# Logitech Harmony 700



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

It looks like Logitech is finally making up for lost time in the remote arena. Yesterday, they showed the Harmony 700, which seems to slot in below the one and will probably replace some of the older, pre-Logitech inventory that's still out there.

Looks like they got some things right: color buttons are right there, and it looks like the standard rechargeable AA's can be charged through the USB port.

However, there's still no dedicated LIST button. Who does Logitech think buys a $180 remote. People without DVRs?

What remains to be seen, and this is all important stuff:

How many devices
How many activities (there are three hard activity buttons and a "more activities" button)
Macros, yes or no
IR Learning (probably yes, all the others have it)

I need a replacement for my trusty old 880. Neither the 900 nor the XSight make sense, so it's this or the "one."

Logitech's product page is here. The attached photo is from their page.

Let's see what we can dig up about this new remote!


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## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

Already a posting on CNET about it with an even nicer picture [Link].


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

That is a great picture but in this case it's not worth a thousand words. In light of the recent negative reviews of the XSight, I'm reserving judgment until I read a proper review.


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## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

Stuart Sweet said:


> That is a great picture but in this case it's not worth a thousand words. In light of the recent negative reviews of the XSight, I'm reserving judgment until I read a proper review.


I agree and I doubt it does native D* RF, even in the XSight limited ability.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Oh I'm sure it doesn't do any RF. But at least it's upfront about that. I expect this to be a replacement for the 600 series and also good for people who had an 880 but didn't use the full potential.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

Actually the pre-order price on the website as of now is $149.00 for the 700.


Stuart Sweet said:


>


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## JosephB (Nov 14, 2005)

UGH! I just decided to compromise on a Harmony One. I would have loved to gotten a 900 but couldn't justify the cost. I think this one would actually have been better for me than the One.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

I love the layout of this remote guys... It's the same as the Harmony One and 900! I'm pleased it seems to have more room around the color keys, as my Gigantor thumbs would have a problem with the spacing on the 900.

I just posted a somewhat trashy review of the XSight Touch in that thread, but this looks promising as an IR remote, assuming it supports multiple DVRs and also has macros. Gotta have macros!

As a DIRECTV remote, this would truly then be a great replacement for the white DIRECTV remote. Evey key is present except BACK, ACTIVE and FORMAT, so I'd add CC as a macro and place them on the soft-buttons. Perfect!


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## slimoli (Jan 28, 2005)

Steve

Is there anything else you don't like on the 900 besides the price ?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Not sure to whom the question is directed but for me, the 900 is too much remote. I don't need RF, but I do want macros which the 900 does not do. If the street price for this remote is about $150 as stated above, and if it does macros, learning and enough devices/activities for me, then it's a winner!


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

I've been testing this remote for awhile (and before anyone brings up NDA, we've been specifically told by Logitech what we can talk about now that it is announced) and I love it. It replaced a Harmony 880 remote, and I'm not looking back. Main limitations are that it only supports six devices, no RF, and the screen only supports four buttons (two on each side. However, given the number of hard buttons, I've found I rarely need to use the screen - especially for day-to-day use of the remote with my HR20/PS3/Apple TV/Roku. All-in-all, I would say Logitech has a fantastic remote on its hands - highly recommended.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Not sure to whom the question is directed but for me, the 900 is too much remote. I don't need RF, but I do want macros which the 900 does not do. If the street price for this remote is about $150 as stated above, and if it does macros, learning and enough devices/activities for me, then it's a winner!


Macro support is very basic in the Harmony line - basically, you can setup a sequence of commands and assign that to either a hard or soft button. For example, I have a sequence setup on my 700 that turns off the TV and sets my AV receiver to a 60-minute sleep window.

Now, the limitation with this is that you can only set 5 commands to a sequence, and sequences can't reference other sequences.

As far as I know, sequences should be available on the 900 - it is definitely available on the 700, 880, and 890.


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## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> ...Gotta have macros!...





Stuart Sweet said:


> ...I don't need RF, but I do want macros which the 900 does not do....


I'm not sure what your definition of a macro is, but I though all Harmony's have the ability to map multiple commands to a single button push - which would be my definition of a macro.

From the harmony FAQID=1142:


> Mapping multiple commands to a single is button is known as a Sequence.
> 
> To create a sequence, please follow these steps:
> 
> ...


