[bobones]

So Bobones where do you get the Harmony remotes and are they still inexpensive? What are the advantages as I find the basic remotes with the MyGica boxes are pretty good anyway with the right remote.conf file installed, but always looking for better of course..

I got the Harmony Smart Control from Currys/PC World for £69.99 which is £15 cheaper than RRP. Not inexpensive, but cheaper than the touch screen Harmony remotes. This particular model seems to be marketed with emphasis on the Harmony smart phone/tablet app, but the real star is the so called "simple" remote which has all the buttons you need in a small and beautifully made handset. This really is a delight to hold and operate and, because it has no touch screen and no IR emitter, it only needs a single CR2032 coin battery which will last around a year. You may think there aren't enough buttons, but each can be programmed with separate long and short press functions if required.



The handset works in conjunction with a small hub that you plug in the mains and can place almost anywhere in your room. The handset communicates with hub over RF so you don't actually need to point it at your devices to operate them because it is the hub which blasts the IR signals at the devices. The signals from the hub are so strong you don't even need direct line of sight to the devices for it to control them. I have placed mine in a corner, and it's able to operate my home cinema and hifi systems, which are at opposite ends of the room. The hub can also handle devices which use bluetooth or RF as well as of IR and it can be placed inside a cabinet and operate equipment behind closed doors.



One thing I hate about the ATV1200 remote is that is very weak and highly directional, needing to be pointed directly at the box or it doesn't pick up the key press. This remote fixes that problem comprehensively.You also get specific transport buttons for play/pause, stop, etc which the ATV1200 remote lacks.

Harmony provide a nice software package to set up the remote and your devices. It works by asking you about the various tasks you need to use the remote for, e.g. "Watch TV", "Watch a Film", "Listen to Music". You can have up to 6 activities and 8 devices with this remote. I use "Watch a Film" for the ATV1200 and I set up "Watch a Disc" for DVDs and Blu-Rays. One key press on the remote switches the TV and the home cinema amp to the correct inputs and sets up the handset to control the xbmc box. If I press "Listen To Music", all the TV stuff goes off and the hi fi comes on. If I then press "Watch TV" it will switch on my Sky box, TV, and home cinema amp, and switch off the hi fi and leave the remote controlling the Sky box (volume from home cinema amp). This dramatically simplifies switching between devices as only one button and one remote is needed so it makes everything very "wife friendly".

There are other harmony remotes available, but the cheaper ones without the hub (e.g. the 650) are limited by having to keep pointing the remote in the direction of your devices until the sequence is complete and tend to be larger and ugly compared to this simple handset. The more expensive devices have colour touch screens which, in my opinion, only serve to complicate things, reduce the wife friendly factor and eat into battery life. This one is just about perfect.