The only remote at £40 half price is the SRU9600: http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/stor...&category_oid=

I don't think this is an 'activity' based remote (but it has macros)... The activity based one is the SRU8015 available at Dixons at £122. Are you getting the SRU8008 in store, it is not available online..?

The Harmony 525 is available from Misco at £32 and the 555 is £40...

It was on Amazon for £45, Id prefer the quality of the Philips, especially as the 525 and 555 (lots of complaints over stodgy buttons) have poor reviews and the Philips beat the Harmony one that cost twice as much.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

I've been looking at the SRU8008 and 8015 (pictures - haven't read any PDFs or anything like that), but where are the 'extra' buttons?

The 525/555 have the LCD screen near the top with the two buttons set either side for you to assign 'soft' buttons to...

I've assigned Media to the Enter/# key, and the Schedule to the Clear/* on my Harmony. I hope you can do the same on the Prestigo (better check before buying though.)

I've had my 525 for over 2 1/2 years now and all buttons are fine and no broken bits (and it's been dropped on to laminate flooring a few times, and it's been mistreated by a 3/4 year old quite a bit). Having said this, the silver and the arrow buttons could be a bit better, but then again the Prestigo 'looks' to be in the same tactile vein...

How are you getting on with the Philips?

I found this poll on AVForums: Which is best - Logitech Harmony One OR Philips Prestigo SRU8015

Havent got it yet, most people are only going to vote for the one they have so any poll will be biased, Id expect the Harmony to get 4 or 5 as many votes as the Philips purely because 4 or 5 times as many people will own the Logitech.

I refused to buy Logitech based on the review that gave it 1 out of 5 and based on the fact I saw someone post the writing on it wore out. I didnt even want that Philips listed based on the battery life.

OneForAll for you then

Two and a half year of usage of my 525, the worn out keys are the (letters on the) number and colour keys (which is strange really as the numbers are rarely used!) Other keys are just fine, including the Guide, Info and Exit keys (which is strange as they are always used!)

I was interested in your opinion of the Philips... but since you're not going for one and the fact that I've just found out the Sound & Picture buttons on the 555 act as 'mode' buttons, then I might just upgrade to the 555, now: http://www.avforums.com/forums/8463826-post7.html

I had a kameleon and the batteries were lucky to last a week, never again.

I am going for the Philips (£45), it should be dispatched on Monday so I should get it Tuesday or Wednesday, Ill report back here after Ive worked out how to use it.

I got my 525 two days ago. I think it could take me two and a half years to set it up !!

But hey I like a challenge

I'm going back to the drawing board. Deleting all my activities and going to set them up one at a time. I suspect I'm trying to be too clever, and going at it like a bull in a china shop

I have a 525 and managed to set up most activities, but my Samsung TV inputs are selected by toggling through them and the hdmi is for instance not visible in the toggle unless its got a live input so getting all the activities to set the correct input was a nightmare I didnt resolve. Without the correct inputs being selected every time my family will want to continue with the old bunch of remotes that they are familiar with.
I gave up trying to get that right before Xmas and will have to try it again sometime soon, cant say I'm looking forward to that.

I'm assuming you've asked for help here http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/...emote_controls

There very helpful.

I still tweak my remote now and again... But I suppose as each new device comes in and old ones get removed, I have to make changes... so setup is continuous really...


What Samsung TV have you got? When I set mine up, the profile for my LE37R88BDX had direct input selection 'codes' which the TV's own remote does not. So try out what codes your profile has and try them out to see if they change inputs directly - and not just cycle them. Easier to change input directly rather than cycle...

Hmmm. I am very dubious about either of these remotes atm. I have the Logitech 785 atm, and am in need of a new remote as this one's buttons are getting unresponsive.
I have had a good look at the Logitech One, and am unsure about its looks, as to me it looks cheap. Secondly, I don't like the fact it hasn't got hard buttons for colours (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow), as these are used a lot for the Humax. I know these can be programmed into the screens buttons, but as you can only have 6 displayed at a time, that will leave only 2 available for Media, Schedule, and Option, which I use a lot. So one of those will have to go to page 2, which is not ideal. I could perhaps move one of the lesser used colours to page 2 instead, but that would look silly.
Then there's the Philips SRU8015, which has had decent reviews, but the CNET one mentioned the wheel can be accidentally touched when using the d-pad, and so you could find yourself selecting a different device without wanting to do so.
When you are paying around £100 for one of these, I expect it to be perfectly designed for my needs, and neither one seems to be that.
At the moment, I have resorted to using the Humax's own remote to also control my tv, bluray, and AppleTV. But it isn't ideal having to cycle through tv inputs etc.

I understand this completely. I also agree about the colour buttons problem on the H1... The major worry about the Philips SRU8015 is that it prone to crashing! (Don't you think?)

