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My new universal remote - Harmony 880

Yesterday I got my new remote (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/detailsharmony/US/EN,CRID=2084,CONTENTID=9933).

It is sweet.  It works great with my Pioneer Elite Plasma, Pioneer Elite Receiver, Media Center Extender, and Marantz DVD player.

Before I had 4 remotes now I have 1.  The website you use to program the device SUCKS.  But once you figure out how to make it work the way you want it is okay. 

The remote is a good size and does not weigh too much.  It has a tilt sensor so the back light turns on when you pick up the remote.  No more attempting to find the back-light button in the dark.  It gives me a way to let my house guests use my system with the push of a single button.  No more how-to guides.

Did I say the website sucks?  It is all Java based.  So you have to install this crappy 23mb app on your machine that includes the Java runtime in order to get the device to program. 

Maybe a little reverse engineering will make it so a .NET app can feed commands into the remote. :)

I would not pay the retail price on it ($249.00). If it was not for our Microsoft discount I would have stuck with my 4 remotes. 

Also Logitech can/will sell info about what components you have and how you have them setup. 

Published Wednesday, March 01, 2006 8:57 AM by mpoulson

Comments

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 12:43 PM by Matt Spong

# re: My new universal remote - Harmony 880

I paid retail for mine, and I've never regretted it (of course, I had six remotes to deal with beforehand).  I love it.

You're right about the crappy interface to program it, though.  Luckily, once it's programmed, you never have to touch it again unless you add another device to your setup.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 12:57 PM by jeffyjones

# re: My new universal remote - Harmony 880

I'm not impressed. The usability looks poor immediately from the simple lack of channel and volume location in a familiar configuration that you can feel without looking.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 2:59 PM by Chris Szurgot

# re: My new universal remote - Harmony 880

I've had mine for about 6 months and I love it. I paid 1/2 price for it, but it was still pretty cheap compared to the Samsung DLP TV. <grin>

My only gripes (outside of the website) are that it's strangely slow with the TiVo (still use that remote) and there doesn't seem to be a way to emulate the shoulder buttons for the XBOX 360. (Used for page up/page down in the music player)
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 6:43 PM by Mitch

# re: My new universal remote - Harmony 880

I love this thing except for a few things.  The buttons are not intuitive.  I seem to search for the PAUSE button and the PLAY button, whereas on other remotes, they are clearly marked.  The web interface, I agree is strange, but as another person said once you set it up it really is slick.

The other thing is that you really do HAVE to turn everything on with this remote and then you HAVE to turn everything off using the macro setup.  It remembers what is on and off, so if you manually turn something off, the remote will turn it back on again when you press the OFF key.

Otherwise, it really is nice to use.  I like it when I switch from watching cable to listening to XM radio; it automatically will switch the amp input, turn the cable box off, turn the TV off and turn the XM rdio on.  Sweet!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008 6:43 PM by Movies » Mike Poulson’s Thoughts on lots of stuff : My new universal remote …

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