Originally, I thought this blog would focus on my obsession with computers and especially my quest for the ultimate HTPC. However, few of my posts have been related to those topics. Today that will change.
For Father’s Day, Megan gave me the Logitech Harmony 680 – a multi-fuction remote that is programmable using your computer and an internet connection. What? How do you use the internet to program your remote? Well this is the beauty of the remote. It plugs into your computer via USB cable and then opens a webpage where you can update and configure it from the Logitech website. If you know the model number and manufacturer of your TV, VCR, DVD, etc. it does all the programming for you. In typical wizard style, it asks you to set up simple tasks. For instance, Watch TV: What channel do you watch TV on? Do you use a cable box? Do you control the volume on your TV or on your stereo amplifier? After answering, it sets all the controls for you and a single button now turns on the appropriate devices and tunes them to the correct inputs.
If it seems a little complicated still, there is a help button that will ask you questions and make corrections until the system is all running properly. Of course, if you are like me, you still want to have fine control over how the remote behaves. That is possible, too; you can tweak the time between signals, the repeat rate, and many other things.
Over all, this is the best Father’s Day present I have ever received (I have only celebrated 2 Father’s Days but this will probably hold up for a while).
That is the finest remote I have ever laid eyes on. This one goes out to people who hardly ever buy anything, and when they do, they buy the top of the line. Cheers and happy late Father’s Day.
Very nice remote. Be careful or your neighbors will be watching T.V. when all of a sudden you accidently buy a pay-per-view movie for them.