Black Boxes

by Stephen Muratore
Winter 1999/Spring 2000

One For All
harman/kardon-Microsoft TC1000 System Controller

Manufacturer: harman/kardon-Microsoft
(800) 422-8027
www.harmankardon.com

Audio component manufacturer harman/kardon partnered with software giant Microsoft to bring out this computer-programmable universal remote control. Like the Philips Pronto (reviewed in the Summer/Fall 1999 issue), the Take Control allows the user to use a touchscreen interface to control the various components in the home theater system. The unit requires at least a 486 25 MHz computer w/8MB RAM, 2MB free hard disk space, a CD-ROM drive and a free serial port.

The first step in setting up the Take Control is teaching it to control your specific components. Infrared (IR) codes for a number of popular devices come pre-installed in the unit. You can select your components from a menu or "teach" the unit the codes for any device not listed. To do the latter, you line up the IR window of the remote from the new device with the IR receiver on the heel of the Take Control. Push the Add button on the Device Setup menu and follow the instructions of the setup wizard. This will prompt you to press the buttons on your device's remote one at a time, sending its IR codes for each button into Take Control's memory.

Once the Take Control has an IR code for each button on each of your remote controls, you can customize its display by hooking it up to your computer's serial port and running the software provided. In fact, you can create a number of different displays, each showing all the buttons needed for a given "activity." For example, you could create an activity called "Watch a video." This display could include the "on," "play," "rewind" and "fast forward" buttons that control your VCR; the "on" button that powers up your amplifier; the "VCR In" button that selects its proper input channel; the "center" and "surround" buttons that control its surround sound and the "on" button that turns on your TV. You can also set the hard "+" and "-" buttons to control the amplifier's volume. Voilá, all the controls necessary for watching a video on one display. You can almost forget your system has different components, and think of it instead as a single machine that enables your various home entertainment "activities."

The Take Control also allows the user to write macros for it as does Philips' Pronto. For example, you can program a single button to send all the commands necessary to power up and configure TV, cable box, VCR and receiver for an evening’s viewing pleasure.

It took quite a while to teach the Take Control all the commands for five devices, simply because of the sheer number of buttons it had to learn. After that, it took using the unit and tweaking its various activity screens every evening for about a week before I settled on a configuration that filled most needs. The promotional literature says that the unit can control up to 15 devices, but the total number must surely vary with the number of buttons the Take Control must hold from each device. In my attempt to store quite a few buttons from each of five devices, I found that the unit would sometimes lose some of the controls for the fifth device. I suspect I'd filled its memory.

At a length of seven and a half inches and a weight of 13.4 ounces, the Take Control is sometimes cumbersome, but not nearly as cumbersome as the collection of remotes it replaces. Hitting the virtual buttons on its LCD touchscreen, with the correct pressure (this is adjustable) and duration is not as easy as hitting real buttons on a remote, nor can one simply feel around for the correct button: an LCD screen offers nothing tactile to distinguish one button from another. For the wish list: an RF version of the Take Control that can control devices through closed cabinet doors.

Take Control is a welcome simplifier of TV and audio control.

--Stephen Muratore

Tech Specs: TC1000 System Controller

Suggested retail price: $349

General Specifications: Size: Length7.5 in. (190.3 mm) Height2.1 in. (53.3 mm) Width3.4 in. (87.3 mml; Weight:13.4 oz (380.0 9)with batteries installed; Operating temperature range:41° F (5° C) to 95° F (35° C); IR transmission range:23.0 ft (7.0 m); IR transmissicn frequency:120 KHz (maximum); IR learning frequency:120 KHz (maximum); Touchscreen Viewing area:2.5 in (64.0 mm) (height) x 2.0 in. (51.4 mm) (width); Resolution:200 x 160 pixels total Backlight coiorgreen; Batteries: Quantity4 Standard AA-size and weight, alkaline; Serial Cable Length:6.0 ft (1.8 m); Computer serial-port connector: 9-pin, D-shell; Computer-connector plug:0.1 in. (3.5 mm) mini-stereo piug
Computer System Requirements (For software installation and use, only.): Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT Workstation version 4 0 or later, Windows NT Server version 4 0 or later operating system; PC with 486t25 MHz microprocessor, or equivalent; 8 MB RAM; 2 MB free hard disk space CD-ROM drive; Serial port