![]() ![]() Finally I mute the volume on the TV and turn off the satellite box. When I change from watching TV on my Sky box to watching a DVD, for instance, I normally have to turn the DVD player on, then switch sources on the TV manually, switch the amplifier on and flick that to the correct source so I can experience that big movie sound. The next step is to set up what Logitech calls ‘Activities’, which are designed to simplify certain tedious tasks by linking control sequences together and assigning them to one button. Not only did the database recognise my relatively new Samsung plasma TV and Denon 1920 DVD player successfully, but it also picked up two rather obscure and esoteric high end hi-fi components – a Primare A30.1 stereo amplifier and Unison Research Unico CD – which is a mighty impressive feat. Much of the setup takes place at the installation stage: with the remote fully charged, you simply connect it to your computer or laptop and install the Harmony client software, which then asks you to enter the model names of each item of equipment you want to control. ![]() In practice I was impressed with both the size and breadth of the Harmony’s component database. Other neat touches include a lithium-ion battery, which recharges when you drop it into the supplied cradle, and a motion sensor, which turns the remote on whenever you pick it up. The remote doesn’t just have hardware controls – for common stuff like adjusting volume and changing channel – but also a touch screen so it can emulate the operations of even the most obscure buttons. It’s slim, clad in brushed silver aluminium on the front with blue-backlit buttons, while the rear is rubberised to help you grip it. And because the Harmony 1000 is managed via your PC, this in theory, means that the remote will never go out of date and will always be able to cope with your ever-expanding hi-fi and AV system. The manufacturer claims that it has more than 175,000 products in its remote control database, and these are constantly updated. And it looks to have impressive credentials. ![]() It’s a problem Logitech aims to solve with its Harmony 1000. And this means you have to keep the other remotes handy in case you need to access some obscure menu that isn’t on your universal unit – or you have to ‘teach’ them laboriously, button by button, the functions you want. I’d love a decent universal remote that does away with the need for so many button-festooned slabs of black plastic, but the problem with many of these is that they rarely duplicate your other remotes perfectly. At the last count I had seven remotes in, on and around my sofa at home, not counting the stuff that I’m reviewing at the moment – and though not life-threatening it’s getting to be a real pain. It’s why the universal remote control is an increasingly popular device, and why many manufacturers are beginning to ship remotes with some sort of multi-device capability in the box.Īs a technology journalist, I’m afflicted by a particularly virulent strain of remote control plague. Melodramatic metaphor aside, however, the proliferation of remotes is a growing problem. It can’t be long before they start to reproduce – and global meltdown will surely not be far behind. Now living rooms across the globe are drowning in a deluge of them. Once you’d count yourself lucky if you had one. The remote control hasn’t been around long in the overall scheme of life on Earth, but its evolution over the past thirty years has mirrored that of human kind in an eerily similar way.įrom its humble sonic-click hunter-gatherer-like beginnings, the remote has spread steadily like a virus, multiplying in numbers. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |