# Looking for universal remote



## Guest (Mar 28, 2007)

Hi all. 

I am looking for a universal remote for my setup (nothing fancy, but growing). I have looked at the harmony, but it seems rather expensive, and I not excited about giving all my info to them to program the remote. 

Has anyone heard of/experiences with the icon remote? www.x10iconremote.com

Any other remotes I should look at? Tips, hints?

Thanks in advance!

Becky


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I moved this to the Remotes forum.

I've not heard of that remote before, maybe someone else has though.

Look at the Universal line of remotes... several inexpensive ones to choose from all the way up to ones you can program with your computer. Generally you can find those much cheaper than retail.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2007)

Thanks Sonnie. Sorry for posting in the wrong forum. :rubeyes: 

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I know the Harmony is a bit expensive especially if you buy one from Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.,... though if you get one from New Egg, or right here at the Shack Shopping mall http://www.hometheatershack.com/store/audiovideoelectronics-493964-harmony-sr-1-Electronics.html the prices are in line with the x10iconremote you mentioned. 

Personally I love my Harmony 680, its been a great remote. Dunno how I went all those years with one of those other so called "universal" remotes that controlled most of my stuff, but not all. The Harmony does everything I need plus let me set it up how I wanted it. Well worth the extra couple bucks.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2007)

I have an iconRemote. It's probably the best for the money of all the universal I have ever used. If you want more info, here is a link to the instruction manual. http://www.x10.com/pdfs/kbase_iconr_manual.pdf


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2007)

What is an icon remote? haven't heard of this one.... i clicked on the link though, and just realized that it was made by x-10, that company that sells that home automation stuff...

how good of a remote can this be from a home automation store? I'm actually kind of curious cause it looks pretty nice... anyone have one of these that can provide an update.... I'm more familiar with the Logitech brands....


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2007)

Isn't Logitech the brand that makes computer mice? How good of a remote can they make? LOL.

I understand where you're coming from, but I have had good luck with the iconRemote. I like the network logos for channel surfing. Now I only have to scan through the 8 channels that I like. 

Plus, I like that it's not a touch screen. I have used some touch screen remotes in the past and I spend more time looking at the remote than I do the TV. 

Here's the website for you, HarperRW. www.x10iconremote.com


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2007)

Yes, Logitech makes computer mice, and if those mice are any indication, I'd imagine their remote controls are quality. I also have a set of Logitech speakers for my computer. Again, quality. That said, I have an iconRemote from X10 (price tag is what got me). I bought it, on a whim, and it came in a couple of days ago. I haven't had much of a chance to play around with it yet, but so far, so good. It figured out the codes to all my devices in one try. The favorites and the network icons are awesome, although I understand that it can get confusing if you have a lot of stations. I still have basic cable, so that's not a problem for me. The remote is not perfect, but neither are the Harmony remotes. I would have liked backlit buttons, but at least I'm starting to get a feel for it-- it's not impossible to use in the dark. But $130? Helluva deal right there. Maybe there is something to X10 after all. I don't know anything about them (other than the fact that people on the boards seem to be fed up with their marketing techniques), but this is a promising start...


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## khellandros66 (Jun 7, 2006)

Logitech is probably them most bang for your buck and a very very trust worthy company, I have been into HT since I was a wee lad and never heard of x-10 or iconRemote, personally I checked there site the reverse DNS lookup and for the SSL ASP and other securities and its all ok but nothing I'd order from...

Logitech bought out Harmony a very good remote control developer that was in financial trouble and had a hard time edgin its way into good market share. Logitech is huge amongst elite gamers and power pc users. everything have, mice keyboards, remotes are now and forever be Logitech.


~Bobby


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## Hakka (Sep 10, 2006)

You can't go wrong with the Harmony remotes, the support is excellent too. 
I have a Denon 3803, the Denon 5805 has descrete codes for volume presets (-20db, -40db), the 3803 will respond to these commands but the 3803 remote cannot send them. I obtained a list of the remote codes from the Denon website. I e-mailed the codes to support and I received an e-mail back the next day saying that these commands had been added to my profile, I simply updated the remote and I now have those volume presets.

You won't get that type of service with any other universal remote that I know of.


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## mjhamre (Jan 28, 2007)

Count this as another vote for the Harmony remotes. I just picked one up and it was VERY easy to set up to control all my devices. No more of this pointing one remote at the other to learn stuff. Their website is updated as new products come out. The fact that the remote will control devices that they have not even thought of making yet is very useful.


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## Hakka (Sep 10, 2006)

Harmony 880 owners, I have just updated my config on the Harmony website and noticed that the activity custom LCD buttons can be reordered, where they used to be copied over from the device mode.


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

Yeah, they did that a while ago, at the behest of users like us. It was a terrible implementation to begin with; I can't believe they did it that way. Unfortunately, it's still impossible to enter repeat entries for the custom LCD panel -- I want to have the same buttons in the lower right corner regardless of what "page" I'm on, and it just ignores the repeats. 

I don't know why they go out of their way to reorder things from the way the user input them. From a firmware point of view, I would think it would be easier to just accept it the way the user set it. Trying to be clever, I guess...


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## Hakka (Sep 10, 2006)

Otto said:


> Unfortunately, it's still impossible to enter repeat entries for the custom LCD panel -- I want to have the same buttons in the lower right corner regardless of what "page" I'm on, and it just ignores the repeats.


Maybe you could add a dummy device, add the commands you want to duplicate to it and use them on the second page of the lcd display?


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## Guest (Apr 24, 2007)

See, that's why I decided to stay away from the Harmonys. Everyone says they are great, but then complains about them, too. 

I had no problems setting up the iconRemote exactly how I wanted it.


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## Otto (May 18, 2006)

I'm not sure that's quite fair. I've never used the iconRemote, but I've never found a remote that was 100% user friendly from my point of view. I'm sure that if I were using that remote that I would be able to find things to complain about.

You did note that Harmony addressed user concerns, right? That's a big plus in my book.


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## Guest (Apr 27, 2007)

As (some) of you know, I ended up getting an icon remote from x10 some time ago. i was messing around with it the other day when i noticed what looked like a usb connection near where the batteries go. i was under the impression that this remote couldn't and didn't need to be connected to a computer. so what's the deal with this "mystery port?" does anyone know what it does or how to use it?


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## Adz (Nov 18, 2006)

I hav a mint unused MX850 that I'm looking to sell. Bestbuy still carries them at $400 retail. NLAV price is $250. PM or email me for details.


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## brandonnash (Sep 11, 2006)

I'll throw one in the hat. All For One remotes. Very affordable. Will control any component, and a lot are backlit and can accept macros.


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