Logitech Harmony 785

Posted by T3 Online on Thu 25 Oct 2007

Control freakery from Logitech

The more gadgets you have, the more remote controls you need. This universal remote can control up to 15 different gadgets from a pool of over 120,000 devices from over 3,300 different manufacturers.

Unfortunately, this isn't something you can just take out of the box and start using. You have to connect it to your Mac or PC and follow the 'Web Wizard's' instructions. It takes an exhausting half an hour before you're ready to rock.

Once configured, everything runs as smoothly as you'd expect from something that takes 30 bleedin' minutes to set up. We tried it out with a Sagem HD-L32T television, a Denon DVD-1920, a PlayStation 2 and a Sky HD box. All you have to do is click the button assigned to the device (eg "Watch DVD") then use it as you would a normal remote. There is also a designated Help button if you encounter any problems.

The colour screen is a piddling two-incher, and it's not touch sensitive, but the keys are sensibly laid out and it all looks tidy. It comes with a handy docking station so you need never suffer a lack of charge. �200 does feel like rather a high price to pay just to avoid a bit of flicker-swapping, however.