Customer Rating: 
Summary: Awesome! A well thought-out product!
Comment: This thing is awesome! I am a self-confessed geek, so having 6 or 7 remotes never really bothered me, but it drove my wife nuts! I made up a nice, colored chart for the inputs for the TV and AV Receiver, but she was never happy with it.
Along comes the Harmony remote. Now, one remote controls everything (TV, Receiver, Cable Box, VCR, DVD, TiVo). The "activity" keys are great - one touch sets all the devices for playing a DVD, or watching TV, or watching HDTV.
The remote feels much like the TiVo remote - very comfortable in the hand, all the keys are easy to reach.
Programming is very easy - just enter the manufacturer and model number of each of your components on the Harmony remote website, walk through the menus to set up your activity buttons, connect the remote to the computer via USB and viola!
The help key is well thought out, too. If something does not work right when you press and activiy button, the help function will walk you through getting it set properly.
The reviewer who said you have to "stare at the help screen" to set a specific component was wrong (or not digitally savvy to use his term). If you press the "device" key on the remote, you can control each individual device very easily.
Overall, I give this thing a 5 out of 5!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A reasonably priced USB Remote that works
Comment: With 5 remote on the table things were getting out of hand, and the wife was getting downright hostile.
Tried a Sony AV3100 but it was too difficult to set up with my equipment.
The 659 is a breeze. 95% of the set up was done with the USB, minor troubleshooting and 2 learning functions later and it was good to go.1 button and the DVD is on, a 2nd button and you can switch to HDTV, or the tuner etc.With one button, it turns on the components, selects the inputs while sit back and relax
I just ordered 2 more. One for my mother who is hopeless at getting her system working, she can never remember which remote does what.
Manual does not have alot of information, but there is a downloadable manual available. I downloaded it but did not need it. Need phone support, the people at Logitech are top notch, quick answers and very pleasant and helpful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: does not feel good, complicated to setup as desired
Comment: the buttons on this remote are very hard. nothing like the nice squishy rubber on my TiVo remote or my Pioneer tuner's programmable universal remote. it doesn't fit or feel good in the hand or fingers.
It is also prone to getting into strange states if one of your devices didn't receive its command. Instead of just seeing that "oh, the tv didn't turn on or off" and pressing one button to fix that you have to stop, stare at the screen and follow its little menu guided button presses to "fix" things. that may be desirable for digitally clueless people who don't understand that all devices have a simple set of states but certianly not for me or my so.
setup is a bit complicated but they've done a reasonably job of trying to hide the complexity from the types of mortals that will be setting it up. just hope your equipment is supported directly as programming in remote codes for other devices is tedious.
i bought this, tried it for a week, let it sit on the shelf for a month and "returned" it by selling it on ebay.
Customer Rating:
Summary: OK, but serious flaws
Comment: Bought one from Amazon and, as usual, they did a fantastic job of good price and quick shipping. As for the 659, it is too small for comfortable use (and I have medium small hands) and the buttons are way too small. Also, in a darkened room you need to turn on the back-light and the tiny button to do that is not off by itself, as it should be, but buried among others. The on-line programming is a nice feature, but it could not properly handle the DVR (Tivo) and DVD player functions of my Toshiba 400 unit. Some things work, some key things don't.
I paid about $72 for this after rebate. That means OK value. For a few bucks more I could have picked up another Marantz RC2000 MkII unit on eBay. That is purely a learning remote, so harder to program, but the buttons are large, the display large and bright with the light-on button located on the side away from all else. Also uses AA instead of AA batteries, so it should last longer. It is much easier to use once programmed.
The Harmony series are a good idea that is executed with less thought than should have been used. I would not buy another one. I'd get a learning remote with a well layed out selection of large buttons.
Customer Rating:
Summary: does what it says
Comment: the hardest part of this is getting all the model numbers of your equipment together. the website walks you through the whole process fairly quickly. there is some tricky wording as to how you use your system but all in all it's pretty straightforward. the only glitch i encountered was the particular remote i purchased needed a firmware update, which it did with no problem. the learning curve for the remote is small and just experimenting helps a bunch. for the money and ease of use you can't beat it.
Summary: Awesome! A well thought-out product!
