Having a fairly complicated A/V setup from many different manufacturers, a horrible set of remotes and arcane key presses to do simple tasks like turn on the DVD or switch to the DVR, I hoped the Logitech Harmony One universal remote would be the answer.

Setup is one to two levels easier, at least, than the typical "enter a code" or "learning mode" type programming. After struggling to install the software into my iMac (not normally hard), and having to reinstall the software because the obvious default is Harmoney 1000, I was able to select my AV products from the nice web-based screen.

The software, which is automatically updated via the web, lets you decide which of your many components (I have six) is first or last in the list, what the keys do if you want to override, and helps you make important decisions like using your receiver or TV speakers for a given "Activity", like "Watch DirecTV" or "Play PS/2".

The unit itself has a color touch screen at the top, with a Tivo-like nice array of buttons underneath. The touch screen changes for each function to a different set of buttons for each task, like "red green yellow blue" for the DirecTV DVR, even mixing key tasks that belong to different components, like PS/2 functions and the TV aspect ratio.

The device intelligently sends out sets of commands. So, if I pick the DVD, it flips the TV to input 2, changes the a/v to DVD, and turns on the DVD player. If a device "misses", then clicking help quickly solves the problem by resending the commands one at a time.

The acid test was my family. Prior to the Harmony One, Dad was the only potential master of the TV domain. Now, the entire family can operate everything, including our six year old.

A key problem: My 12 year old daughter dropped the Harmony One, standing in front of the TV from waist level, onto our hard wood floor. The glass / plastic screen shattered. It took more than six weeks, meticulously following the tech desks instructions, to ship the device to Canada from the US and receive a new one, albeit for a discounted $75.00. We have been more careful since.