Logitech Harmony 890 Advanced Universal Remote - 966193-0403 - Top Seller! - Refurbished

After years of using my favorite universal remote, the MX-500, I decided it was time to move up to something better. The biggest problem with my old remote was that it wasn't "stateful". By that I mean that it didn't remember which devices were on or off. This made it difficult to program macros to switch between devices, or even turn everything in my AV system off with a single click. THE GOOD: The Harmony 890 does a great job of solving this problem. Once you program the remote, it asks you to turn off every device in your system. After that, it always knows what it has turned on or off. This is the single best feature of the remote. At last a single "Watch Tivo" button will turn all the appropriate components on or off regardless of what I as doing before. The other feature that I really like about this remote is the tilt glow sensor. You can set the remote to turn on the backlighting whenever you grab it. That's a lot more convenient than trying to find the "glow" button in a darkened room. The online programming is pretty nice since you can save an hour of pointing each of your old remotes at the Harmony to program it. It wasn't the most important feature for me, but I can see how it might be for people that are intimidated or annoyed by having to program a universal remote. The RF transmitter is nice for custom home theater setups or multi-room use, but that didn't apply to me so I can't comment on that feature. THE BAD: As much as a I wanted to love this remote, I just couldn't get past the terrible usability. The directional pad and "OK" button are in the perfect position on this remote. Everything starts to go downhill from there. The volume and channel buttons are in a decent position, but a little on the small side. The mute button is too much of a stretch for one-handed operation. This brings me to the menu/guide/play/pause/ff/rew cluster. These buttons are in a terrible position with the worst layout. In order to use these buttons, you have to reposition the remote in your hand to hold the very bottom of it. Even then, it doesn't feel very natural. And if you want to go back to the directional pad, you have to readjust the way you hold the remote. If you are a regular Tivo user, you will instantly hate the Harmony 890 just because of this. It's like going from touch-typing to "hunt and peck". Conclusion: Logitech spent too much time making this remote look sleek and not enough time making it usable. Some people might be willing to put up with this annoyance for the other conveniences of the remote. Just ask youself this: When you are paying this much money for a remote control, should you really have to put up with anything?
 
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This remote is great!!! The set up is a cinch, but you can take it steps further and program the remote to anything you want it to do. Great product if you have a home theatre and would like to eliminate all of your remotes. i would definitely buy this again.
 
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I replaced my expensive Universal Remote MX-800 with this Logitech 890. I should have done it a long time ago! It's half the price of the MX-800, and it just as reliable, if not more.
 
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The Harmony 890 Universal Remote Controller does an excellent job of allowing me to better control the operation of my equipment. The MACRO commands allow you to control a group of components with the touch of a single button. The only down-side is that it took some time to enter my equipment information and to get everything properly set up over my 56k dial-up connection. Although I am still experimenting with the controller, the one thing I wish for is greater control over the naming of the MACRO setups. Once the device has been programmed it makes the operation of your equipment a snap.
 
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I think you should include this with every home surround system. The best remote I have ever used.
 
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Once programed it worked flawlessly, Programming may take 15min. to a couple of hours depending on what equipment you need to control.
 
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