Customer Rating: 
Summary: Nice remote
Comment: This is my 2nd Harmony remote. The first was 659 - some buttons stopped working after about 2 years of use.
676 is very similar - slightly bulkier body, the buttons are not as nice (rubber rather than that harder soft-pearl-glassy plastic).
Pros (over 659) - More buttons! Finally I have Skip Forward and Skip Back. And 2 more (A and B) for custom commands.
Cons (over 659) - Not as polished design as 659. The buttons are not as nice to the touch. The buttons are hard to press especially those next to the screen.
Overall - good replacement for my 659 (especially for the $57 I paid). I'll probably will keep it for a year or so and then get the 1000 or newer (if Logitech comes up with something by that time).
Customer Rating:
Summary: New remote that doesn't work
Comment: I bought this remote from Amazon and went through the easy programing. If you are concerned about setting up a remote, don't be, it was easier than anything I have seen. Installed the software via the supplied disk and let it do the automatic upgrade from Logitech website. I put in all my model #'s and only one of the "Activity" buttons worked. The "OFF" button doesn't work and neither does the "HELP" button to try to troubleshoot what the problem is. Frustrating when everything seems to be going so great from the start. I am sending it back and getting a different model for the extra money.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Impressive!
Comment: I have owned several universal remotes in the past, including programming remotes with LCD assited labeling and pure touch-screen interfaces. All of them did their job but setup was laborous and changing home theater equipment caused pains relearning miscellanious macros. None of my previous remotes also did a good job of controlling my home theater as a whole. You know the drill - turn TV on, turn receiver on, turn cable box on and so forth. Macros were static, i.e. they operated well only for the most basic commands but could not handle various modes and intricacies of the Home Theater setup.
Finally, I decided, on the friend's advice to give a try to Logitech's Harmony line. From my experience I hated touch-screen remotes as they always required looking at them for pressing pretty much any button. On the ohther hand, pure button remotes were always restrictive and required learning what the generic button means for this or that device. So the combination of the generous hard button layout and LCD screen labeling for device-specific funstions appealed to me. My friend owns Harmony 880 and I had a chance to use it a bit. I was not big fan of the touch-sensisite buttons and the way remote lights up when you shift it. Both were a distraction to me. So I looked at the 6xx series with distinct hard buttons that your fingers learn and can press without glancing at the thing. 676 was on sale and had the best layout for DVR devices which all modern TV boxes are, so I plunged.
The original setup only took me about 20 minutes. I was sceptical at first of 'Activity' based modes because this was not a conventional design, but once I synched my setup back to remote and turned on my Home Theater with it for the first time, I was converted right away. The thing that nobody seems to mention about 'Activity' modes is that this is the first remote (at least from the ones I've known) that remembers state of all of your devices. No more stupid macros that could only work in one mode but were completely screwed up in another. This remote works wonders switching my video and audio outputs, controlling picture and sound preferences for each device in the group. And I have a lot of them. TV, Receiver, HDMI switch, DVD Player, PC1, PC2, Xbox 360, Wii. One remote now made all old remotes obsolete, did not lose any of the original remotes functionality and gained state awareness of each device at any time. Impressive!
Pros:
- easy setup through the software interface
- very impressive online library of devices (including rare ones)
- state-awareness of each and any device at any time
- very flexible setup of video and audio switching - accomodates both direct and sequential switching between inputs
- great button layout - better then the original Manufacturer's remote for DVR
- controls your game consoles
- very convenient in hand
- only three direct activities tied to the buttons but unlimited number of additional activities that can be set up with LCD screen
- MEDIA button - allows to set up favorite channels for your TV, so you no longer have to study TV channel line up and find what obscure channel number is assigned to your most viewed channels
- very useful HELP button - in rare cases when one of the devices in activity failed to either turn on or switch to the proper video/audio input it will correct the situation and remember it, so it does not happen again
- price. I bought it on sale (sixty dlrs) which is unbeatable for the class of the remote you get. Please do not try to compare this remote to the $20 universal remotes found at Wal-Mart. They can not hold a candle to this one in the everyday use
- functionality-wise this remote is the same as any other in the Harmony line, including much more expensive ones. It has the same limitations as well (for example, not being able to control BT devices, like PS3). The software to setup any of the Harmony remotes is the same and they all use the same online database of different Home Theater devices. So if you can control your rare device with one of the Harmony remotes, you can control it with any other remote as well.
Cons:
- really none. The best I can come up with is that it uses AAA batteries instead of more readily available AA. Also, the LCD screen is pretty small (880 model has much better bigger color LCD screen).
Customer Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Comment: I've bought this product to simplify my TV viewing, however, it makes my life more complicated and frustrated. It is supposed to control TV, VCR and DVD player with one device, which is prone not to be so easy. Many times it confuses VCR with DVD, for example it turns on VCR instead of DVD, then I have to get up and do it manually. More frustrating thing is after such manipulation, it becomes more confused and I have to go back to my old 3 remote control to start out of scratch... sigh... I am just keeping them because I've thrown out of the packages and can't return them. Please do not buy this. By the way I am NOT a TECH DUMMY who doesn't know how to program electronic devices. This product just doesn't perform well!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Convenient
Comment: Very easy to program using the software. I completed programming it in 5 minutes. Very easy to use the remote. The activity buttons are wonderful. I love this remote.
