Considering moving from the MX500 to a Harmony One

[Happy Camper]

The three zone functions which psw442 is attempting to program are challenging for ANY universal remote, of any brand, at any price. Not a defense of the Harmony, for sure, but I doubt that any remote which could be programmed by the consumer would be any easier or any better than the Harmony.

We have three Harmonies in our house, but only one has been asked to do really complex multi zone commands. My bailout when I had difficulties (like how to get the Harmony to recognize TiVo remotes coded one through 4 for four different boxes, a situation where a consumer ordered code is not possible on any universal remote on the market) was to simply call Harmony and explain the difficulty. They would set up the commands on my master server based program at Logitech, I'd download it, and it usually worked.

My point is that there is a certain point at which most any universal remote which can be handled by a consumer is going to have a really rocky time of it, and psw442 has passed that threshold easily.

I have also watched very high priced guys at my brother's house working on his very high priced Crestron (controlling a system worth well over $100K) having the very same difficulties as some here have had with the Harmony.

Sometimes I lack the patience and just pick up the remote which controls the original piece of equipment I'm having difficulty with. Works every time.

As the complexity of our equipment and setups increases, the likliehood that any universal command system will always set up well or control every function decreases exponentially.

[pws442]

And, I still haven't gotten to the multiple zones yet! Actually, I don't plan on it. When outside, I use the other Denon Remote, and in the office, I use HyperTerm.

The difficulty was the multiple modes that the Denon remote required. Not only do you tell the Denon the source (FM, XM, iNet, iPod), but you then have to change the remote to send those commands, much like a multi-function remote itself. The 1 key has to be learned 4 times.

Anywho, I made it through the weekend after their very helpful technical support staff cloned my original Denon device into two others: FM, and iNet. They stripped out most everything from the clones, and the FM/iNet commands from the original Denon. I now add those devices to the activity I need, the original Denon always being a part.

Downside is that if I try to add iPod, I woud have to call them up and ask for help, as this cloning was done behind the scenes, and is not as simple as copying a device. But I have confidence I would receive more excellent help.

So, I think it is a keeper after all!

[TheMoose]

Originally Posted by pws442

And, I still haven't gotten to the multiple zones yet! Actually, I don't plan on it. When outside, I use the other Denon Remote, and in the office, I use HyperTerm.

Do you know you can control the Denon through a web interface?
Everything from raising, lowering & muting the volume, changing sources & all the tweaking you can do with the remote & on screen dispay you can do with the web page.
It will control all 3 zones too.

[Butch]

I recently replaced my Marantz RC2000 learning remote with the Harmony 890. I have 2 issues with the Harmony.

1. PLEASE! Let me rearrange the order of the DEVICES.

2. When I downloaded the codes for each of my devices I only got about 1/10th of the commands available on the native remote controls. I'm left to program the 90% of commands which were not downloaded.

If all of the possible codes for every device would have downloaded to my computer:

a. I wouldn't have to train the remote because it would already have all the commands it needs.

b. I wouldn't have to connect to the internet every time I need to do even the most minor of changes.

Its a PITA to have to hook up to the internet and go through 20 minutes of crap just to rearrange a few commands. The RF module AND the remote are separately updated. So, I make a small change, wait 20 minutes to update my devices via internet, test the change, tweak the change, wait 20 minutes to update.... ad nauseam

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give the 890 a 6

[kennyt]

A six Butch???

While I hear your gripes, I've been using the 890 for a few years and as far as universal remotes go, it's at least and 8 and close to a 9....

[pws442]

Originally Posted by TheMoose

Do you know you can control the Denon through a web interface?
Everything from raising, lowering & muting the volume, changing sources & all the tweaking you can do with the remote & on screen dispay you can do with the web page.
It will control all 3 zones too.

I find HyperTerm easier to use than the web interface for the minimal commands I use. (Only XM on Zone 3) Both its XM support, and that of Command3800 are a little weak.

But, if I can get some time, I would kick the dust off of Borland's Delphi, and the HyperAccess API I have laying around!