Logitech Harmony Ultimate

[nicklmg]

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1qmnJIz

Amazon: Coming soon

 

The Logitech Harmony Ultimate is "more than a remote" with Bluetooth control for consoles and control for Philips Hue lighting. But is it an essential part of any living room media setup?

 

[MegaDave91]

Say my name Nick

[alby800]

Hi nick

[PokémonTrainerFour]

Hey nick, you're almost at 100 posts, congrats!

 

EDIT: Nice implied joke, Linus ;D

[The Crazed Child]

I would never get a Harmony remote again, too difficult to set up even for someone like me.

[Kevinkt]

damn shot and edit that fast? you guys are good

[dragoon20005]

I got the Harmony 700 series 

 

The software may look daunting at first

 

but once you got the model of your device correct

 

you get almost all the features that you can use on the Harmony just like the original remote

 

this remote was a life saver when my original remote for my AV receiver died after the Duracell batteries leak the chemicals and damaged it

[DeViLzzz]

I was first to comment on YouTube. Winning like Charlie Sheen.  Eh .. ok .. maybe not.

[JAKEBAB]

Linus i think you should of added u can buy the hub itself for $100 which makes this actually quite compelling for people that are happy using there phone which as soon as i saw this i thought why not just use my phone and then u showed the app so actually think this is decent if u just buy the hub price could be lower like $60 but still its pretty good.

[Digital Brit]

0:24      Tone = Set

[Wyre]

I think I will keep the Logitech Harmony 900 I purchased years ago for 100 USD ... Doesnt seem like it is any kind of improvement.

[Jerakl]

Thanks Nick!

[Razor512]

In terms of performance, the high end logitech harmony remotes still do not compare to the performance and functionality of the universal remote apps for the ancient windows mobile pocket PC's. I currently use an old pocket PC as a universal remote, while the setup is not as easy as the logitech remotes, the performance is a lot better. A proper IRDA port can chain together many commands very quickly, and custom macros are good

 

I use mine to simply turn everything on (all commands are issued in under a second), in addition to a separate macro which turns everything on, waits a few seconds for the startup, then reduces the volume on everything, then increases the volume to a preset listening level. other than that, there are a few simple macros for heading directly to certain channels

 

The one primary limitation of current universal remotes, is the one way communication. Because it is one way, the remote cannot automatically tell the status of each device, and thus they cannot account for if you manually turn a device on or off.

 

Ultimately, what is needed is a universal 2 way communication standard between all home theater devices so that universal remotes can actually tell the status of a device, and thus issue better commands, and also save energy by having commands buffered, e.g., the remote powers up for 100 milliseconds and in that time, issues a number of complex commands to each device in the system and those devices will then buffer those tasks and complete them each at their max speed instead of worrying about delays in the universal remote macro.

[felixthemaster1]

Wow that opening joke..

 

10/10

[Nerdtastic14]

A girl at my schools dad designed these before they were sold to Logitech. Needless to say he's retired now.

[CustardZeit]

That intro...

[Voigt]

About Ting:

I tried the calculator with my last 3 months of phone invoice, but it seems I am the 1% where Ting wouldn't benefit me. Which is alright, because I live in Germany ^^

[d33g33]

So...

 

Actually a review I can comment on.

 

I've had a Harmony Ultimate the past 7 months. I agree it has some quirks that can take time to nut out, it i VERY expensive for a remote and what I probably find most annoying about it and that Linus didnt comment on is that the play/pause button is all the way up the top of the remote and reaching for it or holding the remote at the top just feels weird or uncomfortable.

 

Before the ultimate,I had a Harmony One, similar looking but I always, ALWAYS had my wife complaining because she would set the remote down or turn it or something before it would finish its blasting cycle and therefore woudn't complete an action of which she had no chance of recovering from.

 

Right now I have the following devices

A samsung 58 non-smart TV

Pioneer receiver

PS3

Wii U

HTPC

 

I have invested a little time into my config, I love that it communicates via RF so you push the button and do whatever you want with the remote, all commands received! Where I got a bit tricky is I set my HTPC up to emulate a PS3 remote using PS3BluMote and then added it to the Harmony as a 2nd PS3. It paired no problems and once I had mapped my keys there were no issues. I did this because my HP IR receiver sh*t itself, previously the HTPC was set up to use IR as a Microsoft -> XBMC device which does an excellent job of mapping keys to the remote.

 

The thing is, if anyone else tried to drive my system, or if you think if anyone else comes over and tries to drive yours if you have a TV, receiver and then devices they will probably struggle anyway. The best theoretical resolution is a universal remote and the best universal remote that i've ever seen or used is the Logitech Ultimate.

 

There are still some features coming which I am looking forward to such as supporting WOL but until that happens I have a IR device wired directly to my PSU for a IR On/Off instead of just waking from sleep

 

Im glad this device didnt get ripped on, I really like mine 

[MuffinTopMike]

I think Linus accidentally signed up for eHarmony while he was trying to set up the remote...

[Mithon]

Who's hand is at 3:00? Is it his wife?

[Colonel_Gerdauf]

OH NO!

 

LINUS HAS A PS4!

 

OH... THE PCMASTERRACE HORROR!

[KitsuneJin]

Not a product I would want. 

[KitsuneJin]

OH NO!

 

LINUS HAS A PS4!

 

OH... THE PCMASTERRACE HORROR!

I think in the video he said he borrowed it, and in the start menu it had luke's account 

[JEW UNIT NY]

Can this turn on/off PCs (laptops) and NAS systems? Yes I know it's a stupid question.  Just want to know. 

[d33g33]

Can this turn on/off PCs (laptops) and NAS systems? Yes I know it's a stupid question.  Just want to know. 

There is no such thing as stupid question.

 

PC's/laptops kinda yes, kinda no. To elaborate it can tell your pc/laptop to sleep/wake but wont go into a full on/off state. However there are workarounds for that such as an IR power switch which you wire directly into the PSU, thats what I have on mine, its the same as pushing the button on the front of the unit.

 

The NAS is a bit more complicated, a typical NAS I would say no, however if it was a NAS that has built in media playback and comes with a remote, and that remote lets you turn the NAS on and off then the answer is yes. Even if the Logitech cant find the model of device you have you can face the factory remote toward the harmoney and go through keypresses to 'teach' the harmony the IR commands from the factory remote.

 

Hopefully that answers your questions.