Logitech Harmony 890 Remote Control - Refurbished
by Logitech
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List Price: Our Price: $279.00 You Save: $20.99 (7%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $250.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony 890 Remote Control - Refurbished
Customer Review: Excellent remote - refurbished but practically brand new
Summary: 5 Stars
I decided to pick this up after seeing it on sale for a gold box deal for $120. I must say it has met and surpassed my expectations. The set-up was a little tedious if you don't know much about audio video equipment. I did not realize either that the remote works by ir wires that connect from your av equipment to the rf extender. For some reason I was under the impression that the rf extender sent ir signals to your av components without any need for a connection of any kind. It still worked without a hitch. The ir wires attach directly to the ir receiver portions of your devices or you can stick them at a near proximity to your equipment. The adhesive is also very effective and doesn't leave much residue at all. Once I was able to attach all of my wires all I had to do was use my existing harmony one remote program on my account and upgrade it to my "new" 890. After I upgraded to the 890 it just prompted me to add the rf extender in the next step and I was done. And I do mean "new" 890. Even though the listing says refurbished it was practically brand new. The box was even labeled "refurbished by logitech". So amazon has nothing to do with the refurbishing process which apparently means you don't have to worry about getting a lemon that someone else returned without being properly fixed. (Although we all know there are still no absolute guarantees, even if buying a new factory sealed one). The remote worked beautifully and I was even able to control my home theater from the other side of the house. It really is nice to not have to worry about a chair, table, or desk getting in the way of my signal. I would even get another one but they're so darn expensive. The harmony one is still probably the best there is in regards to display and comfort factor due to the ergonomics of its shape and easy to read display. The 890 is similar to the 880 in that there is no touch screen involved. You push the button next to the activity that is desired. And the print can be somewhat small. But it is backlit and has the right button layout to control all of your devices in a way that you would feel comfortable with. My av set-up for those that are curious about compatibility include: a sony xdr hdtv, an onkyo 605 receiver, a sony bdp 350 blu-ray player, and an at&t uverse motorola set-top box. The trickiest part was trying to find the uverse box on logitech's website but if you have uverse never fear it is included with logitech's profile. Anyway I feel this is an excellent device and I hope this review helps anyone in their purchasing decisions.Customer Review: Logitech support is awful, returning my second referb
Summary: 1 Stars
I received my first remote about 2 weeks ago, I was unable to update the remote through the software I downloaded from Logitech's website. There seemed to be an issue with the memory in the remote and the software being able to write to it. I called Logitech the next day and went through about 10 different troubleshooting steps with them. The tech was unable to resolve the issue and he escalated it to the next level tech and they would return my call in 1-2 days. I thought, no big deal, that will be fine. 3 days past and I did not receive a return call, so I called support again and asked when I would receive a call, the tech said it is usually in 3-4 days and that their techs are very busy. I waited another day and did not receive a call. The next day I called again and the tech tried to troubleshoot the issue again, but was unable to resolve the problem and I asked for a warranty return. I was on the phone for 108 minutes, he placed me on hold to complete the warranty claim (approval from manager) and after another 25 minutes my call was dropped. I called back and again had to rehash everything from my previous conversations and told the person I had a warranty claim in process. He could not find anything entered in the system about a warranty claim and then started to troubleshoot the device again. I asked to speak with his manager, placed me on hold for 10 minutes and said that his team leader is unavailable. He asked if I would like to be called back or if I wanted to hold. I told him this entire story, he said he was a customer himself and that what I am experiencing is unacceptable. He assured me that I would receive a call back that day from his manager or from himself. I agreed and waited for my call. The call has not come, I haven't received a call back from them once, 2 weeks later. The remote has NEVER worked and they would not let me make a warranty claim. I contacted Amazon, they sent out a new remote that I received yesterday and the right next arrow button to get through the tutorial to even use the remote does not work. I am assuming that Logitech just repackages the remotes shipped back to them without any testing and their support will give you the run around. I will never do business again with Logitech and I will tell everyone I know my experience with this company. Logitech's product, quality control and customer support are the worst I have ever experienced.Customer Review: Could be much better
Summary: 2 Stars
While I love the programmability of this remote and the built-in RF, it just doesn't do it for me. I have Tivo and was looking for a fancier remote than my One For All URC 8820 8-Device Universal Remote Control. I've now switched back to my one-for-all. Why?
1. The balance of this remote is off. It feels front-heavy in your hand when you have to access the most used buttons which are on the lower half of the remote.
