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Liquidbreaddiet
Advanced Member
Username: Liquidbreaddiet
Post Number: 551
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 07:36 pm: | 
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since i did a thread about lcd vs plasma and got a bunch of great information - i thought maybe i would put one out for a good universal remote control. Idealy i want an IR/RF controller because i want all my components behind a closet door. I also want one that I can program lighting schemes and one smart enough to change the settings on my av receiver if i want to watch a movie vs listen to a cd etc. I have been looking alot at the Logitech Harmony 890 but am open to other suggestions.
thanks for you input
"If I'm not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?"
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Mike Huss
Senior Member
Username: Mikhu
Post Number: 1495
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 08:02 pm: |
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The Harmony 880/890 is the popular choice that I know of. Most HT enthusiasts that I know have it. I believe it has all the features you are looking for. I haven't gotten one because they are too dang expensive. One of these days.
One thing to watch out for with the cabinet - Make sure you vent the cabinet well (i.e. air intake and fan) since you plan on closing the closet door. Heat is deadly to those components. |
Mike Huss
Senior Member
Username: Mikhu
Post Number: 1496
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 09:58 pm: |
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FWIW the best price going right now on the 890 is $240 shipped at Amazon. You can save almost $100 by getting the 880, but then you lose the RF feature. I need RF myself, which is why I haven't bought the 880. I need RF because we have a big-a$$ coffee table that is blocking the line of sight to the stand below the HDTV. It's a real pain to hold the DVD remote above my head to use it. The DirecTV HD-DVR remote has RF capability, so it works great, but the DVD remote not so much.
But again, $240 for a remote is just a little too rich for my blood.
You know what you could do, you could save some money and get the 880, and just get an IR repeater to put outside the closet door. |
Liquidbreaddiet
Advanced Member
Username: Liquidbreaddiet
Post Number: 552
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 - 02:33 pm: |
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mike you beat me too it - i posted the same info about the remotes but it didn't go through for some reason. Any other suggestions about different remotes.
Also I have rigged up a couple computer fans to circulate air from an adjacent cabinet. I figure the cabinet is leaky enough that it still gets enough fresh air coming in so it just isn't blowing hot air back and forth from cabinet to cabinet. They power on when the power conditioner turns on.
"If I'm not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?"
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Mike Huss
Senior Member
Username: Mikhu
Post Number: 1498
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 - 04:48 pm: |
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Personally I don't have any other recommendations. If I was buying one I'd buy some model of Harmony, whichever one fit my needs the best.
I really do hope to buy one some day as well, but if I spent $250 on a remote these days I'd be spending an awful lot of time not using it because I would be spending that time removing my wife's boot from my posterior.  |
Liquidbreaddiet
Advanced Member
Username: Liquidbreaddiet
Post Number: 555
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 - 04:55 pm: |
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I can feel your pain - my wife would throw a caniption fit (sp) if I bought one. That being said, i plan on formulating an argument with her around the fact that we have 6 remotes already - and one could relieve all her pain. That and my aging grandmother still finds it necessary to send me a couple hundred for christmas every year - even though i am 31 god bless her.
(Message edited by liquidbreaddiet on January 05, 2007)
"If I'm not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?"
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Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 6180
Registered: 01-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 03:18 am: |
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We've got a basket on our coffee table that currently holds seven remotes. The HD cable box has a semi-universal remote that can do 85 percent of the job, but there is always the odd function that requires a dedicated remote. It's difficult to justify the cost of a truly universal remote, so I just fish the correct one out of the basket if needed.
(Message edited by BillPierce on January 06, 2007) |
Mike Huss
Senior Member
Username: Mikhu
Post Number: 1499
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 03:26 am: |
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That's precisely how it is in our house too Bill. The DSS remotes do pretty much everything, but we have to keep the other ones handy just in case. |
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