Just wondering if anyone has a review or any comments about the Harmony® One Advanced Universal Remote advertised as being available in Oz for a RRP of $399 (the same RRP that Logitech has for the 785).

It doesn't appear to have dedicated teletext (red, green, yellow, blue) buttons which are useful for my beyonwiz. (I have the bw Universal Remote which I received as part of their "free" Xmas special plus $18 for postage... cough*ripoff*. It has a serious lag between button press and the command being received plus an annoying beep everytime you press a key, but it is better designed than the original bw remote. And don't get me started on the Yamaha remote!)

Touch-screen capability on the Harmony One sounds flash, but I'm not necessarily convinced that it really adds value... is it just something that can go wrong? I haven't been able to locate much feedback on the longevity of the 1000i touchscreen.

Seems odd that both the 785 and "the One" are priced identically in Oz. Maybe with the beyonwiz I'm better off looking at the 890 or some of the other US models.

Anyway my aims with the remote:
1. Turn on TV
i) without Yamaha surround sound (ie use TV speakers)
- control foxtel
- control DVDR (switch between DVD and HDD)
- control beyonwiz
ii) with Yamaha surround sound (mute TV)
- control foxtel/DVDR/beyonwiz and select appropriate input on amp

2. Turn on and control Yamaha and separate CD player
- select internal speakers/outside left garden/outside right garden/outside both gardens

If anyone has a review that would be great.

here's one from today's green guide:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/reviews/logi...2090429081.html

i don't see the point in this remote - less buttons overall, and wow, it has a touch screen that can only display 3 activities. is it really that much better than hard buttons (like the 6 on the 785 or 4 buttons on the 525)??

the functionality is meant to be the same as the 525/785 - so what's the point exactly?

Think you will find a thread in Home Theatre section started by Foxtail with some info on it.

I actually did a "Search Site" before posting and didn't find anything! Will have another squiz.

Very timely review! I note it received only 3/5.

It would be useful if Logitech posted the produce manual on their site. I like to read the actual brochure when looking at A-V related equipment. The specifications section they provide isn't really helpful... ie it connects via USB to a Mac or Windows machine! I was is DSE Powerhouse at Northmead yesterday and saw the 785 "on special" at $299 reduced from $399 so thought Logitech might be introducing some new models. As you asked achw, what's the point?

I think achw was referring to the usefulness of a new product with fewer useful features. Touch screen is nice, but fewer activities on screen at once, no coloured hard keys and if you opted to make them soft keys you could only display three of the four colours on the page, needing to scroll to get to the other colour.

Here's Foxtails previous post of the Harmony One

I was actually agreeing with him about the loss of features


Thanks for that - I looked through the Home Theatre thread earlier and still couldn't see it! I suspect I'll get the 785 but the comments about the lack of tactile feel of the keys are disappointing.

It doesn't add any new features. All Harmonys use the same programming so they all have pretty much the same features anyway.

It's biggest plus is a HUGE improvement button layout and feel. That is enough for me to want one!

Oh, and although it only has 3 Activities per screen, it does have 6 buttons on the screen available once you are in an Activity, so you'll be able to get all 4 coloured buttons (plus 2 other commands) on the screen at once.

i couldn't even justify the extra money for the 785 - colour screen, 6 activities rather than 4, and rechargeable battery with dock - but at least twice the price (bought the 525 for $99).

to then go to the harmony one for triple the price - for less features than the 785 - would be a difficult thing to do!

particularly when the functionality of all 3 remotes is identical - none of them do any control functions better than the others.

i would have kept the xbox model (which was $69) except that the other half liked the look of the 525 more (even though it had 2 less buttons) - so i guess it's what you can pay for look/feel (for me, it was $30!).

I just bought a Logitech harmony one remote and I like it better from a use and feel perspective.

It feels light years ahead and luxurious compared to the 785 and 525 when you use the buttons and the layout is better. The 525 and 785 have this horible cheap clicking sound each time your press a button, the harmony one is just plain superior in this respect.

It is very nice due to the fact you can program your favourites on the touch screen, which is great for Foxtel and my young kids.

