jordinas's Full Review: Logitech Harmony® 659 LCD Remote Control
So how many remotes do you have on your coffee table? If you are anything like me, you have at least 4... I had 7! A Sony Universal Remote and then the remotes for the TV, Receiver, Satellite Receiver with TIVO, VCR, DVD Player and CD Player! I had to keep them all handy because the universal remote did not have all the functions I needed.
Then came the fun part... Teaching my wife how to turn the TV on... TV Power, Receiver Power, Receiver Input Video 2, Sat Power, and pick up the TIVO remote... And boy if she wanted to watch a DVD - I was doomed!
One day while browsing the internet, I came across the Harmony SST-659. It looked like an interesting concept, so I wanted to check it out. At first it was a very hard sell, at close to $200 my wife did not want ANOTHER remote on the coffee table - it would just confuse matters even more! But after much insistence on my part she let me try it out.
So we went down to the local Best Buy and bought one right off the shelf - instant gratification, and before my wife changed her mind :) Brought it home, and installed the 4 AAA batteries in the back.
I went out to the Harmony Web Site, and downloaded the latest version of the software (there is also a CD with the remote) and installed it - make sure you install the software before you connect the remote.
Configuration
Then came the configuration part... I took a complete inventory of my electronic components in the rec room (including the specific model numbers) so I could set my new remote up. Now much to my frustration, that particular day they were doing an update to the site, and it was not available! I have not had a problem since, but that highlights one of the possible issues - which is if you lose internet connection or their site goes down, you will not be able to update your remote.
So the next day, I was finally able to enter the configuration site. I went through the process of adding each component (even my Gamecube even though I do not have a remote for it) and it recognized everything except my Satellite receiver with Tivo. So I brought that remote up, and went through the 'Learning' process. It was really simple, and the nice thing is that with the custom buttons you can program specific functions such as Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down and label them so that you don't have to remember that Button X is for Thumbs Up... VERY COOL!
Now with each device which can be configured, you can change the configuration online to match your actual configuration. So for instance, on my TV, I have 6 Video inputs, but 3 of them are disabled - so when you cycle through the inputs, you only cycle through the ones you need. The Setup defaulted to having all 6 inputs, and it knew that the input button cycles through them - so I updated the configuration to only show the 3 which I use, and I labeled them the same as what is on my TV.
So then came a new concept... Setting up activities. What makes this remote unique is the buttons across the top which read - Watch a Movie, Watch TV, Listen to Music and More Activities. So I started with Watch TV. I went through the wizard. It goes through very simple questions like, which devices you need to watch TV, which device controls the volume, what inputs do the devices need to be set to. So if you did the device setup correctly this part should be pretty easy.
You can also add custom commands, and other instructions, in essence building a 'macro' but without writing any complicated code - in fact you have to use the wizards, so this might be a little frustrating for the geeks out there.
I repeated the process for watch a movie, and listen to music - I wanted to try it out, so I did not do any other activities.
Help
So I updated the remote, and ran downstairs to try it out. And pressed the Watch TV button... My TV came to life, my receiver came to life, and the satellite receiver came to life... But Oh NO! The TV input had been changed... The remote was confused... What can I do? Well that is precisely what the Help button is for!
I pressed the Help button, and the remote appeared to send some signals (there is a green light a the top when the remote is transmitting) And then a question on the LCD asking... Did that fix the problem? Yes or No... Since it did not I clicked No... Then the next question... Is the TV on... Yes... And the remote kept going through Yes and No questions until it came to Is the TV input set to Sat? Yes or No... No... The remote then sent a command to the TV... And it asked Did that fix the problem? Yes or No... No... So it asked again if the TV input was set to Sat? And again I said No... It sent another signal and the TV was now on the right input... So I answered Yes to Did that fix the problem. VERY EASY!
The questions are intuitive, and the remote knows what state things are supposed to be in in order for a particular activity - so it knew that the TV had to be on Sat in order to Watch TV. The remote also keeps track of the 'State' of each device - during the setup you tell it if a device resets itself after you turn it off - or if it comes back to the same input when you turn it back on. The problem I faced was that the remote thought that the TV was on a particular input, so when I turned it on, it cycled through the inputs when it did not need to... but the HELP feature really helped!
The lesson there is that you should only use the Harmony remote to manipulate your devices, otherwise if it is out of synch you will have to use the HELP button...
Then I clicked the Watch a Movie, and I watched the TV input change to the DVD input, the receiver input change, the DVD player turn on, and the satellite receiver turn off! All with the press of one button! Exactly what I was looking expecting. It worked!
This remote is different. The activity based options really make it a worthwhile remote to own - and with the ability to add custom commands with labels on the LCD screen, it truly replaced all of our remotes. There is only one remote on the coffee table. And my wife is really happy, and thinks the Help button is the best thing since sliced bread - although we don't need to use it much, when something happens it really does help.
Only a couple of negatives
Battery life is average, so keep a supply of AAA batteries handy. The VCR control buttons - which I matched to TIVO are across the bottom of the remote, so it took a little getting used to.
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