It would be real nice to consolidate all the functions of multiple remotes into one. The ultimate goal is to have my wife and kids understand how to use the systems that are associated with our HD1000. After seeing a fair amount of discussion regarding remotes on these forums, it appears that there are 2 favorites: the Logitech Harmony and the Phillips Pronto. Can anyone comment on the reason why I would want to consider one over the other and perhaps which one won't make me to crazy to program?

Thanks in advance for for any insight!!!!

--Chewy

the price alone will keep me from getting one!!!!!
that's just crazy to pay over 500 for a REMOTE!!!!!

I've owned both and I can tell you that the Harmony line is much more family friendly. I'll also say that you can probably do pretty much everything with a pronto that you can do with the Harmony (I have the 880).

The Harmony is going to be MUCH easier to program and it's smart state technology is a big advantage. In case this isn't intuitive - smart state technology is a fancy way of saying that the remote remembers which devices are on and which devices are off and it also knows (with your initial input during set-up) exactly what state each component needs to be in to operate various activities. As an example - if you choose to do things that hard way and connect all your devices directly to your TV (as opposed to going through a receiver) then you will tell the remote during set-up which activities use which inputs for your TV so that when you select the activity it will know which input to switch to (this works with both types of switching - direct and cycling through the inputs).

The effect of all this is that it is:

- Simple to program
- Very easy for the family to use b/c they can pick it up and simply hit one button to get all your components properly configured to do what you want it to do.

The Pronto line can do ALL of the above and possibly in a more elegant manner but it's going to take more upfront effort on your part. The other problem that a lot of people often raise is that a touchscreen is hard to get used to. It seems sexy and all, but it's often not very practicle for a lot of people b/c they can't feel their way around the remote. The new lines of Pronto remotes have several more physical buttons than the older model that I had but this still seems to be a common gripe.

One area that the Pronto can do MORE than the Harmony is in a situation where you want to have a very tailored remote for each activity and even sub-activities within an activity but again it takes a lot of work/tweaking to get this right. You could literally spend hours and hours perfecting this. The end result can be a beautiful thing but again it's going to take some time.

I could probably ramble for hours about this, but at the end of the day I think it's best summarized by the following:

Harmony - Quicker/Easie implementation. Family/wife friendly. Cheaper. Less customizable.

Pronto - Elegant. Unlimited level of customization. Less family/wife friendly. More expensive.

For me - the Harmony is what I've chosen. Mainly due to the touchscreen issue and the smart state technology. Again - you can program this into any Pronto but it ain't easy...

I've got a Sony RM AV 3000. Not as glamourous as above remotes, but also 1/3 the price. And it does all that input select stuff, and has a combination of physical buttons for major functions and touch screen for programmable flexibility.

I had a Marantz RC5000 (same as Pronto from a few years back) and now have a Harmony 880. Having used both quite a bit and having a less technologically-inclined wife, I would have to agree with everything that Mebby pointed out.

The Harmony 880 rocks. Easy to use, has a help screen and easy to set up. If you are having a hard time, you can call their tech line and they will walk you through it (hold your hand).

Also, with the harmony, if you want to watch TV, you press the button labled "Watch TV" is you want to use the Photobridge, you press the button labled "Use Photobridge". They buttons can be called anything you want (ie "use HD1000"), and the devices can be called watever you want too. (ie the set top box can be refered to as the "Time Warner Box")

THere is also an entry level (under $100) one sold at Walmart only, it's the 569 or something like that. Check their site out

The Harmony 659 is currently available for ~$67 so it is not that expensive and it works great with the HD1K (and all my other AV gear).

Thanks for all the very useful feedback. I went ahead and ordered a Harmony 880 for $179 at eCost.com. Hopefully I can get this delivered promptly and have Santa put it under the Christmas tree!

--Chewy

Chewy wrote:

Hopefully I can get this delivered promptly

Are they gonna ship it to you "pronto"

r111 wrote:

The Harmony 659 is currently available for ~$67 so it is not that expensive and it works great with the HD1K (and all my other AV gear).

Wow, I just got my 659 at Best Buy last week for $120 ON SALE! Seen them online for ~$90.... where'd you get it for $67?

Back on topic, my 659 knew how to control the HD1000 right off the bat -- I couldn't believe it. Absolutely great remote. Having said that, my next one will be the 676 for the simple fact that the functionality is the same but the transport controls are in a better location (near the top versus at the bottom)...

I agree with Mebby. I too have owned the Pronto and currently have the Harmony 880. The Harmony is VERY family and wife freindly. It's also exceptionally easy to configure. I come from an IT background so did not have any issues with programming the pronto... however, these days I just don't have time to make the Pronto 'family' proof...

To sum up, the Harmony is 90% perfect.

Depends on what you're looking for; I have a Home Theater Master MX-3000 (Pronto-like) and one of the middle-line Harmonys (can't remember which one). They're both nice. I like the MX-3000 because I love to tinker, but the touchscreen is a pain at times.

I actually find it easier to program the HTM, once I taught myself how to do it (it's a pretty steep learning curve). Programming the Harmonys requires a web interface, and it can be clunky. If you're just doing basic stuff, it's fine (and the remote is VERY easy to use), but it's not very configurable. It is, however, a LOT cheaper. As I (and others) said, it depends on what you're looking for.

pg_rider wrote:

r111 wrote:

The Harmony 659 is currently available for ~$67 so it is not that expensive and it works great with the HD1K (and all my other AV gear).

:o Wow, I just got my 659 at Best Buy last week for $120 ON SALE! Seen them online for ~$90.... where'd you get it for $67?

I saw that special on on FatWallet.com or bensbargains.net in the past week. A good place to search if you are about to buy some electronics.