The Logitech Harmony 1100i Universal Remote

By David Heath

Unlike many "universal remotes" the Logitech Harmony 1100i does not simply roll up all your remotes into a single unit, although it can be used in that mode. Instead, it adds a higher-level functionality that is activity based.

Perhaps you want to watch TV. This may require your TV and set-top box to be turned on and the TV tuned to Ch1.

Maybe instead you wish to watch the DVD currently loaded in the DVD player. This will require the TV and DVD player turned on, the set-top box turned off and the TV tuned to the AV setting.

Each of these commands may be executed with a single press of the Harmony’s colour touch-screen; the device having more than a passing resemblance to a GPS navigator. And batteries are no problem – the device sits very comfortably in a recharging cradle – making it much harder to lose in the cushions of your sofa.

Once the activity is in action, a context-sensitive touch-screen display will bring the most appropriate commands to the fore, for instance if a DVD or VHS tape is being played, then Stop, Play, FF, RWD etc are available.

Claiming a database of 225,000 devices from over 5,000 manufacturers, the device will almost certainly already know about the entertainment devices you own without the need to teach it commands – one of the real bugbears of the earlier efforts from many manufacturers and one I have personally experienced with a particular ‘universal’ I tossed away soon after purchase.

Fortunately, the 1100i doesn’t have to store all those configurations – everything is driven from your personal computer and derived from a web-based database, meaning that updates for new devices are trivial.

Installing the software, I’m asked to create an account on the Logitech web server – presumably this will permit me to update the Harmony anywhere in the world. Once done, I am invited to identify my devices – that’s easy, thanks to my previous scrambling (wishing that every manufacturer would write the model number clearly on the front!). Fortunately, the Logitech servers agree that they know all about my devices; even the geriatric TV.

Next, I’m invited to define activities. I choose to create "watch TV," "play a DVD" and "Play a VHS tape."

These are relatively simple to create and mostly successful.

Unfortunately, it’s the ‘mostly’ that exposes the shortcomings.

Most AV device remotes have an on/off button that toggles the power state of the device. Unfortunately, if the Harmony guesses wrong, it sets the power state of a device the opposite of what it should be. Sure there is access to the raw remote buttons but this seemed to happen more often than I’d like.

Alternately, there is a ‘help’ function that is available after each activity selection which allows the user to re-activate each subcommand should any of them prove erroneous.

Similarly to the on/off issue, I discovered a personal problem - my DVD/VHS player seems to need a press of the ‘input’ button to revert to TV only after playing a DVD; if I stop a tape, it happily reverts to TV without intervention. This is a problem for the Harmony. The only way I found to get to TV after a DVD is to momentarily play a tape (assuming one is in the player, of course).

Next, I attempt to teach the Harmony about the equipment we relegated to the kids’ play-room. Not quite so successfully – remember, this was ‘relegated’ equipment, generally older than the lounge-room equipment.

Although agreeing that it understood the model numbers, the software immediately asked to be taught all the commands from the remote of the ten-year-old 14" TV (in its favour, the Harmony’s learning mode is very easy to drive – you just have to ignore the on-screen instructions, they don’t make a lot of sense!).

Further, although claiming to know all about the set-top box (admittedly a 1-year-old cheapie); it refused to believe the remote matched the actual device, even when it agreed the randomly-selected key-presses were correct. Note – according to Logitech, this is based on a heuristic analysis of the likely matches of the remote in the on-line database.

About the only real success was the brand-new VHS / DVD player (yes – I seem to have a ‘thing’ about those!).

Once the Harmony was aware of the devices, I asked it to create the same three activities as I defined for the primary equipment. It did so easily, demonstrating that there was no issue in maintaining independent sets of AV hardware. In fact I was easily able to rename the new activities with suitable names such as "watch kids’ TV." Thus carrying the Harmony to another room, with completely independent equipment would work fine.

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, the TV refused to listen to the Harmony and I’m not sure the set-top box was paying any attention either.

Let’s bring this to an ending. I would expect that the person who already has the latest-and-greatest equipment (I’m thinking about my brother-in law here) would be drooling to have the Harmony 1100i.

I’m also thinking that those of us with AV devices that have separate On and Off buttons would have few problems.

However, those of us with run-of-the-mill equipment will struggle to convince the Harmony to behave as we’d like. But then again, I’m probably not the target audience, especially with a recommended retail of $AU 899 and web-store prices in the $600 - $650 range.

The Logitech Harmony 1100i will be available in stores in the latter part of March 2009.

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The Logitech Harmony 1100i Universal Remote

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