High end universal remotes

[flavius]

Do you have one? If so which is it and would you recommend it?

[ehanekla]

Hi,
I like the logitech harmony remotes. The concept of "activities" makes using your media devices a real joy. The model you choose depends on the money you want to spend. I think all but the cheapest model support "activities".

Best regards,
Eyk

[flavius]

Have you used the 1100?

[gplasky]

I've have a 1000 (basically the same as the 1100) I've actually gone to the Harmony 900 with the latest physical layout. That actually works the best. The touchscreen is cool at first but everyone in the house likes the physical buttons better. The 900 has IR and RF control built in (which adds to the cost)which I set up for the living room. Works the best out of my 1000, 880, 700 and 520. I end up getting these as either refurbs or when they are on sale. The 700 is my new low end standard. The Harmony 300 does not support activities. I've also had some issues on the 1000 with the physical buttons sticking sometime. Very aggravating. I caught the 900 on sale for under $200 not too long ago. My 1000 refurb ran $125. The 700 was recently purchased refurbed for $64.

Gerry

[bits]

I have been quite pleased with the Harmony 650 because I like the 'Activities' concept, programming is a snap because of the huge code base of audio/video equipment(which includes SageTV), the layout of the remote ect....

The 650 is limited to only (5) audio/video components but the most I have is (4). I have three of them and they were a snap to setup so that no matter where my wife is viewing all she has to do is pick up the remote and do exactly what she did at the last viewing area. I paid as little as $60 and as much as $70 for mine.

[sleonard]

I have 3 Harmony 880's. I also love the Activity concept and the 880 has a particularly good button layout and shape that fits in my hand well. I want one more but unfortunately the 880 is discontinued.

S

[Bagal]

I'm currently using a Harmony One and before that a 525, I'd quite happily recommend both of them, although I prefer the feel of the buttons on the One.
As for cost, I owned the 525 for a couple of years before I started to have some issues with it, when it came to replacing it, cost wasn't even a factor, I just knew I had to have another one...

[SWKerr]

I have 2x Harmony 510 and 2x 520 remotes. The are perfect. I think I bought all of them for $50 or less refurbished.

Before that I had 2x Harmony 688. They all worked great. (Still have them just retired in favor of the others)

I think it is more about the configuration software than anything. Combine them with a MCE IR receiver or USB-UIRT and LM Remote or Event ghost and you can control anything.

[korben_dallas]

Harmony One

[stanger89]

Well I personally wouldn't call Harmony's "high end" I've always thought they felt cheap. URC is more high end (really high end is more like RTI). I'd highly recommend URC though, the remotes are very solid, far more solid than Harmony remotes, and IMO they're much easier to program. Though you do have to be able to plan out your own macros and variables.

[samgreco]

I'm with stanger on this one. I've been using my URC MX-700 for 10 years now. Built like a tank and just always works. And it just FEELS serious

While I like the concept of activities on the Harmony, they are very inflexible. Or at least, they were the last time I tried them. With the URC, I can build macros the way I want. So I end up with the same idea as activities, but exactly the way I want.

[PiX64]

I have the Harmony 1100 and my wife and I love it! I would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for a great all in one remote.

That being said i have owned and used many Logitech remotes, and have loved every single one i have used.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Well I personally wouldn't call Harmony's "high end" I've always thought they felt cheap.

Agreed. Let me begin saying that I own Harmony remotes, use them every day and *LOVE* them. BUT, I agree they feel a bit on the cheap side (which is fine, because like most others in this thread I've only paid $40-60 each for them).

I had two Harmony 520s where buttons began failing after only one year. One was still in warranty and fortunately Logitech replaced it with almost no questions asked... the replacement also failed after one year.

I've replaced my broken 520s with Harmony 510s (which is basically the same remote) and luckily those buttons have all held up for the last 18+ months (knock on wood).

The Harmony One seems a little more solid, but I'm not interested in spending $100+ on a remote.

All-in-all I love the look and feel of the remote and they have great customer service. But I agree they seem cheaply made, so don't be surprised if/when yours fail.

[jptheripper]

I have had Harmonys and will never buy one again. They are too cheaply made, imho.

Of course, that is because, in my house, the remote gets drop/bumped off the couch, onto the tile (about 3 feet) at least once a day.

For me, cheapest that does the job is best. The hard plastic on the harmonies just cracked to easily, i need the rubberized ones.

[PiX64]

Sounds like u need this:

http://www.geekalerts.com/ultimate-mega-remote-control/

:-D

[thomaszoo]

I have owned several URCs, including a 700 and an 850. Extremely well designed (except for the center button on the 700 which was fixed on the 850). They cater to custom installers and are stingy with their software updates, included IR codes. But the software they come with accepts so many different formats that it is still worth it in my book.

Wayne

[wayner]

Harmony 880s, 890, 659.

An iPod Touch also works quite well as a remote using the mobile UI, or TiSageTV. As does an iPhone or iPad. And they use your wifi network so not LoS issues.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by thomaszoo

I have owned several URCs, including a 700 and an 850. Extremely well designed (except for the center button on the 700 which was fixed on the 850). They cater to custom installers and are stingy with their software updates, included IR codes. But the software they come with accepts so many different formats that it is still worth it in my book.

Wayne

If you've got a good relationship with your dealer though, they'll probably just give you the software. My dealer did, and I can update it from the web with it's built in update tool quite easily.

[thomaszoo]

Originally Posted by stanger89

If you've got a good relationship with your dealer though, they'll probably just give you the software. My dealer did, and I can update it from the web with it's built in update tool quite easily.

I suppose that is part of the price I paid for getting them at a low price off the Internet from a dealer that isn't authorized (although I never actually checked back with the dealer to see if they had an update for me). But I am still very happy with the remotes themselves.

Wayne

[CollinR]

URC