Like many of you, my TV room has been experiencing an annoying phenomenon that I will call remote-creep. You all know what I’m talking about, it happens all the time. Here is the recipe.

Start with a TV and maybe a DVD player. Slowly add a game console, then a DVR, maybe some surround sound, another game console, etc. Then one day your wife will start complaining commenting that she doesn’t know how to watch a DVD or can’t switch it back to the TV. I had four remotes, and I was thinking of adding another one. I knew that wouldn’t go over well; not that I liked having to manage a pile of remotes either. Fortunately there is a better way…

The example above is exactly the scenario that has happened to me over the last five years. We started out with just a TV. (You know, one of those crappy small ones you start out with. ) Then we added a DVD player, bought a better TV, got an Xbox 1 (supplanted the DVD player), HD DVR, Surround Sound Receiver, and then Xbox 360 came out.

To watch TV, it took two remotes (fortunately my surround sound remote managed the TV ok or it would have been three) for the surround sound receiver remote and the DVR. I would have to turn on the TV, switch to the HD input, then turn on the receiver, and switch that to the DVR, and then I’d have to pick up the DVR remote to change the show; 6 button presses just to get it on. Volume was handled on the receiver remote, so even once it was all on I still needed to have both near me.

The icing on the cake in this whole setup was getting Windows Vista Ultimate on my desktop computer so that I was now using my 360 as a Media Center Extender as well (a review on that will come in a few weeks). Even though the Xbox 360 has wireless controllers, I really wanted to get a remote to control it properly. Initially I thought about getting the official Microsoft-brand Xbox 360 Remote which is fairly inexpensive, but five remotes was just too much. This led me to my latest “can’t live without it” gadget, a Logitech Harmony Universal Remote.

The Solution to Remote-Creep

For those not familiar with Harmony, it was a company that Logitech purchased a few years back and is now Logitech’s brand of high-end programmable universal remotes. What makes Harmony so unique among other universal remotes is that you set it up via a program on your computer and sync the changes to the remote via USB. There are two consequences of this design. It is far easier to setup than other programmable universal remotes. It is also relatively future proof, as the remote can download codes to new devices that come out after the remote was produced.

The remote I purchased is the Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360. The list price for the remote is $100, but you can usually find it for about $80 online. Although it is marketed as an Xbox 360 remote, it is basically exactly the same as the Harmony 880 but has added X, Y, A, and B buttons which is useful. The other Harmony remotes could still control the Xbox 360, though.

The Industrial Design

Harmony’s remotes are known for their high-quality industrial design. The remote’s weight is well balanced and is notably slimmer than most remote controls. It is very comfortable in my hand, and my only aesthetic complaint is that it doesn’t have any sort of bump/notch between the volume and channel up/down buttons. I don’t actually have trouble accidentally hitting the wrong button, but it just feels like I should look down sometimes to make sure I’m hitting the right button. It is easily light-years beyond any other remote in my “arsenal” though.

Setting up the Devices

As mentioned earlier, you use the Logitech Harmony Remote Software to setup the remote. This setup is broken down primarily into two parts: devices and activities. I have five devices: DVR, TV, receiver, Xbox 1 (primarily running the awesome Xbox Media Center software BTW), and an Xbox 360. Entering in all of these devices was deceptively simple, select what category the devices falls under, who makes it, and what the model number is, and click next. Honestly, that is basically it. You can customize some stuff, and if somehow it doesn’t have the device in the Harmony database (pretty unlikely), you can manually add it using the remote’s ability to “learn” commands from another remote.

Setting up Activities

The second part of the setup is determining what activities you actually want to configure your devices for. I decided on five activities for my setup: TV, DVD / Music (using Xbox 1), Xbox 360, Media Center, and Laptop. When I select DVD / Music on the remote, it automatically turns on the devices needed for that activity and changes the affected inputs.

The Harmony remote is even smart enough to remember what is already on or off. So if I switch from TV to Xbox 360, it just turns on the Xbox 360 and switches the inputs, but if I switch back to the TV it will turn off the Xbox and change inputs. I even have mine set so that it never turns the DVR off, even though it is only used for the TV. The options are really limitless.

In fact you’ll notice that I have separate activities for Xbox 360 and Media Center, even though both use all of the same devices. The difference between them is that the Xbox 360 can be powered up into the “dashboard” for gaming or straight into the Media Center interface. Hint for you Xbox 360 Media Center Extender users out there, add an additional duplicate device for the Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender and set the power on button for it to “Media Center”. Then when you turn on that device in your activities it will go straight to MCE.

Once your activities are setup you sync the changes onto the remote via an included USB cable, and you are ready to go. My wife couldn’t believe it was really as easy as pushing the “TV” button to turn everything on and set it up right. Or that she could switch to DVD with just a push of a button. Since it remembers what is on, if you push the power button on the remote it will automatically turn off everything that is on too.

Bonus Feature

Now as if all of the automated goodness wasn’t enough, I stumbled upon a new feature for my DVR; a 30-second commercial skip button. My standard DVR remote does not have this button, but the Harmony remote lists it as a function and the box supports it. As all commercials are in 30-second increments, this makes skipping commercials even quicker.

The Bad

Unfortunately, not everything is perfect with the Harmony (although I can find weak spots in almost anything). The only real problem with the Harmony remote is that it is still quite technical to set it up. While the software could certainly be much worse, it is no where near being easy enough for my wife to setup this remote, and she is the type of person who will benefit from it the most. Everything is “wizard” driven and some dialogs particularly aren’t very intuitive (see image to the right).

If you are a pretty tech savvy person though, you should be able to set it up. It took me probably 60-90 minutes to really get it set how I wanted it at first, but I’m still making tweaks here and there a week later.

The good news is that the support options look like they are great. I didn’t use them, but it looked like Logitech hosts an active forum just for Harmony, and they even have their own telephone tech support with a number that is easy to find on their website.

Conclusion

Ultimately, even with the moderately complex setup, it is a really great gadget. I’m hooked and will never not have a remote like this ever again. It is kind of like a DVR, where once you use it you’ll wonder how you survived without it before.

The great thing about this product is that it feels so consumer focused the whole time. From the special blister-pack plastic packaging that is perforated for easy opening without a machete, to the fact that it comes loaded with batteries AND an extra replacement set too. This is definitely a product where you get what you pay for, and it is good. 8.5/10.