I am currently working with 4 remotes...and that's too much. I use the Cable remote to turn on cable and tv/ I use the Home Theater Remote to turn on sound and to watch a DVD/ I use the TV remote for the input depending on cable, DVD, DVD2 settings/ I use the BLu Ray Remote to turn on and control the blu ray player..............HELP!!! I just ordered the Logistics Harmony 700 Remote and have been second guessing myself ever since. The entire process of watching tv or DVD has become a job and I just want it to get easier. I have read all the on line reviews of this remote and all in all, it comes out quite high on the list. I am just wondering if a semi-handy person such as myself can successfully program and actually use this one button for each activity technology. Ever since I installed the Blu Ray player into the mix, there are already differences in how the sound works. Now, I can only get sound from the Home Theater and not at all from just the TV. I have contacted all the various manufacturers who tell me to reconnect another way, but it never works. If I get this one Universal Remote, can I actually eliminate some of the wiring behind the TV?????? For instance, I have an HDMI cable going from the back of the Home Theater unit to the back of the TV. If I disconnect it and try to connect the Blu Ray to the Home Theater, I only get a blue screen on the TV. So, I just put it back where it was. Anybody out there know for sure that these Universal Remotes will do all I want and more??? I would really appreciate any help anybody could give me.

Let me be the first of many of us who will recommend that you hire a professional custom audio/video installer. They will set up everything that you need, to do what it is you'd like to do, so that you may enjoy your home theater setup.

First off, Welcome to RC!

to help us help you, if when you type out your questions if you could split your paragraph up as its too much to read as a whole.

A remote does not remove wiring from your TV. However, i suspect that you have too many wires back there as it is for your system to properly function.

Ideally you should have one HDMI cable from your Audio Video Receiver up to your TV. For your components (IE: Cable Box, Blue Ray ETC) attach VIA HDMI from component HDMI out into the input IN on your Audio Video Receiver. You want your Receiver to do all the av switching.

How old is your equipment? relatively new, couple years old? what are the brands of your equipment?

Now, onto your remote. I would highly recommend contacting a local installer. Your profile says NJ and cable vision box so i assume your up near New York? I service mid to southern NJ but there are a few great guys on here that could possibly chime in, that might be able to help you get your AV under control. The reason being, you said your audio settings are screwed up when you change inputs. A harmony is not going to know which audio setting to set the AVR to. A custom programmed remote will not only be easier to use but can/will guarantee ease of use and the right inputs/audio settings are sent to the receiver!

A "universal remote" system would suite your needs perfectly. If you can, i would highly recommend taking the harmony back and putting that money towards a professional solution/programming.

Good Luck!

A word to the original poster: The term "universal remote" can be confusing. In the following, I'm sure I'll leave out a brand name, but I hope I get the idea across.

There's a brand of remotes from Universal Remote Corporation, which we call URC.

There's a whole set of remotes, including the "All for one" or similarly named remotes, from UEI, which is Universal Electronics Inc. These, too, might be called universal remotes by someone who doesn't know about the other remotes.

There's the Harmony brand, which purports to be able to control entire systems easily, though the reports I've heard here from other installers, and end users such as yourself, leads me to believe that the Harmony remotes, while universal, are hardly satisfactory as they require too much tweaking from time to time.

Then there are the programmable remotes. Almost any remote where you punch in a code to make it control a particular brand is NOT a programmable remote -- It's up there in the third paragraph's category.

URC remotes are programmable, as are RTI, Prontoes (now obsolete), and a few other minor players. Crestron and AMC offer not only remotes, but entire huge system capabilities, all of which is programmed, so they are "programmable."

The upshot of all this is that post 3 refers to a programmable remote, one where the sound setting for each input CAN be programmed into the remote, along with myriad other custom settings. However, note this: such a remote, when properly programmed, is drop dead simple to operate. Programming one is like the old making sausage metaphor, which I can say because a recent customer tried his hand at programming and was just amazingly confused by the entire process.

If you've wired your system with all possible wiring, as suggested by SignatureSV, then yes, some wiring might best be removed. If you've got an Audio/Video Receiver but you're getting sound from the TV for anything, your wiring might be improved, or it might simply need a more capable ( = complicated programmable) remote to make it easy to work.

By the way, I hope you've already said "Why do they have to make this so complicated?" I program remotes and it's all I can do not to say this over and over in front of a customer.

Get a professional custom installer to take over from where you are, and relax if they pull wires out. Be sure they describe the eventual remote operation as simple, and hold back about a quarter of the programming price if they haven't made it work to your satisafaction. And come here to ask if things don't seem right.

Oh, yeah -- read my signature. I put that up after years of posts with no brands and models. I really mean it!

The panasonic home theater system may limit how the system as a whole might function (I can't say for certain without the model number). Is there room in the budget for an entry level receiver, it doesn't have to be top of the line but $399 will get you an entry level Marantz that will work well for what you want it to do.

Post a picture.

Am I on remote central? The names of the responders look familiar but the content is ... sooo .. unusual.

Oh I see, damsel in distress.

as a pro i will give you the correct response that everyone else is scared to give you because of lurking spouses...the best way to handle the issue you are having is to get 3 or 4 guys to hang out and do all the switching for you. why spend money on a new remote or receiver. If you work it out correctly you can have a pile of guys paying for stuff, fixing stuff, changing tv inputs...you know what i mean and so do the others on this site. The funny part is that most guys are ok with it. But maybe that is why I enjoy ex- wives!

I thought the same thing. Can't deny it either