Programmable Remotes

[Dakqc]

Hi All,
I finally decided to break down and get a programmable remote. I think what turned me on was the activities features they have... Holy Crap How cool is that?!? Well that and my girl was a tad overwhelmed with my 9 remotes

So I did my due diligence and researched every waking moment, non stop for 7-14 days and learned as much as I could about programmable remotes, pro's and cons, etc... and finally settled on a URC MX-450. Very nice piece btw. Took about a day to figure it out and restarting at least 2x, creating an excel sheet for my button layout, etc, etc... So now I am 75% done programming and taking a break because I am in the market for a couple new components.

HOWEVER, I seem to have overlooked one key feature that I just heard about (perhaps it took experience in the first place to realize it tho)... If any of you have experience with the MX-450, you will know how daunting it can be to program everything to a tee. It amost becomes fun - for about an hour after you figure it out, then it's like 'holy crap... This is going to take awhile'.

Anyway, I was just informed that the Harmony One automatically programs your activities! I was told it downloads your components to the remote, you tell it how your system ties together, and it will automatically create the macros necessary.

Side question #1: Can it account for an HDMI 4x2 splitter? Add a Projector/TV Configuration?

Here's the best part, (I am sure there is extensive setup to assure everything talks together correctly, but...) I heard once your set up, when you upgrade components, it will automatically update your activities with the appropriate commands (basically the only thing I do on my end is download my new model, maybe do a few steps, and - Done)

Side question #2 - is this true? Is it this easy?
? #3 Am I missing something?
4. Will it account for a seperate sub amp (to Turn on/off)?

OOOOHHH Yeah and another BIG HITTER: I heard it keeps track of the power states of devices when changing between activities, so I do not have to worry about buying discrete on/off.
5. does the Harmony ONE have power tracking (memory) capability?

Thanks a ton!
Dakota

 

[MDS]

The Harmony remotes work by downloading codes for your components from their website. But they are not as flexible as the URC remotes. You can't for example quickly add a new command or re-do a macro without connecting it to your computer. Anyway a lot of people like them. If I were you I'd stick with the MX-450.

The key to programming it is to decide on your button locations and which screen and in what order you want certain commands. Then do all the labelling. After that is done the whole learning (codes) process goes quickly and is more intuitive because it flashes the name you chose to place on the LCD screen.

No...the Harmony does not technically track power state. It is one-way IR communication and has no way to know the power state of any given device. What it does is keep track of the power state of each device as you press the power button. In other words, when everything is off initially the power states are all 0/false. When you press the power button, the power state is set to 1/true. That's it. If any device misses the power command, the internal state is wrong and you have to use the 'help' feature which is simply going to ask you if the device is on or off so it can reset its internal state. It's useful but not exactly rocket science.