I know that I've nested 2 sequences (7 or 8 commands) into another sequence. It's definitely 'kludgy', but it did do the trick for me. Depending on your needs, the 55 command limit per activity may still be a deal breaker.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

ahintz said:


> I've been testing this remote for awhile (and before anyone brings up NDA, we've been specifically told by Logitech what we can talk about now that it is announced) and I love it. It replaced a Harmony 880 remote, and I'm not looking back. Main limitations are that it only supports six devices, no RF, and the screen only supports four buttons (two on each side. However, given the number of hard buttons, I've found I rarely need to use the screen - especially for day-to-day use of the remote with my HR20/PS3/Apple TV/Roku. All-in-all, I would say Logitech has a fantastic remote on its hands - highly recommended.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.


A somewhat dumb question...Are the buttons plastic or rubber?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

ahintz said:


> If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.


Is there a limit to the number of activities?


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

ahintz said:


> I've been testing this remote for awhile (and before anyone brings up NDA, we've been specifically told by Logitech what we can talk about now that it is announced) and I love it. It replaced a Harmony 880 remote, and I'm not looking back. Main limitations are that it only supports six devices, no RF, and the screen only supports four buttons (two on each side. However, given the number of hard buttons, I've found I rarely need to use the screen - especially for day-to-day use of the remote with my HR20/PS3/Apple TV/Roku. All-in-all, I would say Logitech has a fantastic remote on its hands - highly recommended.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.


When you say the screen only supports 4 buttons is that at a time or period? Can you have multiple pages of 4 buttons?

This might work for me, having to give up on my hopes of RF I guess, but 
6 devices is a kind of low number, I'd need approx 8 for my setup to completely pack away all of my remotes.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> A somewhat dumb question...Are the buttons plastic or rubber?


They are rubbery - they aren't a hard plastic, but they aren't a full-on rubber. I find them very comfortable to use.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Is there a limit to the number of activities?


No - you can have as many activities as you want. There are four hard activity buttons at the top of the remote. You can assign three activities to the first three buttons. The fourth button brings up an activities list on the screen. Note that you can't order the activities on the screen - it shows the activities not assigned to a hard button first, but there is no way to tell it what order to list them in.



RunnerFL said:


> When you say the screen only supports 4 buttons is that at a time or period? Can you have multiple pages of 4 buttons?


You can have as many pages as you want - just four buttons per screen.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Hmmm, I really like the look of the remote and I like the buttons, alot. But it doesn't look like a $150 remote to me, more like $100. 

6 devices isn't very many, but would work in a couple of my set-ups. 

I will definitely look forward to seeing this remote released. (and hopefully in the $100 range)


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

dave29 said:


> But it doesn't look like a $150 remote to me, more like $100.


I was thinking the same thing but then when you consider that it's rechargeable you get the extra $50 back just in savings on batteries.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

RunnerFL said:


> I was thinking the same thing but then when you consider that it's rechargeable you get the extra $50 back just in savings on batteries.


Battery life has been great - I'm generally getting around two weeks on an overnight charge. There is a warning when the battery life is low, and when I have gotten the warning I have been able to continue to use it until I am done with the TV and can plug the remote in.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

RunnerFL said:


> I was thinking the same thing but then when you consider that it's rechargeable you get the extra $50 back just in savings on batteries.


That's true, when the 676's came out, I believe they could be had for around $100. So, this $150 price point don't seem too bad.


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## sean10780 (Oct 16, 2007)

It's up for order on amazon at the logitech website price of $149, it also says it's in stock.

Linky


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

ahintz said:


> If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.


One more question (thanks, you've been great!) can you learn IR codes from other remotes as other Harmony products have been able to do?


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> One more question (thanks, you've been great!) can you learn IR codes from other remotes as other Harmony products have been able to do?


Yup - no different from previous Harmony remotes.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

ahintz said:


> I've been testing this remote for awhile (and before anyone brings up NDA, we've been specifically told by Logitech what we can talk about now that it is announced) and I love it. It replaced a Harmony 880 remote, and I'm not looking back. Main limitations are that *it only supports six devices*, no RF, and the screen only supports four buttons (two on each side. However, given the number of hard buttons, I've found I rarely need to use the screen - especially for day-to-day use of the remote with my HR20/PS3/Apple TV/Roku. All-in-all, I would say Logitech has a fantastic remote on its hands - highly recommended.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.


