JP1 Remotes

vickyg2003 · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:16 pm Post subject:

I can't that the harmony would fit my needs. I have multiple remotes in every room, and my husband destroys remotes while he watches sports, so the Harmony would be too expensive for me.

What is the cost on a Harmony.

greenough1 · Joined: 30 Jan 2005 Posts: 659

$99 and up LINK.

jeff

The Robman · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:33 pm Post subject:

The Harmony ONE, which is what the Capn has, costs $250:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/3898
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vickyg2003 · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:29 am Post subject:

Wow, 250 for a remote. I would never dare let my husband, the remote destroyer, touch one. How could I afford to have his and her remotes in every room if I didn't have the JP1 remotes?

The Robman · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:05 am Post subject:

There are remotes that cost WAY more than that! Last time I checked, the top of the line Pronto was about $1k.
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vickyg2003 · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:53 am Post subject:

1K EEEK. No way! I suppose the learning curve on those remotes wouldn't be as painful as the JP1 curve was, but still...... 1k!!!!

When I bought 25 comcast remotes for $75 they all had me diagnosed as in a full mania. If I spent 1k on a remote, or 250 for that matter, they'd probably have me committed.[/url]

underquark · Expert Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 874 Location: UK

I read on a website recently about a £2500 remote which included a technician setting it up for you. Maybe they get your beer for you too, Capn.

For some this just a fraction of the total cost of their av equipment. See the prices some people are obviously willing to pay for their home cinema gear by checking out this Dream System 2. This store uses Pronto as their entry-level remote.

The Robman · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:06 pm Post subject:

With good reason! Smile

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Capn Trips · Expert Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 3990

Roger the cost concerns. When I saw the Harmony for $189 on Amazon (the price seems to fluctuate a few dollars daily seemingly) I got one. Time IS, in fact money, and over the years I've invested a LOT of time in JP1 remotes, which I always got to do exactly what I wanted, but right now, with my new HT, I simply (after VERY many hours) was unable to get a JP1 remote to "get it right", so I reached my threshold and the ONE is perfect.

$1K is CLEARLY out of order, but if I have 10 components, and EVERY ONE of them cost more than twice the remote, I'm OK with the expense.

I'm still using my extended Atlas OCAP for my secondary family room setup (Only 6 components, so I still have to multiplex).
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Beginners - Read this thread first
READ BEFORE POSTING or your post will be DELETED!

Remotes: OFA XSight Touch, AR XSight Touch
TVs: LG 65" Smart LED TV; Samsung QN850BF Series - 8K UHD Neo QLED LCD TV
RCVR: Onkyo TX-SR875; Integra DTR 40.3
DVD/VCR: Pioneer DV-400VK (multi-region DVD), Sony BDP-S350 (Blu-ray), Toshiba HD-A3 (HD-DVD), Panasonic AG-W1 (Multi-system VCR);
Laserdisc: Pioneer CLD-D704.
Amazon Firestick
tape deck: Pioneer CT 1380WR (double cassette deck)
(But I still have to get up for my beer)

The Robman · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:35 pm Post subject:

To me, the cost of the remote should have no relation to the cost of the components, though I do understand how silly someone looks complaining about the cost of a $200 remote after they've already dropped $100k into an HT system.

We have seen so many posts from newbies that boast about how they scored a DVD player for just $20 at Best Buy because it didn't have a remote, and as they only paid $20 for the player, they won't spend more than $15 on a remote.

From my perspective, when you put together your HT system, you need to decide what you want out of each component, including the remote, and if you have to pay more to get what you want, so be it. You wouldn't limit how much you'd spend on a DVD or PVR based on how much you spent on the TV, or vice versa. So even if you have a $20 DVD player and a $50 TV, if the Harmony One exactly meets your needs for a remote and it costs $250, and you can afford it, so be it. Likewise, it's silly to spend a ton on state of the art components and then spoil the viewing experience with a crumby remote.
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Dilligaf · Joined: 05 Aug 2003 Posts: 79 Location: Michigan

Capn Trips · Expert Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 3990

Listen guys, I'm as big a fan of JP1 as anybody. I have used it and continue to use it, and you can probably find posts written by me in which I denigrate the Harmony and Pronto users of the world. The reality is that sometines one CANNOT get the performance that one needs/wants using JP1 only. I have spent countless hours trying to get JP1 to sufficiently handle my HT system and simply could not.

