Universal remotes reviewed

Tony Quinsee17 November 2009

Completely disagree with Jon about the Harmony universal remote. In our lounge we have a Virgin box, an old and rare Sony surround sound system, a new Sony Blu-Ray player and a relatively new Samsung TV. Juggling the 4 remotes and selecting the correct inputs on the TV and audio system used to be a nightmare. In little more than 30 minutes I'd programmed the Harmony for "Watch TV" and "Watch DVD". We've now been using it completely flawlessly for over a year. The initial time taken to set it up is irrelevant when you consider the time it saves for the rest of your life. I'd peronally give it 5 G's.

b3astmast3r20 December 2009

I have to agree with Tony, I set the basic functions in about 45 minutes for my 5 devices, then spent about 3 hours perfecting all of the Activities and setting up customised channels for Sky, but I now only have to press 1 button to switch between say playing an Xbox game and watching Sky, thats 4 devices in my system, to be either turned off or on and channels switched with a single button on 1 remote, only takes asecond, whereas before it took 30! how much time is that going to save me over the next few years! 5 G's for me...

Chipster21 December 2009

I'm have to disagree with the Gadget show on this... I've just got a Harmony One and it's a fantastic bit of kit... The basic setup was done inside of 30 minutes. The Activities functions superbly. You can spend hours getting everything perfect but then it is perfect forever... 5G's from me aswell..

siaradbach20 January 2010

I have had a URC 7780for two years now,and it is Brilliant not only does it control everything I have but also if it does not have an appliance in its memory you can phone the company up and they will programme it over the phone.and for £27 it is great.All i can say is that the way paul ross and jon were performing then thety shouldn't be on the gadget show.

stephen rowley19 April 2010

i think the logitech harmany 1100 is ace all touchscreen bit pricely tho

Sebastian J26 December 2010

I have to agree with the majority of the comments here... The Harmony One is a great piece of kit... Initial set up took around 30 minutes, tweaking took quiet some time longer, its definitely worth it, once you get used to the software the process does speed up too and if something doesn't work quiet right the 'help' button on the remote fixes all... Now i have my Samsung TV, X box 360, Sky+ HD, Panasonic Home Cinema, 3 Lamps and my PS3 (with additional transmitter) working perfect... 5 G's no doubt :)