Most CE devices sold today probably have some colored buttons on their remote. But this coloring is just added to help users distinguish buttons at a glance; they aren't for general purpose use.

Scientific Atlanta, some [but not all] Motorola, and newer DirecTV boxes are only U.S. products I've seen that actually use colored buttons as general purpose buttons.

TiVos, Dish Network STBs, Verizon FiOS STBs, U-Verse STBs, older DirecTV STBs, and some newer cable STBs do not use colored buttons.


My new Panasonic plasma has colored buttons on the remote, but they are not used for general purpose functions. My Samsung DLP remote has colored buttons, but they are not used for general purpose functions. My DVD and Blu-ray players have colored buttons, but they are not used for general purpose functions. In all, I have 14 CE devices in my home from 9 different manufacturers -- all purchased in the past two years -- and not a single one of them uses color buttons for general purpose functions.


Dish Network does not use color buttons for general purpose functions.

Remote used on all Dish Network DVRs


I use TiVo, Verizon FiOS, and Dish Network DVRs. If it wasn't obvious by now, I do not want unnecessary color buttons on my remote that force Harmony to reduce the size and spacing of the other buttons I use daily.

Please just look at the Harmony One pictured on the first page. Where are they going to stick colored buttons? There is no room. The only way to fit colored buttons is to (1) get rid of the LCD, (2) increase the length of the remote -- which is already quite sizable, or (3) reduce the size or spacing of other buttons.

Logitech already has another remote like that. It's called the Harmony 885. It has a lot of small buttons squeezed on the remote. Philips just announced similar remote at CES for users that want small colored buttons.

When I had a Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD DVR with SARA, I only used the A/B/C buttons a few times a week. They are used to filter the guide (which I never did) and to edit recordings, but that's about it. I had those A/B/C buttons programmed on the LCD and it was fine. The Harmony One is even better, because it lets you put them in color.



Even if I still had the SA8300HD with SARA, I would still choose the Harmony One over the remotes above because it has larger, well-spaced buttons that are much easier to use by feel. The minute you reduce the size of the buttons and squeeze them all together to make room for more, you kill the usability of the remote. IMO.

Please don't misinterpret what I am saying. I have nothing against those that want colored "hard" buttons. And I have nothing against colored "hard" buttons, so long as they do not impact the size and spacing of the other "hard" buttons. But since colored buttons do affect the size and spacing of the other buttons, I do not want them.