Mo and I just got back from a cruise to Jamaica. We took a week off work and just relaxed. This was our first cruise, and I think we've decided we aren't cruise people. We don't drink alcohol, we don't smoke, and this was pretty much Vegas on water. Also, considering that I'm diabetic, the offer of free food (read: gorging yourself) isn't that attractive to me either.

莫和我刚乘船回到牙买加。 我们休假了一个星期，只是放松了。 这是我们的第一次巡游，我想我们已经决定我们不是巡游者。 我们不喝酒，不抽烟，这几乎是拉斯维加斯的水上生活。 另外，考虑到我患有糖尿病，免费食物的提供(对自己不利)对我也没有吸引力。

Anyway, we we got back and we still have a few days until we have to go back to work. My idea of vacation often involved getting our media center all together and organized. It relaxes me.

无论如何，我们回来了，还有几天，直到我们必须重新上班。 我度假的想法通常涉及使我们的媒体中心聚集在一起并组织起来。 它使我放松。

Logitech recently bought Harmony Remotes, and is introducing a new color stateful remote, the 880. The Logitech Harmony 880 isn't supposed to be released to the general retail channel until mid-June, but it is available via some kind of exclusive deal with BestBuy for the next few weeks. I picked up the last (only?) one at the local Beaverton BestBuy a few days ago.

罗技最近买了和谐遥控器，并引入新的颜色状态偏僻，880的罗技Harmony 880是不应该被释放到一般的零售渠道，直到6月中旬，但它通过某种独家协议与可接下来几周的百思买。 几天前，我在当地的Beaverton BestBuy接了最后一个(唯一？)。

I was previously using an All For One Kameleon 9660. It's a great remote, offers good flexibility between hard buttons and programmable macros. However, I have a pretty complex system and the biggest trouble I have when programming macros is the issue of state. It's tricky for a remote - at least a standard "classical" kind of remote - to keep track of which component is on, which is off, and what inputs they are currently set to. The Kameleon does offer an obscure programming model called JP1 that you can exploit, but I wanted a simpler system. I need the wife and neices and nephews need to be able to use the system without my help.

我以前使用的是All For One Kameleon 9660 。 这是一个很棒的遥控器，在硬按钮和可编程宏之间提供了很好的灵活性。 但是，我的系统非常复杂，对宏进行编程时遇到的最大麻烦是状态问题。 对于远程控制器(至少是标准的“经典”类型的远程控制器)，要跟踪哪个组件处于打开状态，哪个组件处于关闭状态以及它们当前被设置为什么输入，是很棘手的。 Kameleon确实提供了一个晦涩的编程模型JP1，您可以利用它，但是我想要一个简单的系统。 我需要妻子，而侄女和侄子需要能够在没有我帮助的情况下使用该系统。

So, long story short, the Harmony series of remotes doesn't think about things in terms of Macros (series of commands strung together). Rather, it is stateful by default. It knows intrinsically what inputs are available on your components and dynamically creates the string of commands required to get your system into a specific states.

因此，长话短说，Harmony系列遥控器并不以Macros(串在一起的命令系列)来考虑事物。 相反，默认情况下它是有状态的。 它从本质上知道组件上可用的输入，并动态创建使系统进入特定状态所需的命令字符串。

Here's the current system I've got:

这是我目前拥有的系统：

• TV - Sharp TV (LC-37G4U) 
  电视-夏普电视(LC-37G4U)
• Stereo Receiver - Sony Stereo Receiver (STR-DE925) 
  立体声接收器-索尼立体声接收器(STR-DE925)
• ReplayTV - ReplayTV PVR (RTV-4500) 
  ReplayTV-ReplayTV PVR(RTV-4500)
• Comcast Cable - Comcast Digital Set Top Box (Motorola DVR HDTV) 
  Comcast电缆-Comcast数字机顶盒(摩托罗拉DVR HDTV)
• DVD VCR Combo - Sony DVD VCR (SLV-D350P) 
  DVD VCR组合-索尼DVD VCR(SLV-D350P)
• XBox - Microsoft Game Console (With DVD) (XBox) 
  XBox-Microsoft游戏机(含DVD)(XBox)

The Harmony remote requires a USB cable and a login to harmonyremote.com. The client software does require a CD to install and sets up a mimetype/extension association. You go through a wizard and settings online. When you click "Update your Remote" the harmonyremote.com server queues your request and creates a "package" as a single file representing all the settings for your specific remote. This includes everything from the names you've associated with your devices and activities, as well as any graphics you may have associated with favorite channels. This file extension opens the client software which takes care of flashing the remote control.

