Customer Reviews

Logitech Harmony H-659 Advanced Universal Remote Control (Black)

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I'll make this easy - the Harmony Remotes are the most brilliantly designed piece of consumer electronics I have fiddled with in a long, long time. I have a system of slghtly above average complexity - a 60" projection TV, Onkyo Home Theater receiver, Nintendo Gamecube, PC-based MP3 server (home built), and a combo DVD/VCR. The web-based configuration pretty much nailed all the settings, and the wizard is a great example of someone that did their homework when it came to figuring out all the possible "use cases" for my set up. Its probably not going to be perfect, though, unless you are using all very common components; you will probably have to tweak some of the settings. For example, after selecting the model number of my JVC combo VCR/DVD player, the standard functions worked fine, but the navigation between menus on DVDs was flakey and inconsistent - I went on the harmony web site, tweaked the settings by learning the missing commands, and voila - it works perfectly now.

OK, so why do some people give such seemingly contradictory negative reviews (definitely the minority of reviews)? I have a theory - the Harmony has no idea of what your little kids, guests, or even pets might do to the settings on your AV equipment. The Harmony can only remember the state it left things in. If your 5-year old (or your mother in law) walks up and picks up the TV remote (or goes to the front of the TV) and fiddles with the video inputs, it will throw the Harmony off (the Harmony will think it is set to "S-video" for example, but it might have been changed by your curious 4-year old to "Satellite" or something.)

But this is actually where the Harmony really shines, in my opinon - and shows how brilliant the design is. When things get out of whack, all you have to do it press the "Help" button on the remote, and it will start walking through settings and asking questions in order to determine where the problem is. In over a year of using the Harmony 659, I have yet to encounter a situation where this did not resolve the problem immediately. In fact, I used to get calls at my office from my wife, frantically trying to put in a video for the kids, but not being able to get it to display on the TV (I have it set up to display DVDs via the component connections, but VCR via the S-Video). I'm not kidding, this would happen twice a week - and I would have to walk her through all the settings on the various remotes until things were fixed. With the Harmony, this is no longer an issue - in fact, I have not had a single call in over a year about the A/V setup - that is worth the $100 alone! :-)

I'll provide an example from just this moment - I was programming a new component on the remote while my kids were watching a video. After programming the device, it assumes everything is turned off (which the system was not). My 5-year old picked up the remote, pointed it at the TV, and pushed the "off" button. Nothing happened (because the Harmony thinks things are already off. So, I just picked up the remote, hit the "help" button, and it send a command. The receiver turned off, but not the DVD player. The remote displayed a message that said "Did that fix the problem?" When I selected "No" it then asked if the DVD was off. When I selected "No" it turned it off and then asked "Did that fix the problem?" again. I selected "Yes" and now the remote and the system are back in synch. Very cool

So, the bottom line is that my 5-year old can now walk into the family room, grab the harmony by himself, and push the "watch a movie" button, stick in a video, and he is all set. It used to take assistance from an adult to turn on the TV, turn on the VCR, turn on the receiver, and then set everything to the right input, etc. In fact, my wife said to me recently "I wish you had gotten one of these a long time ago!"

Although I have only owned the Harmony Remote for a very short time and cannot vouch for its longevity, I feel that the great first impression that it produced needed to be shared.

With the proliferation of AV equipment and all of the confusing remote control options, it has become a nightmare to turn on and operate 3 or even 2 devices at one time. Well not any more. Now with this wonderful intelligent Harmony remote, you are in control. The Harmony can control every device you have and it can do it intelligently. It knows and remembers what you have turned on and adapts itself to controlling only the primary functions necessary for the activity that you are presently doing, thereby minimizing the buttons positions that you will need to learn and remember. Watch a DVD and the forward and rewind buttons control the DVD while the volume and mute buttons control your AV receiver. Watch a VHS Tape and the forward and rewind buttons automatically control the VCR. No more having to tell the remote which device you want to control, it knows... This is the first multi unit remote that is not frustrating to use. It is simple, intuitive, and yet very customizable as well. Programming is done with the computer in less than two hours. It is so simple that the manual has very little in the way of instructions. Moreover, if you do run into trouble, the toll free tech support is the best I have come across in a very long time. The wait is less than 5 minutes during peak hours and the people on the other end are very knowledgeable and speak English (they are located in Canada). >

<> Here is why I give the setup procedure a 4 out of 5. The reason is that I did have to call tech support. They told me I needed to download and run a firmware update before my remote would communicate with the PC properly. However, with the technicians guidance it was a simple process. It would be an improvement if the manual that came with the unit had a little more set-up information and screen shots so that one can follow along to see if everything is proceeding normally. Additionally, it would help if the LCD screen on the remote would give some indication when it is communicating with the PC. It would have cut my setup time in half or down to one hour.

