I'm absolutely dreading this process. Ugh.
Seriously, has anyone done some sort of open source project that is more intuitive to use than what Logitech provides? I'm going to be ripping my hair out again!
Discussion about
We just moved and got a new cable box, so we need to setup our Harmony One again...
I don't own a Harmony remote, but this Concordance Project seems like it could fit the bill. www.phildev.net/harmony/index.shtml
I really tried to like the Harmony once upon a time, but that awful web-based software just wasn't something I could live with.
It astonishes me how difficult the control of home theaters is. It really doesn't HAVE to be this hard, but it seems like all the manufacturers conspire to make it this way. It truly would be easy to fix this problem. The companies that make the TVs, receivers, bluray players, etc could easily offer discrete codes for all their products. That's the minimum necessary to start a change in this problem.
On the other side, it baffles my mind why the products we've seen to date have been the way they've been. Lets take the Philips Pronto, for example. I'm a huge fan of the Pronto line, and I have two of the early remotes myself. But what on earth justified their absurd cost? The last Pronto Philips sold was around $900, yet barely had the smarts of a Treo. The average smartphone** these days has more than enough capability to fix this problem, but all the software I've seen so far is weak.
This product segment is open for a competitor. Even the Harmony hasn't reached the average consumer household yet. Most of those get by with the "universal" remote that their television provider gives them.
I'm weird. I love remote controls. But so far I haven't used a universal remote that I really like. The only non-universal remote I adore is the Tivo Slide.
** I'm not convinced that smartphones are a good idea for this use case. Unless you live alone, the home theater needs something that's always in the room and dedicated to the purpose. Then again, I believe the iPod Touch starts out cheaper than any Pronto ever sold for new, so it's not inconceivable that you could dedicate a Touch to the living room for the TV... Now I just need to see GOOD software for this purpose...
It astonishes me how difficult the control of home theaters is. It really doesn't HAVE to be this hard, but it seems like all the manufacturers conspire to make it this way. It truly would be easy to fix this problem. The companies that make the TVs, receivers, bluray players, etc could easily offer discrete codes for all their products. That's the minimum necessary to start a change in this problem.
On the other side, it baffles my mind why the products we've seen to date have been the way they've been. Lets take the Philips Pronto, for example. I'm a huge fan of the Pronto line, and I have two of the early remotes myself. But what on earth justified their absurd cost? The last Pronto Philips sold was around $900, yet barely had the smarts of a Treo. The average smartphone** these days has more than enough capability to fix this problem, but all the software I've seen so far is weak.
This product segment is open for a competitor. Even the Harmony hasn't reached the average consumer household yet. Most of those get by with the "universal" remote that their television provider gives them.
I'm weird. I love remote controls. But so far I haven't used a universal remote that I really like. The only non-universal remote I adore is the Tivo Slide.
** I'm not convinced that smartphones are a good idea for this use case. Unless you live alone, the home theater needs something that's always in the room and dedicated to the purpose. Then again, I believe the iPod Touch starts out cheaper than any Pronto ever sold for new, so it's not inconceivable that you could dedicate a Touch to the living room for the TV... Now I just need to see GOOD software for this purpose...
I feel your pain, Dave. Make sure you do a software upgrade first. I just had to reprogram my harmony remote, something I hadn't done in years. There was a software upgrade from logitech, plus firmware updates for the remote. Sadly I didn't notice much difference in the new software.
Worst configuration software in the history of software. The only Harmony is that we can all agree it sucks.
Has anyone found a replacement made by a different manufacturer? I'm back to holding and switching between 3 remotes.
Has anyone found a replacement made by a different manufacturer? I'm back to holding and switching between 3 remotes.
