Unique personal quality to the remote with out breaking the bank and without installation frustration
348038
The Skins were very easy to install, with no bubbling issues. The holes that were cut to fit the remote were on point with the design of the controller and it fit perfectly. The idea is fabulous because the special addition remotes are quite a bit more money. The skins add a unique personal quality to the remote with out breaking the bank and without installation frustration. The skin itself is very durable and has not rolled up on any edges.  My boys were very excited to have these new, specialized remotes! They have shared there excitement with anyone who comes to to our house for a visit, followed up with them bringing them out to actually showing whoever is here.
2176918
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!"
872002
This is the most versatile learning remote I have owned so far.  It has learned all the codes for my equipment including Yamaha and Denon receivers, Pioneer and Panasonic DVD players, Panasonic LCD projector, Panasonic DTV tuner, Pioneer LD player, Sony and Mitsubishi VCRs, and Panasonic TV.  Plus it is fully customizable so that you can delete, move, or hide buttons, screens, and devices, and the macros are great.  Now my wife can fire up the home theater by hitting a single macro button.  It has hard buttons for important stuff like volume, channel changing, and mute.  Plus it has 2 programmable hard buttons on the front.  The constrast of the LCD screen could be a bit better, but it is fine.  The backlight can be adjusted to stay on longer or just hold its on button.  This may be more remote than you need so check out the Neo.  I didn't care for all the hard buttons and apparent clutter of that model.  I also didn't need more memory or a color screen of the much more expensive Pronto 6000 model.  I think this remote is the perfect blend of simple design with powerful capabilities and reasonable price.  While I found it easy to program and the instructions easy to follow, I am a self-admitted tweaker and electronics junkie.  But if you have ever programmed a learning remote before, this one is no different.  Just put it into learn mode, select the button you want to program, point the other remote at the Pronto's learning eye, and push the button that you are trying to learn.  I also got the charging dock, which not only keeps my batteries charged, it forces me to return the remote to a known location so I won't lose it!  I highly recommend this remote for those with 4 or more devices to control.
3574744
My older harmony remote had to be replaced. I was pleasantly surprised at several aspects of this remote. First, it was extraordinarily easy to program with the downloaded software. I easily added all of my equipment including my 8 year old Marantz receiver and my brand new Sony 4K TV. I have several other components in the system that were easily added. Secondly, I noticed how much quicker the remote switched all the components to the necessary settings. Third, if perhaps a component did not switch to the right setting, the "help" button quickly and automatically fixed it. I highly recommend this. I do not think it is necessary to buy a more expensive product unless you have your components hidden in a cabinet.
1250437
I bought this remote after hearing of a friend's experience with the Logitech One remote, which costs about 3 times as much and has features that I do not need or want.  I have never had any significant complaints about any Logitech products I have purchased so I thought this would be a good investment.

Using Windows or Mac only the very least technically inclined individuals may find it challenging to set up.  Once it is set up I truly believe almost anyone can use it with ease.  My single Harmony 550 remote replaces six other remotes with memory available for a couple more devices.  It even works perfectly with my Squeezebox 3 digital music player (created by Slimdevices, which was aquired by Logitech).

I originally set up the remote using my notebook running Windows XP, but my notebook crashed shortly afterward.  Then I used the site at members.harmonyremote.com and the Linux program called "concordance" to customize it exactly to my needs.  Once I figured it all out, it worked like I charm.  I can only hope that Logitech does not discontinue the members web site simply because most users probably use the Windows or Mac software interface instead (it has a web back-end also, however).  Furthermore, concordance (as of this writing, version 0.20) does not work with the newest models of Harmony remotes because they use a different USB protocol than the 550 and similar older models.

I have had no problems with the remote.  I've had it for almost a month now and it is still using the original 4 AAA alkaline batteries it came with (not the "demo" batteries but the packaged ones).  It is very stylish, light yet durable, and back lit in an attractive blue color (cannot be changed).  My only real complaint is that the ergonomics of this remote is very poor.  Still, I'm extremely happy with my purchase and only a little disappointed that I bought it a few weeks before Amazon had a 30 dollar price break!
1589977
Had this remote for about a week, and I have not had any desire to go back to my old URC Universal Remote, which is a good sign.  The major selling point, in my opinion, is being able to program the remote with the Logitech Software.  For some odd reason, you have to create an online account to program a remote control, and the software was using a lot of CPU on my Mac (it uses Microsoft Silverlight, yuck!), but it did get the job done and was easy enough to add all 3 devices, and add some new functions in there as well.  It even recognized a Philips soundbar that no other remote had a code for. Works great with Kodi/XBMC and Flirc.

