The Sonos serves all my audio needs i.e. iTunes, Spotify, media on my NAS as well as TV audio, which is why it has its own app. The only function a TV remote plays is to set the audio level, which the app also does. The app however is a fully featured functional part of the Sonos which you can't do without.


Not particularly elegant, again using the iPad app for ATV is far easier.

TBH I have three Panasonic products in my setup so whilst I might have to use a few different buttons all three remotes are remarkably similar with the volume button being universal. Even the Panasonic TV now has its own app so again the remote app is just as functional as an AIO device.

Finally, the Humax - this box too has now got its own app both for Android and iOS.

As said previously I have an AIO gathering dust. Wife took one look and said 'I'm not using that'.

It's the opposite in my household where my wife has no desire to learn all the remotes and when we switched from Sky to Freesat and Freeview it was just a matter of learning the new EPGs not the remote. For example the "Sky" button performs a similar function to "Exit" on Freesat so that is where the new "Exit" function is situated. Any "difficult" or unusual functions are located on the LCD section so that is easy to find along with functions that can't be done on the original remotes, there are zero functions that can be done on the original remote and not on the Harmony.

I have a spare Harmony that I bought when it was on special offer so when my current one breaks I will just copy the config from one into the other which is a 2 minute job.

When I look at the OFA and Harmony products - trying to remember what button does what and for which device, then I look at the simplicity of a Panasonic or Humax remote. Give me five simple remotes every time or a couple of remotes and a few well designed apps.

It's what you get used to I suppose but why try to re-invent the wheel?

My Harmony 650 has pretty much the same key selections as my Panasonic, Humax and Sony remotes just in different places. In addition there is the LCD area for extra functions, it would be difficult to be simpler.


It's not reinventing the wheel, it's having one remote meaning you don't have to keep switching and also having one remote means you know exactly where all the keys are, I almost never look at the remote to see what I'm pressing.

Me too!

I use my Harmony one to control my Samsung Smart tv, a TiVo, a Humax Freetime, an Apple TV, a Chromecast, a laptop input and a Yamaha amp. All the original remotes live beside the wife's chair as she stubbornly refuses to use the Harmony.

The EPG etc is on the same button, in the same place no matter which device you are currently using. Forget about how the buttons are laid out differently on all of your native remotes and just remember the one layout on the universal. Simples!

Faust,

A slight aside to the remote issue, do you get any sound delay/lip sync issue with the Sonos Soundbar? I currently use a Sonos 5 for music/radio but it has a delay when using it with a TV.

No problem with lip sync. There is a lip sync correction module within the Sonos app. The only time I have had a lip sync issue is when I have played a poor quality Youtube video via my NAS drive to the Soundbar.

I do use the Sonos soundbar using Homeplugs connected to the Bridge. It really is the business. When I listen to our other TV via the TV's own speakers it sounds terribly tinnie.

I have been using a Sony RM-VL610t for 8 of my devices including Humax this has now been superceded by Sony RMVLZ620 read review on http://www.remotecentral.com/news/51...uncovered.html
This is cheap and will do almost anything as long as you have original controller for your device

Thanks for the information. I feel another gadget coming on.

I tell you what, I've had the OFA for a few years now plus it was given to me. I've been looking at the price of the remotes mentioned in this thread and I can't believe it. The prices are beyond anything - this is a remote we are talking about. I'm more than happy using the remotes that came with the products. However, having seen the price of these multi-function remotes I'm bloomin ecstatic at using the originals now.

My Harmony 555 cost me roughly 1% of the all the AV equipment it is used to control. Hardly disproportionate and paid for itself many times over in saved time and effort. Although to be fair, I did grab it at an end of product life, bargain price.

My remote which is a One For All Smart Control 6+3 cost me £24, just googled it and it can be got from between £15-£20 now which isn't that expensive at all.

I recently bought a Harmony 650 for £46, considering how much it is used that doesn't seem that much.

I have looked at this remote control today in a well known electrical retailers - a penny shy of £60. By the time I had looked at all the different options and buttons I would need to press to control all my devices my head hurt. This should be an A-level course.

I genuinely don't see the simplicity in them. Panasonic make very good easy to understand remotes and it's the easiest thing in the world to pick up one that says TV one that says DVD and the other that says Blu-Ray.

I appreciate those that have these multi-function units like them but sorry, they are simply not for me.

It depends where you buy it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Har...ony+remote+650

If as I have done you set it for device rather than activity then you just select the device you want to control from the LCD screen (2 key presses labelled on the screen - TV, Freesat etc) then it's individual key presses for each function just as you would do with the original remote the difference being that whatever device you are controlling the key to perform that function is in the same place on the remote so simpler.