Comment: This thing is awesome! I am a self-confessed geek, so having 6 or 7 remotes never really bothered me, but it drove my wife nuts! I made up a nice, colored chart for the inputs for the TV and AV Receiver, but she was never happy with it.
Along comes the Harmony remote. Now, one remote controls everything (TV, Receiver, Cable Box, VCR, DVD, TiVo). The "activity" keys are great - one touch sets all the devices for playing a DVD, or watching TV, or watching HDTV.
The remote feels much like the TiVo remote - very comfortable in the hand, all the keys are easy to reach.
Programming is very easy - just enter the manufacturer and model number of each of your components on the Harmony remote website, walk through the menus to set up your activity buttons, connect the remote to the computer via USB and viola!
The help key is well thought out, too. If something does not work right when you press and activiy button, the help function will walk you through getting it set properly.
The reviewer who said you have to "stare at the help screen" to set a specific component was wrong (or not digitally savvy to use his term). If you press the "device" key on the remote, you can control each individual device very easily.
Overall, I give this thing a 5 out of 5!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A reasonably priced USB Remote that works
Comment: With 5 remote on the table things were getting out of hand, and the wife was getting downright hostile.
Tried a Sony AV3100 but it was too difficult to set up with my equipment.
The 659 is a breeze. 95% of the set up was done with the USB, minor troubleshooting and 2 learning functions later and it was good to go.1 button and the DVD is on, a 2nd button and you can switch to HDTV, or the tuner etc.With one button, it turns on the components, selects the inputs while sit back and relax
I just ordered 2 more. One for my mother who is hopeless at getting her system working, she can never remember which remote does what.
Manual does not have alot of information, but there is a downloadable manual available. I downloaded it but did not need it. Need phone support, the people at Logitech are top notch, quick answers and very pleasant and helpful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: does not feel good, complicated to setup as desired
Comment: the buttons on this remote are very hard. nothing like the nice squishy rubber on my TiVo remote or my Pioneer tuner's programmable universal remote. it doesn't fit or feel good in the hand or fingers.
It is also prone to getting into strange states if one of your devices didn't receive its command. Instead of just seeing that "oh, the tv didn't turn on or off" and pressing one button to fix that you have to stop, stare at the screen and follow its little menu guided button presses to "fix" things. that may be desirable for digitally clueless people who don't understand that all devices have a simple set of states but certianly not for me or my so.
setup is a bit complicated but they've done a reasonably job of trying to hide the complexity from the types of mortals that will be setting it up. just hope your equipment is supported directly as programming in remote codes for other devices is tedious.
i bought this, tried it for a week, let it sit on the shelf for a month and "returned" it by selling it on ebay.
Customer Rating:
Summary: OK, but serious flaws
Comment: Bought one from Amazon and, as usual, they did a fantastic job of good price and quick shipping. As for the 659, it is too small for comfortable use (and I have medium small hands) and the buttons are way too small. Also, in a darkened room you need to turn on the back-light and the tiny button to do that is not off by itself, as it should be, but buried among others. The on-line programming is a nice feature, but it could not properly handle the DVR (Tivo) and DVD player functions of my Toshiba 400 unit. Some things work, some key things don't.
I paid about $72 for this after rebate. That means OK value. For a few bucks more I could have picked up another Marantz RC2000 MkII unit on eBay. That is purely a learning remote, so harder to program, but the buttons are large, the display large and bright with the light-on button located on the side away from all else. Also uses AA instead of AA batteries, so it should last longer. It is much easier to use once programmed.
The Harmony series are a good idea that is executed with less thought than should have been used. I would not buy another one. I'd get a learning remote with a well layed out selection of large buttons.
Customer Rating:
Summary: does what it says
Comment: the hardest part of this is getting all the model numbers of your equipment together. the website walks you through the whole process fairly quickly. there is some tricky wording as to how you use your system but all in all it's pretty straightforward. the only glitch i encountered was the particular remote i purchased needed a firmware update, which it did with no problem. the learning curve for the remote is small and just experimenting helps a bunch. for the money and ease of use you can't beat it.
Logitech Harmony SST-659 Universal Remote Control (Grey) Reviews: Page 9 of 14
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