My Logitech Harmony Remote (520) seems to be hitting its last legs. Currently, the text on the LCD screen is fading away to being almost ineligible. The remote itself still works, but I want to plan ahead should things get worse.
I bought this remote on an EBay special years ago for around $30. I see that current Harmony brands run on Amazon for significantly more. So I could use any advice on the best possible specials, discounts, and so on, or even if it would be cheaper repairing the remote I have.
Should I decide on a new remote, I would like to have the ability to program several of my devices at once depending on a custom preset: for example, I'd like to set up an Xbox profile that A) turns on my 360,
switches my HDMI switcher to the proper input, and C) switches my TV to HDMI 1 (HDMI 2 is my cable channels).
I should also mention that I have an iPhone and iPad, so if there exists some sort of app that would let me control all these devices as well, I'm open to the suggestion.
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On sale, $40.
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You'll just have to wait a bit, because all those deals are dead right now, from what I can tell.
I have to manually turn on the xbox via the controller, not sure if you can interface it with the harmony.
What you want to do is easy to setup with the harmony software. My main "use computer" activity switches the tv to hdmi 1 (pc) the stereo to video 1 (pc again). Then once that activity is loaded I use the soft buttons to switch hdmi inputs.
Steam/PSN/XBL/Minecraft / LoL / - Benevicious | WoW - Duckwood - Rajhek
What I would really like is the option to display my desktop to my TV (HDMI 3), change the aspect ratio to Just Scan (something my Samsung doesn't do automatically, annoyingly enough), then switch the audio on my PC from stereo to 5.1 surround.
And maybe automatically open up Steam and massage my feet while it's at it.
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Hopefully with the bluetooth dongle I have attached to my PC, I can start creating some PC media profiles in addition to other stuff.
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I don't know what counts as "refurbished" to the seller, but I would expect something beyond "covered in sticky shit that I refuse to put my hands anywhere near". I didn't even check to see if it worked, because the thing was so sticky and uncomfortable to hold.
Seller's profile says buyer has to pay return shipping, but I was given a prepaid label, so hopefully I'll be spared that.
Maybe I'll get lucky with a labor day sale. In the meantime, I could ask now if there are any Harmony remotes that support bluetooth connectivity (and thus, allow me to control my PS3 and PC as a result).
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Also, don't buy on eBay?
And yeah, no Harmony remotes use bluetooth so you're stuck with the 60 dollar PS3 dongle, which is shitty.
Yeah, I'm not buying that.
Assuming any cheap $5 IR dongle worked, I would consider getting one for my PC if I knew exactly what I could/couldn't control with the remote.
No, it was "Refurbished", detailed exactly as you stated by the manufacturer.
The actual product instead was of "used" quality. Crappily used, at that.
I've bought refurbished before and rarely had a problem.
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I'm considering it, mainly because I think the remote looks real slick. It's refurbished, but since it's directly from Logitech, it shouldn't be nearly as bad as that EBay purchase.
Thing is, I'm not exactly sure what makes the One Harmoy remote...the One. I've seen this and the 900 brand both go on sale for around $150. Which one is better, and what advantages does it have?
Or does the One and 900 brands have a needless amount of stuff that aren't for me, and I should set my sights lower?
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The One is absolutely one of my favorite gadget purchases ai've ever made. Hands down.
It's about $60 more than what I would have wanted to spend on a remote, so I hope it's worth it.
Also, I'm told this will allow the remote to work with the PS3: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10852495
But what I'm really looking for is a dongle that'll let me control my PC.
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I bought mine from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815144019(came with a remote that I just shoved in a box).
This HP one will work as well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EUC-HP-Media-Center-Remote-IR-Receiver-570-2584-/110740364274?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c8a3dbf2
That PS3 adapter most likely wont turn it on(but if on should be able to do everything).
"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
And even if it turns out that adapter listed earlier could, it's not worth the price.
I'm currently bidding on that HP one, as it doesn't appear to be on sale anywhere else.
Edit: Will this one work? http://www.amazon.com/Center-Remote-Control-Infrared-Receiver/dp/B001HBOJRQ
I'm thinking I could keep the receiver and sell off the remote on EBay.
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"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
So far it's everything I could want, with one rather glaring flaw: I have to have the remote directly pointed at my TV for it to work; with the 520, I never had to have it pointed directly, I could hold it vertically and it would still work fine.
I don't think this is a specific remote problem either, because Logitech goofed and sent me two remotes (already got the return label to send one of them back), and the same problem persists.
In any event, I also won the Ebay bid that was listed earlier: http://www.ebay.com/itm/110740364274?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
So my next question is: how do I get this thing to work? It installed just fine, but how can I make it so I can customize the remote to act with certain PC/keyboard commands?
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Anyway, I was able to get the remote working on my PC following this guide: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=77519&highlight=harmoney+remote
The only issue I have is that for some reason turning the Activity on/off shuts off my PC (or specifically, puts it in Sleep Mode). This could probably be fixed with a simple command change, but I currently don't know what that would be.
But yeah, it works as intended. As an added awesome bonus, I learned to set up shortcut keys for games in addition to programs.
So I set it up so the number keys on the remote act as F1-F12 keys. Meaning I can open up Steam, Deus Ex: HR, Batman, and whatever else I want with the push of a button. As well as a button for F12 to take screenshots.
Pretty awesome.
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Changing the IR LED, if that's what would work I don't even know, would require opening the remote and soldering in a new LED. I'm thinking its not worth the risk i you don't already know how to do this.
Also yeah, all I had to do was set the Media Player (which is, in fact, my PC) to always on, so that took care of the problem.
Another issue: I get some input lag when mapping the directional arrow keys. This is all for using XBMC by the way (which is the absolute standard for watching media off your TV/PC connection). Is there anyway I can adjust the input delay on that?
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"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
nice tip on setting up the F1-12 as shortcuts, i was wondering how i could get it to launch apps. just need to figure out how to make the shortcut on the apple
edit. trying to find out how to setup the remote online, it seems it will only work with certain remotes. unfortunately my 550 is not one of them
Interesting. Can I get a direct link, or is it simply logging into Logitech with your member credentials?
I'm wondering just how many shortcuts I can accomplish through my PC. In particular, here's something I was hoping to do:
So as I've mentioned, I have my PC hooked up to both my monitor and my TV. With a simple flick of the HDMI switch, I can alternate between the two inputs. I've also set it so that when it switches to either the monitor or TV, it uses the sound from either as the default device for audio.
Now here's where it gets a little tricky; I also have my Home Theater connected to my PC (through analog connections; could never get optical to work for some reason), and occasionally I want to watch things with 5.1 surround. The problem is for my Home Theater to receive the audio from my PC, it has to use the PC's sound board as the default device, which means having to manually set it when switching the input to my TV.
So I was wondering if there was a way to enable all these steps to the remote for a "Watch PC with Surround" activity. It would save quite a few steps.
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"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
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