Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote (Silver)
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote (Silver)
Customer Review: Great idea...not so great execution
Summary: 1 Stars
I've started several reviews of the Logitech Harmony 1000 universal remote...initially good, then bad, now somewhere in between. So is the love-hate relationship I have with this little item of electronic wizardry.
First the good: The unit is attractive and feels substantial. Hard buttons are logically laid out and can be custom programmed. Programming the universal remote using Logitech's online interface is relatively simple and straightforward, although it takes several iterations to get everything set up the way you want. The website queries you about which components are used with each activity (e.g., watch TV, watch DVD, listen to CD, etc.). There is an extensive list based on component type (e.g., AV receiver, CD player, TV), manufacturer, and model number. The advantage of using a website, rather than CD-ROM software, is that Logitech can continually update its site to reflect new models or advances in technology.
Once an activity is selected, only the controls for that activity are displayed on the touchscreen. The icons are large and bright and easy to see in a dimly lit home theater. However, certain controls may be on different screens that you must tab through (e.g., DVD controls on one screen and a numeric keypad on a separate screen). But this is a minor quibble.
Now for the bad: Initially, I had some problems with the display freezing and not being able activate any of the controls. Because there is no on-off switch or reboot button, the only way to rectify this problem was to remove the rechargeable battery. This process would have been much easier with three hands, but I had to settle for two. The second time this happened I was about to throw the remote against the wall. The second time appears to be the charm.
The next fault that cropped up was the unit's occasional, and unpredictable, failure to activate one or more component. There is a help button that allows you to trouble shoot the problem, but the reason I bought this remote was so I wouldn't have to press a half dozen buttons to activate three different components. I discovered that part, if not all, of this problem results from the variable intervals at which the IR signals are sent out. If you don't keep the remote pointed at your components continuously for up to 10 seconds, the signal may fail to reach one or more of the components.
The last complaint I have is the sensitivity (or lack thereof) of the touch screen. This, too, is occasional and unpredictable. Sometimes a virtual "button" doesn't respond to even firm pressure, and in other cases, the wrong button is activated, even when using a stylus. However, The unit does not come with a stylus. You wouldn't expect it to, because the virtual buttons are large and widely separated so that even the clumsiest of thumbs should be able to manipulate them. After some trial and error, first using a retracted ballpoint pen as a stylus, and later the tip of a fingernail, I've managed to successfully discriminate between the buttons. But it requires that you pay more attention to the universal remote than you might with the wand type remote.
Considering the high price tag of this remote, the performance should have been flawless.
4/26/2010 revision:
More experience with this remote suggests that with frequent use it is more likely to behave correctly... almost as if it's learning. One neat feature that I failed to mention: when you change activities (e.g., from watching TV to watching DVD) the device automatically shuts down unneeded components (cable box) as it powers up the new components (DVD player), leaving the TV on, but switching inputs, if needed. But this feature only works if you used this remote to switch on the first activity...it remembers what it turned on, then turns them off when necessary.
12/29/2010 revision:
This continues to be a love-hate relationship, but hate seems to be winning out. The unit takes forever to activate components (if it activates them at all). It locks up frequently. The "on-off" switch is just there for show. And the other day it decided to reboot itself while I was using it. As I said before, for the price, this remote should be flawless. Recent reviews of the harmony 1100 have been more favorable, but my experience with this POS prevents me from making the "upgrade."
Customer Review: Colossal disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
This device is a great disappointment to me; I was waiting for it with great anticipation. After multiple reinstallations I still could not get to the manual so what I am writing is based on reverse engineering the options presented by the software.
The remote is based around the idea of activities. The user first tells the software about the components that will be controlled by the remote. The software then allocates groups of components to activities. For example, a dvd player and a tv can be combined into the "Watch DVD" activity. When an activity is selected the remote takes you to the corresponding activity screen which contains control buttons Logitech designed for the activity. E.g. with "Watch DVD" you may get standard Play/Pause/FF/etc controls. It is also possible to control devices (e.g. a dvd player) directly if some button or control sequence is missing from the activity screen.
If you think that predefined activity screens cover what you need from the remote then this may well be the device you will be perfectly happy with. But read on ...
Activity screens are fixed; there is no way to edit layouts or even the button labels. Some buttons can be disabled by disassociating them from a command but they still appear on the screen.
The pictures in the advertising materials hint on multiple screens of colourful, customizable buttons. In reality you get the following screens: dvd like control screen, numerical screen, activity screen and the devices screen. You can customize rows of drab grey buttons (labels only, not the appearance), but as far as smart controls go this is it.
The software is full of quirks and is extremely inflexible. You can not pick the devices to include in an activity; the soft decides this for you. For example, for some inexplicable reason the software insists on including my portable media player in the "Watch TV" activity together with my Satellite PVR and the TV. I could find no way to convince it not to do this (the soft simply refuses to define the activity without the player) or to remove the media player from the activity once it has been defined.
Devices can also be controlled individually by choosing the appropriate section for the component from the devices screen. If Logitech has your component in their comprehensive database it will map the functions of the component remote onto pages upon pages of uninspiring grey buttons. I heard that Logitech is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on programming for Harmony remotes. If this is so I am at a bit of a loss as to where this money goes. Device screens have surely been designed by a monkey.
