5. Verdict: Which Remote Is Right For You?
You’ll be happy to have the MX Air out on the coffee table - for its looks as well as how well it works.
The MX Air is ideal for a Media Center PC that you also use with a mouse for standard computing, especially if the PC didn’t come with a remote control in the first place. You can switch from using the MX Air on the desk like a normal mouse to sitting back and waving it to control Media Center instantly, especially if you set it to start Media Center when you shake the device. Although the gestures are a little fiddly at first you should get used to them quickly and be able to switch channels, jump to the next track or scroll through your photos with a flick of your wrist.
You can do all this by scrolling and dragging with a standard mouse, but then you need a flat surface and you have to leave the mouse out all the time. You don’t get a fraction of the features that are on a standard Media Centre remote control, but if you find the MC remote cluttered with buttons you never press then the MX Air is a simple and stylish alternative.
The Harmony 1000 also gives you fewer buttons to work with and this isn’t always an advantage. If the function you want isn’t one of the common ones you may have to scroll through a lot of screens to get to it. Those common features are easy to use and you have full controls including fast forward, rewind, skip and advance, plus a dedicated mute button and four-way controller for menus and lists, so you’ll be looking at options on the controller rather than moving a cursor around the screen. Where this upscale remote comes into its own is as the hub of a mix of devices and components - if your Media Center sits alongside a TiVo and an Xbox 360 and an X10 home automation system then the Harmony 1000 puts control of it all at your fingertips.
For a complex home theater system the 1000 is actually a bargain compared to similar remote control systems that often require a visit from a professional installer. Controlling a Media Center is just one of the options and shelling out for the Harmony 1000 just to control a PC is somewhat extravagant and almost certainly overkill, but if you’re going to use it for a mix of devices you’ll welcome the way it makes Media Center work the same way as everything else.
- 1. Introduction
- 2. MX Air, Continued
- 3. Logitech Harmony 1000
- 4. Logitech Harmony 1000, Continued
- 5. Verdict: Which Remote Is Right For You?