Harmony 650 universal remote

[FrogMan]

We just upgraded to HD and got a Samsung kit that includes a 46" ACL TV, blu-ray player and home theater receiver. Every component, including the cable company's DVR, connect into the home theater receiver and its remote is able to control about everything, but not the DVR. Inversely, the DVR's remote cannot control volume anymore, since it's now on the home theater receiver and not on the TV anymore.

I was thinking about getting a Harmony 650 universal remote control, mostly because it is somewhat affordable at sub 100 price point, so I'm turning to the global knowledge base of FOFC.

Does anybody have any experience with this remote and if so, how would you rate it?

FM

[cartman]

It depends on the total number of devices you want it to control. My aunt got a Harmony 700 (I'm pretty sure that was the model) and she had more devices than the limit, which was 6. I have the Xbox specific Harmony, and it works like a champ.

But the setup is dead simple. You download an app that has just about every conceivable device in its database. As long as you have the model numbers of all of your devices, it shouldn't take more than about 15-20 minutes to get everything set up.

As a point of comparison, I used to use a Philips Pronto Pro. It was insanely complicated to setup, super expensive, and I finally got fed up with tinkering with it.

[FrogMan]

It depends on the total number of devices you want it to control. My aunt got a Harmony 700 (I'm pretty sure that was the model) and she had more devices than the limit, which was 6. I have the Xbox specific Harmony, and it works like a champ.

But the setup is dead simple. You download an app that has just about every conceivable device in its database. As long as you have the model numbers of all of your devices, it shouldn't take more than about 15-20 minutes to get everything set up.

yeah, I know about the device limit. It's 5 for the 650 and 6 for the 700 I think. Right now we got four (TV, HT, Blu-Ray, cable DVR). That number will probably go up to 5 when I add our DVD recorder which is currently hooked to another TV (with our non-HD recorder). If I were to go up to 6 devices, I'd probably have one that I would use so infrequently that I would just live with its own remote.

And yeah again, everything I've read about it make it seems like it's insanely easy to set up. I've already checked and our DVR is supported. All the Samsung things are too, but I expected them. We're in Quebec with a Quebec cable company, so the DVR was what had me a bit nervous...

Thanks for the input.

FM

[Alan T]

I use a lower end Harmony 520 and have it working great with:

Cable Box, TV, Xbox, AV receiver and PopCorn Hour media streamer.

No problems at all really and love it. I've been planning on getting more Harmony remotes for other rooms in the future.

[jeff061]

I got one for my father, he loves it and has in turn bought them for his friends.

[Tasan]

I have a 510 and I wouldn't trade anything for it. My brother in law has a ONE and he loves his too. I'm planning on getting something like the 650 for both my dad and my other brother in law for Christmas. They are really simple to program, and the macro function makes getting things like tuners, the tv, and the dvd player all turned on and to the correct settings a snap.

[wade moore]

I forget my exact model, but I LOVE it. Especially with the XBox being my DVD player and using it for Netflix, it's amazing not having to use the stupid xbox controller.

I only have the TV, DVR, and XBox actually controlled by it - but it is insanely easy to setup and works beautifully.

[FrogMan]

thanks for your input guys, you're going exactly the way I thought it'd be. I'm sold on getting one and as crazy as this may be, my wife is simply saying "yeah, it might be a good idea" when she's the one abso-frigging-lutely scared of the fact that we have so many remotes right now. Yeah, we basically only use two, but the whole installation yesterday brought in three new Samsung remotes and the one for the DVR... She'll probably get around to realize it's probably a VERY good idea when I say that many of "my friends from that message boards" say it's super awesome and user friendly. :)

FM

[lordscarlet]

I forget my exact model, but I LOVE it. Especially with the XBox being my DVD player and using it for Netflix, it's amazing not having to use the stupid xbox controller.

I only have the TV, DVR, and XBox actually controlled by it - but it is insanely easy to setup and works beautifully.

The 880. It's the same one I have. And it looks like there's not a huge price difference, and I believe it's a step up from the 650. You might want to look into it. Like Wade, I love it and couldn't live without it. I only have 4 devices (tv, receiver, dvd player, TiVo) but I don't BELIEVE there is a device limit.

[BillJasper]

I have the 510 and love it. Controls my TV, Cable box/DVR, A/V Receiver and SD DVD player. My PS3 isn't controlled by it because I already had the PS3 remote.

The only downside I notice is that it really goes through batteries.

[lordscarlet]

I have the 510 and love it. Controls my TV, Cable box/DVR, A/V Receiver and SD DVD player. My PS3 isn't controlled by it because I already had the PS3 remote.

The only downside I notice is that it really goes through batteries.

I have never had to replace mine on the 880.. it has a charger and I don't even remember what kind of batteries it takes.

[cartman]

The 880, like my Xbox Harmony, is discontinued.