What Logitech also got right were making punch-through buttons standard instead of an extra afterthought like other remotes.  I don't have to switch to the TV to change the input, either, since none of my other devices will use that button.

Yes, there's only one activity button to "Watch TV" which basically lets you turn on and off multiple devices (and switch to the proper input) with just one button.  For me, it's perfect, as I just want to turn on and off the TV and soundbar, and that's it.  Obviously, you want to get the Harmony 650 if you want to do more than that.

Buttons are a little smaller than I'm used to, but I'm getting used to it.  All the devices respond quickly with the remote.  A little hard to get used to the placement of the pause, play, and stop buttons, but not a deal-breaker.

The biggest drawback for the remote is the buttons are not backlit.  I even wish the labels were luminescent.  A little tough since I still need to look down for some buttons sometimes.  The 650 is backlit, however.

I really didn't want to spend this much for a remote.  But, it is really easy to use, takes the frustration out of programming a cheaper remote, and works with my non-standard devices.  Perfect for someone with just a few devices and a simple set-up.  Anything more, you might want to go for the Harmony 650.
1364698
I looked around allot before buying this remote and it came down to this one or the 880.  I eneded up choosing this one due to lower cost and had most of the same features.

In general I have been very pleased, with one issue, the setup can be somewhat difficult if you have older equipment that the web based program does not recognize.  You will have to be somewhat computer savy and be willing to spend some time troubleshooting and going thru a trial and error process to get everything the way you want.  But it is well worth it in the long run.
1812662
I purchased the receiver open box from Fry's here in Houston and was lucky enough to get the remote and about $200 off of the retail price when purchased in July 2008.  First impression: excellent build quality and I was the envy of all my friends who are HK fanatics.

Set up of the receiver was not overly difficult but I found out that wiring it yourself is the way to go; my friend is notoriously bad at wiring inputs correctly so I had video and no sound.  Once I got that sorted the next day everything has been smooth sailing.

All of these issues with HDMI connectivity and picture issues I don't seem to have; though I did the firmware update right after I purchased the receiver.  I have HDMI 1 in use and component 2 and they output over HDMI out to my Samsung LN-T4669 1080P.  This gives me no video issues and I have two cables on the back of my TV :).  I have never tried the TV speakers being that I have a full Inifinity Primus 5.1 system less the Polk 10" sub so I can't say if audio transmits to the TV over HDMI or not.

On to things I don't like.  The optical connections I have work fine though the cables I have from monoprice (not sure if they are a contributor to the problem or not) don't stay in well.  Luckily I don't need the optical anymore with the new Comcast Cisco PVR; audio and video over HDMI.  Also, I am kind of dissapointed that, considering when it was released, there was no support for Dolbly True HD and HD Master Audio.  I plan on getting a Blu Ray player that will do the decoding and then the speakers will do the lossles audio but having it on the receiver seems like something that should be there for the price compared the Onkyo 605.

Audio quality is excellent and when running the two Primus towers alone in 2 channel stereo it was shockingingly accurate and rich.  I don't run it as such anymore and the 5.1 is different but equally rich and powerful (two noise complaints to boot!).  One item I would like to see would be a second subwoofer output for 7.2 should you choose to go that route but that is just nitpicking really.

All in all I can't be happier and I will add that the 7x55W raiting has to be conservative because I can nearly deafen guests if I turn it up to +3 or higher when listening to music (and it is crystal clear).  If you can get a good deal on one now I say go for it but if you want the latest technology, audio decoding and more HD flexibility the AVR 354 and/or some of the newer Onkyo's are the ones for you (705/6 & 805/6).
2548027
What a bargain! Love the remote and multiple settinga
751386
A heard about Logitech Harmony when a friend visited my home and saw 5 different remotes on my coffee table. It's amazing what I had to go through to juggle them all and get my HDTV, DVD player, DVR, tuner, and VCR to work, but I just accepted it...and incurred the frustration (and wrath) of my girlfriend and other guests when they would try to make everything work.

So I finally broke down, spent the money, and...it's magic. Just write down the model # of each component, enter it into the simple interface on your computer that's connected to the web (it worked PERFECT on my Mac, thank you very much!), upload the new info to the remote via a USB cable, and VOILA! Your remote is programmed to work with your unique set up. It's amazing how it makes the daily task of watching TV and/or DVD, listening to music, or radio SO simple. It "knows" what to turn on, what to turn off, and how to connect. I had to do a little bit of tweaking to the settings, and the software makes this process easy.

