Logitech Harmony 659 Advanced Universal Remote Control - Refurbished
by Logitech
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony 659 Advanced Universal Remote Control - Refurbished
Customer Review: Not perfect, but good enough
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me start out by saying this is my first Amazon review and my first Harmony remote. You can practically configure it to your every need for your home theater system. Software is easy to use, but takes a while to update. Not a big deal to me though, I just go do something else while the settings are uploaded to the remote, then come back and done. My biggest beef with this remote is the amount of lag from when I press a button for the TV to when the command actually goes through. The lag is over a second long, possibly close to 2 seconds. I'm not sure if it's just with the philips LCD HDTV I have or if it's the same for all TV's, but it takes some getting use to. I thought maybe that was just a draw back from having a universal remote, but all the commands to my Onkyo receiver are immediate. I love being able to hit one button and watching my tv, receiver, and dvd player turn on, the remote delays for about 3 seconds while the tv warms up and changes the input to the HD receiver, and changes the receiver input to DVD. Oh man, it makes it so much easier to tell my wife to put on a DVD. Only other complaint so far is I set up an activity to watch my TV with sound through receiver, but no command to have the TV volume go all the way down.Customer Review: Very nice, functional
Summary: 4 Stars
This remote was purchased mostly out of curiosity. It has turned out to be a favorite. Setup was easy - run the software and follow the steps. There are a few settings I would change, but it works just fine after the first setup.
The main thing I like is the strength of the beam. Our Comcast remote has to be aimed very carefully, which is awkward because the cable box is low, behind some furniture. The Harmony only has to be pointed in the general direction, not even with line-of-sight to the cable box.
The Harmony trademark keys do have a nice feel, but the button labels are a little hard to read because of the small type and their rounded, glossy surface. The back light, helpfully activated by a key with different texture, is a big advantage to reading the other key functions.
The HELP function is pretty nice, if only because the Harmony doesn't know if individual equipment is already on or off when it runs the command sequence, and doesn't have separate (discrete) IR commands for on or off.
I had no problems related to the fact that my purchase was refurbished. I could not even tell. I do not know all the reasons remotes get to be refurbished, so buyer beware...
Customer Review: Works great, but may be difficult for non-tech person
Summary: 4 Stars
This item works great which is opposite from some of the 1-star ratings I have seen. The obvious situation and reason for the lower 1-2 star ratings for this remote is that one really needs to understand the input and outputs going from component to component and how Logitech defines those components. (ie: If you want your computer to be on and you have a picture-in-picture high-def TV or monitor, you must understand that to define a key for jogging back-and-forth from PIP to a RGB (computer) input one must have a key well defined to do that. And also if you have a DVD player you must be sure all inputs and outputs are correctly cabled and the Logitech key for functions are again well defined. This sounds complicated for the average non-tech type person and they may need help with the installation. But with patience it can be done.
The unit has buttons and will handle all the components up to the maximum advertised. For information, my system has Onkyo DVD and Amplifier/tuner components and Sony CD multi-disk players which Logitec defines as a "CD jukebox". Careful understanding of components and the Logitec definition of them is a must.ADS
Customer Review: set up problems
Summary: 3 Stars
OK, it was a nice cheap refurb and in the end it works well. But it took two hours and a very long conversation on tech support to solve the problems--which were very simple, really. My system is simple: TV, satellite receiver, DVD recorder, and AV receiver. The remote did not recognize the DVD recorder (a very common Panasonic), and tried to set up the "watch TV" activity only through the DVD recorder, ignoring the satellite box completely. After many tries, I gave up and called the tech number--and the guy was really good, I can't deny it. But we had to fool the software by accepting the erroneous settings, then deleting the device, and starting over again. You cannot back up and revise, or try something else, when you are setting up the remote with the software (dumb!). So after an hour's walk-through, and then creating a generic activity and then renaming that, we actually have it working. My 11 year old took to it immediately, so maybe it's just my age, but the setup was anything but intuitively obvious.Customer Review: Great deal
Summary: 4 Stars
I already own a Logitech 670, which is a bit nicer/newer than this one. I needed another one for a different set of equipment in another area of my house, but I couldn't find a good deal on the 670. This one does everything the 670 does, as best I can tell, and I am completely satisfied with it. They are very similar. For the price, it's a fantastic deal! The only reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars is the software, which is a bit clunky/difficult at times, but managable. As another reviewer said, don't even load the CD that comes with it, load the latest software from the Logitech website.
The real benifit of these remotes is allowing the programming of "activities". For example, I have set up an activity called "Watch DVD", and when I press it, it turns on my TV, the DVD player, and my Receiver, then sets my TV to HDMI Input 1 and my Receiver to Optical 2. The volume control on the remote then works the receiver volume while the play/ff/pause/etc. controls work the DVD player.