Mar 29 Podcast #576: One Week with a Tablet Remote
Podcast Tags: Remote Control, iPad 
We are on record of being huge fans of the Harmony remote control. Why not, before the Harmony our coffee tables had four remotes and practically required a user’s manual just to turn the home theater on. With a good universal remote, buttons labeled “Watch TV” or “Watch Blu-ray” make using the system as simple as pressing one button.
| Download this Episode. OPPO Digital BDP-103 Giveaway |
Listen to the show
Today's Show:
Blu-ray Reviews:
News:
- DIRECTV Confirms Launch Of WiFi HD DVR
- Fox Bowing ‘Good Day to Die Hard’ Early on Digital HD
- Monoprice Sued By Klipsch
Other:
- Panasonic adds Nuance voice tech to its smart TV line
- Listener Lee recommends: Impact Acoustics Remote Control Repeater Kit Model #40430
- Mi Casa Verde VERA3 to bridge Insteon and ZWave
Amazon Prime:
Sign up for Amazon Prime and enjoy:
- Free Two Day Shipping!
- Instant Streaming of TV Shows and Movies
- Instant Access to thousands of Kindle Books
- The HT Guys gratitude!
One Week with a Tablet Remote
We are on record of being huge fans of the Harmony remote control. Why not, before the Harmony our coffee tables had four remotes and practically required a user’s manual just to turn the home theater on. With a good universal remote, buttons labeled “Watch TV” or “Watch Blu-ray” make using the system as simple as pressing one button.
As time moved forward tablets and smartphones came on the scene bringing the world of information at your fingertips. We now can watch movies with Google and IMDB at the ready to answer any question about “Where have I seen that guy before”. Throw in a tablet, laptop, smartphone and remote and now our coffee table is cluttered again.
Stop the madness! As an experiment, Ara decided to ditch the remote and all the other network enabled devices for a week and replace them with a iPad mini. If you are using an Android tablet, the experiences expressed here will be pretty much the same.
The Gear
iPad Mini (Buy Now $360) - We chose the most basic version since this was to be a dedicated controller. For the Android we would recommend a 7 inch Galaxy Tab 2 (Buy Now $180)
RedEye Remote - Redeye is closing its doors and will still be available for a little while longer. If you want to go this route you may want to look into the iRule. It is a more powerful solution at roughly the same cost. Both of these solutions consist of an app that runs on the tablet and a network connected IR emitter/blaster for communication with your equipment.
DirecTV Tablet App - The app is not required but it has some nice features that make it worth installing. The ideal solution would be to have one app that does all the control and the Redeye (and iRule) do that. But the DirecTV app has the ability to directly communicate with the satellite box. It can obviously change channels and pull up the guide but it also can bring up the playlist of all your recorded shows on the tablet. This way you can browse recorded shows without interrupting what’s on the screen.
There is also a currently watching panel that displays detailed information about what is on screen. IMDB type information is also available to help you remember where you have seen an actor before. Speaking of IMDB, make sure you load that app as well. Its a great resource when you need info about a movie that isn’t covered in the DirecTV app.
AppleTV/Roku/Boxee Remote App - For Ara’s experiment he used an AppleTV but just about everything applies to the remote apps for almost any streaming box. The Redeye remote faithfully reproduces all the commands of the physical remote for the AppleTV. But who wants to enter letters into a search field with the D-pad. The dedicated remote app on the tablet makes entering data far easier. Plus you can select a movie off your server right on the tablet. No need to go into the menus on the streamer. These apps are not required but they sure to make navigating your stream much easier.
Automation - Just about every automation system has a tablet app. We dimmed the lights and went into movie mode with a simple touch of the screen.
All other apps - Being a tablet means you can install any app you want. CBS has a cool second screen app that allows you to watch with others and communicate via social networks. You can check twitter, facebook, email, or browse the web during sporting events or shows that don’t require your full attention.
Actual Experience
It would be great if we could definitely state that the experiment was a smashing success. Unfortunately that is not the case. In some cases there is an absolute benefit to this type of setup. Mostly in the sense that the remote (tablet) does not have to be pointed at the TV. You can be in the kitchen and still have control. Heck, you can control the system over the internet if you have your router configured properly. Having the ability to have other media related apps on the same device is also pretty cool. Beyond those examples the advantage is for a hard button remote.
