Life is much easier with the Logitech Harmony One Remote Control.

My husband and I recently finished most of our basement to create a space in this small house where we can entertain more than three people at a time.  Of course, this was the perfect opportunity for him to finally buy a huge plasma TV, Blu-Ray player, surround sound system, etc. and also sign up for a DVR and HD service from the local cable company.  Once everything was set up, there were four different remote controls to deal with and then the fun puzzle of trying to remember which settings on the receiver went with which functions. 

I have a college degree and like to think that I am a reasonably intelligent person, but the whole setup was an enigma to me.  If I did actually manage to get a Blu-Ray disc playing (usually with the help of my husband), I'd hit the wrong button on the remote and we'd lose the visual or sound or something... which then required my husband to stop what he was doing and try to get everything set up again.  One night I was reduced to tears when I couldn't switch from watching a Blu-Ray disc back over to cable TV.  I was ready to throw those four remotes straight through that plasma screen. 

My father understands and loves me.  He knew I wasn't enjoying the basement like I had expected to and probably feared that a divorce was in the future when I finally snapped and hurled the remote at my husband's fancy TV.  For my birthday, he bought me the Logitech Harmony One Remote Control. 

What The Heck Is A Harmony One Remote Control?

Basically, this fancy little gadget is a universal remote that you can program to control the various devices in your entertainment system, including stereo systems, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, Blu-Ray players, surround sound systems, TiVos, cable boxes, and even gaming systems like the Nintendo Wii.  Instead of trying to remember settings and figuring out which remote control goes with which device, you can simply hit "watch a DVD", "play game", "watch TV", etc. and then let the Harmony One Remote deal with turning everything on and to the appropriate setting. 

The Harmony One is a sleek and glossy black remote with an LCD touch screen.  The screen is used to select functions like "watch TV" or "play game" and the various buttons are used to control volume, fast-forward/rewind functions, select channels, etc.  This remote control comes with the computer software required for setup, a USB cable to connect it to your computer, and a base to keep it charged.  My father paid about $200 for it at the local Best Buy. 

Setup

My husband did the initial setup of the remote for the plasma TV, cable box, Blu-Ray player, and surround sound system.  When I asked him how long it took him to get everything installed and working, he told me that it took about twenty minutes including the software installation on the laptop.  All he had to do after getting the program running was select a device and manufacturer and enter the model number.  Because all of the electronics in our entertainment system are recent models, the Logitech Harmony One software "knew" all of them and was quickly able to program the remote.  Although the program recognizes thousands of brands and hundreds of thousands of different devices, it may not be able to automatically set up older electronics.  In that case, from what I've read, you can still manually connect many different items. 

I was annoyed that my husband set up the remote without letting me know because I wanted to be part of the experience.  One night he and I sat down and added the upstairs TiVo to the remote.  I was the one pointing and clicking and it took us less than two minutes to select the product and get the information uploading to the remote.  The software really is very easy to use and much simpler than I had expected it to be. 

Using The Logitech Harmony One Remote

Once the remote is programmed, you simply touch the LCD screen to activate it and then press the button on the screen to turn on the TV, gaming system, Blu-Ray player, etc.  It is important that you point the remote straight toward the entertainment system without having any barriers in the way like laptop screens, people, etc.  Once everything is turned on and working, you can use the various buttons to control volume, channels, pause/ff/rewind functions of Blu-Ray/DVD players and DVRs, etc. 

Watching my favorite TV shows and Blu-Ray discs has gone from a stressful and frustrating experience to something wonderfully simple.  I can easily switch from one function like the Wii to another such as cable TV.  The setup had a few issues at first, but over the first week or two my husband was able to make little adjustments to the remote so that it was working perfectly very quickly.  The only thing that we haven't totally worked out yet is how to work the DVR and On Demand functions on the cable box through the Harmony One Remote.  To be fair, though, I only mentioned it to my husband once in passing and I don't think he ever bothered to try to see if he could fix it. 

Overall Opinion

At $200, the Logitech Harmony One Remote Control certainly isn't a cheap gadget, but in my opinion it is worth every single penny.  I was completely miserable and frustrated when I had to try to work four different remotes and remember what all of the settings on the surround sound system were.  The setup was simple and the remote itself is easy to use.  This Harmony One Remote is great for anyone with multiple devices and remotes in their entertainment system.  I am extremely happy with my birthday present and can't even imagine what would have happened to that beautiful plasma TV by now if I was still trying to figure out what to do with 4 remotes.