Thanks for the information. Support for only six devices is kind of a bummer.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

steve053 said:


> I'm not sure what your definition of a macro is, but I though all Harmony's have the ability to map multiple commands to a single button push - which would be my definition of a macro.
> 
> From the harmony FAQID=1142:
> 
> I know that I've nested 2 sequences (7 or 8 commands) into another sequence. It's definitely 'kludgy', but it did do the trick for me. Depending on your needs, the 55 command limit per activity may still be a deal breaker.


I was questioning whether the new 700 had macro support. I've had Harmony remotes for years, and I know they're called sequences in Harmony parlance, but I just finished up a post on the XSight remote and had "macro" in my head. Harmony's new 900 remote does NOT support sequences, so it seemed natural to get confirmation that the700 DOES support them.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

ahintz - another question if you don't mind. Do the buttons make any noise when depressed? 

The XSight Color hard buttons have a very noticeable "click" sound, my old Harmony 520 hard plastic buttons have a noticeable "click" sound, but the rubber buttons have a much softer sound. My Harmony One hard plastic buttons are hardly audible. 

Thanks.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

ahintz said:


> Main limitations are that it only supports six devices, no RF, and the screen only supports four buttons


Only 6 devices and 4 buttons are probably deal breakers for me.

TV, DVR, DVR, BD, Receiver, VCR, WDTV.

I could probably go without the VCR since it's never used anyway, but I might be getting a Wii, so I'd be back to 7. And I hate having to switch screens for tweaking, so 4 is no where near enough. 6 would be liveable, but 8 is great.


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

steve053 said:


> I'm not sure what your definition of a macro is, but I though all Harmony's have the ability to map multiple commands to a single button push - which would be my definition of a macro.


By logitech's definition of sequences, the 900 and 1100 can't do them at all. They need to update their FAQ. Thankfully, sequences are back in 700. I was afraid we'd never see them again in a new model.

I'd love to know how you nested sequences on your harmony. I thought that was impossible (at least it is on my harmony). I could really use more than 5 steps on most of mine. The only way I've been able to break the 5 step limit is to program my long macros on another remote and teach the whole macro to the harmony as one raw learn.


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> Only 6 devices and 4 buttons are probably deal breakers for me.
> 
> TV, DVR, DVR, BD, Receiver, VCR, WDTV.
> 
> I could probably go without the VCR since it's never used anyway, but I might be getting a Wii, so I'd be back to 7. And I hate having to switch screens for tweaking, so 4 is no where near enough. 6 would be liveable, but 8 is great.


No universal will control your Wii, so you'd still be ok. PS3 or xbox is another story. Only 4 soft buttons does kind of suck though. I guess if they had more, that would have required a bigger screen and higher price.

Does anybody know if the 700 is backlit? Doesn't look like it.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> ahintz - another question if you don't mind. Do the buttons make any noise when depressed?
> 
> The XSight Color hard buttons have a very noticeable "click" sound, my old Harmony 520 hard plastic buttons have a noticeable "click" sound, but the rubber buttons have a much softer sound. My Harmony One hard plastic buttons are hardly audible.
> 
> Thanks.


The buttons make a fairly soft click sound. However, I had to mute my TV to hear the buttons make any sound. I hadn't noticed any sounds before while using it.



mdavej said:


> No universal will control your Wii, so you'd still be ok. PS3 or xbox is another story. Only 4 soft buttons does kind of suck though. I guess if they had more, that would have required a bigger screen and higher price.
> 
> Does anybody know if the 700 is backlit? Doesn't look like it.


Note that the remote does support multiple pages of soft buttons, and I've found that at least for my HR20 and PS3, I've been able to assign every button I use in the normal course of operation to a hard button.

The remote is backlit, although for some reason the top activity buttons are not backlit.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

mdavej said:


> By logitech's definition of sequences, the 900 and 1100 can't do them at all. They need to update their FAQ. Thankfully, sequences are back in 700. I was afraid we'd never see them again in a new model.
> 
> I'd love to know how you nested sequences on your harmony. I thought that was impossible (at least it is on my harmony). I could really use more than 5 steps on most of mine. The only way I've been able to break the 5 step limit is to program my long macros on another remote and teach the whole macro to the harmony as one raw learn.


