Intrigue Technologies Harmony Internet Remote

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I got a Harmony Universal Remote yesterday, and in a matter of about 30 minutes it was controlling every remote-controllable device in my apartment. Those of you who know what a gadget-freak I am know that is a huge feat. In addition to the usual DVD, CD, TV, a/v receiver and VCR I have an X Box, ReplayTV PVR, and an Audiotron digital music server. This thing controls them all flawlessly.

All you do is go to a website, enter your devices' model numbers, and answer some questions (in a wizard format) about how you have things hooked up and how you want them to work. Then you hook the remote to your PC with the provided USB cable and your PC programs the remote for you. You can even blast TV listings into the remote itself, or if you have a CD jukebox, you can load the names of the CDs into the remote. In my case I can load my mp3 play lists into the remote and start them playing on my music server with the touch of a button.

The remote works off of a concept of "Activities" such as "Watch a DVD" or "Listen to the Radio". There are a few one touch activity buttons, and a "More Activities" button which will list more activities on the screen for you to choose.

When you select an activity, it turns all the right components on and off and sets everything up for that activity based on how you told it you wanted it to work. If something isn't quite right, you hit the help button and the remote asks you questions to determine how it should behave differently in the future.

It is unbelievable how easy it was to set up and to use. Anyone could pick it up and do anything with my system now, completely intuitively. When my girlfriend got home, I tossed her the new remote and she was navigating the entertainment center with out me saying anything.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I got a Harmony Universal Remote yesterday, and in a matter of about 30 minutes it was controlling every remote-controllable device in my apartment. Those of you who know what a gadget-freak I am know that is a huge feat. In addition to the usual DVD, CD, TV, a/v receiver and VCR I have an X Box, ReplayTV PVR, and an Audiotron digital music server. This thing controls them all flawlessly.

All you do is go to a website, enter your devices' model numbers, and answer some questions (in a wizard format) about how you have things hooked up and how you want them to work. Then you hook the remote to your PC with the provided USB cable and your PC programs the remote for you. You can even blast TV listings into the remote itself, or if you have a CD jukebox, you can load the names of the CDs into the remote. In my case I can load my mp3 play lists into the remote and start them playing on my music server with the touch of a button.

The remote works off of a concept of "Activities" such as "Watch a DVD" or "Listen to the Radio". There are a few one touch activity buttons, and a "More Activities" button which will list more activities on the screen for you to choose.

When you select an activity, it turns all the right components on and off and sets everything up for that activity based on how you told it you wanted it to work. If something isn't quite right, you hit the help button and the remote asks you questions to determine how it should behave differently in the future.

It is unbelievable how easy it was to set up and to use. Anyone could pick it up and do anything with my system now, completely intuitively. When my girlfriend got home, I tossed her the new remote and she was navigating the entertainment center with out me saying anything.