Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control
Customer Review: Can do Anything with some Effort
Summary: 4 Stars
Some of the buttons on the remote to my Yamaha Receiver and DVD player had stopped working. I tried a number of Universal remotes but none had the full functionality of my original, and trying to figure out the codes or using the code that shut off the receiver did not always work to re-establish all functions. I also tried a Sony remote commander that was approximately $50 more expensive than this remote. The Sony remote was little better than the universals and harder to program.
I was a little hesitant when I bought this remote as it looked gimmicky in the store. Nevertheless, after test driving it on Logitech's website to make sure it has the codes for my Yamaha receiver I bought it, received it and spent about an hour programming it.
The best features are the fact that you can program the remote to do anything the original could. All functions can be restored or programmed. There is an extensive database of existing electronics that can be downloaded to the remote. The remote is good looking and the macro functions(you can turn on your AV receiver, DVD player, TV, and set your TV to the Component Video input with one button) work well. The macro functions are intuitive as well, so if you switch from "Watch DVD" to "Watch TV" the remote knows to shut the DVD and AV Receiver off but leave the TV on (if that is how your system is set-up).
The remote is programmed via the logitech website. Programming is initially via a wizard that is geared to those who are less technically savvy. The wizard is very time-consuming. If you know your way around a computer and consumer electronics, you can quickly figure out that you should just get through the wizard and get to the menu-based programming system.
On the bad side, many of the buttons are small and you need to look at the remote to use it. This is not a problem since the remote lights up with a cool blue backlight when you move it. Nevertheless, I have found myself using the remote that came with my satellite when watching TV. This is purely comfort factor as the satellite remote buttons are soft, raised, spaced out and easy to find without looking, while the logitech buttons are hard, small, close together and more difficult to find without looking. Also, the remote is default programmed to take approximately 2 seconds per command. This means that when you switch channels, it takes 2 seconds per remote pulse and you therefore often overshoot the channel that you want by frustratingly pushing the down channel button over and again. This is adjustable, but I have just been too lazy to hook it up to the computer to adjust it.
In summary, this is a really cool looking remote that can do anything. It takes time to program and to learn and at $150 it isn't cheap. Nevertheless, getting the remote was less expensive than getting a new AV receiver. If my AV receiver remote was not busted, or if I had a Sony or other popular brand of receiver, I do not think that the Logitech remote would be worth the price. However if you have alot of unique and different branded equipment, this was the cheapest remote that I could find that can control all functions on all pieces of equipment.
Customer Review: Excellent remote
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit that I was very skeptical about getting a Logitech Harmony remote. I have a Universal Remote that has worked well for me. It supports macros as well but after my brother sat me down and discussed the real merits of the "Activities"-based Harmony, I began to appreciate the differences.
1. Sleek design both looks great and feels great. Some folks may find a few of the buttons a little difficult to see but if you're like me, you end up using the same set of buttons over and over again so finding and using them becomes habit.
2. My old remote doesn't keep track of power on/power off of devices. So when I ran a macro on the old remote, I either needed to eliminate all power on/off commands or deal with the possibility of toggling the power off when I really wanted it on, etc. The Harmony "remembers" what the current power states of my devices are so when I click the Watch TiVo activity after I've been watching TV, my TV doesn't suddenly go off.
3. Forget about mentally mapping device inputs to buttons, etc. The Harmony embeds all the input selections in the Activities. I had to "un-learn" my former way of using a remote. For example, if I wanted to watch a movie, I'd have to do a bunch of individual steps like set the remote for the amplifier, turn the amp on, set the amp input to DVD, set the remote to TV mode, turn the TV on, put the TV input on A/V 3, etc. With the Harmony, I press "Watch Movie" and the remote sends out a series of commands that I've already set up with the Harmony software and downloaded to the remote. The single button press replaces all the button pressing I used to do on the old remote. Sure, setting up macros on my old remote would have done the same thing too, but like I mentioned above, keeping track of which devices were powered on, etc. was a thorn in my side with macro use.
4. I was a hold out on wanting to use the internet to program my remote but after using Logitech's large online database, it was easy to lookup the names of devices I wanted to control without having to punch in and try awkward 3 or 4 digit device codes with little to no user feedback. Whats more, I can tweak the performance of the remote by changing delay times, etc to make it more responsive.
