Home audio & video forum: Universal Remote

I have a H/K TC30, which is a repackaged 550 made for Harman Kardon, but has the same color screen as the 720. The Harmony remotes (and thus the TC30) are based on creating "Activities", where each Activity involves some (or all) of your A/V gear. So, for example, when you program it, it'll ask you things like:
- Do you have a receiver? (Yes, I do)
- Do you want the receiver to control the volume for the Activity "Watch TV"? (Yes, I do).

If you only have one piece of equipment for an Activity, then it will simply assign that component's IR codes to the Harmony. For example, if the Watch TV Activity involves only the TV, then the software will make the Harmony behave like the TV's remote; the VOL buttons will control the TV's volume, CH +/- will change channels, etc.

When an Activity involves more than one component, such as Watch A Movie, the Harmony will turn on the appropriate gear, set the TV to the appropriate input, and cherry-pick IR codes to assign to the buttons to control mulitple components, such as the volume on the TV, and the Next/Prev Chapter for the DVD player, etc. It's very smart. I love mine. And if you decide to upgrade your gear down the road, you'll definitely be able to grow into the remote. You can even program it to control your ceiling fan if you want. And, yes, I did program my ceiling fan.

It's very comprehensive, and will take some time to program. I spent about 3 hours, but I have a lot of stuff, and there were some custom buttons I wanted to add, and several unused buttons that I wanted to eliminate from the list. Besides, I got sucked into watching TV as I was "testing" the remote codes.

Anyway, it's a terrific remote! And it works just as well controlling one component as it does controlling several. And once it's programmed, VERY high Spouse Approval Factor. Literally, one button to watch tv, one button to watch a movie, etc. I won't be throwing out my original remotes, but I have moved them into a closet.

I can easily see it being the last remote I buy... maybe ever. And at $150, what a steal!

Best,
Ben

P.S. You may want to check out the TC30 and the Harmony 550 to see which of the three gives you the best value...