Logitech Harmony H-659 Advanced Universal Remote Control (Black) | List Price: $189.93
Discount Price: $99.99
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Brand: Logitech
Binding: Electronics
Features: - Easy to use, easy to set-up
After a year I'm back in the market for a remote [Posted on 2008-05-27]
Pros -
It works well - as long as you give it the time to talk to all of your devices. I have a DVR, HD DVD player, Oppo DVD player, Sony receiver, and flatscreen TV, and electronic HDMI switch. Once it's all set up it is fine to control all devices. The internet downloading of codes is great. The learning mode was easy for those devices you need to program. I've used this for over a year and I don't remember what I had to teach it.
Cons-
First and foremost, after a year I have 2 function buttons that have just gone dead. The warranty is for a year; after a year and a couple of months a couple of the side buttons just will no longer respond.
Initial setup was nearly a failure. The website couldn't communicate correctly with the device which had outdated firmware inside. That struggle took me about 2-3 hours and I'm a programmer. Some undocumented thing I did finally got the firmware updated to where it would work.
I didn't understand why if the Logitech database had all the codes for my Sony receiver that it needed to "talk" to my Sony remote.
Final thoughts -
I was lucky to get the thing working due to software/firmware incompatibilities in the current website version of the firmware and the version the remote shipped with. I think the buttons going dead like they did is pretty unforgivable at this price. Even so, I might get another logitech device to replace this one with (which is why I'm here now writing this review.) If I were to buy this all over again I'd extend the warranty a year for $10 or make sure I had an extra year from a credit card warranty extention. When you get all the kinks worked out it works great.
Works Great,BUT [Posted on 2008-07-04]
The Harmony H-659 is very user friendly and does the job very good for my family BUT, this is my second purchase after about two years. The first one i satrted having problems with the OFF button that you would have to press it 5-6 times before it would turn off the devices and then eventually the OFF button would not work. I am hoping I get more than a couple of years out of it this time but it does works great.
Hunk of Junk [Posted on 2008-07-13]
This is an absolute hunk of junk! After wasting hours with what should have taken minutes I am sworn off of any Logitech remotes.
Here is what I sought to accomplish: a single remote that controls my DirecTV DVR (channel up/down, menu, select, etc.) and my Yamaha amplifier (volume up/down, mute.)
However, this was not a simple task. The Logitech software requires that you identify such processes as what devices are to be engaged to make this task happen. What tasks? I just want the power on! I don't need to change the TV's input, I don't need to turn on or off the power of other devices, I don't need to think of it as my "TV Sequence."
All I wanted to do was map the functions either intelligently by assigning the IR values of each remote to the button on the Logitech, or just learn the individual IR values with the device's remote aimed at the Harmony. Neither of these options proved fruitful on this over-thought, over-wrought, hunk of junk.
The software application that runs on your PC to control this device was not written by someone who has a basic understanding of the end task. All it did was get in the way.
Rather than purchase the Logitech Harmony, you are better off holding a representative value of dollar bills out the window of your car to let them pass with the wind, as it will be less frustrating than attempting to program this device.
Now, to "Office Space" it.
FANTASTIC!! [Posted on 2008-09-08]
This remote does exactly what it promises. It took about 25-35 minutes to completely set up and there was no "pairing" of remotes required (all done via internet). My wife even loved it and now my mother, mother-in-law and other old relatives will be able to watch stereo TV and movies without having to write a book to tell them how. My wife, who is usually the naysayer on all electronic products, wants to get another one for the bedroom as well. Great product!!!
Great remote - easy to use [Posted on 2008-10-06]
I have three different Harmony remotes -- I'm a big fan. In fact, I pre-ordered this remote when I read an article about its upcoming release, because I was so excited about the prospect of a universal remote that actually worked. This remote has lived up to its promise.
First, as I indicated above, I'm a big fan of Harmony Remotes. You can program them to do everything that any of your devices' IR remotes can do. In general, the dedicated buttons on the remote are enough to handle the tasks that you do 90% of the time. Less frequently used functions can be configured to appear on the LCD screen, which displays 4 (or 6 - it's configurable) items at a time, and can scroll. For really seldom-used functions, everything that the device's remote can do is accessible in "Device" mode.
I have never had any trouble with the website's programming applets. Some folks hate them, but I'm not one of them. There have been occasions where I have had to try a configuration, and go back to tweak it, because it wasn't working exactly the way I wanted it to. I would rather do this on my computer, using the website's huge database of devices and IR codes, than to try to program it manually, the way I used to have to do with older universal remotes.
I also do not have the problems that some other folks complain about where the device state gets out of sync. I always program my devices using what they call "discrete codes", where there's a different command for "On" and "Off", instead fo a single "Toggle Power" command, and different commands for TV input selection. I never have to try to find the discrete code settings, even if they're not provided by the device's original remote, because Logitech's online device database already has all of the discrete codes for all of my devices stored and ready for me to use.
The Harmony 659, in particular, is a solid performer. The button layout is a little bit odd, in that the transport controls (Play, Stop, Pause, Rewinde, etc.) are all located all the way on the bottom. This can be a little awkward, but ithasn't really caused me too many problems. Also, they are laid out such that I don't have to think about which button is where - the button I'm looking for is always right where I think it ought to be, even though it's a bit of a reach for my thumb. This model does not have all of the buttons that are available in some of the more expensive models (when I was trying to use this for a DVR, I missed the "Skip Fwd" and "Skip Bkwd" buttons), but where I'm using it right now, it has all of the dedicated buttons I need.
Overall, this is a solid remote, at the inexpensive end of the awesome Harmony line. I've recommended Harmony remotes to everyone who's faced remote problems. If your usage patterns require additional buttons that aren't provided on this model, there's almost certainly a model that has those buttons. For the room where we use this remote, it works great.
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