Logitech Harmony 550 LCD Remote Control
- Type: Universal
- Broadcasting Type: IR
- Applicable Devices: TV, DVD Player, Receiver
- Devices Controlled: 15
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sounds wonderful, but not so
Pros
- backlight. - supports many devices - PVR support
Cons
device power up required [dealbreaker] Buttons stick non-obvious button names when programming
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
I wish I'd not bought it. It is close to what I wanted but is now a $80 experiment-gone-wrong. Perhaps Logitech will update the software and firmware...I can only hope.
I loved the features and near-universal device support and have been an enthusiastic user, having spent ~6 hours fine tuning the thing. I've finally had to admit that it's a bust.
There are a couple of design flaws that, IMO, are fatal.
a) you have to buy into the "activities" notion. While you *may* control devices individually it's cumbersome and, when in device mode, you are restricted to controlling only that device. Turning on a TV and DVD player requires 6 button presses and even then only after you've programmed it to ensure that "power on" is within reach on the softkeys.
b) Since you want to control multiple devices at a time without changing modes, you'll operate with "activities". Here's the biggest flaw: the remote is determine to turn everything on. No way to prevent it. Now, many devices don't have "on" but instead have "toggle". So if the remote thinks the device is off, then it toggles it. The most infuriating example is the DVD player. See if you're like me: before I sit on the sofa, I put the DVD in the player. Before I can do that, I have to turn it on...which I do with the "open" button on the player, not the remote. So the DVD gets started and, with luck, I'm on the main menu by the time I do one or two things and sit on the sofa. Then, I pick up the ol' Harmony 550, press 'Play DVD' activity and....off goes the DVD player. NOW I have to navigate the DVD device menu to turn it on, and then go back to activites and pick Play a DVD,then wait for the DVD to load, etc.
c) the "power" button doesn't work for "devices", only "activities". When something is incorrectly turned on or off (and it will happen) then you'll have had to program softkeys.
d) auto-fix roulette. the remote has an auto-fix feature so if the set up isn't as you'd like the remote asks you short questions on the screen like "Is the TV on?" "Did that Fix it?". Trouble is you have no idea what has just happened and, if you preferred the first sub-optimal arrangement you have no way of going back. I have no idea if some of the other difficulties I've experienced have been due to the remote fixing itself in ways I can't control. And there's no way to know if syncing with the program undoes the remote's changes or infects your online configuration. Once you auto-fix you can never go back. Maybe. Who knows.
e) If you're counting on the macros (key combinations assigned to a key or softkey) be aware that you can only program in 5 key presses per macro. So if you would like auto-navigate to something then it had better be near the surface. I couldn't use a macro for the only thing I needed since doing so required me to navigate "down" twice and I didn't have enough key presses to get to the thing and then select it. In short: macros have very limited value.
There are a least a dozen other nits that could (and should) be addressed in both the remote and the program, but aren't deal-breakers. Those above, however, really are.
There are a couple of design flaws that, IMO, are fatal.
a) you have to buy into the "activities" notion. While you *may* control devices individually it's cumbersome and, when in device mode, you are restricted to controlling only that device. Turning on a TV and DVD player requires 6 button presses and even then only after you've programmed it to ensure that "power on" is within reach on the softkeys.
b) Since you want to control multiple devices at a time without changing modes, you'll operate with "activities". Here's the biggest flaw: the remote is determine to turn everything on. No way to prevent it. Now, many devices don't have "on" but instead have "toggle". So if the remote thinks the device is off, then it toggles it. The most infuriating example is the DVD player. See if you're like me: before I sit on the sofa, I put the DVD in the player. Before I can do that, I have to turn it on...which I do with the "open" button on the player, not the remote. So the DVD gets started and, with luck, I'm on the main menu by the time I do one or two things and sit on the sofa. Then, I pick up the ol' Harmony 550, press 'Play DVD' activity and....off goes the DVD player. NOW I have to navigate the DVD device menu to turn it on, and then go back to activites and pick Play a DVD,then wait for the DVD to load, etc.
c) the "power" button doesn't work for "devices", only "activities". When something is incorrectly turned on or off (and it will happen) then you'll have had to program softkeys.
d) auto-fix roulette. the remote has an auto-fix feature so if the set up isn't as you'd like the remote asks you short questions on the screen like "Is the TV on?" "Did that Fix it?". Trouble is you have no idea what has just happened and, if you preferred the first sub-optimal arrangement you have no way of going back. I have no idea if some of the other difficulties I've experienced have been due to the remote fixing itself in ways I can't control. And there's no way to know if syncing with the program undoes the remote's changes or infects your online configuration. Once you auto-fix you can never go back. Maybe. Who knows.
e) If you're counting on the macros (key combinations assigned to a key or softkey) be aware that you can only program in 5 key presses per macro. So if you would like auto-navigate to something then it had better be near the surface. I couldn't use a macro for the only thing I needed since doing so required me to navigate "down" twice and I didn't have enough key presses to get to the thing and then select it. In short: macros have very limited value.
There are a least a dozen other nits that could (and should) be addressed in both the remote and the program, but aren't deal-breakers. Those above, however, really are.
