Remote Control Recommendations

Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.

On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.



Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

In article ,
wrote:

On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.



Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

Or the Harmony 520 for about $100 at Target or Walmart. Same comment
about programming. Mine controls A Samsung TV, a Sony TiVo, a Sony
HDD250 DVR, A Panasonic DVD player, a Panasonic VCR and a Goldstar
8mm/VHS VCR.

--
Tom Stiller

PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3
7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF

But how does such a remote handle the fine points? for example, my Sony XS955
has buttons for zoom, wide zoom, 4:3 etc. It also has buttons for menu
functions. Can a universal handle that?

--
All the Best
Richard Harison
"Tom Stiller" wrote in message
...
In article ,
wrote:

On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.



Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

Or the Harmony 520 for about $100 at Target or Walmart. Same comment
about programming. Mine controls A Samsung TV, a Sony TiVo, a Sony
HDD250 DVR, A Panasonic DVD player, a Panasonic VCR and a Goldstar
8mm/VHS VCR.

--
Tom Stiller

PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3
7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF



----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.



Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

I haven't looked at the animal, but I'm led to wonder
how useful a universal remote can really be made to be.
My DVD deck control alone has a group of
bidirectional (different functions on left and right
of arc) quarter-circle arcs around the main button-
and-four-arcs cluster common to most controls these
days. Plus, the bottom numeric-and-special pad has
a flip cover which, when raised, redefines many of
the buttons in that cluster. Even if a universal remote
can provide all the functions, that's a mother of a lot
of buttons, and we haven't even got to the TV and
other devices yet -- and just providing the buttons
doesn't provide the usefulness of special arrangements,
and the protection-against-inadvisable-actions of the
aforesaid flip cover.

Really duplicating, without special arrangements of
buttons, of all the functions on all the devices in a
moderate collection of devices seems to require
a truly mind-boggling (and confusing in dim light)
number of buttons.

But then I haven't tried actually acquiring and
using a universal remote. Any experiences, anyone?

On 8/28/2006 3:32 PM, Anthony Buckland wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.


Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

I haven't looked at the animal, but I'm led to wonder
how useful a universal remote can really be made to be.
My DVD deck control alone has a group of
bidirectional (different functions on left and right
of arc) quarter-circle arcs around the main button-
and-four-arcs cluster common to most controls these
days. Plus, the bottom numeric-and-special pad has
a flip cover which, when raised, redefines many of
the buttons in that cluster. Even if a universal remote
can provide all the functions, that's a mother of a lot
of buttons, and we haven't even got to the TV and
other devices yet -- and just providing the buttons
doesn't provide the usefulness of special arrangements,
and the protection-against-inadvisable-actions of the
aforesaid flip cover.

Really duplicating, without special arrangements of
buttons, of all the functions on all the devices in a
moderate collection of devices seems to require
a truly mind-boggling (and confusing in dim light)
number of buttons.

But then I haven't tried actually acquiring and
using a universal remote. Any experiences, anyone?



The Harmony 880 uses Activities concept. So it is "Watch TV", "Listen
to Stereo", "Watch DVD", etc. If you want to directly control a device,
you press the 'Devices' button and then pick your device. The 880 has
all the functions on the original remote in device mode or you can add
special functions to the Activity the device is in. The 880 is very
powerful. Downside is the buttons are flat and close together so if you
have big finger tips/thumb tips then be attentive when pressing buttons.

Dan

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.



Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

I haven't looked at the animal, but I'm led to wonder
how useful a universal remote can really be made to be.
My DVD deck control alone has a group of
bidirectional (different functions on left and right
of arc) quarter-circle arcs around the main button-
and-four-arcs cluster common to most controls these
days. Plus, the bottom numeric-and-special pad has
a flip cover which, when raised, redefines many of
the buttons in that cluster. Even if a universal remote
can provide all the functions, that's a mother of a lot
of buttons, and we haven't even got to the TV and
other devices yet -- and just providing the buttons
doesn't provide the usefulness of special arrangements,
and the protection-against-inadvisable-actions of the
aforesaid flip cover.

Really duplicating, without special arrangements of
buttons, of all the functions on all the devices in a
moderate collection of devices seems to require
a truly mind-boggling (and confusing in dim light)
number of buttons.

