Hi folks, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to blog properly – ‘tons going on, not the least of which was getting married, going on honeymoon and getting stuck thanks to a massive volcano. It’s all good though and I’ve got some good stuff to share about some IP Camera’s that I’ve been integrating and the trials and tribulations of that, but I’ll cover that another time…right now it’s this is about remotes.
I’ve been a sucker for wanting some super cool looking touch screen job for a while now, but the price has made me hold off. I now have a new excuse and it’s one that I’d never really considered. Simplicity.
We had a load of guests staying during the wedding and a major problem was that I kept getting asked to turn on the TV, change the channel or something else. What the ! it’s easy right? … Wrong, no one could work the remote, it was scaring them. It’s just a Logitech Harmony 520 which I’ve been really happy with and I though was pretty simple. Apparently people weren’t used to holding the screen and they didn’t want to break it. I know I was shocked too.
This lead me to thinking, what do I really want in a remote? I’ve narrowed it down to:
Easy to use
Controls everything
That’s it, I’ve taken “looks cool” off the list. I went in search of something that fits the bill and the Harmony 300i, a super simple remote looks to be the best fit and I’m a bit shocked about that, no touch screen nothing cool looking. I’m getting a review unit in soon, so look out for a review. It also got me thinking, what’ else is new…does anyone have anything cool?
I really like the Amulet device and I can’t wait to get one of those in my hand too…I’m thinking given the above experience it might be too complex though but I’ll have to wait and see.
So what’s your remote, why do you like it and would you recommend it?
I’ve had the exact same experience with a Harmony. I ended up with a Media Center remote and I use home automation software to control everything else. So for instance, when I hit the power button on the MC remote, my HA controller sees that and makes sure everything else is on and on the correct input. Works great and it couldn’t be simpler. Then I use my iPhone as a more advanced remote.
What HA software are you using? I really like the B&O remote which is just the best engineered remote I’ve ever had the pleasure to touch, getting that to work with MC and everything else would be cool…it’s the Beo4 (http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beo4-remote-control)…I found someone using one the other day with an IR repeater they constructed…super cool
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Hi folks, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to blog properly – ‘tons going on, not the least of which was getting married, going on honeymoon and getting stuck thanks to a massive volcano. It’s all good though and I’ve got some good stuff to share about some IP Camera’s that I’ve been integrating and the trials and tribulations of that, but I’ll cover that another time…right now it’s this is about remotes.
I’ve had the exact same experience with a Harmony. I ended up with a Media Center remote and I use home automation software to control everything else. So for instance, when I hit the power button on the MC remote, my HA controller sees that and makes sure everything else is on and on the correct input. Works great and it couldn’t be simpler. Then I use my iPhone as a more advanced remote.
What HA software are you using? I really like the B&O remote which is just the best engineered remote I’ve ever had the pleasure to touch, getting that to work with MC and everything else would be cool…it’s the Beo4 (http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beo4-remote-control)…I found someone using one the other day with an IR repeater they constructed…super cool
I just use a Harmony 550, does every you need it to.