The evolution of Logitech Harmony universal remote controllers, that started with Harmony 1000 model, is continued with newest Harmony 1100 model. It is obvious that traditional shape is abandoned in favor of shape that is more suited for two hand navigation. Most of the controls are available through touch screen that has QVGA resolution and 3.5 inch diagonal. Advantages of new model compared to previous one (Harmony 1000) are larger number of hardware controls (buttons) that can be used for most frequently used task.

 

Since most commands appear on touch screen, some of the commands are located along edges of the screen. On each side of screen are 4 embosses that can help in finding controls without looking at the screen. Charging station is used for battery charging. Power saving profile activates “sleep” mode of Harmony 1100 after few minutes of inactivity. Thanks to included motion sensor, remote control will “wake” itself automatically if it is moved.

Harmony 1100 can control up to 15 different devices. Configuration is done over the internet as it is the case with rest of Harmony products. Logitech has in its database over 5000 brands and more than 22000 devices, so chances that you will not find your device are slim to none. Of course there are devices that are not in the database, and in that case there is procedure that will allow Harmony 1100 to learn new commands from original remote controller.

Big display allows a larger amount of commands (up to 10) to be presented and available at the same time. Even so, for usual remote controls 10 commands are not enough so commands are divided into “pages”. This makes controls much better organized but at the same time makes finding particular control difficult. Often it will be required to scroll true few pages until desired command is found.

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Completely different “philosophy” of Harmony 1100 remote controller compared to traditional ones will, at the beginning, create a lot of problems. Few hours of active usage are required to get accustomed to this “new way” of remote control. Larger amount of active devices of course makes this period even longer, especially if one command from one device also controls some function of other device(s). On the other hand profiles can be used to create complicated set of commands that can be executed in exact order and make everyone’s life much easier.

 

In Harmony 1100 model new, more powerful, CPU is used compared to one present in older Harmony 1000 model. This was reflected in change of OS, so older OS that was based on Java has evolved to one based on Flash technologies which resulted in faster and more agile control reactions. Menus are restricted to four vertical levels which present nice balance available space and time needed to find desired option. Some commands are places in corners of display and thanks to those, numeric pad and basic multimedia controls are always easily available.

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L o g i t e c h  H a r m o n y   1 1 0 0
Display	colour, 3.5", 320x240px, touch sensitive
Control	up to 15 different devices
Power supply	Li-ion rechargeable battery
Connection with computer	USB 2.0
Price	450€

 

 

 

Conclusion

Logitech Harmony 1100 completely redefines the way how devices in our homes are controlled. Because of this some confusion can be expected in the beginning. Nevertheless, after few days you will get used to new procedures and it is not likely that you will ever reach for old remote controllers. Unfortunately we are not so sure about its acceptance among wider population because of one simple reason: price.

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