Photo gallery: Logitech Harmony 785Design
Higher-end remotes by definition can be a bit of challenge to configure and control, but after a false start or two, we found the interface on the Logitech Harmony 785 to be very intuitive and fun to use. The slim-line remote has a beautiful colour display and plenty of controls for just about any device you need to program into it. The cradle that charges the unit's Lithium-ion battery doesn't hold the remote as snugly as we'd like, but it is sleekly built and has a cool-blue pilot light that makes it easy to find in dark environments (this can also be turned off).
The unit is designed to handle most functions via the buttons on both sides of the display, but there are also all the required buttons on the lower half of the device (as well as four user-programmable buttons).
Features
The Harmony 785 controls up to 15 different devices and lets you create macro-like "Acitivities" for combinations of operations on the devices you program it to control. For example, with a single button, the unit can be configured to change the input on the AV amplifier, turn on the CD player, start playing a CD and set the ceiling fan to medium (yes, we managed to accomplish this just for fun of it).
The other siginificant feature of the Harmony 785 is the PC application it comes with. It's significant because you really can't do any configuring without it (so those of you who don't have a PC handy, or are not interested in getting that involved with your remote might have to look for another option). Though printed documentation is almost nonexistent, the software is fairly straightforward and yet incredibly flexible. Once you've set up all the devices and activities you want, you simply connect the remote to your PC using the provided USB cable, and sync it much like you would a PDA or iPod.
One feature that makes good use of the unit's colour display is the ability to create "slide shows" of any images you can upload to the application -- family photos, album covers, for example -- that display when the unit is at rest.
Performance
The Harmony 785 was able to handle any device we threw at it: an obscure Taiwanese DVD player, a new Sony AV receiver, a JVC CD jukebox ... even the aforementioned Omega ceiling fan. The one difficult component in the mix was an old NEC CRT television that had no identifying markings on it at all. The software, however, allowed us to connect the remote to the PC and "learn" the desired functions by choosing the operations from a menu and pointing the NEC remote at the bottom of the Logitech.
The more we used the software on the PC, the more we were impressed with its capabilities. You can define new names for operations, change the order they appear in, or add them to an Activity. The main screen features three tabs: Activities, Devices and Remote Settings. All other onscreen buttons are self-explanatory. Perhaps some of the function ordering and button naming screens could be slightly improved in design, but for the most part the configuration process is extremely intuitive. The only possible drawback is that the software needs to connect to Logitech's database over the Internet, so you'll need a connection to use the program properly.
The Harmony 785 is not cheap, but if you're looking for that one replacement for all those remotes littering the coffee table, this is an excellent choice (if only our microwave had a remote sensor, we could start popping the popcorn when we hit the DVD button!).
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