But then I haven't tried actually acquiring and
using a universal remote. Any experiences, anyone?

The question is how many of the "special" buttons do you actually need? The
remotes that come with many components also try to be universal remotes -
usually with poor results.

The Harmony takes the most common actions for the set of equipment that you
have and does them very well in a simple to understand and easy to use way -
anyone can pick up a Harmony remote and press one button that will turn on
all the components needed for the task, turn off any that are not needed, do
what every is required to do whatever you want and set the buttons to a
logical operation. For example "watch TV" will turn on the TV (if it is not
already on), set it to the correct input, turn on the receiver, set it to
the TV input, turn of the DVD (if it is on), set the remote controls so that
change channel hits the DVR, the volume hits the receiver etc. etc. Harmony
has a very high WAF (wife acceptance factor).

For less common operations (for example zoom) there is an LCD screen and
several programmable buttons (the number depends on the model). For truly
obscure operations, there is a mode for each device with all of the buttons
available on the soft buttons (by paging down the LCD). This is a little
tedious, so don't throw away the original remote, but you shouldn't need it
very often. For example, I changed speakers, and wanted the receiver to
recalibrate itself, that was easier with the original remote.

Logitech Harmony 880 works great for me on my NEC HDTV, Dishnetwork 622 DVR,
and Toshiba HD DVD player.



"Roger" wrote in message
news[email protected]
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and a
Westinghouse TV.

In article ,
"Fred Bloggs" wrote:

"Anthony Buckland" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2006 1:00 PM, Roger wrote:
Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.



Logitech Harmony 880. You program it on the WEB by answering questions.
Can buy it on amazon.com for about $160.

I haven't looked at the animal, but I'm led to wonder
how useful a universal remote can really be made to be.
My DVD deck control alone has a group of
bidirectional (different functions on left and right
of arc) quarter-circle arcs around the main button-
and-four-arcs cluster common to most controls these
days. Plus, the bottom numeric-and-special pad has
a flip cover which, when raised, redefines many of
the buttons in that cluster. Even if a universal remote
can provide all the functions, that's a mother of a lot
of buttons, and we haven't even got to the TV and
other devices yet -- and just providing the buttons
doesn't provide the usefulness of special arrangements,
and the protection-against-inadvisable-actions of the
aforesaid flip cover.

Really duplicating, without special arrangements of
buttons, of all the functions on all the devices in a
moderate collection of devices seems to require
a truly mind-boggling (and confusing in dim light)
number of buttons.

But then I haven't tried actually acquiring and
using a universal remote. Any experiences, anyone?

The question is how many of the "special" buttons do you actually need? The
remotes that come with many components also try to be universal remotes -
usually with poor results.

The Harmony takes the most common actions for the set of equipment that you
have and does them very well in a simple to understand and easy to use way -
anyone can pick up a Harmony remote and press one button that will turn on
all the components needed for the task, turn off any that are not needed, do
what every is required to do whatever you want and set the buttons to a
logical operation. For example "watch TV" will turn on the TV (if it is not
already on), set it to the correct input, turn on the receiver, set it to
the TV input, turn of the DVD (if it is on), set the remote controls so that
change channel hits the DVR, the volume hits the receiver etc. etc. Harmony
has a very high WAF (wife acceptance factor).

For less common operations (for example zoom) there is an LCD screen and
several programmable buttons (the number depends on the model). For truly
obscure operations, there is a mode for each device with all of the buttons
available on the soft buttons (by paging down the LCD). This is a little
tedious, so don't throw away the original remote, but you shouldn't need it
very often. For example, I changed speakers, and wanted the receiver to
recalibrate itself, that was easier with the original remote.

And if that's not enough It has an IR input window and can "learn" any
function that your original remote can produce.

--
Tom Stiller

PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3
7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:00:51 -0700, Roger wrote:

Anyone have a recommendation for a universal remote control that is easy
to use once it is set up? I have 2 Sony devices, 2 Samsung devices, and
a Westinghouse TV.

8 device One For All learning remote. Under $20. Take your pick.

http://www.ofausa.com/list_remotes.p...earning%20Line

Cheapest and best remotes I've ever used. Don't even consider the Kameleon
though. Trust me on that. you won't like it. Bought 2 of them and they are
about worthless afaic.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm