bigo1120's Full Review: Logitech Harmony® 360 LCD Remote Control
My wife bought me this remote for X-mas of 2006 since I kept nagging her that I wanted it. We have a 37” LCD TV (Dell), a mini-home theater system (Phillips), a cable box from iO (Cablevision), and –- of course – my Xbox 360. That was a total of 4 remote controls that we needed to operate when dealing with what we wanted to watch. When I heard that Logitech came out with this remote I said to myself “I GOTTA HAVE IT!!” The fact that it had the Xbox controllers already integrated into the actual remote was a definitely plus for me and the main reason why I got this particular model. I can honestly say that extremely happy that I did.
My wife paid no more then $90 for the remote (including shipping) from NewEgg.com. I can honestly say that the hardest part about setting up the remote was getting it out of that STUPID plastic container that it came in (WHY DO THEY DO THAT!?!?). Setting up the remote, at least for me, was quite simple and easy to do. You just have to spare no more then an hour to do so.
The design of the remote is very sleek and cool looking. It felt great in my hand. The numbered buttons are a tad bit small so it will take some time to get used to. The layout of the control is extremely easy to get comfortable using and the cool green glow and external casing of the remote mimics the colors of the Xbox 360. The 4 colored buttons on the remote will only work when you use the Xbox. They serve no other purpose. The small LCD is extremely easy to read and the remote comes with a very handy HELP feature that’s easy to follow should you run into issue with the remote.
The first thing I had to do (after installing the software) was get the model information for each device that this remote was going to be controlling. I was very impressed to see how the software that came with the remote had a HUGE list of almost every possible device out there on the market today. I’m not going to lie…I did have some fear about one of these devices not being in the software’s database but that was not the case.
The next thing I did after retrieving all this information was entering it into the software. The software was very user friendly and I had no problems following the directions on screen. Once I entered the model information the software provided me a confirmation screen to make sure that all the devices I want this remote to control have been entered. Again, I was very happy and relieved that the database had all my devices.
Now that I’ve done that part the next thing I had to do was set up what the software called the “Activities”. This meant that when I pressed one particular button on the remote it would control my LCD TV and my cable box. When I pressed another button it would turn control my Xbox and TV. This took another 20 minutes to set up since I needed to make sure that the INPUT settings were correct for each device. When that was complete and I confirmed everything I entered the software took about 5 minutes to update the remote (by this time the software had already asked me to connect the remote to my PC using the USB cable it came with).
Keep in mind that the only thing you don’t need to set up is how the remote controls your Xbox. That part is already done for you.
Now that my remote has been updated it was time to test it out and make sure that everything works the way I programmed it. And it did!!! When I pushed the button that was labeled “Watch TV” on the remote’s LCD both my cable box and LCD TV turned on. The first thing I did notice was the delay when my TV was switching INPUTS. It would take a little over a second for the remote to input the numbered INPUT setting that the TV needed to set to in order to watch cable TV. When I noticed this I immediately l plugged the remote back into my PC and adjusted the delay settings. But when I attempted to switch between INPUTS nothing would happen. I would just get a blank screen. Now I had to plug the remote back to my PC and play around with the delay settings again.
After another 10 minutes I was able to minimize the delay on the remote as much as I could without rendering it useless. My TV has a certain response time when switching INPUTS so I had to set the delay settings to the delayed response with my TV (I hope I didn’t confuse any of you).
Now that I had the settings to my liking it was now time to have some fun. I love how this remote automatically changes INPUTS from watching TV to watching a DVD to playing my Xbox without getting up. Again, it took some time to get use to the slight delay when using the remote. Sometimes when watching a DVD I either rewind or fast forward too far because the response time of the remote to the DVD player is not that great. But that’s something that you can look past.
There are times in where when you press an Activity button and a device will not turn on. For example, when I press the Watch TV button my TV will turn on and set itself to the correct INPUT but the cable box is still off. With a simple push of the Help button the on-screen help features will ask you what devices are on and which are off. It will turn on the devices that are off when you specify.
The remote will have the same features that the device’s original remote will have. You’ll just have to spend some time knowing where those features are on the remote. You can always go back to the software and change how you want the remote to react. Thank goodness that the software is easy to use.
Now that I think about it…the batteries that came with the remote are still in there. I’ve yet to change them. So I’m going to assume here that the battery life is great.
There is one cool feature that I did discover with this remote...if the remote sits idle and you get close enough it will automatically glow. It’s as if the remote has a sensor built in that will pick up your motion. I found that to be a really awesome feature. It’s definitely handy when my living room is dark and I can’t find the darn thing.
Overall, I am very happy with this remote. It is my first Universal Remote that I’ve ever owned and I recommended it to anyone. My brother has an Xbox at home and I recommended this remote to him and even he loves it.
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