Harmony 1000 - Truly Hi Tech!

I saw an ad for this recently and today the New York Times has a feature in its “Money” section on the new Harmony 1000 universal remote control by Logitech. I WANT this but as soon as I submitted the “purchase request” to my CFO (a.k.a. Wife) I was at the receiving end of a loud high pitched “are you crazy, $350 dollars for a remote control ?”
Well it’s not any remote control. Ever since I purchased the Harmony 880 last year I was blown away by this thing. Anyone who has had to program a universal remote control knows what a PIA it is to program it especially if you have multiple components to deal with. However it seems like Logitech has figured this out and has a niche going on in this space.

For starters you don’t have to do anything on the device. The Harmony devices come with a USB port so all the “programming” is done on the Harmony website and when your’e done the macros can be downloaded to the device via a USB cable. The website has a database that keeps track of thousands of types of DVD players, TVs and other equipment. So to set up all you need to do is jump on the website and define the various components involved for each action you want the remote to perform and you do this by simply answering a series of questions. For example for the “Watch TV” action you can define the components you want turned on like the high def. TV, cable/satellite box, and home theater. After selecting the make a model of each component you download the macros to the remote control via the USB port and all you need to do to “Watch TV” is to click the button next to the “Watch TV” icon on the remote and a series of actions will fire up all the components. Simple as that! The same way you can set up other actions like “Watch DVR”, “Listen to Radio” and you can also create custom actions like “Dim Lights” or “Shut Blinds” if you have remote controlled lights and blinds installed.

The Harmony 1000 is slightly different than th 880. It comes with a 3.5 inch touch screen and for $150 extra, you can buy an additional gadget, the Harmony RF Wireless Extender, that lets you operate hidden-away devices like a DVD player in a cabinet. The wireless extender receives radio commands from the remote, then transmits infrared signals that the DVD player inside the cupboard can understand. Also not to mention the coolness factor.

This is a must have device if you’re a gizmo junkie like me.

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