Summary: Nice remote
Comment: This is my 2nd Harmony remote. The first was 659 - some buttons stopped working after about 2 years of use.
676 is very similar - slightly bulkier body, the buttons are not as nice (rubber rather than that harder soft-pearl-glassy plastic).
Pros (over 659) - More buttons! Finally I have Skip Forward and Skip Back. And 2 more (A and B) for custom commands.
Cons (over 659) - Not as polished design as 659. The buttons are not as nice to the touch. The buttons are hard to press especially those next to the screen.
Overall - good replacement for my 659 (especially for the $57 I paid). I'll probably will keep it for a year or so and then get the 1000 or newer (if Logitech comes up with something by that time).
Customer Rating:
Summary: New remote that doesn't work
Comment: I bought this remote from Amazon and went through the easy programing. If you are concerned about setting up a remote, don't be, it was easier than anything I have seen. Installed the software via the supplied disk and let it do the automatic upgrade from Logitech website. I put in all my model #'s and only one of the "Activity" buttons worked. The "OFF" button doesn't work and neither does the "HELP" button to try to troubleshoot what the problem is. Frustrating when everything seems to be going so great from the start. I am sending it back and getting a different model for the extra money.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Impressive!
Comment: I have owned several universal remotes in the past, including programming remotes with LCD assited labeling and pure touch-screen interfaces. All of them did their job but setup was laborous and changing home theater equipment caused pains relearning miscellanious macros. None of my previous remotes also did a good job of controlling my home theater as a whole. You know the drill - turn TV on, turn receiver on, turn cable box on and so forth. Macros were static, i.e. they operated well only for the most basic commands but could not handle various modes and intricacies of the Home Theater setup.
Finally, I decided, on the friend's advice to give a try to Logitech's Harmony line. From my experience I hated touch-screen remotes as they always required looking at them for pressing pretty much any button. On the ohther hand, pure button remotes were always restrictive and required learning what the generic button means for this or that device. So the combination of the generous hard button layout and LCD screen labeling for device-specific funstions appealed to me. My friend owns Harmony 880 and I had a chance to use it a bit. I was not big fan of the touch-sensisite buttons and the way remote lights up when you shift it. Both were a distraction to me. So I looked at the 6xx series with distinct hard buttons that your fingers learn and can press without glancing at the thing. 676 was on sale and had the best layout for DVR devices which all modern TV boxes are, so I plunged.
The original setup only took me about 20 minutes. I was sceptical at first of 'Activity' based modes because this was not a conventional design, but once I synched my setup back to remote and turned on my Home Theater with it for the first time, I was converted right away. The thing that nobody seems to mention about 'Activity' modes is that this is the first remote (at least from the ones I've known) that remembers state of all of your devices. No more stupid macros that could only work in one mode but were completely screwed up in another. This remote works wonders switching my video and audio outputs, controlling picture and sound preferences for each device in the group. And I have a lot of them. TV, Receiver, HDMI switch, DVD Player, PC1, PC2, Xbox 360, Wii. One remote now made all old remotes obsolete, did not lose any of the original remotes functionality and gained state awareness of each device at any time. Impressive!
Pros:
- easy setup through the software interface
- very impressive online library of devices (including rare ones)
- state-awareness of each and any device at any time
- very flexible setup of video and audio switching - accomodates both direct and sequential switching between inputs
- great button layout - better then the original Manufacturer's remote for DVR
- controls your game consoles
- very convenient in hand
- only three direct activities tied to the buttons but unlimited number of additional activities that can be set up with LCD screen
- MEDIA button - allows to set up favorite channels for your TV, so you no longer have to study TV channel line up and find what obscure channel number is assigned to your most viewed channels
- very useful HELP button - in rare cases when one of the devices in activity failed to either turn on or switch to the proper video/audio input it will correct the situation and remember it, so it does not happen again
- price. I bought it on sale (sixty dlrs) which is unbeatable for the class of the remote you get. Please do not try to compare this remote to the $20 universal remotes found at Wal-Mart. They can not hold a candle to this one in the everyday use
- functionality-wise this remote is the same as any other in the Harmony line, including much more expensive ones. It has the same limitations as well (for example, not being able to control BT devices, like PS3). The software to setup any of the Harmony remotes is the same and they all use the same online database of different Home Theater devices. So if you can control your rare device with one of the Harmony remotes, you can control it with any other remote as well.
Cons:
- really none. The best I can come up with is that it uses AAA batteries instead of more readily available AA. Also, the LCD screen is pretty small (880 model has much better bigger color LCD screen).
Customer Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Comment: I've bought this product to simplify my TV viewing, however, it makes my life more complicated and frustrated. It is supposed to control TV, VCR and DVD player with one device, which is prone not to be so easy. Many times it confuses VCR with DVD, for example it turns on VCR instead of DVD, then I have to get up and do it manually. More frustrating thing is after such manipulation, it becomes more confused and I have to go back to my old 3 remote control to start out of scratch... sigh... I am just keeping them because I've thrown out of the packages and can't return them. Please do not buy this. By the way I am NOT a TECH DUMMY who doesn't know how to program electronic devices. This product just doesn't perform well!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Convenient
Comment: Very easy to program using the software. I completed programming it in 5 minutes. Very easy to use the remote. The activity buttons are wonderful. I love this remote.
Logitech Harmony 676 Universal Remote Control Reviews: Page 9 of 37
4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |