New Logitech Remotes (so cheap)

[steverb]

Has anyone tried the new logitech 700??

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?item=JOYLOG6220

 

Im mighty tempted , for $115. A cheaper version of the Logitech One , without that awful touchscreen that i hated. Plus it uses normal AA batts, no more docking station & useless charge life. May finally be able to put the Phillips Remote away after all these years of allways going back to it.

[bazzer]

Only controls 6 devices. I think my 785 does 15 or so? Still, I suppose most people wouldn't need that many.

 

On the battery front, it still uses rechargeable batteries (but only charged via USB!). Are you sure it uses AAs? If so, I wouldn't expect regular AA batteries to last long and replacing them would get expensive.

 

I wouldn't say this is a cheap replacement for a One, I wouldn't even replace my 785 with it. You can still pick up 785s for under $100, I guess they're clearing them out.

[Electra]

only 4 custom buttons as opposed to 6, a bit "cheap" looking. I will be keeping my 785 I think. This is a replacement for the 525 I would expect.

[bazzer]

Apparently not. The 785 is going cheap as it is making way for the 700. The idea being that it is a cheap alternative, encouraging one to perhaps pick up the One, I'd expect.

[steverb]

The 700 comes with 2x Sanyo enerloop rechargables & a charger power pack (in the

US)

 

The things I hated with the 'One' are the charging cradle/poor batt charge life & touchscreen. Both gone from the 700.

The activies is a pain, allways disliked that with Harmonies. Just means more button pushing to go through devices, I thought these thing were meant to make it less strenuous exercise :-)

6 devices: no real issue there (CD would be controlled under amp, both being same brand & having remote pass through cable)

My trusty philips only has 5 device limit, & that replaced the 'one', still have the 675, just dont use it

 

785 would be perfect apart from small buttons & that charging cradle.

My other remotes can go months on AA batts, cant see the point of rechargeable-needing a charge every week- cradle; unless some Harmonies just had a huge current drain (that color screen perhaps??)

[nixon76]

Buttons looks 'small'

[clevedon]

 

steverb;127482 wrote:

 

6 devices: no real issue there (CD would be controlled under amp, both being same brand & having remote pass through cable)

 

My trusty philips only has 5 device limit, & that replaced the 'one', still have the 675, just dont use it

 

 

 

785 would be perfect apart from small buttons & that charging cradle.

 

My other remotes can go months on AA batts, cant see the point of rechargeable-needing a charge every week- cradle; unless some Harmonies just had a huge current drain (that color screen perhaps??)

 

15 devices on the 785 is still not enough, going to have to buy another one soon.

 

We get at least two weeks out of a charge on the 785 and it's two years old, not a biggie. Have to charge the cellphone four more times than that.

 

Still believe the 785 is one of the best things we've bought for our setup.

[Jaxson]

 

steverb;127482 wrote:

 

The activies is a pain, allways disliked that with Harmonies.

The 'activities' is where the real power of the Harmony remote comes from. This is what gets everything going in one button press and configures different buttons on the remote for the appropriate device.

eg volume for receiver but at the same time the channels for the TV/freeview etc.

[Tony Davey]

agree with Jaxson, activities are great, but only as great as the set up of them.

 

I really like my 525 although it does chew through the batteries (rechargeables that are charged every few weeks I guess). Small inconvenience vs the massive convenience of 1 remote. The "glow" function on my 525 doesnt work anymore which is a pain, although I suspect it has something to do with the strength of the rechargeable batteries I use rather than a fault as when I press an activity, the remote still glows.

 

A friend has the RF Phillips which appears top notch, all the equip is in a cupboard and the activities are a step or 2 ahead of the logitechs, no worries about where the remote is pointing etc but I think he paid circa $1k for his, I paid under $100, I think I can live with the difference.

 

Have been eying up the 785 at DSE with its charging station so some of the comments on here have been interesting.

 

With a new DSE opening in the mall tomorrow might have to have a bit of a closer look, maybe the shop needs to invest in a new remote.....

 

Sen

[Jaxson]

 

Senator;127540 wrote:

I really like my 525 although it does chew through the batteries (rechargeables that are charged every few weeks I guess).

 

I have the 525 as well, last of the 15 devices types.

Batteries last months in mine with daily use of the remote. You have to buy the eneloop type rechargeable. (Advertised as precharged/low internal discharge batteries, many names from different companies for very similar/same product). Costs a bit outright, but seriously worth the investment.

 

Heard various pros and cons about the other models, ie remotes not sitting in charge cradle very well etc. For me I'm quite happy with a remote that can live anywhere in the room with just one off charges every once and a while. Each to their own.

 

If you are not using the activities component then you might as well just get a bog standard universal remote. The activities prevent the need to specifically select each device as you start up. Also prevents the need to know anything about the system at all actually, once it's setup properly. However, it's a darn site easier if your display device supports discrete IR codes for each input.

[steverb]

 

Jaxson;127545 wrote:

 

If you are not using the activities component then you might as well just get a bog standard universal remote.

 

Nothing beats the ease of setup, configurabilty & device code database on logitechs. Thats why I still want one, even after selling off the 2 I didnt like.

Bog standard remotes (Like my philips) are just a pain to program for some devices(no device codes for Zinwell for example), nicer button setup tho.....

[kustoman]

I have a 525, brilliant especially for my wife to use, activities function is excelent, with sky, dvd & home theatre it sorts out the right inputs & which device controls the volume etc.

We have "watch TV" std tv setup, " Watch sky" sound is through tv speakers, "listen to music" which is sky with sound through the home theatre and "watch a dvd" The activities button turns on all the appropriate devices and sets the inputs as well.

I use good quality std batteries, they last about 6 months, why bother with rechargables, with shorter life? Only complaint is buttons being small & hard for her to read without glasses on!

