remote-control, universal-remote-control, suggestionsWe recently bit the HDTV bullet and with the upgrade came a handful of new remote controls. It is telling for me to watch my wife's eyes glaze over as I try to explain what is now required to perform as basic an operation as starting a Blu-ray movie.
I am familiar with a related question about consolidating remote controls, but the key factor I am looking for here is usability, especially for someone who isn't uber-technically inclined. I have no problem going the extra mile to get the remote set up properly, but operating multiple devices with it should be intuitive and straightforward.
Has anyone found a universal remote control that would satisfy the high calling of being family-friendly?
I got my parents the Logitech Harmony 670 a few years ago, and it is amazing. The trick is that with the included software, you set what the activity buttons do. Watch TV turns on the tv, cable and sound system (and binds the correct controls to the correct device, sound system for volume, cable to channels etc.) Watch a movie has TV dvd and sound system (set to surround sound). And a number of custom activities.
This has made it very straightforward for teaching parents, and visitors how to control the entire set up without really thinking about it.
The biggest benifit is the help button. Pressing it will attempt to reset the devices to the correct setting (asking you on it's screen "Did that fix the problem?") if that doesn't work, then it will cycle you through a series of questions asking which device is working and which isn't.
Set up requires a little bit of work on your part, setting all the settings and teaching the remote any IR signals that it doesn't know (most devices are covered, and logitech does update the software, but for some older models you'll need to teach it).
Just about any of the harmony models include most of these features, it's just a matter of how much you're looking to spend.
I have a Harmony, but honestly I miss my old trusty Home Theater Master MX-500.
The Harmony is constantly suggesting this or that, the help button is patchy when you don't have discreet on/off codes and it confuses my wife quite a lot. The software Harmony ships makes iTunes feel multi-threaded.
Still I like a lot of things about the Harmony, but a lot of what it does feels magic and the touch screen can be fairly annoying.
The advantage of the MX-500 was that it was dead simple and the non touch screen is really handy. It all fell apart when it failed to replace my media center remote.
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