DVR Chatter

I will recommend to you what I recommend to everyone who ever talks to me about remote controls: Get a Harmony.  You press "Watch TV" and the right stuff comes on.  Then you press "Watch a Movie" and it turns off what you don't need, turns on what you do need, and sets it all to the proper inputs.  It, hands down, the best device I have ever owned for the money.

I think I remember this from long ago at "the other place" that there's not a way to control what "All On" does.  Don't quote me on that, and there are much smarter remote gurus here that know the ins and outs.  Just didn't want you to think I was ditching your question entirely and hijacking your thread.

Oh, yeah. Missed that one.  Thanks

I personally have the 659.  I have a life-long history of "cheaping out" when it comes to stuff.  In general, I buy the cheapest version of whatever it is I want, and then act real surprised when it breaks or doesn't work properly or doesn't do everything I want it to.  Then it dies and I go buy another of the cheapest version and repeat the cycle, usually winding up spending more than I'd have spent if I'd just bought the most expensive one outright.

The Harmony is different, though.  After reading about it, I did my usual "get the cheapest" MO.  That was two years ago.  The 659 may be the lowest-cost Harmony, but it's anything but cheap.  This thing is as solid as a rock and has all the functionality I need. And, actually, via firmware updates it works better than it did when I got it (doesn't blow through batteries like it used to). Heck, it even operates my AC.

You can view Harmony's full line here.  I'm pining for the 1000.

First, I see no reason to leave on my DVR box as I have never had any bugs as a result of turning all off.  However, as the disk seems to spin all the time anyway, I guess it makes little difference.  So that is an option.

With most U-remotes, yuo ALWAYS have to select an "activity" before powering on - since I mostly watch TV, I kind of hate the idea of selcting "watch TV" and then power on each time.  I know I am fussy, but heck....it bugs me

Second, my biggest need in a universal remote is RF  -I have a built in full wall lower cabinet with a 46" Samsung above- when the doors are open below the tv, it detracts from the theatre "experience."  And with RF, I'll be able to control the stereo from the LR and kitchen where I have some Polk in-wall speakers.

A friend has the Harmony 880 which I do not like-the buttons are too hard to find for my middle aged eyes, esp in the dark.  So the 890 rf is not for me.  Universal has the most RF remotes and the fancy -schmancy well-reviewed MX-800 is $210 at Newegg.  Not cheap but maybe worth it!

monsterden wrote:

I have the 3412 Comcast Box and remote and have programmed the Aux for my DVD player.  So the "All On" button powers on the dvd, even though most of the time I am just wanting the DVR box and tv.

I'd like "All On" to Power TV and Cable box but NOT DVD player, but I would like to keep the DVD player as AUX - And, I am FAR too lazy to power up both the TV and Cable/dvr box each time I turn on the tv.  Can I do this?

You can try programming an invalid EFC code as the DVD player's Power command. Then program some different key with the players power code. You would just need to remember to use the alternate key to power it on when in AUX mode.

I can give more details if needed. The general information on programming the remote can be found on the Wikibook:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use … the_Remote

Thanks Andy and Frank. Since I need the RF and the Comcast Remote only handles 3 devices (so I can control tv/dvr/dvd but not receiver), I bought the Universal mx-650 and mrf250 model RF receiver on Ebay for $150 brand new. I didn't want to pay $100 more to program it on my pc - but otherwise, this one seems to meet my needs.  And since it solves the RF problem, the $$ seems like it may be worth it.  I'm the type that like to program these little things so hopefully, it will work out well. 

The Universals use a lcd screen but with adjacent hard buttons next to each programable lcd display item.

http://www.universalremote.com/product_ … p?model=39


i'll report back after it arrives.