Too Many Buttons (1 Viewer)

Hi All
Just thought I'd say a quick hello and howaya.
Always a few steps behind in technical terms, my better half and I are just now thinking about dipping our toes into the surround soundy waters of a home theatre system and it seemed a rather good idea to come visit your hallowed halls and see if we could soak up any of the collective wisdom floating around the forum pages.
Sadly I am not very technical at all and while She Who Must be Obeyed is a little better, it's not by much. Generally in life I find that there are too many buttons to remember on too many gadgets. But sometimes they just have to be pressed right? So I'm hoping that at least some of the info I find is Badger friendly.
Anyway, enough of my waffle.
Yours
Badger

Welcome Phil!

No doubt it can be daunting to "jump" into uncharted waters - it seems the more our electronic gadgets try to "simplify" our lives, the more complicated they actually become.

In my experience (both in life and on this forum) I have found that things get overly "complicated" as a result of two main factors:
1) Trying to use a mix of older, outdated technology with the new fangled stuff
2) A failure to understand that when you decide to go "home theater" the TV is no longer the center of the universe - your receiver is.

I would also suggest a "2a" would be not taking the time to research and find the equipment that satisfies your needs, but this forum is the right place to help prevent that from happening.

If you've explored the forum at all, I'm sure you've noticed that we have specialized sections for individual components as well as our "beginner's" that's sort of a catch-all. I see you've already made another post - perhaps already in the beginner's area - probably the best place for you to start. Folks will ask about your goals and budget to get started.

I may even bounce over there and offer some more suggestions.

Good luck with your project!

Phil:

Welcome to the forum!

don't be overwhelmed by the enormity of what it is you and your wife are thinking about. HT is fun! Really! In a forum like this we sometimes get bogged down in comparing one thing to another...and it is alllllll soooooo subjective. But the idea is to spin up some great movies...enjoy some high-quality sound and have a blast. Don't forget the popcorn!

One thing I'll add to the mix is about--remote controls. If there's one things most wives (and husbands, too) hate...is a clutter of remote controls...and having to remember which one to use in the correct situation. One of the great inventions of the day is the Harmony (and there are other brands) universal remote. They actually connect to your PC via USB connection. You enter (using their software) the various HT pieces you have and they do amazing things.

For example, if you want to watch something on cable...you click a button labeled 'Watch TV". It will 'know" to turn on your TV, and your cable box, and your receiver all at the same time. It will then navigate the channels on the cable box yet operate the volume control on your receiver...all at the same time! My wife (who has yelled on more than one occasion, "I JUST WANT TO TURN ON THE TV!) absolutely loves our Harmony remote. And get this. Once you're done watching TV and want to watch a movie, you push the "Watch Movie" button and it will "know" to leave the TV & receiver on...but turn off the cable box and power up your blu-ray player. And, again, it will know to use the receiver's volume controls but utilize the Blu-ray player's menu functions. They are really cool and take a lot of the "Too many buttons" problems out of the equation.

Do a little searching and you'll find all kinds of threads with great information on such topics...plus where to get bargains on discs, movie reviews, etc.

Glad to have you both here!

Welcome! The good news is two fold here:
-There are too many buttons even for HT nuts. I hate that it's a PITA to have someone besides me control my theater.
-Companies like Ikea and Apple recognize there needs some more humanity and less engineer in designing HT. Steve Jobs says he "cracked" TV. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
I bought a Harmony One remote. It combined all 8 of my remotes into one just as hard if not harder to navigate remote :f
Sam

Originally Posted by Sam Posten /t/320397/too-many-buttons#post_3921387
I bought a Harmony One remote. It combined all 8 of my remotes into one just as hard if not harder to navigate remote
Sam

Click to expand...

Wow, Sam! I'm using Harmony One. My wife and I both love it. I find it very intuitive and user-friendly.

I guess that's why they also still make both chocolate and vanilla ice cream, too!

Morning All, thank you for the welcome and interesting replies. :tu:
Badger

Mike Frezon said:

Wow, Sam!  I'm using  Harmony One.  My wife and I both love it.  I find it very intuitive and user-friendly. 
I guess that's why they also still make both chocolate and vanilla ice cream, too! 

Click to expand...

Have you tried controlling a PS3 with it? It's a nightmare with the special buttons like the O, X square and PS.

Originally Posted by Sam Posten /t/320397/too-many-buttons#post_3921617
Have you tried controlling a PS3 with it? It's a nightmare with the special buttons like the O, X square and PS.

Click to expand...

Nope. I've never used a PS3. Maybe some of your angst should be directed toward Sony for creating a non-standard button system?!? Not meaning to be difficult...just sayin'.

With my Harmony One, I control a TV, AVR, T-W PVR, SACD player, CD player, DVD Recorder, Blu-ray deck, VHS deck and everything plays nicely with each other. It's easy to call up a particular device even when within an activity function, I've set up a number of "favorite" TV channels for when I'm using the PVR. All the PVR and Blu-ray functionality works great when using those respective activities. I think the Harmony One is one of the best universal remotes yet. I have also used the harmony 620 & 1000 which I did not like nearly as much...for various reasons.