Harmony遥控器需要USB电缆和登录到harmonyremote.com的帐户。 客户端软件确实需要CD才能安装并设置模仿类型/扩展名关联。 您需要在线进行向导和设置。 当您单击“更新您的遥控器”时，harmonyremote.com服务器将请求排队，并创建一个“包”作为单个文件，代表特定遥控器的所有设置。 这包括与您与设备和活动相关联的名称以及与喜爱的频道相关联的任何图形的所有内容。 此文件扩展名将打开客户端软件，该软件负责刷新遥控器。

Good things:

好东西：

• You can associated graphics or "media" with your favorite channels. There's a pile of graphics on remotecentral.com that can be downloaded and used directly with the Harmony. I've setup 8 favorite channels using graphics from a Philips Pronto. It's slick to press a button next to a full color graphic of the NBC peacock to get to channel 708.

  您可以将图形或“媒体”与您喜欢的频道相关联。 在remotecentral.com上有一堆图形可以直接与Harmony下载并使用。 我已经使用飞利浦Pronto的图形设置了8个最喜欢的频道。 按下NBCKong雀全彩图形旁边的按钮可轻松进入708频道。

• The color graphic screen is very cool. I really prefer it over black and white or LCDs. It makes sense which the price of color screens to start including them into remotes. It's a shame color screens are so expensive.
  彩色图形屏幕非常酷。 我真的比黑白或LCD更喜欢它。 从哪个彩色屏幕开始将其包括到遥控器中就可以了。 令人遗憾的是，彩色屏幕是如此昂贵。
• The statefulness of the remote works, but only if your components respond consistently to the commands. If you get out of sync, you have to click "Help" on the remote. That starts up a Help Wizard that asks you questions like "Is the TV on?" These questions are all meant to get the remote control back into sync with reality. This makes sense as the remote can't "ask" the system what's happened. It's a shame that with all the technology our there that we have no two-way IR communication. There's a lot of potential our there for improvement.
  远程的状态有效，但前提是您的组件必须一致地响应命令。 如果不同步，则必须单击遥控器上的“帮助”。 这将启动一个“帮助向导”，询问您“电视是否打开？”之类的问题。 这些问题都是为了使遥控器恢复与现实的同步。 这是有道理的，因为远程无法“询问”系统发生了什么。 可惜的是，由于我们那里拥有的所有技术，我们没有双向红外通信。 我们有很多改进的潜力。
• Rechargeable batteries and a cradle. This may seem like a bad thing, but it gives your remote a place to live and isn't any more inconvenient that putting your cordless phone back into the cradle at night.
  可充电电池和通讯座。 这似乎是一件坏事，但它为您的遥控器提供了一个居住的地方，并且在晚上将您的无绳电话放回通讯座也带来了更多便利。
• Hard Buttons. Other reviews say that this new Harmony isn't as easy to use "blind." I disagree. There are enough raised bumps on specific buttons that you can always find your way if you can visualize the remote.
  硬按钮。 其他评论认为，这种新的“和谐”并不是那么容易使用的“盲目”。 我不同意。 如果可以看到遥控器，则特定按钮上有足够的凸起凸起，您始终可以找到自己的方式。
• Tilt sensor. The screen turns off automatically after a time and will automatically turn on when you lift or tilt the remote.
  倾斜传感器。 屏幕会在一段时间后自动关闭，并且在您抬起或倾斜遥控器时会自动打开。
• Other cool stuff. There's a few interesting and cool features like, a built in clock that syncs automatically, a configurable 'screen saver' when the remote is docked, everything can be renamed and presented as your like in the order you like.
  其他很酷的东西。 有一些有趣而酷的功能，例如，自动同步的内置时钟，停靠遥控器时可配置的“屏幕保护程序”，所有内容都可以重命名并按您喜欢的顺序显示。