I was surprised that the 900 can't do sequences, since physically the 900 looks very similar to the 700. However, the 700 definitely has the same sequence functionality as past Harmony remotes, like the 880/890.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> Thanks for the information. Support for only six devices is kind of a bummer.


I'm not sure why they decided to restrict the 700 like this. I would think 9-12 would be a better minimum number, since some people do have more devices. However, I think for the average consumer 6 should be fine - but for most of us 6 is either barely enough, or slightly too little.


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## djwww98 (Jan 12, 2006)

Pre-Order. Hmm. So does anyone know how long before they ship? Are we talking about a week or two, or a month or two, or what? :shrug:


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

spartanstew said:


> Only 6 devices and 4 buttons are probably deal breakers for me.
> 
> TV, DVR, DVR, BD, Receiver, VCR, WDTV.
> 
> I could probably go without the VCR since it's never used anyway, but I might be getting a Wii, so I'd be back to 7. And I hate having to switch screens for tweaking, so 4 is no where near enough. 6 would be liveable, but 8 is great.


The Wii doesn't have IR control anyway.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

The funny thing about the Wii is that you CAN add it as a device and the web software will also tell you it can't control it, but it's there so you can add an activity for it. 

You can actually get around this by creating a custom activity that uses ONLY the TV for video and AV system for sound (if that's your setup) so that the activity selects the correct inputs, and then just call it "Play Wii", so you wouldn't actually need the Wii as a device on the remote.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

ahintz said:


> The buttons make a fairly soft click sound. However, I had to mute my TV to hear the buttons make any sound. I hadn't noticed any sounds before while using it.


Thanks!


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## sp44 (Dec 2, 2005)

What is the point of this remote when you have the "One". I would rather get that for the same price.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm guessing the price differential would be about $50 when both are available at the discount web sites.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

sp44 said:


> What is the point of this remote when you have the "One". I would rather get that for the same price.


The 700 has dedicated color buttons, the One doesn't. For many that alone makes the 700 worthwhile, plus there is also a $50 retail price difference with the One being more expensive.








​


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## sp44 (Dec 2, 2005)

I can see the dedicated buttons being nice I guess but the 6 devices is not good.. The "One" is often priced now at $179.99 and refurbs for $127.


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## ahintz (Jan 14, 2007)

sp44 said:


> I can see the dedicated buttons being nice I guess but the 6 devices is not good.. The "One" is often priced now at $179.99 and refurbs for $127.


I was surprised how much of a difference the colored hard buttons made for controlling my HR20. While I had added a couple of the colored buttons to different hard buttons on my 880, I still had to use the soft buttons to access the other two. Because of the layout, they weren't necessarily convenient to where my hand was positioned, and I didn't use them a lot. Now, since my hand is usually positioned just below the colored buttons, I find myself using them regularly. And with the UI tweaks DirecTV has done to highlight how they can be used, it makes it even better.

It highlights one of the things I have really liked about the 700 is that Logitech seems to have put a lot of thought into making a well laid-out remote control - it really is one of the best universal remotes I've ever used. The only problem with it really is the 6-device limit. I imagine the price will be much closer to $100 in a few months.


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## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> I was questioning whether the new 700 had macro support. I've had Harmony remotes for years, and I know they're called sequences in Harmony parlance, but I just finished up a post on the XSight remote and had "macro" in my head. Harmony's new 900 remote does NOT support sequences, so it seemed natural to get confirmation that the700 DOES support them.


Yes, it does make sense. Not owning or investigating a Harmony 900 I had no idea it didnt' support macros/sequenses. I guess I just assumed that it 'should' as the 600 and 800 series remotes do.

Glad to hear that the 700 does support sequenses.


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

steve053 said:


> I know that I've nested 2 sequences (7 or 8 commands) into another sequence. It's definitely 'kludgy', but it did do the trick for me. Depending on your needs, the 55 command limit per activity may still be a deal breaker.


And how do you go about this? I would like to do it for the 11 key press CC on/off for my 622. I currently have an additional activity that turns CC on as part of the start sequence. But if we're watching something and want to turn on CC we have to wait for the start sequence to get CC up. I just tried and can find no way to make a sequence using sequences


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

You can try to learn multiple commands in raw mode as a single command. I have never gotten it to work but supposedly it can be done.


