Universal remote for parents?

Five_Star

Five_Star

Five_Star

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I’ve done a search and found that the Logitech Harmony remotes are the ones to get but it’s for my parents who are retired now and need any remote to be very, very easy to use.

They recently got a freesat box installed but end up watching terrestrial most of the time because they can’t figure out the combo of remotes for the TV, Freesat box and DVD player.

How easy are the remotes to use and setup, I essentially want to do the following, is it possible?
  1. Turn on TV and Freesat box with one button press, pressing ch+ and ch- moves between freeview channels
  2. Turn on TV and DVD player with one button press, pressing play on remote plays the DVD
  3. Using volume up / down works for the TV only as they usually end up muting the freesat box and have the TV volume at max!

Thats it, I want it super simple for them. My other concern is that when replacing the batteries on the Harmoy 300 does it loose all the settings?
 
Can nobody confirm if this is possible with the Logitech Harmony range? I can't find a pdf of the instruction manual to confirm before I buy?

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I wouldn't call the setup a piece of cake so given they can't work out how to switch to the Freesat box I'd say it'll be too difficult for them to configure. It is however very easy to use so perhaps you could do set it up for them?

1. You can setup an activity that turns on the TV and then the Freesat box. Once the Freesat box is on the remote would control that rather than the TV unless you told it to revert back to the TV.

2. As above. Just chose to turn on the DVD second so the remote controls that rather than the TV.

3. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to this but I'm sure you can.

My remote's been dead for up to 12 hours before I changed the batteries and it kept all the settings. If it does lose them just connect it back to the PC and it'll download everything you've configured back to the remote.

Edit: Just read you can't program multiple activities on the Harmony 300 so configuring it to turn on the TV & Freesat and the TV and DVD won't be possible with a single button press for each. Would have to look at a more expensive version for that capability.
 
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A Harmony is about as close as you'll get in an off-the-shelf product to do all the functions...but that's not your biggest concern.

The problem is the sheer number of buttons and the small size of text. You see, in trying to cover lots of bases and cram in lots of functions on a single handset the Harmony is compromised. The trend is that the cheaper the remote then the more compromised it is in this respect. That's not so much of an issue for us tech-heads, but it can be a little daunting for those used to one remote per box.

The Harmony 515 isn't too bad in this respect though. It has one of the cleanest layouts and a small LCD screen with activities which is how your parents would choose a "what to do". The 515 sells for around £40-£50
 
Thanks, I would be the one configuring it for them, but I'd like to reduce the amount of "support calls" as I want something that once working is simpler than what they have now.

Good info on the Harmony 300, thanks Pigeon_Killer I wouldn't of found that out till I'd bought it.

Is the Harmony 515 still sold, its no longer listed on the Logitech site? Probably the reason I'm having so much trouble deciding what handset would be best for them as there is no clear way to make a comparison between all the models available.
 
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