Up until recently, I had a long-in-the-tooth receiver that used a custom RF controller. What all that means is that I couldn’t get another remote to control it because it had a proprietary RF format. So I’ve never had a universal remote. I just got used to switching between the many inputs on my tv and receiver, swapping out between the giant pile of remotes that lived on my couch.
As part of my move, I got rid of the old receiver. My aunt and uncle very generously got my the receiver I’d been dreaming about, Denon’s AVR-2807. It’s been really lovely. And I could finally get myself a nifty universal remote!
I’d been wanting to get Logitech’s Harmony 880 - it’s got a wishbone shape like the TiVo controller I love so much, and it’s programmable. I’d read some decent reviews and Amazon had it at the right price. I ordered it last week and have been enjoying it ever since.
Just the ability to do everything I need with only one remote is such a novely for me. It’s been great. So, I don’t have much to compare it to. But it was super easy to program. You hook it up to your computer and go to a website. Enter in all your components and then organize by activity like “Watch TiVo”, “Watch DVD”, “Play Xbox”. It took just about no time at all and I’ve been enjoying it ever since.