Remotes (1 Viewer)

[john g russell]

anybody using rti remotes (remote technology incorporated)? Much more expensive than harmony abd I've got no experience with them or others. My installer sells and sets them up. He loves them.
John

 

[shri1313]

Hey, have any of you guys heard about this iconRemote? x10iconremote.com

I came across it while searching around for a universal remote so I can clear off my coffee table and use it for... well, coffee... instead of a playground for my already 7 remotes cluttering it up. I've looked at several like the Harmony 880 that has an LCD screen as well but it looks like you have to program it on your computer; I don't have a problem with that because I'm a geek, but my wife and kids aren't so computer savvy and I would like to have a remote that they can program themselves without asking dad to do it for them all the time. The LCD with icons looks like it would be easy enough for my youngest to use.

This iconRemote looks like it has an easy interface and programmable channels/componants menus that they can set up for themselves; and it claims to not need a computer to program it which is a plus for me. And the his and hers buttons are kinda nifty, my wife can have Lifetime on her quicklist and stop overwriting my channels quick list. (I hate thinking I'm gonna watch HBO and flip to Lifetime lol). It says that it comes with all product codes installed on it so it should work with all my equipment but I'm still leary about trusting what companies say on their websites.

Does anyone have one of these iconRemotes that they can comment on? The website said that it hasn't been released yet but I thought that maybe it hasn't been updated yet. They are advertising it for cheaper than most of the Harmony remotes I looked at which will make my wife happy; if I buy anymore expensive gadgets she will kill me lol.

I would appreciate any input you guys may have on the iconRemote, or any suggestions on other remotes with an LCD menu screen that have worked for you. Thank you.

 

[Marc L]

a harmony remote only needs to be programmed once. you're wife and kids won't need to know how...and trust me, you don't want them too!

 

[shri1313]

lol Marc, you're probably right.

I looked into the iconremote (x10iconremote.com) again this weekend and I looks like they have launched it. I think I'll get one and try it out. They look nifty and sound easy enough for everyone in my household to operate; and if it turns out that they aren't then I'll just give it to my father-in-law lol.

When it get's here and I have a chance to use it I'll post back here and let you guys know if it's really worth it.

Thanks

P.S. They also posted their Wiki (kbase.x10.com/wiki/iconremote) where you can download a PDF of the owners manual and such if you want to check it out.

 

[Mike Frezon]

All Harmony universal remotes are on-sale at Circuit City this coming week:

880 = $199.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate)

670 = $119.99 (after $30 mail-in rebate)

550 = $99.99 (after $30 mail-in rebate)

The ad says ALL are on-sale...but those are the only three with listed prices.

 

[Volker]

Just got my Harmony 880 from Amazon last week for $155 with free shipping.
The price is still valid.

 

[Butters Stotch]

Just wanted to give a quick heads up to all of you who were interested in the iconremote. It's finally out and available to buy. I just got mine, and it's pretty cool. Definitely easy to program and use, and the channel icons are great, especially if you have a lot of channels and have a difficult time remembering which station is which. And like I said, very easy to use and program, so anyone can do it. But there is wisdom in Marc's words, too...

Anyway, if you're interested, you can check it out at: x10iconremote dot com

 

[MarkHastings]

OK, I've got a new issue and was wondering if anyone else has this problem (and what you do about it)....

About a few months ago, I got the DVR box from Comcast. When I had the old (non DVR) cable box, I never turned it off because there was no need to. Now that the new DVR boxes 'cache' programming, I've learned to turn it off when I turn the TV off and so the box will stay on after the program is recorded.

At first I left it on, but the Hard drive would constantly be spinning and I figured that wasn't good (i.e. letting the hard drive spin 24/7), not to mention the fact that you can hear the HD clicking.

So I set up my Harmony remote to turn the box off when I turn off the TV. The only problem is, if the DVR is recording something, the cable box can't be turned off.

What happens is, I'll shut down the TV (while the box is recording something), but since the box won't turn itself off, the box will stay on after the show is done recording....THEN, when I go to turn on the TV, since the box is already on, the power toggle will turn the box off instead of on.

