[masraum]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

The Help function sounds like you're using the Harmony remote.

If not, the Harmony remote has solved the problem in my house.
Want to watch TV? Press button that says watch TV.
Want to watch AppleTV? Press button that says watch AppleTV.
Want to Play XBox? You get the idea

Meh, I had a Harmony remote for a while. I used the "app" on my PC, and also used the website. Neither offered the flexibility that I wanted. It was just too basic. Yes, want to watch Apple TV, hit that button and that worked. Want to switch from AppleTV to XBox or DVD, hit those buttons, and crap goes haywire, unless you turn everything off first. Granted, the way certain devices communicate will determine how smoothly the programs work or don't. Does a specific device have a off/on toggle or is there a specific signal for on and a separate signal for off. I wasn't impressed. I would have almost preferred to have a regular programmable remote. In the end, that's pretty much what I did was program the thing to function more like a programmable remote. I got it because I wanted to make things simpler for the wife and only have one remote laying around. But she didn't like the thing, and so either relied on my to use it or just used the separate remotes.

And it's not that I'm not tech savvy. I'm very tech savvy, whether it's about AV gear, computers, or computer networks. Computer networking is what I do for a living at a pretty high level.

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Yep. We have a Harmony. It is a LITTLE confusing, because when you want to watch cable you press "watch PVR." If you want to watch anything on the Apple TV you press "View my Pictures." No, it doesn't make any sense, but if you are told explicitly in writing and on a youtube video, " if you want to watch cable you press "wacth PVR." If you want to watch anything on the Apple TV you press "View my Pictures," it shouldn't be that effing hard. But they still screw it up.

Yeah, they aren't that simple and you can get into trouble. I could swear there was a way to edit the names on the buttons via the programming, but it's been so long that I can't offer any advice on that.

I wonder if you would have less trouble by leaving the original remotes laying around. THat way people could just use the buttons that they are probably used to using on their own gear.

I would think that you should have a way of running the TV with the sound from the TV and basically just switching the "source" from input to input to input. THat would probably be much less confusing to people.