Some other device types don’t seem to be covered – where does a remote controlled subwoofer go? Or an antenna rotor? No “miscellaneous” or “other” category is provided, and with nothing resembling a vague match I left them out of my configuration for the time being.
The software then has you select whether these devices will be hooked up to the wireless extender or controlled directly by the Harmony 1000 – in a nutshell, will it be RF or IR. On the next screen the software runs through each entered device and compares it to the online database. If that device has already been profiled by someone else then no manual configuration is required, although several may still require user intervention to answer a few questions such as what inputs are available and whether it should always be left on or automatically turned off.
For my DVD player the software was unable to automatically determine the correct codeset (which is appropriate since there are three possible), and asked me to use the original remote control to learn a few commands through the Harmony 1000. After capturing 3 signals it detected the correct codeset and moved on. Of note, during the “device check” the software asked me to gather the remotes for several devices that it had questions on, even though those remotes never ended up being used.
Shake and bake activities.
After all devices have been entered – up to 15 are allowed – it’s time to configure activities. The Harmony always prefers to work with your system using activities. The ability to jump to a single device and send advanced functions does exist on the 1000, but you’re almost always going to want to “Watch TV” rather than click specifically on a “Television” device as with most remotes.
A list of stock activities will be generated automatically based on your configured devices. Some devices will correspond to two activities, such as “Listen to a CD” and “Watch a DVD” for a DVD player. Others may result in no activities at all – the software only chose to create an activity for one of my three potential television viewing devices, and it called it “Watch TiVo” despite there being no TiVo branded components in my system. Up to 255 activities can be created, but with the 15 device limit that vast number holds little practicality. The manual activity categories listed for my selection of devices included Watch Television, Record Video, Play VCR, Watch DVD, Listen to CD, Listen to Music, Play Video Game, Listen to Tape, Show Presentation, and Utility. Utility is a sort of “blank” activity that can be used to create a custom task. Depending on your system this list may differ significantly.
When automation fails you.
A certain amount of manual adjustment is required for each activity, such as selecting which device will produce audio (television or receiver), and which television and receiver inputs the key components are connected to. Almost humorously the software sometimes attempts to offer “recommended” inputs based on whether their name has something to do with the activity, though for my setup it was wrong more often than it was right.
Enlarge this screenshot.
Enlarge this screenshot.
Enlarge this screenshot.