Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote | 
| Brand: Logitech
List Price: $129.99
Buy New: $59.75
You Save: $70.24 (54%)
New (74) Used (3) from $94.66
Rating:  584 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 11.8 x 7.1 x 2
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: 966208-0403
Model: 966208-0403
UPC: 840356629193
EAN: 0097855037947
ASIN: B000EUGX70
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Compatible with TVs, sound systems, and DVD players/recorders from over 3,000 electronics manufacturers | | • | Replace up to 15 remote control devices | | • | Sound and Picture convenience buttons help you change picture aspect ratios and sound modes. | | • | Connect via Windows/Mac PCs to receive updates, configure remote | | • | Interactive LCD screen and backlit keypad |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Access your entire Home Entertainment system with just one button. Everyone from the kids to the babysitter can now enjoy the full home theater experience. Simply select an activity, and your Harmony universal remote will send the right commands so you don't have to juggle remotes or remember a sequence of buttons. There's even a handy Help button to guide you through simple troubleshooting and get you back in control. The Harmony universal remote is the world's only remote with Smart State Technology activity control. Just press one of the Activity buttons, such as Watch TV or Listen to Music, and your Harmony universal remote automatically sets up your entertainment system.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 579 more reviews...
 Works, but not without problems July 29, 2006
Edmond Meinfelder (San Francisco, CA USA)
120 out of 182 found this review helpful
The Harmony 550 gets the job done, but not without problems. The largest problem is the software. The PC version of the software is slow, bloated, and, as of version 5.3.2, leaks memory like a sieve; for every action you perform, the memory footprint of the software increases, with no noticeable decrease. I've seen process sizes for the HarmonyClient.exe running over 400 megabytes. Thus, as you use the software, it becomes slower as the process size increases. Periodically, you need to restart the Harmony software or it will simply slow to the point where it will not respond.
The software appears to store all your data on a web server and not very fast one. Essentially, the software replicates a browser interface with web-like form interfaces you see here on Amazon. The upside of this is, in theory, Logitech can leverage the information provided by all its users to correct any incorrect data on its database. Yet, many of the signals on my remote had to be corrected by hand. (Thankfully, you can teach your Harmony every signal it needs from your original remotes.) Logitech's central database on consumer remotes may be a work in progress.
Final nails in the software's coffin are the fact that the software's installer set the client to run for all users by placing a link in the Windows Startup menu for all users. My preference would be to have a choice to have it start up automatically (rather than just start it); since the initial process size is 92 megabytes and I infrequently change my settings, I'd rather it start only when I want it. Also, an option to install the software for just me or all users, rather than starting it up for everyone, would have been polite.
The Mac version of the software would not install on my 12" Powerbook running OSX 10.3. A quick scan of Logitech's website showed no updated version of the Mac software. Thus, I can't vouch for the claims of Mac support
On the positive side, the software lock-ups are infrequent enough that I could set the remote up through a long process that took 90 minutes. After the set-up process was complete, I found several mis-configurations in my remote. For example, the TV would not turn on, I could not tune my receiver on FM, the power button for my Tivo would not work, and the volume on the amplifier would not budge when I selected my Mac Mini. Most of the problems were due to the stock remote settings being incorrect for my original remotes. After another 30 minutes, I was able to get the Harmony to learn the correct control signals from my original remotes. It takes considerable time and effort to get the remote working if you have a complex home setup.
The redeeming side of the Harmony is the remote itself. The look is simple, the buttons are backlit with LEDs, making it usable in low light, and the interface is intuitive. There are two modes of use: by activity and device. When you select an activity, the remote will set up your system. For example, when I select "Watch Tivo," the remote will turn on my receiver, TV and Tivo and then tune my TV and receiver to the proper inputs. Additionally, through the software, you can elect to control the volume for any activity by whatever device you choose. When I choose "Watch Tivo," the volume buttons on the Tivo control the receiver. The remote has device buttons, allowing you to control a specific device. For example, when I switch on my Mac mini to listen to iTunes, for reasons I do not understand, I cannot control the volume with my receiver when the device is in "Mac Mini" mode. Thus, I switch to the receiver device mode and then my remote becomes a remote for the receiver. The concept of a remote with an activity where specific button operate different device based on what you are doing is brilliant.
