Tv Remote Control

[glenwilson]

i have had my Onkyo receiver for six years now. The learning remote that came with it is starting to wear out. It is quite simple but does all we need as HDMI switching does a lot in the background too. Had some programmable remotes before like an All For One which I hated and also a Sony touch screen remote ages ago.

The only one around now seems to be the Logitech Harmony but are there any others worth looking at? Just want to avoid having to use a separate remote for everything.

 

[glenwilson]

Seems that you can get a knock-off replacement remote for £8. May try that. But the Harmony with hub is about £80.

Think I had a programmable Harmony before but it was a pain to use and the macro’s were a pain because if a device was already on it didn’t know and would switch it off as it never remembered the previous state.

 

[glenwilson]

So, ordered the replacement for £8. Operates the receiver just fine but despite the listing it isn’t exactly the same. It isn’t possible to program it at all so is no use and has been returned.

After reading and wathcing a lot of reviews have eventually gone for the Harmony. It can be used for all the home theatre resources and also the Apple TV and Hue lights. I checked the app you use to program it and it does appear to be a lot better than before. I could have got the Harmony Hub on its own that you can use with iPad or phone but that was £99! So the hub and an older model remote is a reasonable deal.

I did look at the One For All 8 but you still need to switch between devices and whilst the reviews were OK it was around £30.

 

[glenwilson]

Finally went for an old model Harmony with hub. Works fine and is programmable so for most functions like Prime and Netflix through Apple Tv is doable.

Wife still plays CDs despite Apple TV/Music so had to set up an activity for playing CDs. So all you have to do is slide to open the screen scroll down to "Play CD". Simple yeah? I tested this about a dozen times and it worked every time. Then used it to select Sky and tried the Play Cd again - worked. Did the same for other activities. Demonstrated what you have to do.

Today wife wants to listen to a CD. does it work? Nope. Me: "Show me what you did."

She shows me then says... "See Netflix starts up"

Me: "You tapped play Netflix so wtf would you expect to happen?"

Her: "Why can't we just use the normal remotes?"

Me: Walks away shaking head.


The remote actually works well. The only really annoying thing is the shape of the remote. No matter where you put it, it will fall off the surface. The back is so curvy it is stupid. Doesn't make it easy to hold either,