Hi,

am looking to buy my first universal remote and am considering the Harmony 785. I notice there are not a lot of posts for it in these forums and am wondering why? Is it not popular and if so why not? Conversely, is it popular but trouble free / straight forwards to use and therefore not much reason to post? Any other reason for the lack of posts? Is any one aware of any reliability issues with this remote or any other issues?

This is my main choice because ........
A) it has 4 cute coloured buttons that match the 4 cute coloured buttons on our Satellite remote. I assume these will have the same functions as the satellite remote? This will keep my partner happy - I can't believe I'm silly enough to promise her she will find this remote a breeze to use. Will she find usage a breeze?
B) the online database and Web Wizard setups. I assume this makes the process relatively painless? I'm fat / old / bald with the technology capabilities of a turnip - I can't believe I'm silly enough to tell my partner I can do this. Can I do this?
C) Our equipment is both basic and aging (CRT TV, AV Receiver, Satellite Receiver, DVD Player, VCR) but we are starting to upgrade individual components. I assume this remote will cope with our upgrades over the next 1 - 2 years? Will it cope with future upgrades?

After reading some of the posts in these forums (sequential input cycles, setting inter device timing / delays, discrete and pseudo discrete methods of commands) I'm starting to have doubts about this. If we are happy to stick to the most basic of functions could we get away with using the Web Wizard and not having to worry about sequential cycles etc?

Any help / advice forum members could provide would be greatly appreciated ....

The Harmony remotes are basically all the same under the hood. The models ending in xx5 are for the European markets. They feature the 4 coloured buttons for Teletext and such. The majority of visitors on this site are from North America but the number of European visitors is growing.

A) The 4 coloured buttons are configurable just like most of the other buttons. Chances are they will be mapped to your Satellite device by default. If not, then it's very easy to re-map them.
B) Both the S/W client and the website configuration interfaces require an online connection. Both interfaces are simple, easy to use but way too childish (hand holding) for power users. Most power user prefer the website interface. They find the S/W client interface "Tunnel Vision" even more childish.
C) Equipment upgrade is easy. You add the new device, setup its power and input settings, re-run the activity wizards to use the new device, then delete the old device. Note: To find out which activities uses the old device, just pretend your are going to delete it. It will give you a list.

The reason why people get into trouble is they assume the configuration wizards will perform miracles. You have to use a systematic approach. The 1st thing to do is to get familiar with all your device capability by trying all the commands in device mode paying attention to their action (toggle, cycling, or direct), and documenting their behaviour. The device mode is really a familiarizing/debugging tool.

Armed with this info, the next step is to configure the device power and input settings. Try to use the direct method where possible. Many device brands supports discrete (direct) power and/or input commands although they are not on the original remote.

Once you have setup all the devices properly, now it's time to add you activities. Most people do that right away skipping the 1st step (device configuration) and get into trouble trying to fix an "engine" problem through the "tail pipe". Time wise, you spend it wisely now, or waste a lot of it later.

thanks for response jlet. "Hand Holding" sounds good to me, I'm of an age when I'm pathetically grateful if I point a remote and the equipment obeys me. I can always worry about more direct control of functions after I've been up and Basic Function running for a while.

I'll remember what you say about Device Mode and Device Configuration.

Again, many thanks