In the end, I was able to trade 6 remotes for one. Unfortunately, I find the remote a bit sluggish. It takes 3 seconds to turn everything on. This does not sound like a long time, but it feels like it. Also, when flipping through the Tivo interface, I commonly go past options when scrolling by hitting a directional one too many times because the remote seems to introduce a significant delay (a fraction of a second). I'm keeping the Harmony 550, as it beats going back to 6 remotes.
Pluses:
Exceptionally customizable and flexible
It works (on a PC), I now have one remote, not six remotes
Great activity and device interfaces
Minuses:
Sluggish performance when hitting buttons
Software painful for use due to poor quality and design
Update: As of version 7.2.3.5, the software works under OSX (10.4). Many of the performance problems have been addressed. However, the software is a web application (it always was). This is good as it stores your settings on a server (mine were still there after a 2-year period) but bad in that, every time you press a button, you have to wait for the Logitech server to give you results. If you have the fastest computer ever, you'll still wait the time it takes to communicate the request and receive the response. For me, that's just under a second. It's annoying as, to fiddle with the settings for any Activity, I must press about 15 buttons. Additionally, the button for the option to set and the next button are on opposing sides of the screen!
LogiTech's strength is hardware, not software. They designed and created an excellent remote and saddled it with software that seems to thumb its nose at users with technical and usability issues (e.g. slow times, huge number of steps to configure items, no clear view of what is happening when problems occur). However, LogiTech is still working on the Software and the technical problems (if not the usability issues) are being addressed by LogiTech.
Still, over time, I've gotten used to the remote and have come to appreciate how hard it is to control so many different devices, each not designed to work with the Harmony Remote. If you have an issue with one of your devices, using the software is like sticking pins in your eyes, otherwise, it's merely unpleasant, but typically you set it and forget it until you buy a new component. If Amazon allowed it, I would up the rating to 3 stars for the software improvements.
For those of you wondering if it works with an XBox 360 - it does.
Device is nice looking, but just isn't all that for my system July 11, 2006
THATCH (OHIO)
87 out of 137 found this review helpful
This unit has great potential, and has many components availble to "mimic", but for my particular setup with a Samsung HD TV, it can't seem to know how many "changes" to go from Digital Cable to HDMI input for the DVD.
I am an IT coordinator and deal with configuring technology on a regular basis. This was not horrible to configure to get it working "pretty well" but it was very very difficult if not impossible to get it configured "perfectly" so I didn't have to "help it along" when trying to do the automated "Watch DVR" type functions which should turn on the DVR, turn on the TV, set it to the proper video input, etc.
While it can mimic any button your components have, you must scroll through a never ending list for those "specialty" buttons to be recreated with the click buttons up by the screen.
It does light up well, the screen is clear and easy to see. The click buttons are great, the number pad feels a bit mushy. The remote feels great in my hand, almost has a rubberized texture underneath. Balanced well. It lights up when you get near it or jostle it after a long period of inactivity-- interesting but almost scary at first!
I was expecting to get rid of 100% of my frustrations, but got rid of about 85% of them. Average/not bad.
 great upgrade to a great product November 2, 2006
M. Bauer (Colorado)
87 out of 96 found this review helpful
I have owned one of the orginal Harmony remotes for three years, and just upgraded to the new 550.
Other reviewers describe the effectiveness of Harmony's "activities" based set up, and it truly is a great solution for the complicated "many remotes on the coffee table" problem. I'd like to address how easy it was to upgrade from an older model to the 550.
I spent about 45 minutes perfecting my first Harmony using the online programming interface, and found it to be easy to use and comprehensive. When I unpacked my new 550, all I had to do was plug the remote into my computer's USB port, install the updated software (5 minutes), and download all of my existing programming (another 5 minutes). It worked perfectly!
Great new features:
The rubberized plastic back of the 550 makes it much less likely to slip off a table and fall to the floor.
The backlit LCD display is much easier to read.
Slimmer, more appealing styling.
Keys, while a bit small, are indented which provides much better tactile feel and response than the older model.
I am very pleased with this upgrade, and recommend it to anyone would like to easily control a variety of components with an intuitive, easy to use, single remote control. Well worth the investment!
