Harmony 1100: One Remote to Rule Them All

Once upon a time, TV remote controls were only required to do three things: turn the TV on/off, control the volume, and change the channel.  But as time passed, and our entertainment gadgets evolved, so did our need for remotes. Now there was a remote for the television, another for the DVD player, and still another for the sound system — a dark time indeed. There was light at the end of the tunnel however, with the advent of the universal remote. Suddenly, all of your entertainment needs could be controlled with one central remote. But there was still the problem of having to press a ridiculous amount of buttons to turn on all the necessary components, leaving frustrated users and sore thumbs the world over.

Enter Logitech and it’s latest universal remote the Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote Control. As the winner of the CES 2009 Design and Engineering Award: Best of Innovations in the Home-Entertainment Accessories category, this ain’t your granddaddy’s remote control. Sporting a 3.5-inch touchscreen with QVGA (320 × 240) resolution and RF wireless capabilities, the Harmony 1100 fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and gives users that one-button capability they’ve been craving. Just press the “Watch DVD” option on the screen and the remote turns on all the necessary accouterments: TV, DVD, speakers, amplifiers, and any other doohickeys you use to enhance your movie watching experience. The remote supports over 225,000 devices from a mind-blowing 5,000 brands, so there’s no gadget this remote can’t plug into.

Courtesy of Logitech

In order to make make setup accessible to both tech junkies and noobs alike, Logitech created an easy to follow setup wizard. All you need to do is connect to the internet and voila, you’re customizing with the pros. Enter the make and model of your gadgets and you’re good to go.  If you buy an upgrade to any of your shiny toys, just add it to the remote’s database and the system will take care f the rest, giving the remote some welcome longevity.

Small, easy to use, and just as easy on the eyes, the Harmony 1100 is a must have for people with serious entertainment systems that want to consolidate their remote control functions into one slick device.  The fact that the remote is rechargeable just sweetens the deal. The $378.88 asking price on Amazon.com is a little steep, but for the convenience of not having to track down 15 different remotes, it might just be worth it.