5. Self-charging caddy solves two problems at once, namely, where should I (more importantly, where should MY KIDS) put the remote when it isn't being used? Also, how can we minimize feeding batteries to this thing? The caddy takes care of the where and how.
6. Cool gadget-lover features. Hey, I'm a nerd. I like creating little customized bitmaps that I can download as backdrops or slideshows for my remote. Does it add anything to meet the remote's primary functional requirements? No. Is it fun for a nerd like me to use and surprise others with? YES!
All-in-all, I'm a convert and I recommend the Logitech Harmony 880. I also have the 520 which isn't as slick looking as the 880 but pretty much does all of the same things. You do have to have some level of computer know-how to set the remote up successfully but there's plenty of help available for the novice. Enjoy!
Customer Review: The best option out there. . .
Summary: 4 Stars
For the money, this is the best universal remote you're likely to find. Sure, if you have the money, you could have a custom-programmed remote made for a few thousand bucks, but short of that, this one takes the cake. It's even superior to the higher-end Logitech Harmony 1000 in all but one respect, and the 890 covers that base.
First, this is an IR (infrared) remote. That means that you have to have a clear view of the IR sensors on your devices for it to operate them. This is no different than 99% of the other remotes out there. The Harmony 890 and 1000 have a radio transmitter that transmits through doors/walls to a receiver that has an IR transmitter on it and can, thus, operate your components behind a closed door or in another room. This is the only advantage the Harmony 890 has over the 880. The Harmony 1000 also has this advantage, plus it's a little bigger in screen size, but generally much harder to use and hold.
Second, this remote requires an Internet connection (or at least it's highly recommended) for initial setup. You might as well go to the Logitech site and download the latest Harmony remote software onto your computer in install that instead of using the included CD. The software gets updated regularly to fix bugs, etc., and it dramatically simplifies the setup process if you do so.
Third, the initial setup of this remote is a bit tough. Anyone who is not intimately familiar with their components' connections, or doesn't have immediate access to the back panels to figure it out, might as well pass on this. Once set up, it works like a charm, but the setup can take numerous trips from the computer to the system and back before you get it working right. Just take your time, do the best job you can on the initial run-through the menus, and don't get frustrated. Logitech makes it difficult to do this part, but as I said, once it's done, it's done.
Fourth, changing out (upgrading) individual components requires that you go through and update the remote's settings as well, which is obvious. What's not obvious is the fact that Logitech doesn't make it easy to do this in their setup.
All that said, once set up, this is probably the easiest to use and understand remote I've found. I know people who have less trouble with this than the single remote that came with their system initially (e.g., just to control the television and nothing else). It remembers the last command you sent to the system and, by doing so, remembers what should be on, should be off, and which inputs things should be set for. The only caveat is that you must use this remote pretty much all the time, b/c if you change a setting, turn on, or turn off a component in your system with another remote or the front panel buttons, the Harmony won't know it (it's not able to communicate bidirectionally with the components) and will assume that nothing has changed.
Overall, a workable solution that would appeal to anyone who has more than 2 components to their system and knows how to set them up correctly. It's a great product, just don't ship it to mom/dad and expect them to be able to figure it out without a little assistance.
Customer Review: Logical Logitech!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an outstanding remote! Although I had a full featured programmable universal remote that came with my B&K receiver, there is NO comparison to the ease with which the Logitech Harmony remote works. Not perfect, of course, but much closer than anything I have used to date. My pros and cons:
Pros:
* While it does take a little time to set up, it is really not difficult. Just know the model numbers of your components, put it into the software and answer a few simple questions on how things operate and the rest is done by the Logitech web site. Once done, you simply select the activity you want (Watch a DVD) and the remote powers everything up, selects the right inputs and configures the remote buttons to operate your specific equipment without having to select different devices. (As an example, my system includes a projection TV, AV Receiver, DVD player and combination Cable box / PVR unit. When I select `watch PVR' everything but the DVD is powered up, the display shows PVR functions, the volume buttons automatically link to my AV Receiver and the channel buttons automatically operate the cable box. All set up by the web site!)