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> You can try to learn multiple commands in raw mode as a single command. I have never gotten it to work but supposedly it can be done.


I could never get it to work either. I do have a few sequences that work okay.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Until they have real macros I can't consider a Harmony. 

Besides, the Harmony doesn't do anything more then my MX-810. Although, it might be cheaper.

Mike


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

olguy said:


> I could never get it to work either. I do have a few sequences that work okay.


I've gotten a 14 step macro to work this way (raw learn). But long ones like that are only possible if you teach from a remote that can play back macros extremely fast. Only my extended JP1 remote can do it (those 14 steps play back in under a second). But we shouldn't have to resort to hacks like this. They should give us a reasonable number of steps. 5 is bad enough, but zero is unacceptable.


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## Thaedron (Jun 29, 2007)

Wow, very nice. 

I agree that a list button would be nice as would more than 6 devices, though the layout looks fantastic!


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Thaedron said:


> Wow, very nice.
> 
> I agree that a list button would be nice as would more than 6 devices, though the layout looks fantastic!


I have the One, which shares the same layout as the 700, and used the "[PAGE DOWN]" rocker key between Menu/Exit/Info/Guide for LIST. Others have used this PAGE DOWN key as BACK and the PAGE UP key for LIST, but either way, it's very handy.


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> I have the One, which shares the same layout as the 700, and used the "[PAGE DOWN]" rocker key between Menu/Exit/Info/Guide for LIST. Others have used this PAGE DOWN key as BACK and the PAGE UP key for LIST, but either way, it's very handy.


I have a One also. But I like the Page Down for changing pages on the List, Schedule, Timers and Guides. I put a soft key labeled List with a sequence that sends the DVR signal twice. Another soft key labeled DVR sends DVR once.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

olguy said:


> I have a One also. But I like the Page Down for changing pages on the List, Schedule, Timers and Guides. I put a soft key labeled List with a sequence that sends the DVR signal twice. Another soft key labeled DVR sends DVR once.


Yeah - a lot of people do it every differently. Since the CHANNEL UP and CHANNEL DOWN keys work as page keys within menus (Playlist, Guide, any menu), I didn't want to duplicate those commands on dedicated "page keys".


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> Yeah - a lot of people do it every differently. Since the CHANNEL UP and CHANNEL DOWN keys work as page keys within menus (Playlist, Guide, any menu), I didn't want to duplicate those commands on dedicated "page keys".


Thanks for that info. If I ever knew it my old pharte's CRS cleared it out of my brain when I was setting up the One.  I think I'll now get rid of the soft key and do it as you have done.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

olguy said:


> Thanks for that info. If I ever knew it my old pharte's CRS cleared it out of my brain when I was setting up the One.  I think I'll now get rid of the soft key and do it as you have done.


Well cool, glad I could help "expand" the number of keys on your One!


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## olguy (Jan 9, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> Well cool, glad I could help "expand" the number of keys on your One!


Remember that CRS I mentioned? The volume controls the volume on my Onkyo no matter what's on the screen. I always have the Onkyo on. As my 50 year old son says "damn it's fun bein' around old people." :lol:


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Personally I've decided that one of my next remotes will be a Harmony 700. I have a room with fewer than six devices and no need for DIRECTV RF so this seems like a great remote. I was considering a refurbed 880 for that room but I'm ready to put away the hinky charger for good.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

this is simply amazing...every time someone comes up with a new remote, there is something missing that makes it not good enough...and it's always something amazingly silly...

in this case: why the 6 device limit? what possible savings could be achieved by making this limit? what on Earth are they thinking?

I just want to bang my head against a wall...FRUSTRATING...


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

I picked up one of these remotes today at Best Buy for my mother, and really like it, but really wish it supported more devices. I didn't know it was rechargeable or backlit, so that was a nice surprise, but it's unfortunate the activity, Help and Off buttons don't light up. Also, the "Green" button shows up as white when lit, not even close to green. The recharging cable is also kind of difficult to insert - my mother will have some problems with it...

Finally, I feel kind of mislead. The pictures I've seen all show the four color buttons as being solid colors, from sides to top of the key. However, on the model I picked up the color buttons have black sides and only the small center of each key has the color. Has anyone ever picked up a 700 that looks like the following? If so, where did you get it and how do thes full-solid-color-keys look with the backlighting?

