorder to the point where it will one turn on and off with the Harmony remote and not it's own remote. I have tried 'removing' each item in the hope that it would restore all the settings to how they were before I got the Harmony, but that hasn't worked.

So now I can only watch TV and still have to use the remote to change to HDMI2, so I am going round in circles with this and don't know anyone with any technical knowledge to sort it out :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I'm a Harmony convert now. Its taken me 30 minutes to get this up and running with my TV a Denon av reciever an apple TV and my tivo, and thats including teaching it commands on the denon and the tivo.

Its really easy to tech this remote commands and then you just drag the command you taught it onto the button you want to assign.

This is the best £30 I have spent in a long time, unfortunately I know I will now consign this to the bedroom at some point and buy the harmony one for the living room with a ps3 adaptor so that I can set up everything and play with activities:o: Damn you AlabasterLyn :mad: ;)

Regards


John.

p.s. entered as a virgin TiVo, it asked me to press power number 1 and channel up on the original remote and then got a match. Most things worked, pause didnt and guide took me to the home screen, but real easy to teach it the correct functions.

---------- Post added at 12:15 ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 ----------

Are you saying the original remotes dont do what they did before?

Re: Remote Control Question
 

That's exactly what I am saying yes. The TIVO remote works fine but the DVD recorder one does nothing, can't turn it on or off and now when I turn on the TV it's not going to HDMI1 as it did before but to 'analogue' which is from the rooftop aerial, so can't record anything as the picture is really awful. I don't know where I can find someone who knows about how to set up this stupid remote :confused:

All I am trying to do is get one remote to work my TV, TIVO, DVD recorder and Home Cinema System, it should be possible according to the Harmony instruction manual :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

One obvious thing to check is that the batteries have not just happened to pack up at the esact time you are changing things (coincidences like that have happened to me in the past)

If not, it's possible that you've somehow changed the remote control code for the DVD recorder. Some brands have multiplr remote control codes so that you can control two or more similar devices from the same manufacturer. I have 3 panasonic DVD/BR players, so i have to use separate remote control codes. It's worth checking the manual to see if your DVD recorder has this option and re-set it to the default one if it has --- you normally have to set the remore and DVD recorder.

With your TV, did it previously always remember the last used input?

---------- Post added at 12:50 ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 ----------

It is possible and i'm sure you'l get there; Logitech support are meant to be very good at sorting these things out.

But as you seem to be having problems with your original remotes working correctly, I'm wondering if it's best to get those working with each individual bit of equipment first?

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Well I have my son here at the moment and he's got the DVD recorder working, so I know the batteries on it are fine and it's not broken. However it's no longer configured through HDMI1 and it isn't recording what we see on the screen, but is recording the crap analogue signal that it's obviously now tuned into. Now I could easily just move the DVD recorder to another room, but that would kind of defeat the whole point of buying this new remote :rolleyes:

Plus I still haven't got the remote working, we are still trying to get it back to how it was before. Honestly I am feeling so stupid :shocked:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

When you say it's not recording what you see on the screen, are you watching tivo and want to record that?

Re: Remote Control Question
 

No I'm trying to record from the rooftop aerial for the DVD recorder as I had that when we just had the original stb with no hard drive and it was handy to keep as I can play DVD's on it and also burn to disc anything that I have recorded. It has always worked fine and was connected thru the HDM1 so that it upscaled the picture. Obviously I have done something wrong, but it's totally evading my stupid mind what it is :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

So, it's recording an analogue terestrial channel rather than a terestrial freview channel? But you're seing the freview channel from it on the TV?

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Well so it seems, my son is still trying to sort it out but he says I have too many pieces of equipment and need to disconnect it all and start again, but honestly I have no idea where to start.

I have tried to set up the Harmony remote again to just control the TIVO box and I have set it to come onto the HDMI2 but it's coming on to AV1 on the TV, I'm totally lost. If I looked in the Yellow Pages would I be able to find someone who could sort this mess out and if so what kind of person would I be looking for :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

As it was all working before, and assuming you haven't changed any connections, I wouldn't have thought you need to re-connect everything.

TBH, I'm not sure who you would call to get someone out. I think PC world do some home installations, so maybe give them a call?

Apart from the DVR recording what it shouldn't, is everything else working as before:

If you play a DVD is everything working as it as it did before?

If you watch Tivo does everything work as it did before?

Re: Remote Control Question
 

TIVO is working fine, just everything else that is not. My son has given up and I now have a neighbour taking all the leads out the back of everything. Really wishing I hadn't bought this remote as it was all fine before :rolleyes:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Sorry to hear that. I know it's hard to imagine now, but it will be better when you do get the harmony working.

I would write down the way things get connected as it may change from how you had it before and you need to tell the harmony which input/output each device uses.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I agree, it will be worth it in the end. I have had all in ones years ago and they were junk. These Harmonys just are a pleasure. Mine isnt as configurable as yours, Lyn, but even this can work all the functions on all my devices. I even have a button set for the pin, by cheating and assign the pin code to a tv channel favourite button as a four digit channel number ;)

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Before and after:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I'm jealous ;)

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Did you get this sorted out?

Regards

John.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

I was wondering the same. Hope you did.

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Heck no I am still struggling. I did phone Logitech's helpline yesterday regarding the TV not switching over to HDMI2 but the guy wasn't able to help and said he needed to 'escalate the query' and would get back to me, but I heard nothing.

I have managed to get some favourite icons on, but find it's really slow when clicking them to get the channel to change.

I've got icons on the main LCD screen that really seem to make no sense, but I clicked on all of the IR commands that it was telling me to click on during the set up. However I can't access most of the TIVO commands other than to change channel or go to the guide.

I have sort of got the DVD recorder and Home Cinema System working, but I can't get the DVD recorder to change inputs, so still have to use the DVD remote and the same goes for the Home Cinema System as that just goes to AUX. I am sure there is a way to get this sorted but I really don't know how as Logitech don't seem to be very interested when you phone them :shocked:

Here are some very out of focus pics I took with my mobile, so sorry for the quality of them. Maybe someone here has taken a note of what IR commands they entered that would be of use to me and anyone else who can't get their head around these remotes :confused:

Re: Remote Control Question
 

If logitech support haven't sorted you out, have you tried the AV forums thread to try to get things resolved?

Much as I'd love to help, I think it's out of my knowledge area. There are some experts on the AV forums, used to solving Hatmony problems.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/remot...part-five.html

Re: Remote Control Question
 

Thanks for the link. I did get Logitech to help me get the Exit button to take me back to the main screen, previously it was asking me if I wanted to delete my HD recordings :shocked:

I am glad I am not the only person who has problems working this remote out :rolleyes: