my setup is an outlaw 970, 7075 amp, ps3, cable box, full aperion audio 5.1, and a monster powercenter 3500. should i just stick with my outlaw 970 remote, cable tv remote, or should I buy a harmony 880 remote? i know i could do more internal menu functions with a harmony, but is it worth it? would you just stick with the cable tv remote since it handles the on demand menus, the outlaw 970 remote, or go with the harmony? what do you guys think?

I really like my Harmony 880. I've eliminated all the clutter and confusion of having multiple remotes. Most importantly my family can operate the HT with a single button: Watch TV, Watch a DVD, CD Music, etc. I also like the shape of the 880 and that I can operate with one hand. It is also backlit when you move it so you can use it in the dark. Like any programmable device getting it just the way you want it may take a few iterations. I recommmend the 880.

Purely for you, it may be a minor change to get a universal remote like a Harmony 880 or a Universal, but as AvFan points out the family aspect can be huge. When I upgraded to an MX-500 from my Model 950 remote (an SL-9000), my wife labeled the remote as the best upgrade we ever made. We're using an MX-700 now, and the extra macro capability makes it even easier for her to use the system.

Me three.

I'm with AvFan and Gonk. I have a Harmony 880 and now that I've I got it set up exactly how I want it (took a couple of hours), it's awesome. I consolidated six remotes and five activities and personally felt no burning need for custom macros so the 880 suited me well. My wife also quickly came to the conclusion that this was one of the best upgrades ever.

I have the Harmony 890 and love it!!! Just 1 remote.

I'm having a hell of a time getting my Harmony 1000 to properly control the 970. It selects the wrong inputs for everything except "watch tv."

For example, when I select "watch DVD" which should turn on the 970 and set it to DVD, it always sets it to Video 4.

In the setup screens for the 1000 there are only 3 video inputs (video 1 thru video 3) asigned to the 970. I manually added Video 4 but still am having the same problem.

Any insight into this?

Some of the Harmony users around here can probably help out with this, but you might also give Harmony a call - I've heard that their customer support is pretty sharp.

thanks, I will give them a call

I've had a couple of issues with the Harmony 880 that are similar to yours. Some devices (a Panny plasma in particular) are a little slow to respond to the 880 IR signals due to the time it takes to work through their internal menus. Harmony takes care of that by allowing user defined delays. In those cases I've called Harmony. They have been very helpful and able to resolve the issues. They will take the time to explain what they are doing with your remote and then stay on the phone with you while you test it. Let us know how it works out.

Update:

Got it working! Had the remote learn the code directly instead of using the one from the database. Fiddled with the delays too, and now everying turns on and off properly.

Everybody that came over would give me grief about the multitude of remotes littering the table, now I'm sure that won't happen again!

Touchscreen takes a little getting used to, but I'm getting the hang of it and liking it more and more. Nice product for sure.