To give an example of this programming brilliance; on the device screen for my Satellite TV/PVR the fast forward button is on screen 4, reverse button is on screen 5 and the play button is on screen 6. So to fast forward I need to scroll to page 4, then scroll down two pages and press play. If it overshoots I then have to go back a page click reverse, scroll down again... well, you get the picture. Buttons can be remapped, so they can be placed in a sensible order but be prepared to spend a lot of time with the software. Again, you can edit button labels but not the appearance of the buttons.
The remote comes with something called remote assistance that pops up unhelpful messages once in a while. Every time it does so you need to click two or three buttons to get back to the main screen. I think of it as Clippy (remember the old MS office) for the new millennium. I could find no way to disable it.
Pros:
Looks good and appears to be well constructed. Comfortable to hold in two hands.
Works as advertised if you are happy with activities as they are defined by Logitech software.
Cons:
The glossy black plastic around the touch screen is of the type that shows every fingerprint.
Can not be operated with one hand.
Inflexible button layouts; lack of customizable buttons.
Useless standard device layouts.
Awful software. Terrible help system.
Annoying remote assistance software.
Customer Review: Standing in Harmony's Way
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased the ironically named Harmony 1000 universal remote back in October 2007 as an early gift for a December birthday. At long last, the actual date of that birthday is approaching, and I now think back to what his reaction would have been if we didn't have these last couple of months to agonize--I'm not being hyperbolic--over the many programming issues and shortcomings that eventually were addressed by Logitech to make this a somewhat smoothly operating remote. Don't misunderstand me: this is a brilliant idea and an excellent piece of technology that is long overdue for the complex home theater environment. In fact, anything that comes with a remote or can be hooked up to an RF transmitter can be programmed into this. Like I said, it's brilliant. However, had I gone into it beforehand more aware of the issues that I would have to resolve, either I might have waited another year for Logitech to work out the kinks or I would have spared myself some of the added work I performed to customize the buttons. I certainly would NOT have foisted this upon anyone I love under the pretense of it being a gift.
The very thing that makes this remote very forward-looking is also what holds it back for the time being: to program it, one has to use a software that communicates with Logitech's server, where a database of seemingly every known piece of technology and its setup codes are available. The server saves the remote's settings, should anything happen to clear them accidentally. (Contrary to one person's experience, I found that removing and reinserting the battery did NOT clear my settings.) Every screen has a link to provide suggestions, complaints and reviews--a feature I have used prodigiously during these past months. To Logitech's credit, I found that they were listening to my concerns and making an effort to improve, both, the software and the firmware based upon them. In fact, every time the remote's settings were updated, so too were the firmware and the programming software. Great idea . . .
And this is where the nightmare begins. The Harmony 1000 is, essentially, a hand-held computer (albeit, very tricorder-like), and the updates affect the operating system's functionality and features. When they get it right, it's an amazing improvement. When they get it wrong (think "Windows Vista"), it's heartache and madness. Any quirk in the operating system shows up as a quirk in the remote's functionality, to the point, sometimes, of REMOVING functionality altogether. In fact, quite recently, I was considering just returning the product and asking for a refund because the new software updates actually took away choices for button customization rather than expanding choices. Or so it seemed; I've since figured this out on my own (trust me, I'm no débutant when it comes to critical thinking), but because updates do not come with any sort of explanation, and the software is NOT intuitive, and because one frequently has to abandon previously created activities with all their complex customization and start from scratch to make the upgrades apply to the settings, and because no one is there to tell you this, and because Logitech's first inclination is to blame the fact that one's is using a Mac rather than to blame the software's incompatibility and shortcomings. . . You see my point, I hope.
All in all, I recommend this remote for its amazing capability, its conceptual design, and its sexy aesthetic. However, unless you are veteran to programming remotes, this one ain't for you. Even if you are up to the task, I recommend keeping a secret stash of Xanax on hand at all times and bookmarking a Logitech Harmony 1000 support forum--just for the virtual hugs you're going to need, if nothing else. If I had waited until December to present this birthday gift, it might have destroyed my relationship. So much for "Harmony 1000"! (Though, I'm not sure they could have sold something called the "Carfuffle 1000.")
Customer Review: Harmony 1000 is a pretty good product, but support lacks
Summary: 4 Stars
The programming software is not as intuitive as it could be. A written programming guide would be more useful than an electronic "help" menu. It required my programming the unit at least 10 times before getting it to work the way I wanted it to, and I am fairly knowledgable in computers and electronics equipment.
Downloading of the individual programming for my equipment from the Logitech site was easy. The features provided cover most if not all of the features of the original remote controls, to a greater extent than any other advanced remote I have used. I had to use the "learning" feature for certain functions, but that was similar to using any other programmable remote; the feedback on the computer as to whether a feature was "learned" was good.
