Harmony One vs. 880
 

I have had an 880 for years that I absolutely loved. Unfortunately, it decided to kick the bucket and I need a new remote. Does anyone have experience with the Harmony One? It's essentially the same price as the 880 and seems to be upgraded a bit. However, I did love my 880 and maybe I should just stick with a good thing.

The only reason I might not stick with the 880 is because I just moved into a new house and my home theater is now going to be used by more people than just me, so I need a remote that is fairly intuitive and the One's touchscreen seems to make things just a bit simpler and the buttons look to be a little bit better for surfing in the dark.

Thoughts? Ideas? New remote or stick with the tried and true?

how old is it? Have you called Logitech's support? They may just send you a new one free. Their support is amazing.

Yeah, I have heard good things about Logitech. I didn't have it handy last night (in the process of moving), but I am going to call them once I have the serial number, etc. in front of me to see what they can do. Saving $180 or so would be nice :)

I had a wireless mouse and keyboard combo for like 4 years. The mouse stopped charging so they sent me an entire new mouse and keyboard combo...and I didnt even have to send in my old one!

I just got a 880 today and so far so good.

I hope that it lasts for a long, long time.

:D

Blake - What did you end up with?

Goldberg - Still liking the 880?

I'm looking for a remote for my sister, I'll program it for her, but I'd like it to be fairly simple to use once programmed since she tends to get confused if she has to try and do a lot of things. ;)

It will be used to control TV, DirecTV, AVR, and DVD player.

Any other ones (Harmony or otherwise) you'd recommend looking at?

FWIW, the 880 is $85 shipped (after MIR) from buydig.com now. The One is still ~$200 everywhere, from what I've seen.

It ended up getting fixed with a firmware update. It had been quite a while since I had to reprogram it, so no need to plug it into my computer for a while. I do need to reprogram it now due to new AV connections, but it seems to be working again.

My old Logitech kicked the bucket after my 15-month old dropped it one too many times. I decided to go for the One. It's awesome. Once programmed, I can't imagine anyone having a problem working it. The fact that each activity is on the touchscreen makes it very easy. Some people complain about the inevitable fingerprint smudging on the touchscreen. But, I got over that very easily. The buttons are laid out very well (buttons are where you'd expect them to be).

If you don't mind spending the cash, I'd highly recommend the Harmony One to anyone.

Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control for $80 after rebate + $9 s&h

B&H Photo-Video offers the Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control, model no. 966187-0403, for $129.95 plus around $9 for shipping. This $50 mail-in rebate knocks it to $79.95. This remote features a color LCD, optimization for HDTV (e.g., flipping between 16:9 and 4:3) and DVR (e.g., TiVo), recharging station, programmable macros, and USB connectivity for both Macs and PCs. Rebate ends August 11.

After the initial setup it worked great for a while... but there is one nagging thing that I hate: It won't set the inputs automatically. I have to keep tapping HELP and setting the input there.

I think I need to plug it in again and update it... see if it sticks this time.

But all in all I like it all right.

What do you mean it won't set the inputs automatically? Does it keep them programmed in?

I'll hit the activity button for "Play Blu-Ray" and it will run through the macro:

1. Turn on Blu-Ray
2. Turn on TV
3. Set TV to HDMI 2

It will do steps 1 and 2 and that's it. It won't change the input to HDMI 2.

That's the problem.

Does it send the signal too fast? Can you put a small delay in between steps 2 and 3? I have an 890 but haven't done any configuration since I first set it up with my 8 activities. I hardly ever have any problems, but a quick push of "help" usually reruns the macro to catch the missed step.

Hmmm, weird, I've used an MX-500 for quite a while, and the setting the delay like pinata said was necessary. Actually I have to set a delay between each command in step 3 (hit input, 1 sec. pause, hit input again, 1 sec. pause, input one more tim...or whatever # of button presses is required).

So other than that, it does what you need it to?

Do you happen to have a DirecTV DVR? Curious how comparable the button mappings are.

Haven't tried the delay option yet. I'll try that this afternoon.

I have big hands and find the 880 uncomfortable and uneasy to use. the programming was pretty easy and it works great, but changing tv channels (using the key pad) is near impossible one handed for me.

I wish that it weren't at the bottom of the remote. Trying to hold it with one hand and hit the enter button in the bottom right it a pain. I can't imagine what that's like for you.

I bought one of these for my dad for Christmas:

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/8...0remotefu3.jpg

It's not a Harmony, but he likes it.

Just kidding. ;)

I got one as a wedding gift for a friend as a joke. I like the big "sale" price sticker on the packaging making it a killer bargain. :lol:

Goldberg, the delay should work for the 880. Try that or try turning on the tv first in the macro.

On a side note, the 550 is available for $50 (no rebate needed), for those who are extremely budget conscious:

It only shows 4 activity buttons (at a time) and takes batteries.

I use my 880 with a Projector....so I had to set it up with a pretty long delay to give the pj time to warm up or it wouldn't accept the signal to switch to HDMI. So when I first turn on everything I have to hold the remote towards all my equipment for a good 10-15 seconds. But it works well.

I need to go in the projector and see if I can have it automatically default to HDMI as the only time I use something other then HDMI is for the on screen display of my surround receiver.

I have one of those x4 HDMI switcher, should the 880 work with it? It has a separate remote that came with it.

Do you have the Monoprice one? I know it works with the Monoprice one, cause that is what I have. Once programed, it was so totally seamless my wife and kids didn't even know we had a "switcher".

Lets see, I've had the 880 controlling,

X1 projector - since upgraded to Optima HD70
Motorola Voom Box for OTA HD - since dropped for HD Dishnetwork
SD Dishnetwork receiver - since dropped for HD dishnetwork
Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player - my main DVD player
H/K surround receiver
Monoprice HDMI switcher
Lutron wireless light switch (a great low cost, beneficial accessory to your room)
Of course it can't control my PS3, but I do have it set up to set everything up for the PS3, and then just have to pop a disc in the PS3.

I just got a Harmony 880, and I'm loving it. But when playing DVDs, the "pause" button is very unresponsive -- you have to really press down on it to get it to work, whereas all of the other buttons work with barely a tap. Do you think this is a flaw with the remote, or is there a quick fix? Thanks!

How old is it? Mine is several years old and I feel like the volume button takes more pressure then the rest. But I figure that is because it is one of the most used and just wearing out.