Having now decided to get a Humax FVP-5000T I am turning my attention to tidying up the control of media boxes stacked under the TV.
Harmony remotes are regularly mentioned in forum posts and I would like some feedback on these devices please.
It seems I have several medium cost options.
Just leave things as now with a bunch of controllers.
Set up the new Humax FVP-5000T to control just TV as well.
Get a Harmony 650 to control both and hopefully the DVD player.
For about the same cost, get the Harmony Home Hub and control everything from my Android kit. This hub apparently has IR, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. As well as the Humax and TV etc on IR I have a Bluetooth controlled external speaker unit and an Amazon Firestick, WiFi controlled.
This hub would seem to be the complete answer but there could be snags in use. I am also not the slightest bit interested in controlling other house kit.
Comments gratefully received.
My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » FVP 4000T, 5000T
Harmony, or other, remote controller effectiveness
(8 posts)-
| Sun 3 Dec 2017 20:17:57 #1 |
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I have a Foxsat-HDR, A HDR-1000S, LG-smart blu-ray player, FVP-5000T, Yamaha AV receiver in a HiFi rack (except the TV and the Foxsat-HDR which are at the other end of the room). I also have a Fire-TV box connected to the same receiver. I originally used a Harmony remote ultimate one but found that due to the large difference in direction the control of the TV and Foxsat-HDR was unreliable, adding the hub and it's large infra red transmitter solved this.
Apart from setting up the various kit inputs on the amp and TV I have never found any need to include Blue-tooth control bacause the Fire-TV app controls the Fire-TV box using the android app. The same applies to my LG smart blue-ray player. I use this as my media player of choice as it supports 1080p24 natively, the android app on my tablet works a treat as you get a full list of the available files.
The more recent FVP-5000T works fine using the FVP-4000T device and solves the very directional nature of it's supplied remote.
IKf all your kit is one one location and just uses the TV for audio you may not need the hub.
| Sun 3 Dec 2017 21:22:09 #2 | -
Well done Tim (for asking the question) and Graham (for the full response). I have been considering buying one of the Harmony remote "family" but was not sure which one to get. As my A/V kit is on one stand (Toshiba Regza with Amazon Fire TV stuck in the back and the 4000T) it looks as though I will not need the hub part. The lights and plugs (TP-Link) are set up in programmes anyway so I usually don't need to touch them. R-
| Mon 4 Dec 2017 6:03:30 #3 | -
I have been using a Harmony Ultimate One happily for nearly two years now after six years of using an older 555 model.
Be prepared to take a little time to set it up and tweak the button presses to the way you like them (for example, for every activity I have the DVR button set to access the recordings list but a long press of the DVR button is set to access the timer / schedule list.
I still keep the 555 to hand despite some of its physical buttons becoming a bit hit and miss with it in Device mode to control the AV amp to which I have also added ON/OFF soft key functions for each of my PVRs and other devices as is quicker to use while leaving my Ultimate in Activity mode. I prefer to manually switch my PVRs on and off manually rather than have it done via activity switching as I often watch one PVR then another then back to the first and my rule of thumb is to not put a PVR back into standby if it will be in use again in an hour or less.
As far as sensitivity goes it seems to work better if pointed at my bank of AV equipment diagonally.
And it sits more securely on the arm on my chair on its flat front than on is curved back.
| Mon 4 Dec 2017 9:31:48 #4 | -
Thanks to all for their information.
Realised after posting that the sound bar is actually IR controlled. It has a Bluetooth audio input. That means everything apart from the Firestick is IR. Bought the Firestick recently to overcome the FVP-4000T / FVP-5000T inability to tackled even moderate sized pictures. This plug in unit, with VLC and BubbleUPnP installed, rapidly processes and displays anything thrown at it from the separate house media server. It has a nice small WiFi controller which does not needed to be pointed anywhere specific to work.
Taking all this into consideration I think a basic Harmony controller will do all we want. The model 650 looks OK and reasonable priced. Is it an upgrade on the model 555 mentioned?
Is it programmed via a Windows PC? Using a laptop and USB connect I could sit in front of the TV kit and happily programme it.
Any more feedback on these controllers especially the 650?| Mon 4 Dec 2017 12:28:07 #5 | -
Yes you register on the harmony website and download the PC app MyHarmony.
Just connect your Harmony to a usb port and run MyHarmony. Start by adding a device for each device you want to control. Then add whatever activities you want to use. You just add what devices from your list and answer the questions asked in setting up the activity. One finished synch your remote control. This will copy the data from the Harmony site to your remote.
| Mon 4 Dec 2017 15:58:53 #6 | -
The 650 does not support as many devices as the 15 supported by the 555 which is why I do not consider it an upgrade to the 555. I could have used a 650 with a bit of a compromise but decided on the Ultimate One instead.
| Mon 4 Dec 2017 16:27:10 #7 | -
Queries on 650 model etc.
Is the backlight triggered by a button press or movement sensor? How long before it switches off again?
If I have loaded in all our device controllers can they be easily accessed and used without going through an "Activity" process?
Certain less frequent operations such as starting the DVD player are more easily done here manually. "Switch on, open tray, select and insert disk, close tray, press play" are done at the unit. Remote only used once playing.Have found another Harmony remote. The model 665. Very similar to the 650, cosmetic differences, but it can control 10 devices. That would be ample here.
Will play around with the new Humax FVP-5000T when it arrives then decide on and get the extra controller. A Christmas time programming session would be more interesting than watching the TV!| Wed 6 Dec 2017 10:22:25 #8 |
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