Need feedback on the Logitech Harmony 680 remote

[Blade]

Well, all I can say is the Harmony 880 remote is simply amazing!!!

There is no other word for it. It does everything for all 6 of my home theater components. I could not be happier with it.

If you are in need of a universal remote, GET ONE OF THESE!

You will not regret it.

[nolesrule]

I've had the 659 for 3 years now, and my only gripe is the location of the "VCR" control buttons (I don't have a VCR, but I do have a DVR). That's why I recommended the 688 for my parents instead.

But I love, love, love my Harmony. I can't believe that people still go through the remote juggling game to use their home electronics.

[Rupp]

Michael,
Some of the smaller buttons are what drove me to the 628 which is nearly identical to the 659 but the VCR controls where moved to the mid section of the remote. So far I really like the feel and simplicity of this model.

[Stef]

Hi,


I bougth the Harmony 676 for my parents in february 2005. I was tired of explaining again and again what to do to watch a DVD, record a show,...

My parents are in thier 60's and never learned to programme the VCR!!! I spent an afternoon at there house programming thier tv, DVD player, VHS and Illico digital TV.

I could have done it in less then an hour if they had a fast internet connection. They don't have a computer so i had to bring mine and use a slow telephone connection.

They don't know how much i paid for this. They only ask why i didn't have one myself? If only i had more money ;-)

One thing that's still holding me to buy one: I wish the remote could know what HS is doing. Like if the receiver is turn on by HS. I'm afraid that i would have to use the help button too often.

[Michael McSharry]

I agree that the 880 has alot of capability and does have the feel of a quality product. It will be just the ticket for many.

In my case I did not find it very usable and its features actaully detracted from its acceptance. What was important to me was the ease of use of the PVR functions to FF through commercials and the guide selection controls. The guide could be learned by feel eventually, but it was not prominent. The select/up/down/right/left were all well position for natural use. The FF and Play buttons on the 880 are placed low on the remote and are small. This made is almost impossible to use single handedly use them and could not be used without actually looking at the remote. The same was true of the LCD screen. The graphics to show the activities are hard to read and requires use of glasses in my case. In my wife's case she would press the button to Watch TV and during the time the TV video was warming up she would press it again. The second press was no longer the Activity button, but the Harmony had reconfigured the soft key to be an extended features of the TV which enabled a PIP mode that caused the second video source to be selected. The screen remained blank since there was no video on the second input. The need to keep the remote in the cradle was also not a natural lifestyle activity. While we could be trained to use the Harmony, I opted to train another remote instead.

My AV switching is done via RS232 so I have no alternative but to make the PC part of my configuration process. Once the step is taken to have the PC switch the A/V based upon recognized IR, then it is just as easy to have the PC switch all the equipment so my remote only needs to be programmed with a few macro buttons to correspond to the "Activities", volume, guide, and nav buttons.

A nice feature of the Harmony is abilty to remember the state of equipment. This works well if only the single Harmony remote is used to control it. When equipment is shared and matrixed switched to multiple outputs then the single-remote is out of sync with other sources of control and usability goes way down.

I again say the 880 was a fine well engineered remote and will satisfy the needs of many users. It just did not fit the bill for me.

[Rupp]

Just got my Harmony 880. It is ultra sweet. I set it up and it works awesome.

It fit right on the charging base without any issues at all.

I think I am going to like this remote.

I even have some slide show images running on it and a new background

Congrats, I wanted this one but wanted to wait for the old bases to be exhausted before ordering one. It would have been my luck to get the rev that had the bad base. Keep us updated and enjoy.

[Blade]

Just got my Harmony 880. It is ultra sweet. I set it up and it works awesome.

It fit right on the charging base without any issues at all.

I think I am going to like this remote.

I even have some slide show images running on it and a new background

[Michael McSharry]

Not certain what you are exactly trying to do, but I suspect you still need something to receive the IR, a power supply, emitters and some extension wiring. You may find a kit rather than component more cost effective. I know Worthington sells the kits. I dont know if Martin does or not. I obtained the Xantech brand. Buffalo is good too.

[Rupp]

Martin has them. Tell him I sent you

http://www.automatedoutlet.com/produ...2&cat=0&page=1

[Blade]

Woo hoo,

I found it here:

http://www.automatedoutlet.com/produ...cat=116&page=1

[Blade]

Jeff,

It says on the web site that they cannot accept any orders outside the US.

Damn, I was just about to order one of those

[CFGuy]

You can get one of these.

http://www.iautomate.com/ir100.html

It will take an IR input and amplify to handle 4 outputs. Using the dual emmitters you can have 8 of the mini emmitters.

[Rupp]

Greg,

Is there such a device that will split the one ir emitter plugged into the powermid receiver into about 6-8 ir emitters so I can put one on each equipments ir window?

This way the signal would not miss the equipment

Not that I know of. The whole idea behind these devices is to "blast" the signal all over. I have one behind some flowers on the wall and it works with equipment on the opposite side of the room which is about 15 feet.

[Blade]

Greg,

Is there such a device that will split the one ir emitter plugged into the powermid receiver into about 6-8 ir emitters so I can put one on each equipments ir window?

This way the signal would not miss the equipment

[Rupp]

This might be a stupid question, but with both Powermids in the same relative location by your controlled equipment, one being a transmitter and one being a receiver, and both of them ultimately tieing back to another pair in your equipment closet pointing to an Ocelot or USB-UIRT, could you have situation where IR commands are kind of "caught in a loop" from closet to equipment?

This is exactly why I haven't tried this...