dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
uniqs
9

capdjq
Be Kind, Be Calm & Be Safe
Premium Member
join:2000-11-01
Vancouver

capdjq to Guspaz

Premium Member

to Guspaz

Re: [Rant] Beware of the Harmony One Remote

said by Guspaz:

That reminds me, I've been meaning to buy one of these; the only thing holding me back was lack of PS3 support, until I learned there was a PS3 adapter for it (although at an extra $60)...

I don't have THAT many remotes, but they're starting to add up:

Sony sound system remote
Sony PS3 remote that is virtually identical to soundsystem remote
Epson projector remote
Cisco cable box remote
Monoprice HDMI matrix switch remote

It's gotten to the point where turning on all the various devices and switching everything to the right inputs is getting annoying. And the fact that the PS3 and sound system remotes look almost identical doesn't help! And since the PS3 is my bluray/netflix player, I need to use both remotes at the same time.

I would actually like to be able to control my PC too, I wonder if I can get an IR receiver for it that the harmony can talk to, so that I can pause/play/rewind media player classic home cinema...

I, too, use my PS3 as my main DVD Player. My Harmony (520) works excellently with the PS3 adapter, which I purchased for $45 on sale.
My only problem, with Harmony One, is the cost, approx. $225, with tax. The cheaper model is the 650 which can only accomodate 5 devices. The 300 can do 4 devices but only 1 Activity (Watch TV). My PVR remote can do that.
The older models 520 and 550 can accomodate 15 devices and innumerable Activities but Logitech has discontinued them in favor of the much more expensive One.
However, no matter which model you possess all are programmed with the same software and perform the same way. No model does anything more than the other except the Harmony 900 (uses RF technology and costs $350).

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz

MVM

said by capdjq:

I, too, use my PS3 as my main DVD Player. My Harmony (520) works excellently with the PS3 adapter, which I purchased for $45 on sale.
My only problem, with Harmony One, is the cost, approx. $225, with tax. The cheaper model is the 650 which can only accomodate 5 devices. The 300 can do 4 devices but only 1 Activity (Watch TV). My PVR remote can do that.
The older models 520 and 550 can accomodate 15 devices and innumerable Activities but Logitech has discontinued them in favor of the much more expensive One.
However, no matter which model you possess all are programmed with the same software and perform the same way. No model does anything more than the other except the Harmony 900 (uses RF technology and costs $350).

I bought mine at futureshop, I paid $165 for the Harmony One and $60 for the adapter. Both were price matches, not sale prices.

The main advantages of the Harmony One over the enormously cheaper 650 (those that actually affect what you can do with it rather than conveniences like batteries or touchscreens) are primarily the device support (I've got six in it now, a seventh coming) and the support for sequences (the 650 doesn't, the One does). Most of the other differences are convenience things. For example, you can't reorder or rename custom activities on the 650, can't assign custom icons to TV channels, can't use a charging cable, etc. These kinds of things don't prevent you from doing anything (like the device number limit or the sequence support).

I was tempted to get the 900 just for the extra four bluray buttons despite the higher cost (which I would have pricematched down to 290 or so), but the deal killer was that the 900 doesn't support sequences, making it surprisingly a worse and less capable product than the much cheaper One.

TLS2000
Premium Member
join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Ubiquiti U6-LR
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-nanoHD

TLS2000

Premium Member

Logitech has really dropped the ball on the Harmony remotes in the past few years. They've put out some pretty good product, but they're limiting it now in order to sell you the more expensive option.

ALL of their remotes use the same software. They all have the same physical limits, but the software is programmed to limit certain remotes to less functionality for no reason.

I've actually got a Harmony 700, 550 and a Harmony Link. The Link has the most potential out of all of them and Logitech has dropped the ball on support. Android support hasn't been updated since January and it doesn't support anything newer than Gingerbread officially. The sad part is they updated the IOS app for IOS6 within days of IOS6 releasing. Logitech sucks.
balur
join:2010-04-28

balur

Member

Are there any alternatives though?

TLS2000
Premium Member
join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS

TLS2000

Premium Member

Yes. There is one that I know of. Redeye.

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to TLS2000

MVM

to TLS2000
said by TLS2000:

Logitech has really dropped the ball on the Harmony remotes in the past few years. They've put out some pretty good product, but they're limiting it now in order to sell you the more expensive option.

ALL of their remotes use the same software. They all have the same physical limits, but the software is programmed to limit certain remotes to less functionality for no reason.

I've actually got a Harmony 700, 550 and a Harmony Link. The Link has the most potential out of all of them and Logitech has dropped the ball on support. Android support hasn't been updated since January and it doesn't support anything newer than Gingerbread officially. The sad part is they updated the IOS app for IOS6 within days of IOS6 releasing. Logitech sucks.

That logic falls apart when the 900 and 1100 have less features than the much cheaper One... The lack of sequence (macro) support in a programmable remote is completely bizarre, and renders them useless for many people (hence the extremely low consumer reviews). I've programmed my One to turn on/off night mode on my AVR, and to change my projector between Dynamic (very bright, terrible colours) and Cinema (much dimmer, excellent colours) modes. Neither of these would be possible without sequences, and even to get the night mode thing I had to cheat by recording new fake buttons for my AVR remote in RAW mode (I now have a "DownDownRight" button) due to the 5 command limit... The 900/1100 also suffer from all the same issues I mentioned in my earlier post about the problems with the One.

One note, though, the 900/1100 do use different firmware (or a different branch, anyhow) from the One, which is why they lack sequence mode; Logitech decided not to implement it in that firmware...

TLS2000
Premium Member
join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Ubiquiti U6-LR
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-nanoHD

TLS2000

Premium Member

It doesn't really fall apart. The One is a last gen remote. They've removed the macro feature from all of their current remotes as well as added device limitations in the lower end ones that weren't as restrictive before. My 550 has a 15 device limit, but my more expensive 700 has a 7 device limit. The Link also has a 7 device limit. My guess is that they removed the macro function because it was generating too many support requests.

The 900 and 1100 both include RF ability either directly or through an included adapter. This is a function that the One lacks.

Technically, the 900 is a successor to the One.