The biggest disadvantage the family had was requiring a button push, a swipe, and then a visual identification of the button you wished to press. There was no way to reach over raise the volume simply by feel. Sure you can leave the Redeye app open which prevents the tablet from sleeping but you still need to look at what you are pressing. Repeat functions like volume up work but not always. More than a few times you would have to lift your finger off the screen and make contact to register a volume up command.
You can use the Redeye app to switch activities and then use the DirecTV or AppleTV remote apps as the remote control but those apps will eventually go to sleep requiring a button push and swipe to skip your program forward. In the end, the whole family decided that the tablet remote would not replace our Harmony One no matter how hard we tried.
Final Solution
Even with all the issues of the remote we decided that we didn’t want to let go of the Redeye. We came up with a use case that seems to work for the Derderian family anyway. The Harmony remote is still the primary remote. It will be used to turn on the system and used for volume control, Skip, and anything else that requires immediate control. The Tablet will be used for the DirecTV app which is still the best way to see what you have on the DVR or what’s on other channels. Likewise for the Apple Remote, it is the best way to navigate the apple TV or send music to the multiple music zones throughout the house.
The Redeye still has value for anyone working in the kitchen since it doesn't need line of sight to control the system. Our experience is that a tablet remote will add far more functionality than a hard button remote but for simple things like raising the volume or skipping forward which is done constantly its inconvenient and thus a deal breaker. As a supplemental remote it works well but the cost make it deal breaker. Bottom line, we still haven’t found a replacement for our Harmony!
Reader Comments (2)
Ok, I just have to throw in this caveat whenever somebody casually throws out the "just stream your movies instead of getting the discs" bomb. There are (at least in the San Fernando Valley) many additional costs to "just streaming". One that annoys me to no end is that new releases are often not available for streaming or are available for an additional fee, say $2.99 to $4.99. No, let's say $3 to $5 so there isn't any psychological softening of the blow like people always do with gas prices. For all the new movies I have in my Netflix Queue that is a BUNCH of extra dollars. Actually, it would be my Amazon Queue since I have Amazon Prime and didn't see the need for additional streaming charges.
Now, the additional streaming charges. I have Time Warner Cable for internet (still using Dishzilla for OTA). We just watched the first three seasons of Justified via Roku/Amazon Prime and, even though most or maybe even all of them were listed as "5.1" we only got stereo. I believe that is because I only bumped us up to speed tier two at TWC, a ridiculous new way for cable companies to squeeze more money out of us. The second tier is roughly equivalent to the DSL service I was getting from Uverse; terrific for downloading MacOS updates and so on but, apparently, not good enough for the better audio I'd like to get in a movie. To do that I believe I'm looking at another $10-$15 per artificial speed tier. Not going to happen.
If I still had Uverse, I'd not only probably have to go up the top internet speed (for, like, $10 a tier) but I would be paying a data traffic fee. They sent me a letter telling me we'd incur this after the equivalent of about ten movies, much less after we're done with email, app updates and OS updates. This is what prompted me to go to the combination of TWC and Dishzilla. As a recent retiree, I shudder at just the infrastructure cost to watch all new movies as streamed.
So, the next time somebody says "oh, just steam your movies" just take a minute to calculate all the additional costs involved with this endeavor. Makes that Netflix three-at-a-time plan, even with the BD charge, look pretty cheap, doesn't it? At least to me, living in the SFV. And with better quality than I'd get at my current internet speed. No, streaming is fine if you want to watch old TV shows but anything else adds an expense I don't want to take on. Watching Justified was a bit of an anomaly, we usually only watch new movie releases through our rentable media service. When we get moved to the rural Midwest it won't be an option anyway, all they have is some pretty slow DSL service. To paraphrase Merida, of clan dun Braugh, "Discs it is, then!" no matter where I live.
--
Man, will somebody buy Harmony from Logitech already? I have two Harmony 700's. The Menu button went out on one so I'm already preparing for the day I have to replace these the same way I did my 880's. Looks to me like Harmony is paring down the line to the exclusion of the mid-range offerings. I'd like to get the highest model without RF but now the cheapies don't allow enough devices, a problem I already have in my theater room with the 700. Argh!
Whoa! The Harmony remote situation is much worse than when I saw just recently. Only two models are now listed at the Logitech website. I guess I'll have to start looking for alternatives. Any suggestions?