I solved this problem by putting the power toggle in the LCD screen (so I can easily turn the box back on), but is there any other alternative to this? I don't like this because once the recording is done, the box stays on and is now caching to the HD all through the night, until I go to watch TV again.

The one nice thing with my ReplayTV is, you can turn the power off while the machine is recording a program, so in that sense, the Harmony remote never has a power issue with the ReplayTV. It's the DVR box that I have a power issue with since (as explained) the power doesn't actually turn off when it's recording a program...making the power toggle reversed the next time I want to do a function.

Again, this is all solved by the power toggle in the LCD screen, but the one thing I hate is, the box power stays on (filling the cache) after the program is done recording.

Any ideas? Anyone else run into this problem? What's your solution?

 

[nolesrule]

I don't know what box you have, but the cached program only remains in cache until it ends. There's no way to retrieve it once it moves on to the next program, so it's really only using up whatever the length of the current program is.

I leave my DVR on all the time, but I don't have it in a bedroom so the noise isn't an issue.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, mine is only in the living room, so the noise isn't exactly a big issue, but sometimes I like to chill on the couch (without TV or other noise) and the clicking drove me nuts. I guess in that case, I could just manually turn off the box.

 

[nolesrule]

I've had the Scientific Atlanta HD DVR cable box for about 2 years now. There were some issues similar to what you mention when it first came out, but every so often, it has automatic firmware updates that seem to improve functionality.

Maybe you should report your issues and see if there is/will be a firmware fix.

 

[Don T]

Hello Mark,

Thanks for your PM tip on favorites. I tried to downsize logos, but mine did not come out nearly as nice as yours. Have you ever thought about posting the small jpegs? Also, how did you get the remote not to show the channel number through the jpeg?

Thank you,
Don

 

[MarkHastings]

I'll post my JPEG's when I get home.

I'm not sure about the number showing through the JPEGs, I don't why yours is doing that.

 

[Don T]

Its strange, it is the actual Satelitte channel number and it is imposed on top of the image.

Other than that, I love that remote!

 

[MarkHastings]

Hmmm? Unless it's a feature of the 890, according to the 880's support:

and speaking of logos, check this out! Tons of logos and images to download:
http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin...=harmony&area=
(Scan down the page a little)

 

[Nathan Stohler]

Doesn't your box have a discrete on command?

 

[MarkHastings]

No, it's a power toggle....one button for on and off.

 

[Nathan Stohler]

Yes, I assumed that your cable box and its remote do not have discrete on/off buttons, but many pieces of equipment respond to discrete on/off commands that can be programmed into your remote.

If it's a Motorola box, read the following thread, and see if you can simulate discrete on/off commands:

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dl...e&file_id=3840

It's not as elegant as having real discrete commands, but it works. JP1 remotes have something called "ToadTogs" that can be used for (among other things) remembering the on/off state of equipment that does not have discrete commands, but I don't know if Harmony has anything analogous.

 

[MarkHastings]

Thanks for the info Nathan.

I've been trying the "leave on at all times" method and I don't seem to be running into the same issue as before. In fact, IIRC, that issue might have been with my old box which did have problems.

If leaving it on (all the time) starts causing issues, I'll look into the discrete power options, but for now, I think I'm ok.


EDIT: The other issue (which wasn't major) with having the unit go on and off, was when it was in the middle of recording something and I turned the system off. The cable box wouldn't turn off (while it was recording), but it would show the "Do you want to stop the recording" message. Now this wasn't a big deal, because I just left it and the box would continue to record the show...but what seemed to happen is, when I'd watch the recording later on, at the point where I tried to shut off the cable box, there would be a quick flash of black in the recording.

Like I said, it wasn't a big deal, but it was kind of annoying. So leaving the box always on will also clear that issue up.

 

[Don T]

I bought my mother a 880 for Mother's day and pre-programmed it for her. I used the images for the Favorites, and low and behold, the channel number is over the image. Who would have guessed?