Click! Logitech 676
This is our new universal remote; a Logitech 676 Universal remote. Xiane and I have given it a name: Click!
This baby can control all the IR (Infrared) controlled devices I have at home. That means I can control my Samsung TV, my Harman Kardon Audio/Video Receiver, my Philips DVD and my old trusty DigitAll World SFT 190M satellite receiver from one remote. From the reviews on the net, I was convinced that this remote would do what I need. And even if it a 2 year old product, it is still had high ratings in comparison to the new universal remotes that Logitech had put out in the market.
It does require you to have an internet connection to set it up as the Logitech 676 needs to ge tits programming from the Logitech Database. Once I got all the brand and model numbers of my devices and firing off the Logitech Harmony Application Software, I was able to set up my devices and activities needed. You can configure your activities like Watch TV, Watch DVD, Play Games, Listen to Music, etc...this means that if you do press Watch TV, the remote is going to turn on yout TV, your Satellite receiver and your Audio/Video Receiver (AVR). Not only that, it should be able to cycle and choose the right Video input on your TV and choose the right Audio input from your AVR. In my case, just for my TV alone, previously I had to cycle from TV1, TV2, TV3, S-Video, Component1, Component2. My AVR can let me control the Input directly with direct buttons (8 of them). Imagine all the button presses a need to do before I can watch TV! After the initial setup which probably took me an hour (learning the app, the remote, testing and waiting for the web programming to be saved on the remote), I was able to the basics of what I needed. The Logitech Database was actually good as I wasn't really expecting a fairly unknown brand of satellite receiver on their database. apparently, either Logitech was able to get the codes from the manufacturer or someone uploaded their button configurations and added it to the database. This also means that the remore can learn any IR command from your existing remote! However, you should be connected to the Internet throughout this, which is I think more of a hassle when you're trying to have th e676 learn from your existing remote.
After a little more tweaking to suit our preferences, I can say that Click! is a great buy. So now, when I press Play DVD, the remote opens my TV, set it to Component1 input, turns on the DVD, turns on the AVR and set it to DVD Input. It eliminates the need for 3 remotes and 6-8 remote presses.