• The Harmony Database is pretty complete. Interestingly for all my components, except the BRAND NEW Sharp LCD, it nailed it. The database is the most complete I've ever seen online and includes many commands that your current stock remote doesn't include. I'll say that again for clarity as it's a very powerful concept. Some folks don't realize that their components can support a large number of IR commands that are NOT included in the remote controls that come with the component themselves. Many of these commands are what are called discrete commands. A discrete command is like "off" or "on" as opposed to what usually comes with remotes like "toggle power."  For inputs you'll get commands like "Input CD" rather than "Next Input." Important Note: If your components support discrete commands you'll find state management a hundred times easier. (see below under Bad Things).

  和谐数据库非常完整。 有趣的是，除了BRAND NEW Sharp LCD以外，我的所有组件都钉上了钉子。 该数据库是我在线上见过的最完整的数据库，并且包含许多当前库存遥控器不包含的命令。 我再次说清楚是因为它是一个非常强大的概念。 有些人没有意识到他们的组件可以支持大量的IR命令，这些命令本身并没有包含在遥控器中。 其中许多命令称为离散命令。 离散命令类似于“关闭”或“开启”，而遥控器通常带有“切换电源”之类的命令。 对于输入，您将获得诸如“输入CD”而不是“下一个输入”的命令。 重要说明：如果您的组件支持离散命令，您将发现状态管理容易一百倍。 (请参见下面的“坏事”)。

• My Comcast HD DVR has a remote that includes a "Jump Back 5 Seconds" command that is bound to the stock remote's REW button and the FW button starts a Fast Forward, rather than a "Jump Forward 30 Seconds." It's likely that Comcast made this choice because Jump Forward allows you to jump over commercials, while at least Fast Forward forces you to see something in a faster speed. However, the Harmony Database included a number of new commands including the one for Jump Forward 30 Seconds. This allowed me to bind the << and >> buttons to Jump Back and Jump Forward. This almost makes my Comcast DVR usable again, and since Mo and I switch back and forth between the Comcast DVR and our Replay TVs, we want all the buttons to work the same. This was an unexpected but awesome benefit.
  我的Comcast HD DVR的遥控器包含绑定到股票遥控器的REW按钮的“跳回5秒”命令，而FW按钮则启动“快进”，而不是“跳30秒”。 康卡斯特(Comcast)可能会选择此选项，因为“跳转向前”(Jump Forward)允许您跳过广告，而至少“快速向前”(Fast Forward)会强制您以更快的速度观看内容。 但是，“和谐数据库”包含许多新命令，包括“向前跳30秒”命令。 这使我可以将<<和>>按钮绑定到“后退”和“前进”。 这几乎使我的Comcast DVR再次可用，并且由于Mo和我在Comcast DVR和我们的Replay TV之间来回切换，我们希望所有按钮都可以正常工作。 这是一个意想不到的但很棒的好处。
• This remote is completely set up around the concept of Activities rather than control of specific components. For example, I created Activities like "Watch TV" and "Play a DVD." The Watch TV activity will make sure that all components are off except the TV, Receiver and Comcast DVR. It'll set the Receiver to input TV and the TV to input HD. All of this was previously managed with complex macros on my other remotes. When you're in this activity, the volume commands will be sent to the Reciever, things like screen format are sent to the TV, and Play and Stop are sent to the Comcast DVR.
  此遥控器完全围绕“活动”的概念设置，而不是控制特定组件。 例如，我创建了“观看电视”和“播放DVD”之类的活动。 观看电视活动将确保关闭所有组件，但电视，接收器和Comcast DVR除外。 它将接收器设置为输入电视，电视设置为输入高清。 所有这些以前都是通过我的其他遥控器上的复杂宏来管理的。 当您进行此活动时，音量命令将发送到接收器，屏幕格式之类的消息将发送到电视，而播放和停止则发送到Comcast DVR。

Bad things:

