Anyone using a "Harmony" remote?

[somunny]

Just curious about what owners think of these units.  I'd also like to know if you can include game system power up in the macros (non- XBOX 360 remote models).

[CCM]

I have the 880 and love it for the functionality.  The web setup is very easy to use and makes setting up activities a snap.  It controls all of my components without a problem, TV, receiver, cable box, and dvd player.   It comes with a rechargeable battery and it's own recharging station, which is a nice feature.  I don't have an xbox, so I don't know how it would work with one. 

The biggest compliment I can give this remote is that my wife can now switch from watching tv to watching a dvd with one button, and without the need to call me on my cell phone if I'm not home.  I was in Vegas once with the guys and got a call at a craps table that the dog jumped on the romte and now there is just a black screen... no more calls like that with the harmony.

Ok, now on to the cons...  I don't like they way it feels, it's very light and it's almost slippery.  I had a Home TheaterMaster before the logitech and it had a rubber-like coating that made it stick in your hand.   The buttons on the logitech are very close together and I somtimes have trouble hitting only one with my thumb.  Although I mentioned the rechargeable battey as something I like, I am a bit worried about the availability/cost of a replacement battery when mine dies.

All-in-all it's probably the best home theater remote I've used.

[bleemus]

Got one for my mom last Christmas, she loves it.  Things are very easy to do for people that normally get very upset with big entertainment centers.

Easy to program, easy to use, macros are pretty spiffy.

Only 2 bad things that I've seen:

• Delay in quick button presses, if you hit volume down quite a few times, will take a few seconds for them all to get sent out.  Holding down the button is much better.  There is a delay for pretty much all the buttons.
• They seem to have a life span of about 2 years.  I know 3 people that have the remote, and all 3 failed in 2 years.

I think they are a bit too spency for my tastes, and would not personally buy one myself. My remote that came with my Dish Network satellite is plenty to be able to use everything i need on a day to day basis.  Sure, I need to drag out the real remotes every now and then for setup stuff, but 95% of the time, a well used normal universal remote works just ducky.

I think it is great for people that wouldn't be able to use entertainment centers at all, but for people that know what they are doing, you can live without it.

[AlanS17]

I'm adding one to my Christmas wish list. There's even one that's been re-branded as the Harman Kardon TC 30 (or something like that). It look like a combination of a couple of different Logitech Harmony remotes and includes a color screen. They retail at $300 but can be had on Ebay for less than half that price. The mark-down margin on actual Logitech Harmonies is much less.

My vote is between the HK and the XBox 360 Harmony.

[shmokes]

Keep in mind that they won't control your PS3 if you decide to use it as a BluRay player because Sony didn't put in an IR receiver (or even a standard RF receiver).  The remote for the PS3 uses Bluetooth, which the Harmony won't do.

That said, I've had a Harmony 688 for a couple years and I love it.

[AlanS17]

Keep in mind that they won't control your PS3 if you decide to use it as a BluRay player because Sony didn't put in an IR receiver (or even a standard RF receiver).  The remote for the PS3 uses Bluetooth, which the Harmony won't do.

Really? Well that sucks...

[somunny]

Keep in mind that they won't control your PS3 if you decide to use it as a BluRay player because Sony didn't put in an IR receiver (or even a standard RF receiver).  The remote for the PS3 uses Bluetooth, which the Harmony won't do.

Man...  you certainly know your hardware.

Thanks for the input guys.  There's a ton of models out there so I've got some research to do.  I do like the idea of a trick color screen but it's not a necessity for me.  Really, I want a remote that will simplify things for me and the family.

[boykster]

I'm partial to the Philips Pronto line of remotes, but the idea is the same.....make complex systems easier to use.  I've found that with programmable/macro-able remotes, its good to organize them by task rather than by device.

So on my theater remote, which controls a projector, 2 cable boxes, a dvd player, a receiver, 2 htpc, etc, I have "task" pages setup for "watch HDTV" "watch SDTV" "watch Movie" etc.....and the buttons are grouped together for that specific task. 

I'd love to get a Harmony 1000 to test drive in my theater.......

[AlanS17]

I'd love to get a Harmony 1000 to test drive in my theater.......

Who wouldn't! It might as well be a mini tablet PC with an IR emitter. That thing is snazzy with a capital "S".

[patrickl]

I have a Harmony 885. Love it. It would be a bit flakey at first (crashes and stuff), but with the new firmware everyting is working fine.

I like the 885 much better than remotes which use a touchscreen (like the Philips Pronto, Harmony 1000 or any of my PDA's) A touchscreen just doesn't work properly for a remote you use a lot (like one for the TV). You don't want to be looking at your remote everytime you need to press a "button". It looks cool but after a while I would go back to the original remote again. The harmony actually replaces the lot and still works fine.

I wanted the 895 so I could also control my PC with a RF remote, but I was sad to find out that it doesn't do RF remotes. It just uses RF to control IR transmitters.

[Hockeyboy]

I have the 676 - picked it up at Sam's Club and decided to try it out. It couldn't find my TV in the list, so it asked for the brand name and then asked to learn some buttons.
 
Works quite well except for a couple of things: When I try to switch from watching DVD to watching TV the input for my TV is supposed to go to AV3 but it stops at AV1 so I have to press the Help button and force it to move through a couple more inputs. Even though I decreased the sensitivity for TV volume, it still wants to move volume in steps of 2 or 3 instead of just 1.

All in all, for the money I spent, I expected a little more and a little friendlier interface and troubleshooting capability. When it works correctly for the units I have: DVD player, DirecTV satellite, LCD HDTV, A/V Receiver, I truly enjoy having to hold only one remote vs. 4 different remotes.

Would I buy another one? Only if all my devices were able to be 'mirrored' better on the Harmony remote and if it picked up all the devices easily without having to answer extra questions and then STILL getting the inputs/commands wrong.

[Santoro]

I have the 680 and like it a lot.   8/10, I'd say.  It would be a nine but the battery cover is really cheap and broke on me.  They replaced it for free.

[jbox]

PA are my heroes.