Great Remote, controls everything including my Roomba! September 4, 2006
slick045
32 out of 32 found this review helpful
Well, my Sima SUR-20 remote finally died after 5 years, so I had to find a replacement. I decided that I wanted a true universal/learning remote that had more than just a touchscreen. I started my search with Harmony because I have heard a lot of good things about them. My criteria included: learning, full macros, configurable, easy to use for less technologically advanced people, good button lay out, and no rechargeable batteries. This pretty much ruled out the 880, 720, and 890. Honestly, I'm not that big a fan of the peanut shape anyhow. So, my real choices became the 520 and 550. Not too much difference, mainly button layout and device limitations. In the end, I like the 550 layout best.
I installed the software fairly easily. I made sure NOT to install the additional software that checks for updates, and I removed the software from the startup menu. Next I collected all the device model numbers. 10 minutes later I had the first iteration of my remote up and running. I spent the next hour tweaking the labels and layout of the buttons in my activities.
The result is that all my devices are setup perfectly (TV, DVD, Home Theater, Cable Box/DVR, Roomba, and my HP Laptop). The 550 does a great job of switching inputs on my TV and Receiver. Actually, I have more functionality with this remote than on the remote that came with my dvr (skip forward)!
I had equal ease of setup with my laptop and roomba. The only real negative is the speed, or lack thereof, of the software. The program is slow and it occasionally freezes for a couple minutes at a time. However, since you only need to use it when you setup a new device, it's not a deal breaker for me.
The remote is intuitive enough for most anyone. The help button easily walks you through any issues you might have when turning on or switching between activities. The activities are easy to configure and I was even able to set it up to leave my DVR on all the time.
All in all, the remote is great. I think that it is important to compare it to other universal remotes before complaining about it. It may not be as quick as entering a couple of codes, but the benefits are extremely worth it!
A Love / Hate Relationship December 23, 2006
RiK
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Summary:
A great remote, but one that may take many hours of your time to set up
Pros:
- Good ergonomics
- Nice tactile feel on buttons
- Highly configurable
- Seems to put out a strong signal (better then my factory remotes)
- Non-rechargable (I consider this a plus)
Cons:
- Setup is easy, but getting it right can take hours
- Not easy to map device buttons to activity buttons
- No dedicated "decimal point" for tuning digital stations
- Remote selection during setup doesn't allow you to pick from a list
I'll preface this short review by saying that I manage a group at work tasked with making human / computer interfaces work well. So I have a decent amount of experience in this area (but I'm also picky - caveat emptor). Having said that, I found that Logitech tried very hard to get things right, but are still missing the mark in a few areas.
I started by not installing the Logitech software from the disk (based on suggestions I had read here), but instead downloaded the software from the Logitech site. No installation problems, and my firewall software recognized and allowed the Logitech software to pass through without incident. I plugged the 550 into a USB port and XP recognized it and I was transported to the Logitech setup software. Good start.
The first part where I had issue was in telling the software what devices I had. You have to type in the name of your model numbers after selecting the manufacturer, and there is no real indication as to whether the software recognized the device or not. It would have been much better to select the device from a list.
After the devices are set up, you then tell the software what activities you want it to memorize. This is very powerful, a wizard-based method of macro programming. I soon had it programmed to perform the four activities I wanted (watch tv, watch dvd, listen to iPod, listen to music). I then downloaded the commands to the remote and tested it out.
This is where the issues started. Seems that some of the commands weren't recognized, and I was forced to endure an hours-long process of training the remote some of my specific commands. In most cases I believe that the software recognized the brand of my device, but not necessarily the particular model (I have Philips, Denon, and Sony devices - not really off-brand). Thus there were some generic commands that weren't right for my particular model. So I had to slowly discover which buttons worked and which did not, then go back and teach the unlearned commands to the remote. While this was not completely unexpected, it was very time-consuming and almost negated the value of the setup wizard.
The final issue that I had was in properly setting up activities. This takes a lot of trial and error. Additionally, there is no easy way to map device commands to activity commands. For example, I had to write down the TV remote commands down on a spare envelope and then manually input them into the activity commands section.
I can not properly express the joy I felt when, after hours of frustration, I finally had everything mapped out properly. The device works like a charm, and I am very satisfied with it overall. I'm sure that I'll completely love it after the setup fiasco has faded a bit.
So in summary, I would rate the device itself "5 out of 5", and the setup software "3 out of 5". Anyone with a fair degree of sophistication will be able to get it up and running, and behaving exactly the way they want it. But it may take several hours to do so.
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