Customers Reviews
2009-06-25
Good but not great
This remote works well, and i'd never go back to having 4 different remotes to control my AV setup. It's also shaped kinda like the Tivo remote and has a bunch of similarly placed buttons.
The batteries that came with mine were horrible and lasted about two weeks. I almost returned it then, but i gave it another shot with some costco Kirkland brand alkalines and it probably lasts 5 or 6 months with them.
It also doesn't feel terribly durable, mine rattles because something came loose inside, but it doesn't seem to have affected performance.
I'm happy enough with it, but would probably buy a higher end harmony if i had to do it all over.
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2009-05-01
Great remote but broke just outside warantee period
I loved this remote --- that is:
1.after I programed it which took nearly an entire day and much frustration. I have utilized computers for nearly three decades and I am quite computer literate and it took me that long. Also, you may need your old remotes to activate the universal. We did not have one and that posed problems that we could never overcome.
2. Until it broke. Just outside the warantee period the volumn, channel change and power buttons quite working. An item this expensive should last longer.
I loved having a universal so much that I am purchasing another but I'm wary
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2009-02-10
1 remote 15 devices 2 rooms
This remote is good I bought 2 one 4 years ago it has been great then one button stopped working it was a rough work around but it made the help button useless Then 2009 when I added 7.1 to second room I decided on the 659 over the Harmony One or the 800 models due the add cost and learned not use the LCD Buttons for repetitive things like commercial skip only disappointment I could not program for my Logitech keyboard media buttons
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2009-01-11
Quality product, however setup can be cumbersome
We purchased this remote at Sam's Club to replace our three remotes (Philips LCD TV, Samsung home theater, DirecTV) with a single remote. The remote ships with Windows and Mac software, and a USB cable to connect the remote to your computer.
The Mac software requires administrative rights to install (meaning you have to put your password in), loads a USB driver, and runs under OS X 10.3.x and later. Upon first running it, it updates itself over the internet; presumably the Windows version also does that.
The software asks you to input the make/model of your various AV components; it found the components we have in Logitech's database. It then helps you setup the various audiovisual activities that you desire. In our case, the five activities were:
a) Watch DVD - using TV & home theater
b) Watch TV - using TV, home theater, and DirecTV receiver
c) Listen to Music - using CDs played by home theater
Two additional setups that I put in were:
a) Play game -using the TV, home theater and Wii (see below)
b) Listen to radio - using the home theater
Based on what you tell the software, it creates simple sets of instructions to turn on components in the correct sequence, and use the correct input. For instance - for the activity "Watch TV", it makes my TV use HDMI-1 for input, makes the home theater use HDMI-in for sound, and turns on the TV, DirecTV receiver and home theater.
The manual that comes with the remote makes it clear that it can only control IR devices - not RF or BlueTooth (like the Wii). Because this is IR technology, you have to be sure that when you point the remote, it is directly at the components that you wish to control (line-of-sight). In our setup this is easy because the TV, home theater, and DirecTV receiver are all in the same entertainment center. But I can see this being a hassle if someone has a projection TV mounted away from where the other components are, or if the components are optically shielded from the remote (behind wooden doors, as opposed to glass doors). I should note that Logitech makes an IR-to-RF extender for such setups.
Once the software has been setup, it downloads the appropriate sequence of commands to the remote, and asks you to test each activity option.
When I tested my setup, I found that two things didn't work:
a) Switching the TV input from HDMI-1 to AV-3, or
b) Switching the TV input from AV-3 to HDMI-1
I think this is because the commands were being sent to my TV too quickly (before it could "accept" them). So, I introduced a longer "delay" time from when the TV is turned on to when it should be sent commands, and everything worked perfectly.
Once this was done, I used the software to map functions that are in the TV, DirecTV and home theater remotes to buttons on the Harmony H659. For example, my TV remote has a button called "Format", which lets me switch from auto to wide-screen or unscaled. Similarly, the home theater has buttons for upscaling, or to switch between FM/XM presets. Mapping all of these took a fair amount of time - about 4 - 5 hours.
The remote has no sharp edges, and uses muted shades. There are buttons for three activities - and a "more activities" button permits you to map additional activities. The LCD display is easy to read and is back-lit.
Overall, it took me about 6 hours to get the H659 to completely replace remotes for the three devices. This unacceptably long time, and the non-intuitive nature of the software (for advanced control of the H659) is the reason I score this as four stars instead of five.
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2008-12-19
The perfect entry level do it all remote
If you have more than one remote, then it is about time you get yourself one of these... you will have one in every room that has a TV... it is that good
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