I finally pulled the trigger on buying a good universal remote. I got the Harmony H659 and I’m quite pleased with it.
To set it up, you log into the Harmony Remote web site, tell it which components you have, then download a configuration file which is uploaded to the remote via a USB cable. It’s prettty darn slick. It even works with my Dish Network DVR/receiver which has a UHF remote but (luckily) also accepts commands via IR.
It has ‘mode’ buttons along the top; you select what you want to do (watch TV, watch a DVD, listen to music) and it turns on all the appropriate components and changes their settings accordingly. This is exactly what I was looking for, so far so good.
I’ve been thinking about getting something like this for quite sometime. I was really interested in the full LCD touch screen displays which allows you to customize the interface. But I can think of much better use of $1,000.00.
Perhaps this is the way to go.
I don’t like the LCD screens because you can’t feel around for the buttons.
Alex,
So now that you’ve had it a few days, how do you like it? Does it work well? Do I need to get one? =)
I’m actually quite pleased; it is really, really good. You need to get one. 🙂
Harmony Remote Update
I just got an e-mail from the Harmony folks announcing a firmware update for my Harmony remote. My only compaint about the remote had been that the battery life seemed too short and that is what this update fixes. Kudos to Harmony for fixing the proble…
re: Harmony 659 Universal Remote
I’ve never receiced any notification from Harmony about any firmware updates. It should be automatic during the synch process I’d think. Either way, the update process is slow and crashes more often than not. Plan on eating a minimum of a full set of batteries each week in the 68x.
I’d never buy another Harmony (Logitech) remote.
Funny, I’ve bought 2 more and love them. 🙂
Of course, I don’t use the “TV listings” feature that requires the weekly update.
I had the same problem with the battery life on my harmony. Support would only say that the new firmware would fix the problem. The life of the battery was really bad.
I hope the firware update does the trick. I hope to post back if it does or doesn’t take care of the issue as announced.
Did the battery life improve after the update as mine does it seem to be. I guess I will be returning mine.