![]() I needed more than the 8’ of cable Logitech provided for the Mini Blasters. I put one of those right at the front of the Oppo’s shelf, fastening it down with a super-stick double-face hanger, assigned the Oppo to be controlled by the Hub plus Mini Blaster, and bingo - it worked perfectly.īut problems still remained. After fooling around with repositioning the Hub, it became apparent that I needed a Mini Blaster. I thought the problem was that the Oppo sat on one of my rack’s highest shelves - but my Psyclone HDMI switcher sits even higher, and the Hub could communicate with it perfectly. I found that the Hub could send out the proper signals to everything but my Oppo BDP-83 universal Blu-ray player. I began by placing the Hub before me on a glass table and assigning to it all of my components except the Squeezebox. To my right and slightly behind me is a Logitech Squeezebox Touch digital player - I need it there so I can read its screen as I scroll down lists of titles. My 65” Mitsubishi display is in front of me, and the electronics are to my right, along a wall, starting about 2’ in front of me. Using the Harmony, you can choose which device sends the IR signals needed to control your components: the remote, the Hub, or the Hub with Mini Blaster 1 or 2. Remember, with older top-of-the-line Harmony remotes, what a pain it was to have to plug in not only the remote but its wireless extender? That’s all gone, and good riddance. You can then make most of your changes via the remote, without ever again having to link it to your computer. The setup procedure gets the remote connected to your Wi-Fi network. ![]() Harmony’s new website makes this relatively easy if you get stumped, you can call the consumer-support line, which is one of the best and most helpful in the industry. If you’re new to Harmony, you’ll need to set up an account and configure your remote by putting in codes for all of your devices, then setting up your Activities. Only one or two of my settings didn’t make the jump, and were easily added. If you’ve already set up an account on My Harmony and have settings for a Touch remote already in play, you can transfer those settings to the Ultimate. After getting used to it, I have found this vertical storage much more intuitive and natural than the old horizontal cradles, and it has a much smaller footprint. The charging station, apparently the same as that used for the Touch, cradles the remote in a vertical position. Each Blaster measures 1.5”L x 1”W x 0.5” thick, with a connecting cable 8’ long. ![]() The Mini Blaster essentially extends the range of your Harmony remote’s infrared signals. Since the prices of these different configurations run from $99.99 to $349.99, you might say the new line is affordable to almost everyone. The Hub will work with the Harmony Touch, and is available for sale separately ($99.99), or with an app that allows you to use your smartphone or iPod Touch instead of a Touch or Ultimate remote. On the front are LEDs that indicate power on/off these light up when the Hub is receiving information. Also on the back is a button for pairing or resetting. The word “Harmony” is centered on its top, and on the back are an input for the AC cord and two ports for plugging in the Mini Blasters. It measures 5” x 4”, has beveled edges, and is about 1” high, with a sleek, black, semitransparent surface that in my room collected dust faster than has any electrostatic filter device intended for that purpose. The Harmony Ultimate Hub “turns RF signals from the remote control into IR and Bluetooth commands your home-theater devices can understand,” says Harmony's website. There is, however, one big difference from the Touch: a bulge on the Harmony’s bottom, about 2” from the front end, that guides the hand forward so that the thumbs can more easily reach the hard buttons - play, pause, skip, and record - above the screen. ![]() The battery is still not serviceable by the consumer when it dies, the device dies. The Ultimate looks just as sleek and gleaming, has the same buttons, and the icons for each Activity and device can still be customized. The Harmony Ultimate itself looks almost identical to the Touch it’s the same size (7.25”L x 2.25”W x not quite 1” thick), though at 4.8 ounces it weighs slightly less than the Touch’s 5.7 ounces. Included with the Harmony Ultimate ($349.99 USD) are a Harmony Hub, two IR Mini Blasters, a charging station, a USB cable, two AC adapter cords, a start-up manual, and warranty information. Now comes the Harmony Ultimate, in which almost everything left unfinished in the Touch is resolved. Last March, I gave the Logitech Harmony Touch universal remote control a positive review, but noted some things that might be improved.
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