Logitech Harmony 676 Universal Remote Control by Logitech
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Digital camera reviews of Logitech Harmony 676 Universal Remote Control
Digital camera Review: Easy to get 90 percent of the way there
Summary: 4 Stars
This was my first attempt at a Universal remote, and I must say that I am pleased. I have a pretty strange mix of components--an old Kenwood VR309 home theater in a box, an old tube Proscan TV, tivo, an old sony DVD player, and an ancient cd changer by BSR in addition to my Comcast cable box. The Harmony found em all. After fighting with the setup (PLEASE don't forget to disable your Norton Internet Security and your firewall, or the upload will fail and it won't tell you why), I got 90 % of my functionality. Great but not close enough. I had to do a lot of fiddling around to get my "Watch a DVD" to work because of my AV receiver's weird input selection controls.
That said, this sucker is amazingly versatile if you put in the time on the very good web site. For example, if I wanted to switch from tivo to dvd, I originally had to hit OFF and then hit the DVD button, because I need to switch the Proscan's channel from 00 to 04 back to 00. Well, I can insert additional commands into the default sequence.
The only other problems I see involve Tivo control--it's just not as easy to use as the excellent tivo controller. Furthermore, the Guide button does not work right. Once I start getting into the gory details on the web site, I'm sure I'll figure out these issues.
All things considered, I believe the 676 hits the price/performance/ease of use "sweet spot". Cheaper remotes just don't seem to work as well, and some of those high-end jobs are ridiculous--who wants to pay 200+ bucks for a remote. I would have given it 5 stars if it had told me about my firewall...
Digital camera Review: Easy to setup - Extremely ergonomic
Summary: 5 Stars
I was initially considering the Sony Commander remotes when I heard about the Logitech Harmony's. After seeing the layout of this remote and the fact that you can use it one-handed vs. two-handed with the Sony... well, I was sold.
After receiving the unit, I assumed I would be spending several hours setting it up. Well, half an hour later, I had all of the basic programming to run my HDTV, receiver, dvd, PVR and my IR dimmable lights! The configuration website is very well-designed and I REALLY like the fact that Logitech stores your config on their servers. If I ever lose my remote, all I need to do is hook up the new one and run the "Update" command.
Button sizes and layout are excellent. The LCD display up top is easy to read and highly configurable via the website. The underside of the remote is made of some kind of rubber-like material that grips well.
The ONLY gripe I have about this is that the circular 4-way dial on the unit seems a bit small and kind of like a pop tab on a soda can. You get used to it after awhile and it is no big deal.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Digital camera Review: Excellent Remote - Works very well.
Summary: 5 Stars
This remote works well. The Internet setup makes macros fairly easy - you may be very happy with the basic setup; but I found that tweeking is required ( I enjoy that however). You can download your TV schedule to the remote, I have 8 days downloaded.Digital camera Review: Excellent Remote, Tech Support Great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little doubtful about buying this remote due to all the negative reviews regarding tech support. I think most of those reviewers must of gotten their remotes for Christmas when the phone lines were flooded. After purchasing mine and following the directions I couldn't get a few things working so I called tech support. They were very helpful, I was on the phone for about one hour and they resolved everyone of my issues. This remote has worked fantastically for the last two months and I'm still on the original batteries.Digital camera Review: Excellent mid-level remote
Summary: 5 Stars
I read some reviews talking about how "confusing" or "illogical" the web/desktop software was when it came to setting up the remote. I strongly disagree -- I found it very easy to use, I didn't even have to read the manual. Plus, they give you a choice of walking through the setup in three modes: novice, moderately competent, or expert, depending on your knowledge of your home theater system. It doesn't get much easier than that!
The quality of the remote is excellent, and the hard buttons are much handier than an LCD touch-screen type of remote. When you're watching a movie and the room is dark, you can just feel your way across the remote, where as with an LCD, you have to light it up and hunt for your button on a screen.
This is NOT a "punch in your codes and you're ready to go" $15 wal-mart remote. In fact, I'd say that if you don't have a home theater system with 3 or more components, you don't even need something as complex as a Harmony. But, with a little time spent in setup (it took me right about an hour), you can control every aspect of your home theater system just as good as any $300 to $400 LCD touch screen remote, or just as good as using the 5 or 6 remotes you have that came with your components!
Highly reccomended to families with children or frequent guests. I can't imagine what else you would need in a remote -- this will do it all for you.
*And if you haven't already read it somewhere: if you buy this remote, don't bother installing the software from the CD! Just go online and download the new version. It will make you do that anyway, and you'll save yourself the time and the aggrivation of having to install/uninstall the old version on your computer.