Note the black edges on the color keys in Picture B ...



(A) What I wanted (below)|(B) What I got instead (below)







|


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I think the solid-color buttons were some sort of prototype. I have also seen the 700 in person and the big issue with the color buttons is that the green one isn't very green. In fact when it's backlit it's almost white.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I think the solid-color buttons were some sort of prototype. I have also seen the 700 in person and the big issue with the color buttons is that the green one isn't very green. In fact when it's backlit it's almost white.


not only that, but the blue isn't very blue, either...I'm not color-blind, but I can't go by looking at them...now I know that the green is second from the left and the blue is all the way on the right...it's hard to tell by just looking at the color, especially is a dimly lit basement...

if not for the 6-device limit, this is the perfect remote for me...I put a report about switching from the 676 to this remote last week on the AVS forum...


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Question for owners:
How well does the 700 sit on a solid flat surface? I have an 880 and like how it sits flat very nice. I don't hold my remote like a normal user due to my disability, so I keep my 880 on a desk and sits nicely without rocking sideways. Also, are the buttons easily pressed? I like the 880s plastic number keys & DVR function keys, but find the channel & navigation disc slightly difficult.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

From the time I've spent playing with the 700, it sits ok on a desk but the front is a lot thinner than the back. Therefore, it slants forward a little bit. I had no problems with the buttons and found them easier to find and to press than on a Harmony One.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

sigma1914 said:


> Question for owners:
> How well does the 700 sit on a solid flat surface? I have an 880 and like how it sits flat very nice. I don't hold my remote like a normal user due to my disability, so I keep my 880 on a desk and sits nicely without rocking sideways. Also, are the buttons easily pressed? I like the 880s plastic number keys & DVR function keys, but find the channel & navigation disc slightly difficult.


it has a high bottom and low top, so it sits pointing down on the table like a sports car...I'll have to check to see if it rocks sideways...it's not something I noticed...

I like the buttons...the play and pause click a little when you press them...they feel right...they are not too sensitive, you have to make a pressing motion to press them, so no chance of accidental click but you will get the occasional "non-click"...


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback!


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> I picked up one of these remotes today at Best Buy for my mother, and really like it, but really wish it supported more devices. I didn't know it was rechargeable or backlit, so that was a nice surprise, but it's unfortunate the activity, Help and Off buttons don't light up. Also, the "Green" button shows up as white when lit, not even close to green. The recharging cable is also kind of difficult to insert - my mother will have some problems with it...
> 
> Finally, I feel kind of mislead. The pictures I've seen all show the four color buttons as being solid colors, from sides to top of the key. However, on the model I picked up the color buttons have black sides and only the small center of each key has the color. Has anyone ever picked up a 700 that looks like the following? If so, where did you get it and how do thes full-solid-color-keys look with the backlighting?
> 
> Note the black edges on the color keys in Picture B ...


Thanks for the "mini review" Drew.

The color buttons set-up like that aren't a deal breaker for me. I will probably go out this weekend and see if I can find this remote somewhere.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

sigma1914 said:


> Question for owners:
> How well does the 700 sit on a solid flat surface? I have an 880 and like how it sits flat very nice. I don't hold my remote like a normal user due to my disability, so I keep my 880 on a desk and sits nicely without rocking sideways. Also, are the buttons easily pressed? I like the 880s plastic number keys & DVR function keys, but find the channel & navigation disc slightly difficult.


checked on the sideways motion...sorry, but it will rock sideways...the top of the remote is flat but the bottom is "rounder"...so while it will not rock too much, it will do so a little bit...if you want a completely flat remote, this is not it...


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

FYI... Best Buy has the 700 on sale for $149.99 this week.


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

RunnerFL said:


> FYI... Best Buy has the 700 on sale for $149.99 this week.


I believe that's list price. Buy.com has it for $134 shipped, and Amazon has it for $140.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

After playing with the 700 now for a while, I finally figured out what was bothering me about the layout and re-mapped the buttons to fix it...

if you have and use the DirecTV remote in another room, you're going to have trouble...on the DirecTV peanut, you have:

the skip/slip button is on top of the FF
the repeat (skip back) button is on top or Rewind

this is the opposite of the 700 (FF is on top of skip forward and rewind is on top of skip back).

the DirecTV layout makes more sense (or maybe I'm just more used to it)...I kept pressing the wrong thing on the 700...so I remapped the 700 to match the layout of the DirecTV peanut...