I've found disappointing news about the H555 too (which I was going to upgrade my 525 with), and that the Sound and the Picture buttons on it can not be assigned - they are there for switching modes. So my idea of using them for the Media and Schedule buttons have gone out of the window (I prefer hard buttons for very often used ones!)

I will stick to my 525 until it dies or someone suggest a better universal 'activity' remote (that does not cost the earth!) here...

The more I read this thread the more I am convinced that the best option for me as an owner of a Humax Foxsat PVR is to use the included Humax remote. It works perfectly with the Humax and it also controls my Samsung TV, my Samsung DVD Player and my Onkyo AV amp.

Why would I need to fork out £100 for a remote that will control only "most" of the functions of the Humax?

If I am 1m to the right of my TV, the Humax doesnt work and I often have to press each button 4 or 5 times.

One touch control with the new remote. (£45 not £100)

I cant control the TV sound with the Humax without several button presses.

The new remote will control everything I want without having the useless buttons at the bottom (except for source).

I can get rid of 6 remotes and use just 1.

The Harmony One is excellent so far. Colour buttons just aren't a problem as it's hugely configurable. It works superbly for all the devices I use it to control, and the activities are a very good idea. I looked at some others (Phillips) ones, but was advised against them by two colleagues who have them and regret it. It is far more responsive to sloppy aiming than the original Humax. It just works very well. For everything, not just the HDR. I hummed and hahed between this one and one of the cheaper Harmonies, but I'm satisfied with the decision.

I would get one immediately if they added the colour buttons somewhere in the middle area on the H1!

So how do you get on with adding them AND media, schedule, Option etc to it? I assume you have had to add the colours to the screen buttons, like I said in my previous post, which will surely get in the way of the other functions that need to be allocated to it.

There are plenty of keys - you can assign what you want where you want. It's completely configurable.

I think he is asking you, specifically - what have you done?

You are right- I was asking what he has done himself. I am fully aware these are completely configurable, but I personally wouldn't want to have the option function assigned to the up arrow, for example. I have my friends and family use my remote as well as myself, and need everything labelled correctly, which means Media, Schedule, and Option to be allocated to the screen as well as the colour buttons, which as I said before, isn't ideal when you only have 6 buttons per page.

I don't have a problem - how many functions do you need?

From memory I have:

Sky+ - Colour buttons on screen. Everything else uses a dedicated button. I don't have a 'menu' button but 'Guide' then left/right does the trick.

Humax 9200 - I had to add 'Jump 30 seconds' as a screen button but that and the four colour buttons on the screen are all I need.

DVD+Amp - I only need the eject button on the screen and it was already there.

Roku+Amp - Doesn't use the screen buttons for anything.

You mention 'source' - that isn't a button and shouldn't need to be. Controlling device inputs is one of the main reasons for getting the Harmony. It's an activity based remote. You tell the remote what activity you want and it sets up each piece of equipment.

In my case my TV only ever uses SCART1 but the amp uses either Optical 1 or Optical 2. The selection is performed when I tell the remote whether I want to listen to music or watch a DVD.

If decide to change from music to DVD I just tell the remote to switch to the DVD activity. It switches off my Roku, works out that the amp needs an input switch then powers on the DVD and the TV.

I never mentioned Source. I mentioned that in using the Humax remote as an all-in-one, I have to cycle through inputs (using the source button) to get to the one I want, which isn't ideal obviously.

As for how many functions I need, I have made it clear-
"Media, Schedule, and Option to be allocated to the screen as well as the colour buttons, which as I said before, isn't ideal when you only have 6 buttons per page"

For the HDR! (Go to the Sky section if you want to talk about Sky, and the Humax PVR section for the 9200T, FGS!)

What I would do or have to do, if I had an H1 is, to have the 4 colour buttons as the first four soft buttons, and then Media and Schedule, making up one page of the soft buttons screen. On page two, I will repeat the 4 colour buttons again and have List and Opt+ completing the 6 soft buttons...

The problem is (I assume like my 525) that you have either shift your hand between the arrow keys and the soft keys, or use both hands to operate the remote (to say manage the recordings in the Media list.)

I don't like to use two hands for the remote (and will shift mine to get to the colour buttons, which annoys me!) but if the touch screen soft keys on the H1 work well, I might be persuaded to hold the remote in one hand and tap my finger with the other... (this tapping, certainly, is not possible with the hard keys on the 525/555/etc)...

You could do that Son_t, but looking at a large piccy of the remote here I can see at the very bottom a '+' then the '0' and then an 'E' button. I suppose you could have the colour, with the Media and Scedule as the 6 soft buttons, with the '+' as the Option (or 'Opt+' as it is on the Humax remote) key. For me this still isn't exactly ideal, having to tell friends and family to remember which button is the Opt+ function, but at least it is 1 button press instead of 2 (if you had that function as a soft button on page 2 for example). I suppose it could also be on page 2 on the screen as well as the '+' button for anyone who forgets (I have to treat my family like they have the brains of fish sometimes ).