[dawgfan]

I have the Harmony One and I love it - makes things dead-simple. The best part is how easy it is to set up macros for the various things I want to do (use the Xbox, use the PS3, watch TV off the cable box, etc), and it means the wife doesn't have to learn how everything is connected - she just uses the touch-screen to select the activity she wants.

Looks like the 650 doesn't have the touch screen, but as long as you can still program macros and have a single button press to activate any of those activities, it's a big win.

[Sun Tzu]

Might have to pick one of these bad boys up when we (eventually) get our house.

[dawgfan]

Failed dola -

The only downside to the Harmony I have (and I think it's the case with most/all of them) is that you'll have to buy an add-on bluetooth adapter for $60 if you have a PS3. Everything else runs off of infrared except for the PS3.

[Sun Tzu]

Failed dola -

The only downside to the Harmony I have (and I think it's the case with most/all of them) is that you'll have to buy an add-on bluetooth adapter for $60 if you have a PS3. Everything else runs off of infrared except for the PS3.

I read about this actually. Amazon has it for $40 out the door, w/ free shipping. Which isn't terrible, considering that a PS3 controller costs more than that anyway.

[RainMaker]

I'm not sure my exact model, but they are nice. My only gripe so far is that it doesn't seem to work all that well with the 360. Not sure if that's a Harmony issue or 360 issue.

[FrogMan]

well, we bought our 650 this afternoon and after spending maybe all of 25 tiny minutes to pick our four devices and set them up, I just tested it and OH YEAH! One remote to control them all. :)

I'm sure I'll go back and will adjust some of the programmed buttons but for now, it does just what I want which was have sound, DVD control and channels (including DVR) on one remote. As I said, I'll probably think of some more user friendly use for the four colored buttons and then I'll go back to set them up.

Thanks anyone for your inputs. Now, if anybody searches for "Harmony remote" on FOFC, they'll have something to read... :)

FM

[Passacaglia]

bump

I'm looking at getting a universal remote. Amazon has the 650 for $70, the 700 for $80, and the One for $155. Does the One have anything on the 700 besides supporting 15 devices, instead of 6? If that's the only improvement, it doesn't seem worth it. Right now, I'm planning to use it for:

TV
Dish Network DVR
DVD player
Roku box
Maybe the computer, but I'm not sure what I would have it do
Maybe our old VCR, if we ever get that hooked up

Are there other things that I could use the remote for, that I'm just not thinking of? Or anything else to make the One worth it?

Thanks!

[tyketime]

bump

I'm looking at getting a universal remote. Amazon has the 650 for $70, the 700 for $80, and the One for $155. Does the One have anything on the 700 besides supporting 15 devices, instead of 6? If that's the only improvement, it doesn't seem worth it. Right now, I'm planning to use it for:

TV
Dish Network DVR
DVD player
Roku box
Maybe the computer, but I'm not sure what I would have it do
Maybe our old VCR, if we ever get that hooked up

Are there other things that I could use the remote for, that I'm just not thinking of? Or anything else to make the One worth it?

Thanks!

Pass: My Cable/Tivo is hooked up through surround sound, so I think my Harmony controls my receiver. That could either be a 7th device, or take the place of the computer or VCR.

[gstelmack]

The problem with the lower-end Harmony remotes is they have the same soft rubber buttons that the low-end cordless phones do, and they wear out after a year or two. You'll get where you have to start mashing the buttons just right to get them to go.

My Harmony One has lasted several years now, including kids using it, without skipping a beat. Plus it's rechargable. Worth every penny compared to the low-end ones.

[Passacaglia]

So I got a 650, and it's working pretty well. My only problems (so far) are that if I want to control the Roku, I have to select devices, then Roku. Is there a way that it can figure out that I want to control the roku if I selected an activity that uses it?

Also, is there a way to assign one button a sort of macro of a bunch of buttons? I have to hit at least 5 buttons to turn closed captioning on and off while watching my DVR, and I'd like to make that just 1 button.

[gstelmack]

So I got a 650, and it's working pretty well. My only problems (so far) are that if I want to control the Roku, I have to select devices, then Roku. Is there a way that it can figure out that I want to control the roku if I selected an activity that uses it?

In general that's part of the web programming software, you can change any button to send any command to any device. I haven't run the app in a while so I don't remember where precisely it is, but you can customize each activity in this way.

[Passacaglia]

Thanks! I managed to get that part settled -- I was using the web software to control it, then I figured out how to download software to control it.

My only (minor) annoyance now is that the macros are limited to 5 actions. Since it takes me 11 button presses to turn on or off the captions then exit out of everything, I have to use 2 buttons, then still hit exit one last time. It's definitely better than before, but it's still annoying that with all this advanced technology, I still have to hit 3 buttons.

[PilotMan]

35 bucks for the next 30 minutes.

http://1saleaday.com/