Customer Rating: 
Summary: Works Great,BUT
Comment: The Harmony H-659 is very user friendly and does the job very good for my family BUT, this is my second purchase after about two years. The first one i satrted having problems with the OFF button that you would have to press it 5-6 times before it would turn off the devices and then eventually the OFF button would not work. I am hoping I get more than a couple of years out of it this time but it does works great.
Customer Rating:
Summary: After a year I'm back in the market for a remote
Comment: Pros -
It works well - as long as you give it the time to talk to all of your devices. I have a DVR, HD DVD player, Oppo DVD player, Sony receiver, and flatscreen TV, and electronic HDMI switch. Once it's all set up it is fine to control all devices. The internet downloading of codes is great. The learning mode was easy for those devices you need to program. I've used this for over a year and I don't remember what I had to teach it.
Cons-
First and foremost, after a year I have 2 function buttons that have just gone dead. The warranty is for a year; after a year and a couple of months a couple of the side buttons just will no longer respond.
Initial setup was nearly a failure. The website couldn't communicate correctly with the device which had outdated firmware inside. That struggle took me about 2-3 hours and I'm a programmer. Some undocumented thing I did finally got the firmware updated to where it would work.
I didn't understand why if the Logitech database had all the codes for my Sony receiver that it needed to "talk" to my Sony remote.
Final thoughts -
I was lucky to get the thing working due to software/firmware incompatibilities in the current website version of the firmware and the version the remote shipped with. I think the buttons going dead like they did is pretty unforgivable at this price. Even so, I might get another logitech device to replace this one with (which is why I'm here now writing this review.) If I were to buy this all over again I'd extend the warranty a year for $10 or make sure I had an extra year from a credit card warranty extention. When you get all the kinks worked out it works great.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love It
Comment: At first we set up the remote incorrectly but tech support is good and we got it working ourselves. It is so nice to only have one remote instead of 5.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice remote - but only if you have lots of batteries!
Comment: I got the refurbished version of this from Amazon, and I did like it.
It felt pretty good in my hand, and managed to program itself to
control all of my 6-7 components.
However, I did realize after a couple of weeks, that it would go through my
AAA rechargeable (750mah) batteries in one week. I could not see myself
having to recharge, and replace the batteries once per week. I can't imagine the
cost for regular AAA batteries for this remote control for a year or two or three.
The LCD screen is always on wasting energy, and the pretty blue lights
for the whole remote are also a waste of energy, which I never used.
Customer Rating:
Summary: WHAT A RELIEF...
Comment: to retire 5 remote controls. In particular, my wife really appreciates the removal of the clutter. I can now control a Dish ViP-722, Toshiba LCD TV, Onkyo AV receiver, Kenwood CD player, and Sony DVD recorder from a single remote.
I had a minor problem with buttons functioning at first, but it all resolved. Control of these devices extends to ALL functions. This is particularly crucial for the Dish DVR.
It does come as some price, however. This being one of the low-end universal remotes, access to some functions is a bit clunky... well, VERY clunky for some things. The less-used functions are put on the little screen and controlled by these teeny-tiny little buttons. Yet, I don't know if the extra money for additional dedicated buttons is worth it, once you get used to the location of everything.
The Logitech site makes programming this device very simple, including some very complicated combinations of functions. For example, I use the receiver for sound, so use of the TV requires cancelling of the TV volume and ability to control the receiver volume. Not a problem, they anticipate this kind of use.
What I appreciate MORE THAN ANYTHING is the simultaneous switching to different devices when you activate an "activity" like watching TV or listening to music. I used to have to work 2 or 3 different controls to switch over. It is all done with one button push now.
All in all, I really appreciate the functionality, and the price is a bargain for this convenience. Who knows, if I want to get fancier, I may purchase a more expensive model later....
Summary: Works Great,BUT
Comment: The Harmony H-659 is very user friendly and does the job very good for my family BUT, this is my second purchase after about two years. The first one i satrted having problems with the OFF button that you would have to press it 5-6 times before it would turn off the devices and then eventually the OFF button would not work. I am hoping I get more than a couple of years out of it this time but it does works great.
Customer Rating:
Summary: After a year I'm back in the market for a remote
Comment: Pros -
It works well - as long as you give it the time to talk to all of your devices. I have a DVR, HD DVD player, Oppo DVD player, Sony receiver, and flatscreen TV, and electronic HDMI switch. Once it's all set up it is fine to control all devices. The internet downloading of codes is great. The learning mode was easy for those devices you need to program. I've used this for over a year and I don't remember what I had to teach it.
Cons-
First and foremost, after a year I have 2 function buttons that have just gone dead. The warranty is for a year; after a year and a couple of months a couple of the side buttons just will no longer respond.
Initial setup was nearly a failure. The website couldn't communicate correctly with the device which had outdated firmware inside. That struggle took me about 2-3 hours and I'm a programmer. Some undocumented thing I did finally got the firmware updated to where it would work.
I didn't understand why if the Logitech database had all the codes for my Sony receiver that it needed to "talk" to my Sony remote.
Final thoughts -
I was lucky to get the thing working due to software/firmware incompatibilities in the current website version of the firmware and the version the remote shipped with. I think the buttons going dead like they did is pretty unforgivable at this price. Even so, I might get another logitech device to replace this one with (which is why I'm here now writing this review.) If I were to buy this all over again I'd extend the warranty a year for $10 or make sure I had an extra year from a credit card warranty extention. When you get all the kinks worked out it works great.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love It
Comment: At first we set up the remote incorrectly but tech support is good and we got it working ourselves. It is so nice to only have one remote instead of 5.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice remote - but only if you have lots of batteries!
Comment: I got the refurbished version of this from Amazon, and I did like it.
It felt pretty good in my hand, and managed to program itself to
control all of my 6-7 components.
However, I did realize after a couple of weeks, that it would go through my
AAA rechargeable (750mah) batteries in one week. I could not see myself
having to recharge, and replace the batteries once per week. I can't imagine the
cost for regular AAA batteries for this remote control for a year or two or three.
The LCD screen is always on wasting energy, and the pretty blue lights
for the whole remote are also a waste of energy, which I never used.
Customer Rating:
Summary: WHAT A RELIEF...
Comment: to retire 5 remote controls. In particular, my wife really appreciates the removal of the clutter. I can now control a Dish ViP-722, Toshiba LCD TV, Onkyo AV receiver, Kenwood CD player, and Sony DVD recorder from a single remote.
I had a minor problem with buttons functioning at first, but it all resolved. Control of these devices extends to ALL functions. This is particularly crucial for the Dish DVR.
It does come as some price, however. This being one of the low-end universal remotes, access to some functions is a bit clunky... well, VERY clunky for some things. The less-used functions are put on the little screen and controlled by these teeny-tiny little buttons. Yet, I don't know if the extra money for additional dedicated buttons is worth it, once you get used to the location of everything.
The Logitech site makes programming this device very simple, including some very complicated combinations of functions. For example, I use the receiver for sound, so use of the TV requires cancelling of the TV volume and ability to control the receiver volume. Not a problem, they anticipate this kind of use.
What I appreciate MORE THAN ANYTHING is the simultaneous switching to different devices when you activate an "activity" like watching TV or listening to music. I used to have to work 2 or 3 different controls to switch over. It is all done with one button push now.
All in all, I really appreciate the functionality, and the price is a bargain for this convenience. Who knows, if I want to get fancier, I may purchase a more expensive model later....
Logitech Harmony H-659 Advanced Universal Remote Control (Black) Reviews: Page 2 of 25
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |