wanted to know if anyone has one they like...i am looking for one to use with my TV, receiver, dvd player, and dvr cable box.

1/4/2006 1:44:24 AM

Logitech Harmony

1/4/2006 1:50:32 AM

I have a Fosgate MX500, and it's decent. Before I knew any better I really liked it. It's big and clunky and doesn't do anything much more than the basic functions and a few macros, but it is very programmable (although not from a PC), and gets the job done. I would recommend it if you're looking for something on the cheap (I think I paid ~$65 for mine).

But then last month I picked up a Harmony 880. I have to say I'm pretty impressed. The button placement takes quite a bit of getting used to and the battery life isn't the greatest (You'll most likely have to charge it around once a week or two) but the features are amazing.

It has a web interface to do the programming. All your settings are stored on the logitech website so you don't have to worry about saving codes and whatnot.

The coolest part about the Harmony is instead of macros, it has Activities. So like for me if I want to play xbox 360 I press the button that says "Play xbox 360" and it turns on the xbox 360, my projector, my receiver, and my game selector and turns them all to the correct inputs. Then if I want to watch DVR, I hit the DVR button and it knows that I'm already using my projector and receiver, so it leaves them on, shuts off the xbox and the game selector, turns on my cable box and switches the inputs on the projector and receiver to display the signal from the cable box. And then when you hit the power off button, it knows which devices are in use and turns them all off. With the MX500, there was no way to do something that complex with just macros. And programming activities takes less than a minute.

1/4/2006 2:27:49 AM

^i was thinking about getting one of those just for the coolness factor, but my setup doesn't justify something like that...

[Edited on January 4, 2006 at 8:34 AM. Reason : typo]

1/4/2006 8:34:26 AM

Quote :

"Logitech Harmony"

no doubt...i got one for christmas, the one made for the xbox360

all you need is the model numbers of your tv, cd player, dvd, etc...put the model numbers in, plug remote to USB, upload codes, go!

1/4/2006 11:31:39 AM

Harmony 880 most def.

I've had one since they first came out and i use it to control my lighting, ceiling fan, xbox 360, DVD player, TV, and DVR...it is very very easy to use, pretty simple to set up. Looks great, and the charger is an excellent design. instead of just leaving your remotes laying around and misplacing it between the sofa coushins, you can just lay it on the charger out of the way. I definitly recommend it.

$249 retail but if you find someone at best buy to buy it for you its $149

1/4/2006 11:38:46 AM

If you can't afford the 880 i'd get the 628, it will do all the same things generally but at a much lower price and no color screen . Definitely Harmony though.

1/5/2006 8:23:34 PM

Today I returned my 880 and replaced it with this.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/detailsharmony/US/EN,CRID=2084,CONTENTID=11250

Which is the slightly larger (with 8 extra buttons) version of the newly introduced 520.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/detailsharmony/US/EN,CRID=2084,CONTENTID=10929

Overall I'd have to say I'm MUCH more happier with the new remote than I was with the 880. The factor that really sealed the deal was the battery life. In the end what it came down to was for me, If I had kept the 880 I would have been spending an additional $130 for a color LCD with 8 buttons, instead of a monochrome LCD with 4. But to make up for the smaller LCD, the new version has 8 extra face buttons, and a MUCH better button layout. Plus I could literally buy two of the new remotes for the price of one of the 880s. My advice would be, unless you can get a really good deal on buying an 880, I'd stick with one of the lower end Harmonys. The color LCD just isn't anything special, and it's certainly not worth putting up with paying double and having to deal with the less than friendly button layout.

1/9/2006 6:48:20 PM