[alisam]

I have an 880 (some buttons nearly knackered), a 525 (which I think is good quality) and a One.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that out of the 3, the One is the best.

I paid $230 from Playtech.

 

I thought long and hard about the Harmony One - I just did not like the shiny black surface. However, I hated the screen of the 700.

 

I did not want to spend a fortune on a remote, so jumped in when I found an acceptable price (at the time).

 

The Harmony One will not be my last remote control but at present I do khow to get what I want from them.

[tkr001]

You've gotta love them when even Modwright pres are in their database. Once you get your head around the principles they are easy to setup and customise.

[Luckiestmanalive]

 

Jaxson;127545 wrote:

The activities prevent the need to specifically select each device as you start up. Also prevents the need to know anything about the system at all actually, once it's setup properly. However, it's a darn site easier if your display device supports discrete IR codes for each input

 

Power toggle switches and input menus are the bane of all universal remotes. I found activity buttons save you time but are hopeless if there are button combinations (or people fiddle with the AV sources themselves) that can get the remote out of sync (eg it thinks the TV is on when it is off or vice versa or it cannot find its way back through the input menu to the right one).

 

I stopped using a universal remote because it stopped my wife and kids from getting to know how the system worked. This meant that I was the only one who could fix it when it went wrong (and believe me, I had thought of all sorts of cunning tricks to reduce the chance that things would get out of kilter). For other reaons, I separated my hifi from my viewing gear and simplified it (eg I no longer do home theatre) and this reduced my need for universal remote.

 

Now that I have been out of touch for a while I am curious to know if things have moved on. Do most TVs, DVD players etc now have discrete codes for power on and off and inputs? Are logitech remotes smarter and know the state of each device they communicates with?

[Ernie1553552694]

Yes sir LM, it is a problem even for custom installers. I'm experimenting with control systems that are plugged into the network. I imagine that there would be some application for helping clueless spouses while away from home, amongst other things...

 

Your best bet for getting gear with discrete code is with the brands that have some pedigree in custom installation. Stuff like Marantz, Integra, Denon...

[Luckiestmanalive]

Thanks, Ernie. My family appear to favour the relative simplicity derived from separating hifi and viewing areas but might not have that luxury if we move so I might be looking at the new logitech remotes then.

 

The 700 looks like a good compromise if you don't want to pay the extra for the one - which I always thought was their best remote when it came out.

[nixon76]

Some equipment these days come with remotes that can learn other components codes (or with their own database) thus aspiring to be the 'one' remote. My Marantz does this. In fact it's gone so far down the path of being a universal remote (IMO) that it's made it hard to control it's own unit. For instance it has a distinct on/off button. But the off button only works on the unit if you first press 'amp'. Exceedingly annoying.

[Stuzzo1553552685]

Yes, failure to have discreet codes is a bane of HT control. Sometimes even when discreet codes are offered they are not really ie sending "on" twice turns a component off. Possibly a throwback to limited ir signal space but the basics like on/off should have priority.

 

The problem is you can never 100% keep track/guarantee the state of a device with software especially when ir is the medium. A code doesn't go through and it all gets thrown out of kilt.

[Jaxson]

 

luckiestmanalive;127737 wrote:

I found activity buttons save you time but are hopeless if there are button combinations (or people fiddle with the AV sources themselves) that can get the remote out of sync (eg it thinks the TV is on when it is off or vice versa or it cannot find its way back through the input menu to the right one).

 

Harmony's have a help button that actually works. It steps through the macros asking for user feed back at all stages. Is the TV on? Yes takes you to the next step, no turns the TV on. Really does work very well. (Well 99% of the time, unless you have a custom string attached at the end, that sometimes causes grief).

 

No remote is going to know the state of a device so it's important to try and not use another remote etc once you get it configured right. I lock my gear in a glass fronted cabinet (2 young kids) but even if your gear is on touch display the help button will get you past this.

 

Main benefit really is the buy in of all parties who don't need to know how everything connects etc to still use it properly.

[Jaxson]

Oh yeah, just remembered the other thing that really helps/helped me was:

 

1) The TV supports discrete input IR selection commands.

 

2) When you press mute on the remote, the mute icon goes away on the TV screen after a while. (Seems trivial but this allows for easy use of TV audio sometimes, and then feeding audio to a receiver at other times; all extremely easily without having to manually turn the TV volume right down/up. Otherwise you may even have to resort to a macro to turn off/on the TV's internal speaker etc).

[steverb]

I bought the 700.

I really like it. Screen is small but still OK.Can import icons into it for channels etc.

It comes with 2x AA Eneloop(no self discharge issues) NiMH batts & charger.

Usb is that newish microUSB connecter: its seems really fragile , why not just use the miniUSB??

Some buttons are small(eg the numbers buttons), but are nicely spread out & raised so are easy to 'thumb'

(the centre left/right/up/down/ok button is still too small)

Its a matt finish, so no horrid fingerprint marks .

No touch screen (yah), just buttons.

Power OFF button is a nice touch, turns all devices off it one hit (on that activity)

Auto Backlight is nice, but no backlight on activities buttons.

 

Im even starting to like the 'activities' now its all set up.

I prefer it to 'One' - but Im sure I'm the minority there. :-)

 

Finally a remote Im happy with.

[Citroen]

A good score then!

 

I had issues in initially setting the macros up on my Logitech. But just rang the help line, and some nice Canadian person just asked me what I wanted to do. Noted what I had, and what I had already tried to input, tried tweaking it with standard settings as we spoke.

 

But FAILED! So they wrote some short cut/code a day later for my particular circumstances and fixed the problem!

[Nety]

+1 for the help line. Have only had to call them a couple of times since I have had a Harmony remote but in my case they have always fixed the issue within a couple of minutes.