Logitech Harmony 1000 review

The Harmony 1000 is a tablet-shaped remote that sits right at the top of Logitech’s range of programmable zappers.

With a price tag of £280, it's obviously aimed at the higher end of the market, rather than those looking to replace the remote for their cheap Alba DVD player.

Strengths
The Harmony is definitely one of the more attractive looking zappers around at the moment. The brushed aluminium finish and large touchscreen display give it a luxurious look. As it's quite slim and light, it's much more comfortable to hold than chunky competitors like the Philips Pronto and Universal Electronics NevoSL.

The combination of the touchscreen and hard buttons on the remote mean you get the best of both worlds

The initial setup is very straightforward: simply load the software on a PC and connect the remote via USB. Then it's just a matter of using the software's Web-style interface to enter the model numbers of the AV kit and waiting as they are downloaded to the remote via USB.

In use, the combination of the touchscreen and hard buttons mean you get the best of both worlds, with the hard buttons providing the feel of a real remote and the touchscreen offering more flexibility. The zapper also has a built-in motion sensor so it automatically turns itself on when you pick it up.

Up to 15 devices can fall under its control and you can programme in complicated macros (or 'Activities' in Harmony-speak) to chain commands together. For example, you can programme an activity called 'Watch TV' that will simultaneously turn on your TV, set-top box and surround sound kit, plus set the TV to the correct AV input and adjust the volume of your surround sound to a pre-defined level.