Looking for a universal remote that compliments your amazing home theater setup that you brag to all of your friends about? Well, you don’t have bragging rights until you get the new Harmony 1100 remote.
The Logitech Harmony 1100 is the successor to the Harmony 1000, now offering a new sleek, black anodized aluminum casing and ability to customize the 3.5-inch touch-screen display with your own buttons and menus for certain conditions.
One of the biggest features added in the Harmony 1100 over the 1000 is the support for RF (Radio Frequency) based control instead of just standard IR (Infra-Red) based control. Like the previous 1000 model, and like other Harmony remotes, the Harmony 1100 continues to sync with your computer via USB utilizing the Harmony remote software, which gives users access to an extremely large database to aid in the configuration stages. Even the most oddball devices are in their database. I once purchased a couple of obscure oscillating pole-fans for the summer which came with remote controls, they too were in the Harmony remote database - needless to say I spent a lot of the summer using my thumb around the house.
The RF capability is a nice addition to the remote, and you can even purchase an RF extender separately from Logitech to boost the range. Some home automation systems come with RF based controls, so if you have such a system, the Harmony 1100 can be configured to turn on/off your lights, turn up/down the heat or air conditioning, etc – possibilities are pretty vast here. The RF capability may also attract the modding community - if it turns out to be possible, there could be custom firmware popping up within a year, although this is just a guess at this point.
Logitech plans to start shipping the device this February and its website currently has the MSRP listed at $499.00 – a little steep, but for someone who would enjoy it, price is not a factor. The Harmony 1100 should also be present at CES where we hope to get some hands-on time with it.