The H-659 is my second Harmony remote. The first was a model 520 that was so undependable that after two months of struggling with it I finally took it back (I've also posted a review of it). My dilemma was when it worked I really liked it. True, ergonomically it left a lot to be desired, but I could have over-looked that.

I liked the Harmony concept but the 520 was a miserable execution of that concept, therefore I decided to look at a more 'up-scale' model. I purchased a 659 for several reasons... I didn't want to risk buying one of the more expensive units because of my poor experience with the 520; None of the Harmony remotes seem to get high marks for ergonomics but this one got fewer complaints than some of the more expensive models; It wasn't clear what some of the higher priced remotes offered over the 659 (and even the 520 had all the functionality I needed). Basically, I was looking for something similar to what I had, but where the buttons wouldn't stick right out of the package.

Setup: I had to load different client software for the 659, but as before, this went smoothly on my Wintel XP PC. Configuring the remote was similar to the 520 and the few small issues that arose were solved using the excellent on-line troubleshooting guide. With a little patience you can fine-tune the initial setup so you will probably never need your dedicated remotes again!

Performance: The H-659 issues the IR commands noticeably faster than the 520. This is very nice because the remote usually has to communicate with several units and you have to keep it pointed at the equipment until all the commands have been executed (you don't have to hold the button down). Another unexpected extra was a program guide that allowed me to enter my favorite channels for which it displays program listings right on the remote! (I have no idea how this works).

Conclusion: Overall I'm very happy with the Harmony H-659. Do NOT waste your money on the 520! Although the retail on the 659 is about $50.00 higher than the 520 I actually paid LESS for it at Amazon than I paid for the 520 at Wal-Mart. The setup software has a few issues and the ergonomics are still not the best I've seen (resulting in the four star rating) but I can still recommend this remote wholeheartedly!

Follow-up:
I've now had this remote for almost six months and it's still working great. The program guide turned out to be more trouble than it was worth as you have to connect the remote to the internet every two weeks to download the data but when I bought it I didn't even know it had this feature and I don't need it anyway as my cable box already has a program guide.

I've fine-tuned a few things and now have the four remotes the 659 replaced (TV,STB/DVR,DVD Recorder and AV Receiver) in a closet. Be aware that to completely eliminate the need for your dedicated remotes might take several hours of tweaking on your PC but you can do this in stages, chipping away a little each time until you no longer need another remote for anything. Getting 80% of the way there is easy, the rest you'll have to work at but it's worth it.

Follow-up II (Just over a year later):
Still works great; no issues at all. I've fine tuned it a few more times and added another piece of equipment with no problems. After the novilty of the TV guide feature wore off I never used it again and now understand they've discontinued updating it, which is Ok by me. Everyone says these only have a 2-3 year life-span so we'll see what happens in another year!

Follow-up III (Feb 2009). The unit is now just over three years old and it still works great. I'm still very happy with it.

I might have been a bit overhyped by the slick video showing how I would regain control of my electronic world with the Harmony H-659 remote. So I think I set my expectations a little on the high side. It promises to let you use a single remote with a nice interactive setup on the computer to get you going quickly and easily. Mostly true, but not entirely.

When it's set up, I can actually press a single "watch a movie" button and the remote turns on the TV, the AV Receiver, the DVD Player, and switches the TV to the correct video input. All I have to do is put in a DVD and press play. For some reason, it doesn't always work - a device that's it's trying to turn on gets turned off for example. Then you have to go through a rather tedious 'help' menu set on the device to fix the problem. Sometimes it's simpler just to get up and fix it yourself (turn the DVD player on if it's not) rather than wade through the Help sequence. But when it works, that's really sweet.

Other issues to mention - pretty short battery life. I've had regular remote controls with batteries that last for years. I assume that running the LCD screen takes some juice, but my 3 aaa batteries were dead in 2 months. So I've invested in rechargeables, so be prepared for additional expense in batteries.

On the operations front, some of my most commonly used buttons while watching a DVD or a program on TiVo - pause, fast forward, rewind, stop - are all near the bottom of the remote rather than centrally located. So they are pretty awkward to operate. Also, they're all small and nearly identical in appearance - so I'm not thrilled with this layout. Other buttons that I love - like "Guide" and "Menu" are also pretty well hidden. Again - every button looks pretty much the same. I believe I can program these to appear as LCD based buttons, but I haven't gotten there yet - and in the mean time I'm still hunting for those.

