Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control by Logitech
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Digital camera reviews of Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control
Digital camera Review: A descent universal remote
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this remote to replace my old Philips Pronto RU-890. Overall, it's a pretty good remote. Being able to program the remote via the online database is a nice feature, but it's difficult to program the hard buttons to control multiple devices when you have one device selected and keep it programmed the way you want (eg. being able to mute the TV when controlling most everything through the DVR, in my case). Also, the only way you can use you favorite channel button is when you use the "function" button, which has the tendency of turning off/on devices which are already switched on/off (Favorites acts as a macro to power on/select inputs for multiple devices at once). Hopefully this will be resolved with a firmware update?
It's nice that you don't have to manually program the remote, but in cases that you do, the method of accomplishing that is awkward, much more so than my Pronto. The design is very sleek and the LCD screen is nice, although I would have enjoyed it more if it were touch-sensitive as my Pronto was.
It is a good replacement for my bulky Pronto, but I plan on keeping it as a backup to the Harmony 880. I've seen several complaints about this product being shipped with problems with some hard buttons not working at all and in some cases, the charging station not working, but this hasn't been the case with mine so far.
Digital camera Review: A few quirks, but clever design
Summary: 4 Stars
This remote fulfills a lot of needs for those of you who have multiple remotes and systems with separate routines depending on what activity you intend: watching tv, watching a tape, watching a dvd, etc. It cleverly allows you to program various activities and takes care of all of the work for you by turning on the right equipment at the right time. The directions need help, however, because even with the online programming, it took me a while to realize that the eight "programable" buttons on the left and right of the LCD screen could be assigned to whatever function I chose rather than those "assigned" automatically online. And I like to do two things at once, such as rewinding a tape while I finish watching a DVD, in preparation for my next activity. This can be a bit tricky because when you are in "watch DVD" mode and you switch "devices" to a VCR, for example, the remote switches the buttons to the VCR. That's all well and good, but if you then go back to "Watch DVD" you have to cover up the IR transmitter with your hand because it immediately sends out signals to turn on the DVD and amp and TV. Since they are already on, they now turn OFF! It takes some getting used to. Otherwise, Logitech has done a nifty job of designing and allowing internet programming of the IR codes for any piece of equipment you could imagine.Digital camera Review: A gadget that does what it's supposed to
Summary: 4 Stars
Programming it was a snap, comfortable to hold, works with everything we have. The only complaint is that the buttons controlling recordings (fast-forward etc.) are pretty close and big fingers may push more than one. Otherwise very satisfied with appearance and function.Digital camera Review: A godsend!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the coolest things I've purchased for my entertainment system. I've programmed it to control my HDTV, DirecTV/TiVo, and DVD/Surround Sound/Stereo systems, and it handles everything great. It's savvy enough to know when I press the "Watch TiVo" button (which I set up), it turns on the TV, switches it to HDMI mode, turns on the Surround Sound, and sets it to Digital In mode. When I press Guide, it brings up the TiVo guide. When I change the volume, it changes it on the Surround Sound. And when I press the aspect button, it changes the aspect on my TV. And it does all this without me having to specify which device I'm controlling.
The only device I couldn't get it to control was my ceiling fan. The reason being the fan uses an RF remote, where the Logitech Harmony is an IR remote.
Digital camera Review: A good remote ...
Summary: 4 Stars
We've had the Harmony 880 for about a year now and overall have been pretty happy with it.
The only thing I would watch out for what type of receiver you are using it with. We used to have an RCA Surround Sound system and the Harmony would not handle the fact that the system had one Aux button to flip through the different Aux inputs. So we would have to manually push the Aux button to get it on the right input each time. Kind of frustrating. We spent weeks emailing and calling back and forth with the Logitech customer support, but they were never able to correctly troubleshoot the problem. Since then, we have moved to a house with pre-wired surround sound in the walls, so we programed this remote to an Onkyo receiver and it works excellent.
The only other thing I would mention is that after a year of use, the LCD screen has some burn in on it, so the screen has become kind of hard to read. Overall, it's a decent buy if you don't want to mess with multiple remotes, but definately watch out to make sure you don't have a receiver that has one button to flip through multiple inputs.