I kept setting up additional programmable buttons for certain functions (such as muting the television sound when using my surround sound setup), and losing primary functions (such as any paging controls, or operating buttons for our HD DVR set top box - called a "PVR" in Harmony's setup). Once I found the "supplemental commands" portion of the menus, I was able to take care of the additional functions without loss of primary button functions. Finding this feature was not as easy as it should have been. I came across it by accident rather than from any written material or in the "Help" feature.
While some "activity" icons (the buttons you use to control main functions after programming the uniit - the buttons you'll use the most) can be named, others will not permit their names to be altered, which is annoying. Thus, when I want to watch programming through the HD DVR (my set-top digital recorder cable box) but have the sound controlled by my surround sound system, I cannot change the label from "Watch PVR" - when I would rather use something more descriptive. However, other icons allow the names to be changed to something usefully descriptive. If I set up the "Watch PVR" sequence under other menu options (starting the programming sequence, for example, with "Watch TV"), I lose the PVR contols on the main menu.
My surround sound system and DVD player are a Bose Lifestyle 48. By activating the "IR" feature of the Bose unit in its own system menu, I am able to control it with the Harmony remote - a piece of information I could not get from the Logitech sales staff or tech support staff when I inquired before purchase. They were most unhelpful, and threw the burden of that research off on me. When I asked about control by radio frequency (RF) their response was the same - throw the research burden onto the customer. They say their "Z-Link" controls "thousands" of products, but will not answer the question of whether the system will control certain well known brands (like Bose). When I asked if their "Z-Link" RF controlled the Bose system, "Call Bose" was the response I got. Not the best way for Logitech to do business. I decided to buy the unit, and if I could not control my Bose system with it, to return it. While my Lifestyle 48 is not controllable by "Z-Link," it is controllable by IR.
As to reports of short battery life, we recharge it twice a week, just by leaving it on the charger overnight. Only my wife and I use the unit. Heavy usage may require more frequent charging.
Despite the poor pre-sales suport, lack of adequate written or electronic programming support (I am stubborn and did not call the tech support staff over the programming difficulties - especially after the pre-sales treatment) once I set the device up to program all of my equipment, with multiple options, and once having mastered the unnecessarily long learning curve (about a week, mainly because of not being able to rename certain activity icons and multiple efforts to program it successfully), it is a joy to use. My wife and I both love it.
Customer Review: So Much Potential. Such Poor Execution. Awful Customer Service
Summary: 1 Stars
This is my second Harmony and I used to rave about them. Now I have to say I am most displeased. My first one started to not use the charger without some major finagling to get it to charge, then it just died completely and wouldn't do anything.
So I get the 1000. Lovely looking unit and it held such promise. I have had it for two months as I write this and I am VERY disappointed. It seems I probably have a bad unit, but Harmony says they've never seen a 1000 do what mine has done. It began okay. If you think being slow to respond to the touchscreen okay. If you think random lockups are okay. Well, after numerous of those random lockups which required me to remove the battery and then put it back in to reboot, then wait the two minutes to reboot (all the while not being able to turn on my gear!) only to have it start spewing all nonsense of commands upon restarting, It has died. I had it on the charger overnight and went to pick it up this morning. As soon as I took it off the charger it started an activity I didn't request, then locked up. I removed the battery and put it back in but it never came back to life. D E A D DEAD!. Except for the Activities button. It still lights up! Yay, a $300 nightlight.
Logitech customer support was most unhelpful, but after 45 minutes on the phone, connecting the remote, disconnecting the remote, battery in, battery out, on the cradle, off the cradle, hold this , do that, stick it there, place it here, they are going to turn it over to their warranty department. So it's being taken care of, right? If only. They say the warranty dept. will contact me in 4 or 5 business days to DETERMINE if they will warranty the unit at all. What the heck do they need 4 or 5 days to do that for?
I'd stay away from Logitech Harmony if given a choice. But since there is nothing out there that I know of that is so cost effective and easy to use, it's hard to do so. Just hope that you get a unit that is not so clearly possessed as mine was/is.
***Update- April 14th, 2010*** So, it's been awhile. They DID warranty it and sent another out to me. I have been using it ever since, but only to turn on and off my gear and switch between activities. For $300, I want more, but this remote barely does this well enough, so I'm not gonna push it. The sound it makes for the first 30 secs on the charger is beyond annoying. I pull it off to start an activity and it's like I'm trying to launch a missile strike, it takes so long to actually send the commands. That's if it even responds. Sometimes it just sits there for a good thirty seconds to a minute all lit up and pretty, but won't do squat, touchscreen or hard keys.
As part of a class-action lawsuit against Logitech regarding the lack of capabilities of this remote that it was advertised as having, I just received my settlement. A refurbed 890 with all the goodies. I'll be setting it up to work my system now... Haha, no that's a joke. I just wanted to make sure Logitech had to send me one for my troubles. I won't be using either Logitech once this 1000 dies, which I am confident will be soon, either on its own or from being thrown out the window in frustration. Maybe the best would be retiring this POS to the used electronics box aong with the 890. To be pulled out in 50 years to wow the grandkids with the crap of the past.
Please do not waste your hard-earned money on this garbage product that Logitech is somehow still allowed to peddle. I would only try a Harmony "One" in the future, but I'd certainly have to use it a bit before I even thought about buying another Logitech Harmony.