Lastly, I thought the idea of controlling my lights and ceiling fan - while not crucial - would be 'cool'. But I couldn't get that to work as advertised, so I'm still using multiple remotes.

Bottom line, it's a pretty good unit but has drawbacks. Just keep this stuff in mind while watching the Logitech video showing perfection!

I had 6 remotes for my theater system and my family could not watch TV without me. The setup was easy with the web based software and USB connection. I had one issue with my PVR PC based satelite system so I e-mailed tech support. They e-mailed back saying connect your remote and update it we have changed your setup for you. All worked great after that! Thats what I call customer support.
Come to think of it this remote may ruin my marriage, they dont need me anymore!!!!!

I ordered the harmony 659 from Amazon last tuesday and received it two days later. I have an assortment of stereo units and questioned if all would be in the Harmony database. They were all there, but I had difficulty getting my Sony VCR to be recognized. I contacted their online tech support and spoke with Chris who was very knowedgable and worked with me for over an hour to set up what became a difficult system due to the varying generations of devices. In the end, with his help, everything is coordinated and working fine. How great it is to push one button,"Watch TV" to turn on the tv, vcr and receiver at the same time. I use to have 5 remotes, none of which can perform as well as this. It is fantastic. I am now in the process of tweaking it to include our favorite stations etc. This is by far the best remote I have seen. I highly recommend it.

I am totally impressed with this remote. I have some obsure equipment (Outlaw Audio, DishPVR921) and they already had a database for it. After a little tweaking this thing works like a charm. Now that it is working, I actually enjoy going online to super fine tune it to which buttons do what. Good remote for the technophile or the technophobe, and once it's all set up a child could use it. I should have bought it a long time ago.

I had this remote for a couple of years and recently replaced it with the newer model 670. I actually preferred this model due to a better button layout (see my review of the model 670). This model is also cheaper. However, be aware, as others have pointed out, that they do wear out. After 2-3 years buttons will stop working. That's what happened to mine. So consider this a product with a 2-3 year lifetime, and expect to need to replace it at that time.

I don't know where I've been, but this Universal remote answered all my prayers and then some.

I wasn't expecting much since the last time I used a universal remote was some many years ago, they were clunky, hard to program, never fully worked.

This Harmony remote is PERFECT. Yes, it meets all my requirements. It physically feels substantial and not cheap. It's quick in response times and has a strong output signal. Most importantly though, it took 15 minutes to setup and program and is so easy to use that my wife (Who's still figuring out Drag 'n Drop on computers) can just hit the "Help" button and follow the prompts.

Right now I have it controlling a 50" Panasonic Plasma, Sony 5 Disc Home Theater system, VCR (My Wife still has VHS tapes too), Comcast DVR.

With this remote I'm able to do everything with EASE that I could do in the past with my three remotes. I want to watch TV? I hit, "Watch TV" and it will turn on my TV, select the correct input, turn on the Sony theater system and select Video 2 and turn on the Cable Box/DVR. I want to watch a DVD? Click, "Watch DVD" and it will change the input on the TV, change the output on the Sony DVD player and turn off the Comcast DVR since I'm not using it.

I want to listen to the stereo? "Listen to Music", Tv goes off, DVR goes off, Music comes on.

For the command it didn't know it was SLIGHTLY tricky getting the intelligent learn to work, but just follow the instruction to the T and you'll get it.

I recommend this remote to EVERYONE. One of my best Gizmo buys I've made lately.

Don't you hate having to use 3 different remotes to watch a DVD or listen to a CD? Wouldn't it be nice to just press one button and that's it? Well, this remote does just that! Press "Watch a Movie" and the DVD Player turns on, the AV Receiver turns on (and switches to the correct setting) and the TV switches to the correct input. A real pleasure to use!

Setup is simple. The Logitech website wizard walks you through the process. All you do is provide the make and model of your various components and what you want to happen during which activity. Everything is downloaded into the remote via the included USB cable.

The one small problem is everyone in your family has to get into the habit of always using the remote to turn things on and off. If your wife physically turns the TV off with the TV's On/Off button then the Activity buttons don't work properly (although the Help button quickly fixes the problem with a walk-through).

If you have any Technophobes in your household, then this remote is a must. Highly recommended!

Jim