Is there a better remote?

S

socrates

Member
Can anyone recommend a better remote for the HDR? I'm getting used to the Hummy after years of Tivo use but nothing compares to the Tivo remote. Want I want is one where the buttons used most are bigger and more centrally placed and the rest are out of the way ( or got rid of completely if the job can be done with on screen selections ).

In particular that means the record, play pause etc need to be better and the numeric keypad can be shrunk - when did you last select a channel by number?

I'm not interested in a mega complex touchscreen universal remote costing more than the hummy and TV together.........
 
Some of the Logitechs are not too expensive. I have to say I just use my Humax for everything.
 
Thanks for that - at the risk of sounding like a Tivo bore I have to say the Harmony 200 layout is almost identical to the Tivo remote. That could be a good choice. And the price seems reasonable.
 
socrates said:
... and the numeric keypad can be shrunk - when did you last select a channel by number?
Click to expand...

Umm, fairly regularly - when attempting to switch back to radio while recording two channels, and not realising it has taken both tuners over to video muxes - sometimes you then end up with Radio 1 on channel 700, or else no radio at all if the muxes that the recording video is on have no radio channels. If I get channel 700 then it remembers that as the channel on radio, and thats definitely not the one I want.
 
Sorry - I must be some kind of Neanderthal buy when
I want to listen to radio I use an old fashioned device called ....... A radio.
Like a television but without the annoying pictures.
 
Yup, you must be. We listen to radio a lot, the Humax is routed through the amp to achieve a better sound, far superior to that of a "normal radio," and infinitely better than a stand alone DAB. (It does away with the annoying pictures too!) I listen to the radio too, watching a football match avoiding the crass commentators
Our older Panny DVD freeview recorder is routed through a 20 year old stereo amp to achieve the same result in another room.
Subjective I know, but DAB seems a harsh sound to me and the only way to get the sound I wanted was to connect an early Genus product (anyone know what happened to them?) through the amp.
 
Most of the time radio is for us a background largely speech based thing ( R4 ) and we must have a dozen or so radios all round the house. We tend not to listen to radio much in the room with the TV but when we do it's on separate FM receiver with decent aerial plus separate amp ( valve of course ) and speakers. I've not listened much via Freeview though I gather the sound is better than DAB but not as good as a good FM signal. So given that the FM setup is in place there is no reason to hook the Hummy up to the hifi.

I agree about DAB - the UK system was pretty much obsolete when it was adopted and the bit rates used are appalling. At best R3 uses 192kbit/s when BBC's own engineers claim 256kbit/s is required for high quality sound. I reckon by the time FM is made obsolete current DAB receivers will also be scrap.

A bit off the question of remotes but interesting.....
 
Is FM planned to go off air at some date - if so has a date been set?
It would be a shame as I prefer it to DAB myself.
DAB just seems wildly over-engineered to me.
 
jack616 said:
Is FM planned to go off air at some date - if so has a date been set?
It would be a shame as I prefer it to DAB myself.
DAB just seems wildly over-engineered to me.
Click to expand...
FM for national channels was due to go in 2015, though this was "proposed" rather than definite. Since the original proposal was made various qualifications have been added such as "subject to the overwhelming majority of listening being via DAB", later defined as >50%! The stats are wildly confused because they can't actually measure the listening rate though they can measure the number of DAB radios sold - they have fallen for the last couple of years.
I don't think there is the slightest chance of FM going by 2015 - even 2020 looks unlikely. Just think of the hundreds of millions of analogue radios in use including those in cars. Few car manufacturers fit DAB radios ( and apparently users find DAB reception on the move is poor ).
Predictably DAB promoters are shifting their ground and talking about "digital radio" - which includes internet, satellite, Freeview etc - to disguise the lack of take up of DAB.
So no reason to scrap your FM radio and no reason to buy a DAB one either.
For the record - I do have a DAB radio, a Roberts Unologic. It sounds crap on DAB but to be fair its hardly less crap on FM.
 
I'm not optimistic. The government wants the money from re-licensing the frequencies, so I reckon they'll push it through like it or not.
 
Black Hole said:
I'm not optimistic. The government wants the money from re-licensing the frequencies, so I reckon they'll push it through like it or not.
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Normally I'd agree but this time I think there is reason to hope. Where is the money to come from? Advertising revenue is scarce and to get the target audience figures broadcasters need to cover FM as well as DAB which is expensive. A number of stations have already stopped altogether or dropped DAB. The industry generally seems to be saying they won't invest in the infrastructure without government funding and without that the target coverage won't be reached.
Maybe they'll try to give DAB some sort of boost while putting switch off date back. Trouble is the only boost that might work is DAB+ which would make a lot of existing DAB sets obsolete.
Time to stop digging.
 
Considering the current price, I decided to order one to tinker around with (300i). As my No.2 HDR is destined for a non-tech environment, I'm thinking that one remote, suitably programmed, will provide an unchanging UI regardless of future equipment updates. Volume (and other specific functions) punch-through will be handy.
 
Ezra Pound said:
socrates, did you get a new remote?
Click to expand...
Not yet. I've decided that as I'm still new to the Hummy it's probably sensible to give it a while, a) to see if I get used to the remote and, b) to give myself chance to find all the tricks and shortcuts I might use.
After 11 years using Tivo it's unrealistic to expect something new to feel as comfortable within a few weeks. For the same reason although I haven't yet switched the Tivo off I've avoided using it to give the Hummy a fair chance. Mind, it's still backing up my series links just in case.
The Logitech 200 you mentioned previously does look appealing - from the pictures it seems to give the play, pause,FF etc buttons a better priority than the HDR remote. I had the same issue with my old PVR 8000t remote. And actually now I come to think of it with my DVD player.........maybe I should take the plunge.
From the comments above it's clear we all use remotes in different ways but I know which buttons I use regularly and which I don't mind putting on my glasses to find. My ideal is actually my amplifier remote - it's a palm sized chunk of wood with two buttons, louder and quieter.
 
The transport buttons on the HDR remote are in an annoying place and although I've got used to it, It's not ideal, what were they thinking. As you mentioned the 8000T, it was that particular Humax product that forced me to get an alternative remote, after I had mistakenly hit the 'G' Game button (which clears all buffers) in error too many times
 
Ah, Well, It was some years ago (Before the latest Harmony range) when the Harmony products were all, as you say, the price of a TV and PVR combined, I initially went for a Tevion (Aldi) £10 remote which was O.K. but I wouldn't recommend it, I then bought a Marantz RC2000 Mk2 and One-for-All URC9990 both with large LCD displays and as big as a house. Non of them are available any more, But of the two above I would probably go for the 300i as it can control 4 devices rather than 3 on the 200. The best feature of the Harmonys is the USB to P.C. interface and the on-line database of products which is enormous, thousands of devices
 
Assuming Tivo switch off I would only need 3 ( TV, HDR, DVD ) so the 200 would sound fine. I like the idea of the USB interface - when setting up the HDR remote I had to go through a dozen or so Samsung TV codes comparing which functions worked and which didn't. I probably haven't got them all even now but if I don't use them it doesn't matter. I can always dig out the Samsung remote from the drawer where old remotes hide.

One day I'll hire a van and take all the old remotes and chargers to the tip.
 
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