Logitech Harmony 550 49.99 @ amazon

In for one....

Other people don't know how to use this, so simply hitting "Watch TV" or "Watch Xbox" will work much easier.
 
Actually, Harmony remotes do work with a PS3 if you buy an IR PS3 remote and use the receiver from that.
 
harmony remotes are excellent. i hesitantly paid $100 for a remote, but that was 4 years ago now and its still kickin great. easiest remote to program period.
 
no, not on mine or any of them i believe. but a pair of batteries last about a month so its not a big deal to charge them by taking them out.
 
krupted said:
no, not on mine or any of them i believe. but a pair of batteries last about a month so its not a big deal to charge them by taking them out.
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Thanks for the quick reply, guess I'll snag some rechargeable AAA's too while I'm at it. ;)
 
If you get rechargeable batteries for the remote aim for the duracell or eneloop, they are essentially the same battery, but last very long.

This is an execellent remote, I paid this price 49.99 for it a while back because my tivo remote clonked out - it would'a cost the same price to replace the tivo remote. The only thing that people make a big deal about is the activities, where if you change your device state the remote will not control it. What I usually do it hit the activities again and let it cycle thru its macros.
 
matt fury said:
Actually, Harmony remotes do work with a PS3 if you buy an IR PS3 remote and use the receiver from that.
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I am looking to get one of these kits. It costs $40 plus shipping. Looks pretty nice and will handle all the commands from the PS3 remote. Here is the installation video. This basically takes the PS3 BT remote logic board and uses it to convert IR commands to BT and sends them to the PS3.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wgfJAKEhZy4
 
Yes they work great, but there is a slight delay when pressing any button. Even setting all delay settings in the logitech setup to 0 results in the remote being slower than any original remote. It's not much mind you, the only thing that is annoying to me is using this with a DVR cable box. scrolling through the menu's is INSTANTANEOUS with my original remote, but the logitech has a ever so slight delay. kind of annoying, but hey, it works great for everything else. I have an 880 BTW, so id imagine if a more expensive model does this, then im sure their cheaper ones will too.

My solution:
Use the harmony to turn on/off everything and set inputs, control volume, and use my cable's original remote, because I can't deal with the 50-100ms delay bullshit. Why they let you choose 0ms delay in the setup is beyond me, because it is ABSOLUTELY not 0ms delay. there IS a delay no matter what other people say. It's only noticible on scrolling through menu's and skipping commercials, ANNOYING.
 
I got this bad boy in the mail today, got it up and running after ~20 min and I am blown away! I was honestly not expecting it to work nearly as well as it does.

jblue42 said:
Yes they work great, but there is a slight delay when pressing any button. Even setting all delay settings in the logitech setup to 0 results in the remote being slower than any original remote. It's not much mind you, the only thing that is annoying to me is using this with a DVR cable box. scrolling through the menu's is INSTANTANEOUS with my original remote, but the logitech has a ever so slight delay. kind of annoying, but hey, it works great for everything else. I have an 880 BTW, so id imagine if a more expensive model does this, then im sure their cheaper ones will too.

My solution:
Use the harmony to turn on/off everything and set inputs, control volume, and use my cable's original remote, because I can't deal with the 50-100ms delay bullshit. Why they let you choose 0ms delay in the setup is beyond me, because it is ABSOLUTELY not 0ms delay. there IS a delay no matter what other people say. It's only noticible on scrolling through menu's and skipping commercials, ANNOYING.
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We have DirecTV DVR and I didn't notice any lag until reading your post and trying the 2 remotes side by side. Thanks a lot jerk!;) The delay doesn't bother me, but I could see where it could be annoying.

Overall I am extremely satisfied, definitely worth $50. I haven't found a function yet that doesn't work perfectly with this remote.
 
whrswoldo said:
I got this bad boy in the mail today, got it up and running after ~20 min and I am blown away! I was honestly not expecting it to work nearly as well as it does.



We have DirecTV DVR and I didn't notice any lag until reading your post and trying the 2 remotes side by side. Thanks a lot jerk!;) The delay doesn't bother me, but I could see where it could be annoying.

Overall I am extremely satisfied, definitely worth $50. I haven't found a function yet that doesn't work perfectly with this remote.
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Ditto. Quick to setup and the HELP is great.

My ReplayTV DVR has delays no matter the original remote or this one- so I don't have any noticeable difference.
 
well theres definitely a delay on the Harmony remotes, ive messed with the settings for days. It really is EVER so slight, not a big deal for most people. it only bothers me on my DVR, my gf can't tell though, so it really depends on the person... I would definitely buy one again though, as its so easy to switch between sources with the activities button.
 