My only quibble would be with the physical design of the remote itself. The number buttons are too low on the controller, making it almost impossible to hold the remote and press them with one hand. The buttons also don't have a lot of 'feedback' to let you know, by touch, if you've pressed it or not. I would also flip the FWD/REV buttons with the REPLAY/SKIP to put them one row higher. I use the FWD/REV more often, and it would be much more convenient to have them next to the PLAY button. But this is minor compared to all of the hassle this ingenious remote has saved me. Truthfully, I wish I would have bought it sooner!
3583069
I purchased this remote about a month ago to replace a Sony RM-AV3000.  I wanted to get away from the touchscreen, since it got dirty easily and drained batteries.  The Sony remote made it so difficult to program macros that I gave up entirely, choosing to switch on my different components one at a time.  There was no easy learning programming function, so each remote you replaced with the Sony required lots of tinkering and time-wasting customization.  On top of that, the Sony remote didn't recognize my brand new Yamaha receiver, so I was left with two remotes, anyways!

I had heard alot of good things about the Harmony remote and I was intrigued by the idea of a web database with close to all of your remote presets already set up for you.  All in all, the remote took about 15 minutes to set up, and as I used it I tweaked it here and there.

I use the remote to control basically four components:  Pioneer plasma TV, Yamaha receiver, LG DVD player, and my Time Warner DVR box.  When I got the remote, I installed all the necessary software and hooked my remote up via USB to my computer to begin programming it.  I opted to use the web option instead of the bundled software, as some users had recommended.  The web platform took a little getting used to to navigate, but overall it was pretty intuitive.  I entered in the model and make of each component I had and every button was programmed perfectly, I didn't have to re-learn or change one thing!  One thing I got hung up on was that I wanted to leave my DVR set to "on" at all times.  After a few minutes of unsuccessful tinkering, I consulted the FAQ on the website and found the answer right away.  Now my remote switches inputs on the receiver and TV, shuts components on and off as necessary, and controls each component as it should (for example, the volume button while watching my DVR actually controls my receiver volume, not the volume on the cable box or TV).

The main difference between the Sony remote I had before and the Harmony is that the Sony controls each device separately, and for it to perform several actions (such as turning on a TV and setting it to input 1, turning on the receiver and setting the input to DTV), it requires you to program a macro.  Not so with the Harmony.  Instead, the Harmony treats everything as an action FIRST, and if you want to delve more into controlling the actual device you have the option to do so (but you probably won't have to very often).

One problem I had with my Harmony was that due to a manufacturer's defect my "record" button didn't work.  I was able to work the problem out through Logitech's tech support, and they promptly issued me a new remote to replace the defective one.  Even the defective remote worked flawlessly in every other aspect.  This mishap in quality control is a big factor in why I didn't award the product 5 stars.

Pros:

1) Intuitive set-up that, once you learn how to navigate, is easy to use.

2) All make/model of your components pre-programmed in a database that takes seconds for your remote to "learn" via USB.

3) Rechargable battery means no cursing to yourself that you have to run out and purchase 4 AA's when your remote dies.

4) Customizable background in the LCD screen.  I can put any picture I want in my background.

5) Even when Logitech sent me a new remote to replace my defective one, all I had to do was hook it up to my computer and redownload the settings (including my custom background) I had already saved, it took literally 20 seconds!

Cons:

1) Volume and channel buttons could be a little bit more prominent.  I occasionally want to press the + Volume button and hit "Mute" or hit the "Previous" button instead of + Channel.  That's a little annoying.

2) Recharger is a little finicky to accept a charge.  You have to place it in the cradle and make sure you hear 1 beep.  If you accidentally knock it off (and it doesn't take much) it'll beep twice and won't charge.

Despite some minor setbacks and inconveniences, it's still far and away the best universal remote I've ever owned.
3311705
I am amazed at the quality of the remote. Feels good in the hands and looks great! Best of all works as it should. Highly recommend.!
1454955
I can now control pretty much everything in my living room with just one remote!  This remote is cool, looks nice, and has a decent stand.  It doesn't feel cheaply made, and I haven't had any problems with the battery life.  I've been using it for a while without changing them, so it's meeting my expectations there.

