Thread: My latest acquisition - Harmony One Remote

Here is the link: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/re.../3898&cl=us,en

Of course, I got the employee/contractor discount of 50% (which I get on all Logitech products).

Wow that is definitely the need of the hour in our place as we have at least more than half a dozen of remotes for various electronics at our home, one for tv, music player, dvd player, ac. etc. etc. I just want to know whether this logitech universal remote or any other branded universal remote is available in india?

Logitech Harmony remotes are available on eBay.in but they are expensive... start at 5K plus. My advice is buy it only if you can justify the need. My purchase price was $125.

There are other cheaper universal remotes available but they have a painful programming methods. Also I can program the harmony remote with one touch buttons. For example:

Watch Projector button does the following:
- starts my Onkyo AV receiver and switches the input to DVD
- starts my Panasonic projector and switches the input to S-Video
- starts my Pioneer DVD player
- adjusts the volume to my preset value
- starts my AC as well

More pictures:

Originally Posted by just4kix

More pictures:

what an update pal.

The Harmony remote is not like a general universal remote that is programmed by a preset 3 or 4 digit code. It is a fully configurable device.

Install the software that comes with it. Once the software is installed, connect the Harmony One remote to the computer via USB. Internet connection is required, else the Harmony software does not start.

Harmony 01.PNG
Figure 1: The Harmony One Software

Now create a user account. The user account is created with the Logitech Harmony database on the internet.

Configuring the device is very simple.

1. First gather all the information about your devices. You will need the device type, manufacturer name and model number. The model number is usually found on the sticker on the back side of most devices.
   
   Not all of these down on a piece of paper.
2. On the brand new Harmony One, there will be no devices defined (naturally). So the next step is to add devices. See the following pictures (2/3/4)...
3. Any device that is controlled by an Infra Red remote control can be added. :thumbup1:
   I think RF wireless devices cannot be controlled but I cannot verify this.

Harmony 02.PNG
Figure 2: Add devices

Harmony 02a.PNG
Figure 3: Various device types

Harmony 02b.PNG
Figure 4: Various device sub-types

The Logitech Harmony remotes' database consists of over 20,000 manufacturers and over 600,000 devices. New devices are continuously added to the database. As soon as you add the device, all its IR remote codes are marked for import into the remote.

If by chance a device is not listed, the remote can learn from the existing remote. A receiver window on the backside can receive the signals from the existing remote in the learning mode. It will ask the sequence of each remote operation and all you have to do is point the existing remote to this window and press the appropriate button.

You can re-configure and fine tune the devices from the following icons:

Harmony 03a.PNG

Harmony 03b.PNG

Harmony 03c.PNG

One the devices are added, the software automatically configures the default activities such as, "Watch TV", "Watch DVD", "Listen to CD", etc. You can configure your own as well from the activities tab and also rename the activities.

Here are some sample activities on my remote:

Harmony 03.PNG

Activities and devices can be configured as desired. The Harmony One remote has two user interfaces:

1. The standard buttons. These buttons are also backlit. This is a boon in a dark room where a projector is installed.

2. There is also a touchscreen window. See the pictures in post 1.

Harmony 04.PNG

In the above picture, I have customised the DishTV STB remote for my purpose.

Harmony 05.PNG
I have basically added the icons of various TV channels.

Harmony 06.PNG
For example, Zee TV is see on STB Channel 100 and so on...

So when I switch to the activity, "Watch Sony TV", the above interface is automatically displayed on the remote. I can switch to, say, Star Plus, in two ways:

1. Hit the numeric buttons "1", "0", and "8" switch to channel 108.
2. Just touch the icon for "Star Plus" seen on the touch screen window. :thumbup1:

Once the setup is done, the remote is ready for programming.

Click on the "Update" button and the software will fetch all the required (IR) codes from the internet database and flash the Harmony One remote. It will be completely programmed with all the activities and device configuration.

Harmony 07.png

Harmony 08.png

Harmony 09.png

Harmony 10.png

The whole update (flashing) process takes about 3 minutes or so (depends upon the speed of the internet connection also).

The best part of the remote is that it will correctly switch on or switch off the devices. For example, I touch the option "Watch Sony TV", the following will happen:

1. STB will be turned ON.
2. Sony TV will be turned ON.
3. Sony TV will be set to the correct channel or mode. In my case, I use Channel 1 on Sony TV.
4. The STB will change to the channel set (optionally, if configured). In my case, I set it to Channel 625 (Discovery).
5. All other devices will be switched off.

After 30 minutes, suppose I get bored and decide to watch a DVD movie instead, then all I have to do is touch "Watch DVD on Sony TV" option. The remote will do the following:

1. The STB will be turned off.
2. Sony TV is already ON; so no action will happen there. The remote knows the current power state of all devices and will correctly switch ON or OFF the required devices.
3. Pioneer DVD player will be turned ON.
4. Onkyo AV receiver will turn ON and set to Video 3 input.
5. Sony TV will switch to AV mode (from Channel 1).
6. A play command will be sent to Pioneer DVD player (if a disc is inside, it will start playing).

After watching the movie, if I decide to switch off, all I have to do is to push the POWER OFF button and all devices will be switched off.

The bad:
The bad thing of the remote is that, if you use the original remote to switch ON or OFF the device, the Harmony remote goes out of sync. It may think that a particular device is ON when it is actually OFF.

This is not the fault of the remote because it was deliberately made out of sequence.

But this can happen, if there is a power outage and your devices are suddenly switched off. In such as case, take the remote into the next room and press the power off button. The remote will now be in sync.

Really a great stuff you are lucky to have it on discounts

Amazing Just4kix, your lucky to have discount and get such cool gadgets

Originally Posted by deepmohan

Really a great stuff you are lucky to have it on discounts

Originally Posted by Anything

Amazing Just4kix, your lucky to have discount and get such cool gadgets

Anyone who knows a friend working at Logietch can get these discounts. Even if you or he are contracted to work at Logitech, discounts are eligible.