We have Tivo and that thing has delays already hehe. You click guide and it takes a few moments to load and change channels so didn't notice the delay of the harmony remote
 
I have this remote and I had the 360 version, they are very handy. But I always have to hit the help button because some device will not turn off, or the tv won't switch inputs etc.
 
londonandlawson said:
I have this remote and I had the 360 version, they are very handy. But I always have to hit the help button because some device will not turn off, or the tv won't switch inputs etc.
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you don't have it set up right. you have to change the settings under activities so it sends the TV-input command only when the TV is ready to receive it. Most TV's don't respond to any IR commands for a few seconds after they get turned on. For example under my activity "Watch TV" the remote turns on the TV, turns on the AV Reciever, waits 3 seconds, sets AV reciever to Video01, waits 2 more seconds, sets TV input to HDMI1. you just have to keep the remote aimed in the general direction of your equipment this whole time. hope this helps.
 
That, and you can only use this remote. If you use the manual buttons on the TV or devices themselves and/or the device remotes that came with them as well as the Harmony, the Harmony gets out of sync.
 
Deal was dead for a while, but it's down to $57 shipped now, still a very warm deal imho.
 
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TechieSooner said:
That, and you can only use this remote. If you use the manual buttons on the TV or devices themselves and/or the device remotes that came with them as well as the Harmony, the Harmony gets out of sync.
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yes this is true, for the harmony to work all of your devices must be off, and the harmony must "know" all of the devices are off. then when you choose your activity it turns the devices on and sets the inputs, and it "knows" what devices are on, and what inputs they are set to. then, if you turn off your AV receiver with it's original remote, and the harmony still thinks its on you're going to have problems
 
oops saw it for 54 the other day and was about to buy it came back to buy it today and its 77
 
jblue42 said:
you don't have it set up right. you have to change the settings under activities so it sends the TV-input command only when the TV is ready to receive it. Most TV's don't respond to any IR commands for a few seconds after they get turned on. For example under my activity "Watch TV" the remote turns on the TV, turns on the AV Reciever, waits 3 seconds, sets AV reciever to Video01, waits 2 more seconds, sets TV input to HDMI1. you just have to keep the remote aimed in the general direction of your equipment this whole time. hope this helps.
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How were you able to add delays between devices starting up? I've been trying to figure this out. It seems that I can add delays between commands AFTER everything is powered on (cable box, tv, and receiver in my case), but ideally i'd like to do something like this:

turn on TV -> wait 5 seconds -> set TV to HDMI 1 -> turn on cable box -> turn on receiver -> wait 5 seconds -> set receiver to HDMI 1

If I set it to power on all 3 devices at the same time, I run into some sort of wierd HDMI handshake issue where my cable box wigs out and switches to 720p, instead of staying on 1080i.
 
MJCfromCT, just call Harmony, and they can program your remote over the phone, when you are connected to their website. Just tell them what you want to do, their support is second to none!
 
theyre still going for $60 new shipped from the sellers if you click on the link. still a great deal
 
MJCfromCT said:
How were you able to add delays between devices starting up? I've been trying to figure this out. It seems that I can add delays between commands AFTER everything is powered on (cable box, tv, and receiver in my case), but ideally i'd like to do something like this:

turn on TV -> wait 5 seconds -> set TV to HDMI 1 -> turn on cable box -> turn on receiver -> wait 5 seconds -> set receiver to HDMI 1

If I set it to power on all 3 devices at the same time, I run into some sort of wierd HDMI handshake issue where my cable box wigs out and switches to 720p, instead of staying on 1080i.
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that order makes no sense at all. save time and do this

Turn on TV, Turn on receiver, wait 5 seconds, set input on TV, set input on reciever, turn on cable box.
 
How does that not make any sense?

And besides, the issue is not with the order in which I am turning things on. As long as the TV is on and "booted up" (for lack of a better term), I can turn on the receiver and cable box in any order.

The issue is with not being able to set delays between powering devices on. You can only add delays after you power everything on, but in the logitech software, the first step for every activity is to immediately power on every device associated with it.
 
because the order and delays you posted would take about 11-12 seconds from pressing "watch TV" to be able to watch TV. If it takes 5 seconds for your TV and reciever to boot up before you can set the inputs, you obviously should turn them both on, wait 5 seconds, then set inputs on both, then turn on the cable box. this way would take 6 seconds, vs your way which you will need to be pointing the remote at your gear for ~12 seconds. understand?
 
For those who prefer to purchase locally, radioshack has the 520 for $59 + tax. If your local store doesn't have them in stock then you can purchase it online and have them ship it free to your local store.

- Product link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2429425
- Local stock locator: http://www.radioshack.com/product/inStoreAvail.jsp?productId=2429425

Take a look around while you're at the store, they have a lot of products on clearance/liquidation with pretty low prices. For example check out these external hard drive deals i saw in my local store: link 1, link 2, link 3
 
Not bad, think I might pick one up, thanks

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