2. There's just too much thinking going on. I have a blu-ray that we use to watch movies and Netflix. As most people would do, you hit eject on the player to load a disk. However, when you hit watch a blu-ray on the remote it turns the thing off. Keeping things in sync and trying to explain that to the family is just too much to deal with.
3. It just doesn't sit on the arm of the couch that well. Since it's got a round back, it is easily knocked off the arm of the couch by just touching it or reaching to use it. I find I always have to pick it up to use it which is a pain just to ba-doop through commercials. I think this thing has hit the floor more times than in the 3 years I've had the one-for-all.
4. Programming is not intuitive. I'm a software engineer by profession and I just don't quite get this. There is a steep learning curve if you're not satisfied with the defaults the programming software gives you. This is not a remote for the non tech-savvy.
5. Finding buttons without looking can be difficult. Logitech made an attempt to make the buttons locatable with bumps and varying heights on some buttons, but some are so small you just can feel them. Poor execution.
6. It has an annoying tendency to double-up on the up/down arrows on Tivo. I can't figure out why it comes and goes. I've researched this and apparently this is a common problem with Tivo, but no one has a solution that works for me. To get it to stop you have to point the remote straight up in the air. Very strange.
Those are my main gripes. I was hoping to find a remote that would rival my $16 one-for-all, but this one is far from it. Yes, it has much more capabilities than the one-for-all, but who needs all that 99% of the time? Think twice about what and how you use a remote before buying this remote.
Customer Review: Refrub 890 Remote - so far, so good
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite the prolific negative reviews of this refurb, I threw caution to the wind when I ordered this remote last month and have been using it daily since. I selected this item knowing the design flaws regarding button size and placement as I needed a universal remote with RF support that was relatively inexpensive.
So far, the remote has exceeded my expectations. It arrived in a plain brown box in excellent condition. Programming via software (running on 64bit Windows 7) went without a hitch. The remote and RF controller have performed as expected in my home theater environment. It supports a Denon receiver, Blu-Ray player, a panasonic DVR, a Samsung TV and an X10 lighting controller.
It takes some significant time optimizing the LCD buttons to locate the most used functions to the first screen. Furthermore, the "Activity" concept is a little awkward at first, being somewhat different than a plain old macro scheme. Finally, several round trip programming sessions get tedious, especially in having to connect both the remote and the RF controller, but I suppose its a small price to pay for the convenience.
Some nits:
The LCD screen resolution is pretty low, the graphics and text aren't the best.
The buttons are definitely tiny and oddly placed. Others have mentioned the layout was designed for looks first, rather than function and this is an apt perception. This is a remote than you'll need to look at to use. Manipulation by feel in a dark room isn't going to happen any time soon unless you are the Mozart of remote controls.
I'm not particularly fond of the need to login and communicate with Logitech's server every time I run the software. And, as I understand it, this is how they maintain a revenue stream after the purchase of the remote. I suppose it is the way of things.
All-in-all, for the money, and IF you get a refurb that works as new as mine does (for now) I can definitely recommend this remote for those needing an inexpensive universal remote with RF capabilities.
Customer Review: 3 times the charm!!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
My review is on the refurbished aspect of the 890 and not on the 890 itself. I had to order three of them before I got one that works.
Remote #1 - Would not connect to my PC properly. Would update to 20%, than lose communication. I would try again and it would get to 50% before stopping and finally it wouldn't connect at all. The remote also had a PID number on the Wireless extender that had previously been reported as faulty. I never got to try it because the remote never worked.
Remote #2 - Connected to the PC great, updated perfect, and the RF extender was working well. The problem with this remote was the the IR on the actual remote was not working. After trying all sort of different setups, I popped off the red plastic covering the front of the remote and could clearly see that the IR bulbs were burnt out.
Remote #3 - I have had it for about a week now and everything seems to work great. The screen on this third one also looks much better than the on the first two. The LCD displays seemed very washed out, but this one looks better.
The best part about this is that the replacement policy for Amazon is fantastic! Once you report that you need a replacement, they will send you one immediately two day air and give you 30 days to return the defective unit.
After the second remote went bad, I received an email from their customer care that they were just going to give me a refund instead of another replacement. I could understand that with a new product it would be odd to get two that didn't work properly, but these are refurbs. I sent them an email back explaining this and asked for them to please send a third replacement and they did the next day. The four stars is really for the Amazon customer service. Other reviews have suggested that Logitech is just repackaging defective remotes without proper service and I would have to agree with them.
My recommendation is to give it a try because you have nothing to lose with Amazon backing you up!