RE: {Disarmed} Harmony to replace Pronto - Thoughts please.

["Paul Gale" <groups2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On the other hand - I've not had any of those problems using my
Harmony 895 to control my amp, DVD, sky boxes, plasma, lighting etc etc. I
did use generic Philips IR codes for anything special (which I taught the
Harmony from a pronto!!!) with HomeVision responding to these (like
lighting and curtain control etc).

IME, as has been mentioned, the Harmony is far less flexible but is
significantly quicker to program than a Pronto etc. I've had a couple of
older Pronto's for years and never had the time or inclination to fully
finish programming them - there was far too much to do. Getting the Harmony
was one of those revelation moments where finally, everything (at least in
the AV room) just worked. That's my experience anyway.

Paul.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Phil Harris
> Sent: 21 January 2008 07:28
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: {Disarmed} [ukha_d] Harmony to replace Pronto - Thoughts
> please.
>
> Just had to reply to this one ... it's one which has annoyed me myself
> quite
> recently as I had to do some testing at work with various IR remotes
> and
> used my own Pronto / iPronto remotes as well as some Harmony / Philips
> RC9800i remotes.
>
> For testing they were fine but I then decided to try the RC9800i where
> I'm
> currently living on the Sky / DVD / AV Processor / SliMP3 / Plasma
> combination in the lounge. I have my iPronto in there at the moment
and
> it
> works perfectly with all input switching handled nicely and accurately
> but
> I'll be moving out soon (all being well) and so I was looking for
> something
> to replace the iPronto with when I leave.
>
> I tried the RC9800i and the Harmony and Jesus H Christ I have to say
> that I
> hate them with a passion ... I find them inflexible, unreliable and
> basically too annoying to use. Neither would reliably switch the
plasma
> nor
> the AV processor to the correct inputs, neither had codesets for all
> the kit
> that I was using (I ended up learning codes from my iPronto) and
> generally
> it just reaffirmed to me that I want to stick with my proper
> programmable
> remotes which may take more time and effort to set up but at least
> repay
> that effort by working!
>
> Phil
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
> Behalf
> > Of Neil Spellings
> > Sent: 20 January 2008 22:49
> > To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: {Disarmed} [ukha_d] Harmony to replace Pronto -
Thoughts
> > please.
> >
> > rb_ziggy wrote:
> >
> > > So, to the questions:
> >
> > I have an 895, so my answers are based on that...(plus I've never
> owned
> > a Pronto, so can't compare...)
> >
> > > - Can I do room based menus again?
> >
> > Not sure exactly what you mean by this - do you mean different
> remotes
> > control different rooms?
> >
> > > - Can I completely configure hard buttons (eg vol on the av
amp, tv
> > > for say pip, ch up/down for sky) for use on the 'same
screen'?
> >
> > Every hard button is configurable apart from the Device,
Activities,
> > Power and Help buttons
> >
> > For each Activity, you configure which piece of equipment should
> > control
> > the volume, channel etc
> >
> > > - Can it control X10 IR and perhaps CBus?
> >
> > It could certainly send IR codes to an X10 receiver, however I'm
not
> > sure whether the Activity-based screens would allow sufficient
> control.
> >
> > I've got my Harmony controlling my Idratek-controlled lights, but
it
> > took quite alot of fiddling to customise the activity screens
using
> IR
> > codes from an unused remote (which Idratek then learns and
responds
> to
> > accordingly)
> >
> > I think the Harmony scene-based control only works on ZWave
devices
> and
> > not X10/IR
> >
> > > - Is there anything else I should also know (pros / cons)
about the
> > > Harmonies?
> >
> > Pros
> >
> > The way it tracks whether your devices are on or off is pretty
good
> and
> > works quite well.
> > The Help feature also sorts  things out when things dont go as
> planned
> > or a device misses is on/off command and gets out of sync.
> >
> > I've found email support to be pretty good
> >
> > Very SHMBO friendly and I don't hear many complaints
> >
> > Build quality is good and its sturdy - its taken quite a few
falls
> off
> > the sofa arm onto a hard wooden floor with no apparent damage so
far!
> >
> > Good (online) database of devices and IR Codes
> >
> >
> > Cons
> >
> > The main grip I have is that there is no native Macro support.
You
> > can't
> > just create a new series of commands and tie them to a particular
key
> -
> > you have to base everything around activities, and then you start
> > getting tied up having devices involved you don't really want in
> there.
> >
> > Lighting scenes are ZWave only
> >
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> >
> > Neil
> >
> >
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> >
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