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From:Logitech
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38 of 41 customers found the following review helpful:
 Best I have seen - so far - for the money (UPDATED), 2006-01-17
I have been through a large number of universal remotes. This remote is light years ahead of the previous models Harmony has come out with, and really delivers outstanding bang for the buck. I say this from an ergonomics as well as functional standpoint.
The screen is beautiful and highly legible. Icons as well as text make choosing an activity easy to understand and execute. The buttons are extremely solid. Much better than the 688 that I also own. It was quickly relegated to the bedroom system when I saw this unit.
The keys are MUCH better located and logical. On the 688 you had to turn on the backlight to press any button because none were in a position that you could feel your way to them. On the 880 they are pretty much right where they need to be. The 4-way directional control and select buttons are very easy to find in the dark and the function is rock-solid, no question as to whether it's been pressed enough, and the command signals are very strong, so it's not usually necessary to point right at the equipment.
For those of you who have never tried or maybe even heard of the Harmony line, you will love the internet-based simplicity of the programming. This interface has not changed since I first got my 688. To control both remotes, I had to add another userid/password, so I was unable to transfer any of my commands from my previous unit to my new one. This is a small peeve.
Some notes on programming. The initial setup could not be easier, you just type in your equipment model numbers and it adds them to your remote. It found every piece of equipment I own easily, and some of my stuff is obscure. Then, you set up activities, like "Watch TV" and the website creates that activity instantly. Sometimes no tweaking is involved whatsoever, and sometimes you do have to either add or change equipment included in that activity or add a few buttons to the existing commands available when doing that activity. Here is where experience pays off. It's not 100% intuitive how to add soft buttons, nor is it always clear whether you need to train the remote by using the original remote for that command or whether that command is already trained and just needs to be added. Also, I found that often you need to relabel an existing command so that it reflects what is on the original remote, which means that the Harmony database is not perfect.
However, the database gets you 95% of the way there, and after you play around with the website a bit, you start to understand it and can soon get to the point of customizing it exactly as you wish. In the end, I probably spent two hours to get my 880 to operate exactly as I wanted. But I'm pretty picky; many users may be happy with it after the first 5 minutes of programming. You will all be impressed by the enormous size of the Harmony database, and by the simple function of the remote.
It is rechargeable as well. This is a big bonus compared with the previous Harmony 688. Another thing I really liked: even when the 880 is out of its cradle, it knows when you pick it up, and automatically lights up. I cannot hear any type of mechanical sensor rattling around in there, but somehow it knows when it is moved and gets ready for your input. I love this simple feature. Would be interested to know how it does that.
All in all, I say it is probably not quite as good as having a Pronto or other really high end remote, but it is far easier to program, performs perfectly once correctly programmed, and costs MUCH MUCH less than any other remote with its power. The screen is sharp and beautiful, the keys function great. I have nothing but good things to say. I don't think you can go wrong for the price.
UPDATE 4/21/06: On this morning, my remote stopped working. I contacted customer support and was quickly handled. They are going to send me a new remote. Lucky for me, the new one will be able to be completely reprogrammed by connecting it and downloading all my existing codes. I will update again once this is accomplished if there are any issues. Otherwise, I continue to rate this item a 5-star pending the results of this warranty issue.
Update 5/22/06: The replacement remote came on schedule and has been working perfectly. Logitech's RMA system and follow-up were very professional and prompt.
16 of 27 customers found the following review helpful:
 Poor Quality and Poor Customer Service, 2006-01-17
This remote is great when it works. However, my remote had a button fall off, and its now less than 2 months old. Apparently the buttons are individually glued on. I tried to call customer service and spoke with someone who barely could speak english. She said they would send me a new remote, but I had to send back the old remote at my expense. She explained they are receiving many remotes back every day.
I purchased a Harmony remote for my father in law for Christmas, and it came with a defective USB cord.
If you are buying this product, expect it to be defective. They appear to have very poor quality control.
If you plan on buying it anyway, purchase an extended warranty so you are covered past one year and good luck - you will need it!!!
7 of 8 customers found the following review helpful:
Very nice remote; does what I want it to do, 2006-01-16
My old Marantz 5000i remote was dying, and I was forced to start looking for a replacement. On the whole I really liked the Marantz remote, but there was a couple of things I really wanted to get away from:
* The LCD screen, while highly configurable, was not a great way to implement buttons. I wanted "hard button" with tactile feedback.
* The Marantz was highly configurable; for me too configurable. I was tired of hunting down graphics and discrete component codes at remotecentral dot com every time I added or removed a component. In fact, I found myself not buying new hardware because I was too lazy to "make my remote" work with it :).
So after some research, I settled on the Harmony 880. For me, it's just what the doctor ordered. The harmonyremote site had all of my equipment in their database, so I had very little "learning" to do (only 1 button on my amp/reciever remote, which was very easy to do).
I would imagine for most simple configurations, all you have to do is use the harmonyremote wizard to set things up. If you're like me and you have macros programmed in your receivers, etc., you might need to add a few steps into the "activities" (very easy to do).
The only real negative I can say about the remote is the cradle it sits in for recharging. I find that I have to fiddle with it to get a good connection. I think in their next rev of the product, they might want to take a look at a different connection mechanism for recharging.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Harmony 880.
2 of 4 customers found the following review helpful:
Love It!!!!, 2006-01-15
I got the remote yesterday, it works on both dvd players, both a/v receivers, the t.v., the lutron lighting, it's just great. It was very very easy to set up and I love it.
2 of 3 customers found the following review helpful:
Ah, the Power of Macros, 2006-01-12
I, too, had a reboot problem with my first Harmony and this is the ONLY reason I give this 4 stars over 5. Product reliability on a $250 remote should be higher.
That said, after I replaced my remote with a shiny new one, reprogramming was even easier than the first time, which I originally thought was amazingly simple. Owners have their own dedicated web site portal that theylog into and that stores all their settings for recalling (as in my case) or modifying (as in adding new technologies or removing old ones.)
But the true power of this remote is the simplicity of use. There are multiple layers upon layers of individual to control all the functions of the 7 devices I have programmed, but I rarely ever (say less than 5 times in 2 months) go to those individual functions... 99% of everything I want controlled is handled by the "Activities" or Macros that are the top layer of this large color(!) screen.
It's so easy that if I want to watch TV, I select "Watch TV" from my activities list and my TV turns on and switches to component video inputs, my AV Receiver switches to the right preset for TV, my Cable box turns on, and Walla! I'm watching TV.
"OOH! I just saw a neat add for this thing on the internet!" Select "Computer" from my Activities list and my TV changes to the correct input and my AV Receiver switches to COM to provide sound and I'm surfing my Mac Mini to Amazon.com in 5 seconds flat.
With my Harmony I also control an Xbox, a DVD player, a VCR, and a DVR; the ability to switch to any of them with ONE button is gratifying and well worth the cost.
During Setup, spend a little time managing your devices, think about your personal needs of how things should switch on or off, and you'll get most everything you need out of this remote. Initial setup is gratifyingly simple and the database of products is impressive, from my Costco LCD TV by a practically unknown company, to a 4 year old DVD player, to my 12 year old VCR, everything I owned was available in the setup database and as simple to add as a click or two.
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