The One For All I had a few years ago was even simpler to switch between devices - one key which has to be easier than picking up a different remote, the reason I prefer the Harmony is that it is more flexible, easier to program (once you are used to it) and can easily do all the functions of the original remote. Programming the remote can be a bit daunting for some and the Harmony requires the use of a PC and internet connection so is not for everyone but you shouldn't confuse the programming bit with ease of use once programmed.

My father is the same as you in this respect and has a tray of remotes beside the TV so when he wants to control a different device he wanders up to the TV and picks up the remote. That's not too bad for him since he's too scared to get a PVR and so most of the time just uses the TV, if he wants to play a VCR he has to walk to the TV to load it anyway To record a TV programme he wanders upstairs where he has a VCR connected to an STB ready to record whatever channel the STB is set to. All this is fine and the important thing is to enjoy watching whatever TV you do watch but it seems a lot of hassle, it would probably make me watch less TV which would probably be a good thing .

I think it's perhaps a case of daunting and I just can't be bothered. I hate remotes with loads of buttons. The philosophy of less is more really does apply to remotes.

I don't really see that having a number of remotes laid out side by side is an issue so long as each remote has an intuitive design. It's not as if I'm using more than one at a time, though with multiple remotes I could if I wanted to.

I think I spent about an hour programming mine when I first got it so not that much time, it took about half an hour to reprogram when I went from Sky to Freesat and Freeview. It doesn't have any more keys than the original remote if you ignore the 6 keys right at the top used for activities that I don't use, apart from that the layout is pretty similar to the individual ones.


It's not so much the intuitive design as they are mostly pretty good nowadays the advantage of the one remote is that it doesn't change - I never look at the remote when I'm using it as I know where each key is by touch, with separate ones I'd be looking at the remote then the TV then the remote etc because even well laid out it is different for each device. A good example of this is I have a Humax Freeview PVR and a Humax Freesat PVR, the remotes are almost identical (one can control the other if not reprogrammed for different codes) but functions like exit and back are switched around on each remote, that would be extremely frustrating when going to Freeview from Freesat.

I'd hate you to think I'm trying to persuade you to get a universal remote. I'm not I think everyone should do what makes them happy, I just don't agree with some of your conclusions on the subject as they don't match what I've found from doing it both ways. When I got my new Freesat and Freeview boxes I left it a couple of days before programming the URC (because Sky was still running) and that was really frustrating and as soon as I could I went to one remote.

I didn't think for one minute you were trying to persuade me to buy a OFA remote. As I have said previously I do have an 'oldish' one gathering dust in a drawer. Actually the three Panasonic remotes I have are all pretty similar. In fact there is some universality with the Panasonic remotes as all three have DVD functionality, volume, along with off and on etc. However, even there, whilst I can control a DVD I am watching with the TV remote, I never do. Using a separate remote is so engrained in my psyche that if I want to stop, rewind etc. I still pick up the right tool for the job

I would make this observation about the Harmony. The website set-up instructions leave a lot to be desired. There appears to be some repetition and what are 'activities' ? I spent some time reading through the set-up procedure last night and it left me pretty confused. I always think a sign of a good product is just how good or bad the instruction manual is.

Harmony wasn't scoring many brownie points as regards that aspect.

The Sonos soundbar has to be used with it's own 'dedicated app'. Don't ever listen to one unless you have your credit card to hand.

To sum up - this is not a case of Neophobia.

Activities are where you decide to say "watch DVD" and the remote will turn on the TV, DVD player and sound system with one key press and then the keys will match that activity for watching DVDs. Some people swear by this and say it's the main reason they have a Harmony, myself I prefer to control each device separately.

So which then are the straight single system commands e.g. DVD only, Blu-Ray only within the Harmony on-line instructions. This is what had me confused. I like to control each item individually hence why I use 5 remotes.

The individual control sets are stored in the device list you add from the Logitech website. By selecting any downloaded device it works like the original remote controls. The activities you create are simply a collection of remote codes copied from each device.

Device mode is useful for tweaking settings on something (usually the TV or AV amp) and it is simple to switch to do that then back to the current activity. I also have a dummy device called PVR Status as I like to manually control the turning on and off of my PVRs as I do not like them turning themselves on and off willy nilly.

I certainly would like to have a play around with one if only to prove that I prefer separate remotes. I suppose I could order online then return it within the 14 days allowed if it's not for me?

The OFA one I was given doesn't seem to work properly - which is probably why it was given away.

I can guarantee you will not get on with one as you seem unprepared to commit to moving on from the mindset of each device having its own remote with its own keys layout. When I first got mine I tried to set it up so that all devices were controlled in the same way using the layout of my Toppy remote as close as possible. Not doable (*). Accept and get used to the layout of the universal and forget what you had before.

(*) The one "non standard" thing I did do was programme the * and # keys either side of the 0 key to be the Recordings List and Timer List respectively across all devices. The * and # are only ever otherwise used when entering search text and only then rarely so I moved them to secondary soft keys.