johnbatdorf.net/blog/ - Logitech Harmony 880 Remote

Thursday, February 02, 2006

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Logitech Harmony 880 Remote - Simplicty and Perfection

UPDATE: Found a great site that will allow you to download virtually all of the channel icons for your remote. They also have XM radio icons, and about 25 different backgrounds for the screen. http://squareworld.com/harmony/

I was able to find a really good deal on this remote that typically retails for $249. I turned on my tivo the other day and saw an offer for a $50 rebate on the remote. This started the search for a 'deal'. After checking out some threads on FatWallet.com, I found a deal on the remote for $180 shipped, so minus the $50 rebate, I'm getting the remote for about $130. That's probably about the max I'd spend on a remote.

I've been looking at getting the Harmony for a little less than a year now, so I was fairly educated about how it worked, and it's features. The remote showed up last night, and after removing it from the box, charging it, and installing the software on my laptop, I started into the setup. I figured that it would take a while to get it working with my setup, but I was completely wrong.

You start by creating an account on the Logitech website, and then identifying your AV gear. I was able to locate all my devices. I then answered about six questions about how I do certain activities, like watch television, watch tivo, dvds, radio, etc. The logitech site then transmits a file via the web browser that is downloaded to the remote via USB connection. Slick. And it simply works.

One nice feature of the device is the remote assistant. Now that I've got my setup tweaked and everything works I've turned this feature off, but here's why you want to keep it on for a day or two. I was testing all of the newly programmed items in the remote like "watch television". You push the "watch television" button, and it turns on the TV (if it's not on already, this thing is aware of 'state') switches the TV to the correct input, then changes the stereo to the right input, and (in my case) turns on the set top box. So the first time I pushed the "watch television", and I got no picture... I was a tad worried... until the remote screen read "Is everything working right" (or something to that effect) I pushed the "No" softkey. The remote responsed "Is the Television on?" I pushed the "Yes" softkey. It then asked "Is the stereo on?" I pushed the "Yes" softkey. It then said, "Is the Set Top Box On?" I looked, it was not on. So I pushed the "No" softkey. Then the picture came on, the remote screen read "Did that fix the problem?" I pushed the "Yes" softkey. Brilliant.

There was only one other thing I really had to tweak, not all of my tivo remote settings mapped over, so I went onto the site, and assigned the TIVO buttons from the tivo remote, to the logitech remote (all via their web site) and reflashed my remote. Perfection.

So I've taken four remotes that used to be out constantly, down to one remote, that does it all. It's so nice. I have not played with the advanced features yet, like being able to put my own pictures onto the color screen of the remote, not sure why I'd want to do it. There is a favorites section, that lets you add your favorite channels, and even upload a logo of that channel. Nice touch. One other cool thing to note: the new remote is all setup to work with the XBox 360 that is enroute here, the unit is not even here yet, and my Logitech remote is all ready to control it.

So in typical technology fashion, a day or two after ordering the Logitech Harmony 880 remote, they released a new version called the 890. It does everything that the 880 does, but eliminates the infared line of sight issue. You see, this remote (like most other remotes other than Bose) requires line of sight to the components it is trying to control. The new 890 does not.

The first question you ask, is how is that even possible? The 890 will control devices from about anywhere in your house, inside or out. You can be in the kitchen, and change songs on a CD playing in the office. If you have a Bose stereo, you're well aware that Bose uses RF (radio frequencey) instead of IR (Infared). That's all fine and good, but the big disconnect should be when you realize all of your AV Gear only accepts infared input! So the brilliant folks at Logitech have built an RF -> IR converter. You just set this 'pod' out near your AV gear, and it converts the RF signal to IR. I can't speak for how well this works, but the idea is great. And their implentation has to be better than those crappy little IR extenders you can buy, it has to be better. So with cool comes cost, this remote tops in at $399 retail. I'm guessing you could find it a bit cheaper, but even at $130, I had a hard time buying the 880. But the coolest thing would be to have all your AV gear hidden in a cabinet, never having to look at it. Heck you could even build some sort of enclosure that kept dust to a minimum, now that would be cool.

Harmony 880 Product Page

$50 Harmony Remote Rebate (89.75 KB)

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