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New Harmony Smart Control Remote
#1
Does anyone have one of these new Harmony remotes yet?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C80JGGO

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Apparently its:

- Faster than the Harmony One response times
- Doesn't have any out of sync problems if you don't get correct line of site
- Battery lasts a year and doesn't need recharging

Really looking forward to testing it Smile

I'll review it properly when it arrives in the next few days.

UPDATE1: Use the "Microsoft Media Center Extender" as the device so the remote is instant. It works very fast using this device
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#2
Of course a smartphone or tablet is needed...
so is a no no no no no no from Wife ... Wink

The supplied Remote, i think, controls only the TV...

When you get it please tell us of your experience..
(especially about response times)
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#3
The only problem I see with that remote is the big box next to it ! that will look clunky next to a NUC, why can't the remote work straight to IR do you really need that box to make it work ?!
iMac OS X 10.10, ATV3, LG 3D TV, Onkyo Home cinema 5.1,SLICE/OpenELEC/HELIX
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#4
(2013-11-06, 13:39)solamnic Wrote: Of course a smartphone or tablet is needed...
so is a no no no no no no from Wife ... Wink

The supplied Remote, i think, controls only the TV...

When you get it please tell us of your experience..
(especially about response times)

There is no need for any extra smartphone apps as far as I know, its a nice extra feature that some people use I think. The remote has 3 activities buttons and can actually do 6 with a long keypress. It should be able to control my AMP, TV, HTPC and PS3.

(2013-11-06, 13:44)cecemf Wrote: The only problem I see with that remote is the big box next to it ! that will look clunky next to a NUC, why can't the remote work straight to IR do you really need that box to make it work ?!

Yeh the sender is rather big but that means it should be reliable. Straight IR is useless in my experience, that's what the harmony one does currently and its very unreliable. Using RF should make it so much better and also improves the battery life.
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#5
Ideally it would have both IR and RF. IR is useful for those of us who have media cabinets hidden away somewhere else, and don't want to run a long IR blaster to the TV.
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#6
(2013-11-06, 14:42)awp0 Wrote: Ideally it would have both IR and RF. IR is useful for those of us who have media cabinets hidden away somewhere else, and don't want to run a long IR blaster to the TV.

So at big black box for the Harmony One is an IR blaster, so need to be in direction of TV, HTPC ?
iMac OS X 10.10, ATV3, LG 3D TV, Onkyo Home cinema 5.1,SLICE/OpenELEC/HELIX
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#7
I use the model up, the Ultimate and it's great.

My gear is hidden in cabinets (apart from the TV) and the little IR blaster box, the Harmony Hub (it's not that big) controls everything. It controls the TV directly using IR as well as my PS3 using bluetooth - I think that's the Harmony Hub.

It can be configured in many ways and if your equipment is on show, the Hub can be at the other end of the room facing it, if you so wish.....on a table next to your sofa for example, or on a shelf. It only needs to be near the equipment if you need to use the IR extenders.

I was going to get the Smart, but thought, what the feck, get the one you really want.

D.
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#8
(2013-11-06, 15:06)cecemf Wrote:
(2013-11-06, 14:42)awp0 Wrote: Ideally it would have both IR and RF. IR is useful for those of us who have media cabinets hidden away somewhere else, and don't want to run a long IR blaster to the TV.

So at big black box for the Harmony One is an IR blaster, so need to be in direction of TV, HTPC ?

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand this, but my point is that it's only going to work well if your HTPC/Receiver (and any other components) are in close proximity to your TV, at least close enough to connect it with a mini IR blaster.

For a while I was using a Universal Remote MX-850, which had both IR and RF capability. It had a little "hub" just like this device does, which received the RF commands from the remote control and then converted them to IR signals that would "blast" my media cabinet (which is in my basement). The remote would also use IR directly directly to control the TV in my living room. I could program macros across all the devices and the remote would know to send IR to the TV, and RF for everything else. It worked pretty well.

For someone like me to use this Logitech product, I would have to get an IR blaster on an extra long cable, and find a way to route that cable from my basement media cabinet to my TV. Would be a lot easier if the remote control could send IR (as well as RF).
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#9
(2013-11-06, 13:57)zag Wrote:
(2013-11-06, 13:39)solamnic Wrote: Of course a smartphone or tablet is needed...
so is a no no no no no no from Wife ... Wink

The supplied Remote, i think, controls only the TV...

When you get it please tell us of your experience..
(especially about response times)

There is no need for any extra smartphone apps as far as I know, its a nice extra feature that some people use I think. The remote has 3 activities buttons and can actually do 6 with a long keypress. It should be able to control my AMP, TV, HTPC and PS3.

Really waiting your input on this...

does it have backlight?
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#10
Just recieved mine, wow this thing is sexy!!!

Its very small, really thin and perfect to be held in the hand.

Really impressed so far. Will update later with the performance. No back light as far as I can tell but I guess that helps battery life Wink

Image
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#11
Awesome bit of kit

After 30mins of use:

- Really simple setup, worked perfectly on my android smartphone.
- Very reliable, not had any problems with any sync issues like my old Harmony One
- Its _much_ fast response times, so nearly perfect. MCE remote is still faster but its really good.
- The remote is very light and slim
- Paired to my PS3 no problems at all
- The physical buttons feel great to the touch, the action buttons work really well.
- The lack of dedicated skip and previous buttons really isnt a problem, you just long press and it works perfectly. Infact I think I prefer it this way.
- The smartphone app is nice! actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be Wink
- The button layout is one of the best I have ever used. Feels really natural.
- Still dont like the back button being on the bottom right of the cursors, but you cant have everything Wink I'm sure i'll get used to it eventually.
- Menu doesnt seem to be the same as the DVD menu button on my MCE remote

I set it up as
Device type: Computer -> Media Center PC. Manufacturer: Microsoft. Model: Windows Media Center SE

It doesn't seem to be able to turn on and off my HTPC but I actually like that as I want to leave it on 24/7 now. Should be getting an NUC Haswell soon so power wont be an issue Wink

So thats about it, overall a great purchase for £86!

Now to sell my harmony one on ebay!!
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#12
Great review thanks, I'm waiting for Black Friday hopefully their will be some discount on it Smile

Shame about the none on/off capability, maybe with Haswell and it's Infrared integrated
iMac OS X 10.10, ATV3, LG 3D TV, Onkyo Home cinema 5.1,SLICE/OpenELEC/HELIX
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#13
Great review...

Enjoy your purchase Smile
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#14
Had a little more time to play with it. I really like the setup process on the smart phone app.

But I've just given their on-line configurator a go and its also pretty good, I managed to remap the exit button to backspace on the keyboard, And also the menu button to bring up the context menu. Works really well now, its really weird being able to use the remote from any angle or on the other side of the house, I love it, no more missed keys Smile

Now I just need to work out how to send the htpc to sleep with another button and this will be the perfect remote!
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#15
Managed to sell my Harmony One for £75 which means this actually only cost me a tenner Big Grin

Happy days, a vast improvement!
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