No you don't get 6 hard buttons for 6 devices, but lets be honest how often do you switch back n forth between 6 devices in a hurry. It is very easy to switch to the 2nd page for your 3-6 list if devices. I have the TV, PVR and Foxtel on the front page of the touch screen. You can adjust the sensitivity of the touch screen, which is great.

Another complaint was the 4 coloured buttons, not a big deal for me as I don't really use them much on my PVR or Foxtel, however they do appear plain as day on the touch screen to use.

Overall the harmony one is very nice and I am sure I am only getting a small % of what it is capable which will be fun to explore over the next few weeks/mnths.

Prices are pretty good now as well, I got mine for $239 at Oficeworks - Dick Smith would not match the internet price.

I'm tossing on either getting the 785 and One. My inclination at the moment is towards the 785 due to the hard coloured buttons. Other than that, I believe the functions between those 2 are the same. I use those buttons on my foxtel IQ2 remote quite frequently to scroll down the channel list and browse for programs days in advanced. Are you saying the One displays those coloured buttons on the touchscreen? How easy would it be to program that? Are they constantly there on the screen or do I have to press another button to display those coloured buttons. I don't have any programable remote right now but I'd want something simple for my DW to use.

We use a 785 with foxtel iq (the original not iq2) the colured buttons are used very frequently to select series link, delete recordings etc. Touchscreen stuff is just not as good - sure it works, but you often have to hold the remote right in front of you to see the label on the screen, and what label would you put for a coloured button? " Green"? or just a green square? (either way I don't think a screen works that well for telling you a button is a colour as opposed to a function like "Menu", "skip" etc).

Hmm... good point. I'm trying hard at the moment to justify the extra cost to get the One. Sure it looks more sexy with its smooth curves and shiny black plastic, and of course, the fancy touchscreen. Any other benefits besides those? Any One users out there that can argue/discuss with me why the One is better than the cheaper 785?

What's the current price for one of those 785's and One in a Melb store anyway?

To answer your question, the 4 coloured buttons are the first 4 touch buttons on the command screen ie the first screen that comes up when you watch foxtel or PVR.
They have a coloured button ie red, green, yellow, or blue with the name of the colour over the top - all within a nice blue rectangle background. You do not have to do anything, these coloured buttons come up when you first load the device.

In other words they are very easy to see and use.

If you look at the layout of the remote, it is light years ahead of the 785. Watching pre recorded shows from the PVR when fast forwarding adds etc is a breeze with the harmony one. It ergonomically sits in the palm of your hand very close to the volume and chanel up/down. These are the main every minute functions I use. The 785 is just prmitive with the play/FF /pause etc buttons down the bottom of the remote having no ergonmics and too small.

Me the harmony one is light years ahead of the 785. If you don't want to spent the cash, get the 525 instead which has a better buttom layout than the 785.

cheers

In terms of functionality the 785 and One are very similar - there's not light years in difference. This may be different for the build quality and key layout. My only complaint about my 525 is the build quality is a little on the cheap, but for what it does for the price, I'd have two.

I have a 525 and hardly every use the play/stop/ffwd buttons as I use the left/right/up/down/OK keys for all my skipping on my PVR. Having hard coloured buttons was a critical element for me as I use them so often on my PVR that I just wanted them in plain sight. There are then equally as used buttons that are particular to my PVR (eg setup, Live, Popup etc) that I have on the LCD.
I actually would prefer the setup of the 785 over my 525 because of the location of the coloured buttons on the 785 are in the middle of the remote.

Diesel. " I use the left/right/up/down/OK keys for all my skipping on my PVR" Did you have to program that on your 525 or did it come up automatically??

Also have the 525 and 785 - there is no comparison, the 785 is an infinitely better remote. Screen on the 785 is brighter, clearer and in colour and the 785 recharges on the dock.

No my original remote is also programmed to operate that way, but you can assign any command to any key with the Harmony. I could for example set the channel and volume commands to those keys.

Any commands you can't intuitively map to the hard keys, you can map to the soft keys on the LCD screen...and you can have quite a few pages worth of commands on the LCD, but I find it best to keep it down to 2-3 pages.