New remote control recomendation

hornetstinger · Tuesday at 15:33

It's a shame programmable IR remotes are like hens teeth, I wouldn't do without one in my HT.

I would need something between a cross of the left and right one. More hard buttons, and a LCD screen where you add your own custom labels. The one on the right doesn't look ergonomic.

RoyMi6 · Tuesday at 20:22

All the buttons can double up (press and hold) on the harmony remote (the left one). So there's definitely enough. I've got about 10 devices I control with my Harmony Companion remote (without a touchscreen) because once you've loaded the activity (you can have 6) I typically only need about 8 buttons when actually DOING something (like watching a movie)

I'd be interested to know what functions you think you need that can't be solved with macros as well @hornetstinger

But yes, the Unfolded Circle Remote 3 (the right one) isn't great ergonomically, and is the one @the-evaluator and I have issues with. Otherwise, it's a fantastic remote and possibly the best option on the market if you discount the Harmony range - a big selling point is that it does everything on your local network, so it can't suffer the same fate as the Harmony devices.

the-evaluator · Tuesday at 20:39

RoyMi6 said:
Yeah, battery life does suck. Another reason it would benefit from having the dock being the compute part. Part of the reason the physical shape doesn't bother me so much is because I keep it in a charging dock though as I knew battery life would annoy me. So I currently use two docks (one for charging, one for in the AV cabinet) which is why I'm double annoyed that the docks aren't more powerful in some way - or at least there wasn't the option for a "compute" dock and "charge" dock.

Two docks here too. Charging dock next to the sofa and a PoE powered non-charging dock in the AV cabinet with a couple of AV blasters plugged in.

Having PoE power as an option is a very nice touch. It'd be nice though if the docks weren't 2.4GHz only. They went to the bother of making the remote 2.4/5GHz but ignored the docks. No biggie really, but 5GHz would be better.

I'd like the option to give the devices a static IP. I know I can set DHCP reservations, but that's not the same as a static IP.

hornetstinger · Tuesday at 20:42

RoyMi6 said:
All the buttons can double up (press and hold) on the harmony remote (the left one). So there's definitely enough. I've got about 10 devices I control with my Harmony Companion remote (without a touchscreen) because once you've loaded the activity (you can have 6) I typically only need about 8 buttons when actually DOING something (like watching a movie)

I'd be interested to know what functions you think you need that can't be solved with macros as well @hornetstinger

But yes, the Unfolded Circle Remote 3 (the right one) isn't great ergonomically, and is the one @the-evaluator and I have issues with. Otherwise, it's a fantastic remote and possibly the best option on the market if you discount the Harmony range - a big selling point is that it does everything on your local network, so it can't suffer the same fate as the Harmony devices.

My devices are for the HT (IR Control)

TV
Bias light
AV pre amp
Kodi Box
BD player
Wiim Ultra (does not have IR control)

So I have activites from the main menu

Watch TV- Macro switch TV on. Open up page for major TV controls navigation and shortcuts to BD & Kodi activity. Bias light buttons. Volume is linked to av pre amp
Watch BD - Macro switch TV on, switch BD on, switch TV to HDMI input 1, switch av pre amp to BD HDMI input. Open up page for BD navigation. Bias light buttons. Volume is linked to av pre amp . Buttons for DSP modes and direct subwoofer channel level
Watch Kodi (Microsoft IR remote learned codes , Corelec)) Macro switch TV on, switch TV to HDMI 1, switch av pre amp to Kodi HDMI input, Open up page for Kodi navigation. Bias light buttons. Volume is linked to av pre amp. Buttons for DSP modes and direct subwoofer channel level
(Not activity I use av pre amp menu) - Listen Wiim. Switch Av pre amp to Wiim coaxial input. Bias light buttons. Volume av pre amp.
AVR device- controls for AVR, volume, inputs etc
AV pre amp device- open up device page with all controls of that
Squeezebox device- open up device page with all controls of that, used for the Squeezeboxes and Squeezebox radio
Stereo system- open up device page with Squeezebox controls and Stereo pre amp controls
Plasma TV- open up device page with all controls of that
Kodi box secondary device page, the stock IR remote codes (Android) - open up device page with all controls of that
CD player - open up device page with all controls of that
DVD player - open up device page with all controls of that

Probably have few more saved devices, HDMI switches, ghetto blaster in hidden pages as backup.

RoyMi6 · Wednesday at 11:54

Yeah, I mean I'm not going to try to convince you to change to a Harmony Companion or anything, but you've got 4 activities (5 if you count you Squeezebox use case) with a limited number of functions you actually need while doing any one of those activities - so you absolutely could.

Any device specific buttons or functions you could add to any unused button on the remote (I use the "e" button in the bottom right in all my activities to toggle my fan on/off, and the "-" button in the bottom left to cycle AMP audio pre-sets for daytime/night-time while the kids are in bed). You can access all device specific buttons via the app, so any tweaking is easy enough beyond the day to day use of any activity and even needing to manually switch an "input" is just something I don't ever have to do.

I think we might just have different attitudes to movie watching / music listening experience - judging by your contributions in this forum section I do understand that you're likely to enjoy the tinkering aspect. On the flip side I highly value the work I put up front to automate everything where I just have to press a single activity button to do whatever I want to do, then I navigate a menu with a d-pad and press play. Even my curtains close when I start a movie activity and low level lights come on/off when I pause/play a movie - I don't even use the lighting buttons on the remote...

hornetstinger · Wednesday at 11:58

RoyMi6 said:
Yeah, I mean I'm not going to try to convince you to change to a Harmony Companion or anything, but you've got 4 activities (5 if you count you Squeezebox use case) with a limited number of functions you actually need while doing any one of those activities - so you absolutely could.

Any device specific buttons or functions you could add to any unused button on the remote (I use the "e" button in the bottom right in all my activities to toggle my fan on/off, and the "-" button in the bottom left to cycle AMP audio pre-sets for daytime/night-time while the kids are in bed). You can access all device specific buttons via the app, so any tweaking is easy enough beyond the day to day use of any activity and even needing to manually switch an "input" is just something I don't ever have to do.

I think we might just have different attitudes to movie watching / music listening experience - judging by your contributions in this forum section I do understand that you're likely to enjoy the tinkering aspect. On the flip side I highly value the work I put up front to automate everything where I just have to press a single activity button to do whatever I want to do, then I navigate a menu with a d-pad and press play. Even my curtains close when I start a movie activity and low level lights come on/off when I pause/play a movie - I don't even use the lighting buttons on the remote...

Any new remote would need to have learning function as I have devices that wouldn't be in the database.

Absolutely would not use a phone app to setup the remote, it would have to be PC software, off line, not requiring any login , account, or requiring to connect to servers or other nonsense like that.
Remotes are URC 850

RoyMi6 · Wednesday at 12:04

hornetstinger said:
Any new remote would need to have learning function as I have devices that wouldn't be in the database.

Absolutely would not use a phone app to setup the remote, it would have to be PC software, off line, not requiring any login , account, or requiring to connect to servers or other nonsense like that.
Remotes are URC 850

Ha, that URC 850 is old school :cool:

Also, absolutely, for all your stated reasons (ignoring the fact that it's gone EOL) do NOT buy the harmony remote

The Unfolder Circle Remote 3 however does fit those requirements if you did find yourself in desperate need of a replacement.