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## 430970 (Nov 21, 2005)

What are people using for the LIST button who have this remote?

I'm guessing mapping something

I also noticed there's no "BACK" or "ACTIVE" (shudder) buttons. Do people just put those on the screen/soft buttons for "Watch TV"?


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

jcricket said:


> What are people using for the LIST button who have this remote?
> 
> I'm guessing mapping something
> 
> I also noticed there's no "BACK" or "ACTIVE" (shudder) buttons. Do people just put those on the screen/soft buttons for "Watch TV"?


Here's how I have my LCD screen laid out:



Active | Format
< Back | C.C.

C.C. is a Sequence (YELLOW, DOWN, SELECT)

I have LIST mapped to the "page down" key in the center of the Menu/Info/Exit/Guide keys.

On the "page up" key I mapped a sequence for Manage Recordings (MENU, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, SELECT)

I've been using this layout for a while and it works great!


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

jcricket said:


> What are people using for the LIST button who have this remote?
> 
> I'm guessing mapping something
> 
> I also noticed there's no "BACK" or "ACTIVE" (shudder) buttons. Do people just put those on the screen/soft buttons for "Watch TV"?


I never use the prev button and I like where it is next to the action buttons (play, rewind, FF...etc.)...so prev is mapped to List...works great...


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> Here's how I have my LCD screen laid out:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


isn't CC (yelllow, down, down, select)?

what does active do?

I have button 1 doing the manage recordings (I call it ToDo)
then button 3 gets you to prioritizer...

so to get to ToDo, I just press button 1 then select...to get to prioritizer, I press button 1 then button 3


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

Drew's CC sequence picks yellow CC text. Another down picks white CC text. I've got my mute button programmed to do mute plus the CC sequence. I never use active or back (is that identical to left arrow?).

And never upgrade to a harmony 900 or 1100. They can't do sequences at all.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

anubys said:


> isn't CC (yelllow, down, down, select)?
> 
> what does active do?
> 
> ...


Yup - I labeled the soft key "CC" but I like the Subtitle option. Sorry for any confusion there.

ACTIVE brings up the interactive "channel", same as on the original DIRECTV remote. I never use it, but it's there if I want it some day.


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## 430970 (Nov 21, 2005)

Thanks Drew - very helpful. We'll see what makes most sense when I get it. Given I'm not the only person using it, I think I'll map list on the screen (easy to tell someone to push the button when the word is right there). Maybe not even map active, since accidentally pushing it is about the only time I've ever hit that. 

If you don't remap, what does the rocker switch do?


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

jcricket said:


> If you don't remap, what does the rocker switch do?


The default action for the rocker switch in the HR20 setup is "page up"/"page down", which is really "channel up"/"channel down". I immediately removed that from both the device and the activity settings because I thought it was dangerous to have an unlabeled key serving as a channel up/down key, as it would have been too easy for someone to accidentally tune away from the current channel!


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

what's a rocker switch?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

A single switch that goes up or down and then returns to center, like the channel up/down button.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> A single switch that goes up or down and then returns to center, like the channel up/down button.


where is that on the 700?


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

anubys said:


> where is that on the 700?


Every tall skinny button that has one function at the top and another at the bottom like the Ch button Stuart mentioned. Other examples are the Vol button, Play/Pause, up/down, etc. I think Drew is talking specifically about the button with the up and down arrows below the LCD and above the row of colored buttons, between Menu and Info. I'd probably make it DirectionUp/DirectionDown to prevent accidental channel changes like Drew said. If you do that, it could be used to activate double-play.


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

mdavej said:


> Every tall skinny button that has one function at the top and another at the bottom like the Ch button Stuart mentioned. Other examples are the Vol button, Play/Pause, up/down, etc. I think Drew is talking specifically about the button with the up and down arrows below the LCD and above the row of colored buttons, between Menu and Info. I'd probably make it DirectionUp/DirectionDown to prevent accidental channel changes like Drew said. If you do that, it could be used to activate double-play.


ah...yep...changed those to directionup, directiondown as soon as I saw them...


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I programmed that rocker to be FF/RW. I liked the big ^ and v buttons on the 880 and I like that FF and RW are easy to find that way.


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