I don't have to get off the couch to do anything!  This might result in some unexpected weight gain but I am thrilled with the versatility of this remote, nonetheless.

I had a little trouble programming it like other reviewers said.  I would recommend just toughing it out and using common sense to program your devices.  It's not rocket science, people!  You can be the master of your universe too!
4309498
This little device is amazing.

For a long time I've admired the Harmony remotes, and several years ago tried (I think it was a model 600) to make it work, but it just didn't seem to have the ease-of-use with all the buttons and the screen etc etc.

Recently built a 'false-wall' home theater, hiding speakers behind an acoustically transparent screen and putting all the equipment (receiver, blu-ray, roku, and soon a tablo) behind out of sight. The remote on the smart control is thin, and feels great in your hand. Yes it does not have backlighting, but the small CR battery lasts a long time (or so I'm told).

I rely on wired Ethernet everywhere for TV (and Sonos for music) as wireless is just too variable. Turned out that during the easy setup steps I configured the Smart Control as a wired system. I then had the problem of being able to switch the receiver and turn on the Roku (the main device I'm using until the Tablo gets setup); the Roku turned on fine but none of the controls worked.

After doing a fair amount of searching the Logitech forums, I ended up doing the following which worked: unplugged the Roku, deleted the Roku 3 from the My Harmony application on my laptop, then plugged in the Roku and set it up as a Wifi connection. Then go back into the My Harmony app and add the Roku 3 + receiver combination again.

Voila - everything works swimmingly.

After a little while I went into the Roku settings and went back to Ethernet, everything still works.

The BluRay and Receiver (I have a new Denon AVR-X2100W) both work really well with the remote. The IR range is great.

Update June 27 2015: A few weeks ago the Roku wasn't being controlled by the Harmony Smart Control. We weren't watching that often (this is for the basement 'movie night' HT rather than the TV upstairs), so it wasn't that inconvenient to have the extra Roku 3 remote driving the Roku. And then today the receiver no longer was operable.

I had to dig out the Harmony 'puck', figure out that I had to download the Harmony software to my PC (had to reinstall Windows in the interim and lost the program), and 're-sync' to the puck after it recognized it via mini-USB cable adapter. Plugged it back in and everything worked as it did at the beginning.

Sure is nice to have the My Harmony software after login to remember the original settings - otherwise I would have had to start all over again. While setup could be a bit easier this ability to save my own parameters from the remote to the cloud is really great.
2204617
Better value and high quality all rolled into one.  This is one cool remote unit you will wonder why you didn't buy sooner!
2895856
This thing is great! I previously had to reach my arm over my coffee table to communicate with original remotes, but this remote seems to work just as well even without having a clear path to components. It has most of the buttons already built in that appear on original remotes, with the option to add buttons on the lcd screen. With some fine tuning this thing does everything I hoped it would. The software isn't as bad as some people say, unless you write that stuff and could do it better. The setup is pretty simple and walks you through it easily enough. I had to do it a few times to truly customize it the way I wanted it. My wife enjoys the ease and comfort of only having one remote as well. She found it easy to use despite being reluctant to give up the familiarity of our original remotes. I'm only sorry I didn't get it sooner.
2108965
It seems like every remote made these days is supposed to be a universal remote, but getting them programmed to control everything can be a real challenge. I don't have a complicated set up, only 3 devices, so you'd think it would be easier, but I was never able to get any other universal remote to control more than one or two functions on the TV and never the DVD player, making the so called universal remote not so universal.

This remote was easy to set up and a real pleasure to use, since I can actually use all the functions for each device. The set up was a breeze, gathering the model numbers for the devices was more difficult  when they weren't on the front of the device, but after that it's as simple as hooking up the device to your computer (with the included cable) connecting to the internet and accessing the website, selecting the remote and entering the device info. The website interface does the rest, programming the remote to control each device for you. This took a total of maybe ten minutes, and now it controls all the functions it has buttons for on each device, just like it's meant to.

The only snag (and the reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5) in getting to use this was the packaging; there are probably government buildings that are easier to get into when closed than this package was. Even with a plastic package opener, I could barely make a dent and finally had to settle for getting an edge of the package apart, then squeezing and sliding out the contents, cutting my fingers and tearing a shirt in the process. I think a couple of pit bulls fighting over the package would hardly do better.

Other than that, this remote is a steal for the price and a pleasure to use since it really does work as it should. Whether you get this model or need something more complicated, I would highly recommend a Logitech Harmony universal remote.