stump_breaker Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 So, my wife decides to remodel the house and change things up in the living room. She is back on the "I hate this house and want to sell it" kick so, being the loving husband I am, I sigh deeply and just go along for the ride. So we got new furniture. It's nice and brings color to the house. I then suggest that I rewire the TV and it's periphials so that we have a plasma screen mounted on the wall with nothing visible. These "extras" include a PS3, HDD Recorder (like Tivo), Bose system, satellite box, PC (hooked to the TV for web browsing) and Digital converter box. She likes the idea which means I get to do two things I love: wood work and new electronic toys. So mounting the TV and drilling holes through the wall for all the cables was easy. Placing all the accessories in an enclosed room under the stairs out of sight was not as easy, but fun. (Big guy. Little area. Lots of cables) So, now how do I control them? Since I have now learned in my nearly 37 years of existence that whatever problem I have someone else has already developed a solution, I'm all giddy and light-headed as I skip into the local Best Buy to see what new toy can solve my delima. The BB geek tells me of this all knowing remote, created by God on the first day and encased in gold and jewel impregnated amber, carried in the Ark of the Covenant, lost and then discovered under the Pyramids which was then dug up and rushed to that particular store, that morning, just for me. He then gets on one knee, bows and holds the box forward while a choir of angels fill the room with music. Well, not really, but from the price listed a story like that would have made buying it a whole lot easier. So anyway, this remote is described as not only transmitting by IR (for line-of-sight) but also in RF to a special receiver which then converts to IR and powers your devices from wherever they might be placed - up to 100' away. It also has listings for over 255,000 devices and growing. All I would have to do is hook it up to my computer, type in my device model number and voila, it's done. I can then program actions so that all I do is hit one button and everything will automatically happen, all devices turning on in unison. WOW! This sounds cool! So I buy it - after having to prove to the girl at the check out counter the price was not the extra $100 they were asking. So I'm pretty computer savy. I've hacked my fair share of stuff, built most of the computers I have as well as for others and so on. This should be a breeze. I got the remote Sunday. I just got it to work about 90% correctly at 11:30pm last night (Tuesday). I have no less than about 10 hours into trying to program this damn thing. Anybody else have one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh777 Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 So, my wife decides to remodel the house and change things up in the living room. She is back on the "I hate this house and want to sell it" kick so, being the loving husband I am, I sigh deeply and just go along for the ride. So we got new furniture. It's nice and brings color to the house. I then suggest that I rewire the TV and it's periphials so that we have a plasma screen mounted on the wall with nothing visible. These "extras" include a PS3, HDD Recorder (like Tivo), Bose system, satellite box, PC (hooked to the TV for web browsing) and Digital converter box. She likes the idea which means I get to do two things I love: wood work and new electronic toys. So mounting the TV and drilling holes through the wall for all the cables was easy. Placing all the accessories in an enclosed room under the stairs out of sight was not as easy, but fun. (Big guy. Little area. Lots of cables) So, now how do I control them? Since I have now learned in my nearly 37 years of existence that whatever problem I have someone else has already developed a solution, I'm all giddy and light-headed as I skip into the local Best Buy to see what new toy can solve my delima. The BB geek tells me of this all knowing remote, created by God on the first day and encased in gold and jewel impregnated amber, carried in the Ark of the Covenant, lost and then discovered under the Pyramids which was then dug up and rushed to that particular store, that morning, just for me. He then gets on one knee, bows and holds the box forward while a choir of angels fill the room with music. Well, not really, but from the price listed a story like that would have made buying it a whole lot easier. So anyway, this remote is described as not only transmitting by IR (for line-of-sight) but also in RF to a special receiver which then converts to IR and powers your devices from wherever they might be placed - up to 100' away. It also has listings for over 255,000 devices and growing. All I would have to do is hook it up to my computer, type in my device model number and voila, it's done. I can then program actions so that all I do is hit one button and everything will automatically happen, all devices turning on in unison. WOW! This sounds cool! So I buy it - after having to prove to the girl at the check out counter the price was not the extra $100 they were asking. So I'm pretty computer savy. I've hacked my fair share of stuff, built most of the computers I have as well as for others and so on. This should be a breeze. I got the remote Sunday. I just got it to work about 90% correctly at 11:30pm last night (Tuesday). I have no less than about 10 hours into trying to program this damn thing. Anybody else have one? I've got a Harmony One and it was a piece of cake. You go to a web site, tell it all the devices you have, and then tell it what all, you want to work together. Connect it to the computer and - boom - the remote is all programmed. 10-15 minutes max. That must be the difference in the Harmony One and the 890. The Harmony One is not RF though, but I have been very pleased with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stump_breaker Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 I've got a Harmony One and it was a piece of cake. I'm not sure what the deal is but the software programmed options and commands into the 890 that my devices do not even have, sometimes up to 6 pages of commands. I had to go through and manually remove about 3/4 of them. Then I had to teach the remote new commands from my old remotes, and don't get me started on the source inputs for devices that have one button which control several inputs. My HDD recorder is still what is causing me fits. Fortunately the Playstation is Bluetooth so I do not have to worry about it. Last night it was working mostly and now it's pretty sweet but the labor pains before the birth were pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbsFaris Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Got the 890...got the harmony one...got the sony touchscreen...they all suck horribly! They all share the same box in my closet.... If any of you have found a good solution, let me know....Im always waiting for the holy grail of remotes.... Sorry Stump, I always had commands not work or the remote forgets, or whatever the problems.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stump_breaker Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Got the 890...got the harmony one...got the sony touchscreen...they all suck horribly! They all share the same box in my closet.... If any of you have found a good solution, let me know....Im always waiting for the holy grail of remotes.... Sorry Stump, I always had commands not work or the remote forgets, or whatever the problems.... Oh boy. More great news. Glad I still have the receipt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdscooby Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Remember the days when we used to have to get our lazy ass off the couch to change the channel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07SGT4578 Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 damn it scooby, that avatar completely made me forget what I was going to post. Oh well, it was worth it! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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