* This operates from a greater distance than my prior Universal remote and it also operates the macros (e.g. powering up multiple components) much more quickly and without having to point the remote directly at each component.
* The Universal remote ate up batteries like crazy. The Logitech is rechargeable and intelligently turns itself on when you pick up the remote or turns it off if it stays still for about 20 seconds.
* The display is so much easier to read!
* Our remote is the model 720 which is a private label version of the 880 - all the same features. But the 720 is square and I find the button layout easier to use than the curved 880. But that is personal preference.
Cons:
* There is a lag time on some functions that can be a bit frustrating. This is the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5. For example, the PVR allows you to fast forward through commercials, but where the cable company's remote starts and stops quickly, the Logitech has about a one second delay which means that you fly past where you wanted to stop. This is true when directly selecting channels, etc. but only causes frustration when you have to hunt back and forth when zipping through commercials.
* A minor thing is that some functions for individual components are buried in menus. They are easy enough to find due to the excellent color screen, but sometimes you have to go pages deep to find what you want, and this is something that you cannot change the programming on. But the intent is to make doing all the normal things easy so the Logitech devotes itself to putting all the common controls right up front and the activity based programming simply makes using the remote wonderfully easy for 95% of the things you want to do.
Maybe there is a better remote out there, especially if you want to take the time to program something extensively yourself. But if you want to move up from a `device-oriented' remote to an `activity based' remote, you will love either the 720 or 880!
Customer Review: A truly UNIVERSAL remote! Outstanding!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had several DirecTV/TIVO units and other components for years now but have never been able to find a truly universal remote that would control EVERYTHING. While a so-called universal remote would control all my TIVOs and the like, the A/V receiver would then be a problem, or vice versa. There always seemed to be some device that I could not control with a "universal" remote.
Not anymore. The Harmony 880 is a wonder! It truly IS a universal remote. Mine controls a DirecTV HD DVR, an HD TIVO, and an SD TIVO. It also controls a DVD player, CD player, and my Onkyo 805 A/V receiver, along with my Samsung 61" DLP HDTV. EVERYTHING is controlled by this wonderful, little remote!
There was a bit of a learning curve when I first got it, but that was probably my fault because I wasn't setting it up with activities the way I should have been. Since then, I've been able to set up this remote for my father in less than 30 minutes when he got one for himself. In addition, Harmony support is superb! They're helpful and will literally spoonfeed you if you get all panicky or confused.
One of the best aspects of working with this remote is that you create a log-in to Harmony's web site and go through the Harmony software on your PC. This way either you or a Harmony support person can work with it live, so to speak. You simply make changes while your remote's connected to your PC, then you update the thing and it reboots to the new specs.
This remote works so well it's almost scary. You create "activities" that basically do everything you want to do in one keystroke. Let's say you want to watch your HD TIVO. You program into your remote an activity entitled, "Watch HD TIVO," for example, and your remote will turn on your TV, turn on your A/V receiver, change its input to HD TIVO (or whatever it's called on your A/V), and turn on or make sure your HD TIVO is on and set. Now let's say you want to watch a DVD player that comes into your TV on different inputs, for example. You'd press the activity that says, "Watch DVD" and your remote changes the A/V's input to DVD, switches the TV to the DVD video feed (or similar), turns on the DVD player, etc. All this in one keystroke! How easier can it get than that?!?
Trust me, as someone who is easily a skeptic when it comes to such techie things, the Harmony 880 is truly unbelievable! I absolutely LOVE this thing. ALL my other remote have been stored away. I only need and use this one. That's it.
BTW, there are many who wonder if they should go with this or the Harmony 890. The 890 is the same thing but in RF mode. The 880 is IR mode. I'm a big fan of RF mode, but I opted for the 880 and IR for two reasons: (1) I didn't think the 890 was worth a hundred bucks more, (2) I really didn't plan on using the 880 from other rooms, so RF wasn't a dealbreaker. Besides, I've noticed that the 880's IR capability is excellent. It has a large IR sensor on it that allows it to be used without having to point directly at something. I can be pointing it 45* away from a component and it still works well. All in all, a great item at a great price here from Amazon!