坏事：

• The software you can download online at Logitech's site is still version 3.3. The CD that comes with the 880 is 4.3. Of course, when you buy a piece of hardware these days you usually don't even look at the CD, instead you go online to download the latest drivers. However, in my case, the folks online haven't updated the download and the 3.3 version doesn't work with the 880. Additionally there is a link our there on the forums for an as-yet-unrelease 4.4 version. I'm running that one without trouble. Either way, it's tacky, unprofessional and cheesy that the "correct" version isn't online. Logitech should get organized on these kind of public-facing issues.
  您可以在Logitech站点上在线下载的软件仍然是3.3版。 880随附的CD是4.3。 当然，这几天购买硬件时，您通常甚至都不看CD，而是上网下载最新的驱动程序。 但是，就我而言，在线用户尚未更新下载内容，而3.3版本不适用于880。此外，论坛上还有一个指向我们尚未发布的4.4版本的链接。 我运行那个没有问题。 无论哪种方式，“正确”版本都不在线是俗气，不专业和俗气的。 罗技应就此类面向公众的问题进行组织。
• The web-based wizard is very slick, very well laid out and is great for any 80% case. However, when the advanced user (me) wants to do something more specific, you'll be hunting. There seems to be a number of inconsistancies online. You'll also want to add the harmonyremote.com website to your list of IE "safe sites" otherwise Windows XP SP2 will constantly bug you when downloading files automatically.
  基于Web的向导非常漂亮，布局合理，非常适合80％的情况。 但是，当高级用户(me)想要做更具体的事情时，您将开始寻找。 在线上似乎存在许多矛盾之处。 您还需要将harmonyremote.com网站添加到IE“安全站点”列表中，否则Windows XP SP2在自动下载文件时会不断给您带来麻烦。
• Unfortunately every single component works fantastically EXCEPT my brand-new Sharp LC-37G4U TV. I'm currently having a hell of a time with the Input commands. The Sharp has a funky input system where you press Input to bring up the Input menu, then Input again to move to the next input, then Enter to select it. However, the TV will automatically select an input after 500ms if you don't press Enter. That means that if the remote is a little slow to press Input then the TV will automatically switch inputs. This happens about every 2 or 3 times I switch to another Activity. When this out-of-sync situation occurs, I have to re-sync using the Help wizard which is a huge hassle. Interesting, the Harmony Database includes over 11 discrete input commands for this TV, but it only actually has 5 inputs. Also, none of the discrete commands work for the TV. I think there's a problem with their database, now I just have to convince them of it. I'm currently in the middle of a long thread with Harmony Support to work this issue out. They seem very amenable and I'm sure we'll figure it out.
  不幸的是，除了我全新的Sharp LC-37G4U电视外，每个组件的工作都非常出色。 我目前在使用Input命令时遇到了麻烦。 夏普有一个时髦的输入系统，您可以按Input进入Input菜单，然后再次按Input进入下一个输入，然后按Enter进行选择。 但是，如果您不按Enter键，电视将在500毫秒后自动选择输入。 这意味着如果遥控器按Input的速度有点慢，那么电视将自动切换输入。 当我切换到另一个活动时，大约每2或3次就会发生这种情况。 当发生这种不同步的情况时，我必须使用帮助向导重新进行同步，这是一个很大的麻烦。 有趣的是，“和谐数据库”为此电视提供了11个以上的离散输入命令，但实际上只有5个输入。 另外，所有离散命令均不适用于电视。 我认为他们的数据库有问题，现在我只需要说服他们即可。 我目前正与Harmony Support展开深入讨论，以解决此问题。 他们似乎很随和，我敢肯定我们会解决的。

All in all, I think this is the best remote you can buy for <$250. Note also that you can often search Froogle and print out offers for cheap Harmony 880s for as low as $160 and get Best Buy to lower their prices. The wife has always given it a thumbs up, even with the problems around inputs. I suspect when I get the input thing worked out this will be the ONLY remote I've ever owned that will allow the wife to switch from TV to DVD to VCR and back without my help.

总而言之，我认为这是价格低于250美元的最佳遥控器。 还请注意，您经常可以搜索Froogle并以低至160美元的价格打印出便宜的Harmony 880的报价，并获得Best Buy降低价格。 即使遇到输入方面的问题，妻子也总是竖起大拇指。 我怀疑当我解决输入问题时，这将是我所拥有的唯一遥控器，它将允许妻子在没有我帮助的情况下从电视切换到DVD再切换到VCR。

翻译自: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/logitech-harmony-880-remote-control-review