If one buy EXACTLY the number of JP1 remotes that one requires and spends a REASONABLE amount of time programming them to do PRECISELY what you need from them, then I absolutely agree that paying $250 for a remote is not worth it. But right now, I have 2 RS 15-1994s, 2 RS 15-2117s, 2 OFA URC-8910s, 1 HT Pro, 2 OFA URC-6131s, 1 OFA URC-9960 Kameleon, 2 Comcast 1067s, 2 Cox URC-7820s, 1 Atlas URC-1054, 3 Atlas URC-1055s, 4 Atlas OCAP URC-1056s and after MONTHS of work was unable to get ANY ONE of them to adequately operate my primary HT. All of those remotes (well, MOST of them, anyways) cost money. My Simple parallel JP1 cable, my serial JP1.x cable, and my two USB JP1 and JP1.2/3 cables all cost money, as well. X hundred hours of work also has a value. I would conservatively estimate that JP1-ing has cost me upwards of $500 already (NOT putting a value on the man-hours)!

For me, in this circumstance, getting the Harmony actually SAVED me time and money.
_________________
Beginners - Read this thread first
READ BEFORE POSTING or your post will be DELETED!

Remotes: OFA XSight Touch, AR XSight Touch
TVs: LG 65" Smart LED TV; Samsung QN850BF Series - 8K UHD Neo QLED LCD TV
RCVR: Onkyo TX-SR875; Integra DTR 40.3
DVD/VCR: Pioneer DV-400VK (multi-region DVD), Sony BDP-S350 (Blu-ray), Toshiba HD-A3 (HD-DVD), Panasonic AG-W1 (Multi-system VCR);
Laserdisc: Pioneer CLD-D704.
Amazon Firestick
tape deck: Pioneer CT 1380WR (double cassette deck)
(But I still have to get up for my beer)

unclemiltie · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:43 pm Post subject:

Cap'n

I hear you! my collection of "stuff" is growing daily and I run back and forth between the OCAP, the 15-134 and the trusty old 6131. Throw in a couple of Kameleons, and a 2116 just for good measure.

And of course, the time factor is huge. Making a remote do exactly what you want it difficult, most of which is tweaking it after you get it almost right. I find that I'm constantly going back after a couple of days of almost right to move a key from here to there or to change something to a short/long keypress or switch the order of a macro somewhere. That' the area that regardless of the tools, you're going to spend time on. I've not used the Harmony stuff, but I'm quite sure that I'd be tweaking their config as well.

In the end, each of us is after the same thing. An experience where the remote that makes a system no effort to use for us and the other people in the house. Doing that with Harmony, Pronto or a JP1 remote that does the job is all that matters. And I think where most of the JP1 world breaks down is when you get a lot of devices that have to be controlled. My system is relatively simple, a couple of DVR/Satellite receivers, DVD and an AV receiver. (well, a bit more complicated than that) so a 5 or 6 device remote is great.

Finally, I will say that my involvement into JP1 has gone WAY overboard. the sickness started when I decided to start writing extenders (first with the Kameleon 6960) I could never justify the time put into this stuff based on savings from not buying even a $1000 remote. I enjoy it and it's a way to keep my fingers in a bit of my past history of writing software. I can't put a value on that!
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this JP1 stuff is a sickness!

tennessee titan · Joined: 18 Nov 2008 Posts: 117

In a few words:

"The enemy of GOOD is BETTER".......

The Robman · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:11 pm Post subject:

I was just looking at the new OFA/Audiovox "Xsight" remotes and it looks like they should match up quite nicely against the Harmony One, and the price is similar too.

Read about them here...
http://www.remotecentral.com/news/453/audiovox_reveals_pair_of_xsight-ing_remotes.html
http://www.remotecentral.com/news/441/one_for_all_reveals_new_xsight_remotes.html

Here they are, side by side...

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