# Logitech Harmony Remote



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

Will this remote work with the hr20-700 and a sony blu ray?

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harm...r_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285645760&sr=8-2


----------



## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Yes, it will, very well.

The Harmony One is a dynamite remote.


----------



## johnp37 (Sep 14, 2006)

The Harmony One will work with with anything you want it to.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

cool i know it's expensive but it's hard to find a remote that will work with everything i have....esp the hd dvr. i have like 5 remotes sitting here on the couch with me and i'm sick of the mess lol


----------



## johnp37 (Sep 14, 2006)

gregftlaud said:


> cool i know it's expensive but it's hard to find a remote that will work with everything i have....esp the hd dvr. i have like 5 remotes sitting here on the couch with me and i'm sick of the mess lol


 Well worth it. You won't regret it. Set up the online account, enter all your components and follow all prompts carefully.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Any Harmony remote is worth it. I love my 900, 880 and Xbox360 models.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

gregftlaud said:


> cool i know it's expensive but it's hard to find a remote that will work with everything i have....esp the hd dvr. i have like 5 remotes sitting here on the couch with me and i'm sick of the mess lol


Of all the harmony models mentioned so far, the 360 is my personal favorite and the biggest bang for the buck. They can still be found for about $40 on ebay and elsewhere (I got all mine for $29 each a while back). I have a 700 as well ($68 on sale), but my kids prefer the 360. Of course my $5 JP1 remotes work just as well (my personal preference due to speed and flexibility) and will control absolutely any device, including all 8 HR2x addresses without learning (unlike harmony).

You may be tempted to get the $40 Harmony 300. Unless your needs are very basic, don't do it. Although it will control any device in the harmony database just like every other harmony, it can only have one activity macro which is a fatal flaw IMO.


----------



## MartyS (Dec 29, 2006)

the only thing I don't like about the Harmony One is that it doesn't have the color buttons R/G/B/Y. You have to use up real estate on the LCD for that. I got a 650 for $99 at Best Buy and it replaced my one.

I love the fact that I don't have to keep it in the charger and it has everything I want in a remote... and my wife can even use it.


----------



## eatswodo (Nov 20, 2005)

I recently picked up a 700 at Costco for $97 - it replaced a well-used 550, which has been reprogramed for the upstairs setup. 

The 700 is a very nice upgrade, and has the 4 colour buttons. Ergonomically, much nicer - and Harmony's setup and programing routine is just superb.


----------



## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

With all of the fan-boi responses, I need to chime in. I bought a Harmony 1 last Christmas. This was a replacement for a long progression 550, 880, 990, etc of Harmony remotes. I thought this was going to be the ultimate remote, but what a mistake. The unit started to act up almost immediately. It kept resetting itself. I contacted Harmony and after a lot of trouble shooting, was sent a replacement. Within two days, the replacemet started doing the same thing. My account was then taken over by a specialist and we tried to work through the problems. Reprogramming, different configurations, special sw, etc, but the problem kept reoccuring. After two weeks of daily phone calls (sometimes 3-4 calls a day), they sent me a third unit. This third unit didn't even go 4 hours before it also started to act up. The problem as I could best determine was a problem with the charging station (new one every replacemet) and also with the SW that forced a complete reset if any minor interruption of power occurred. There should never be a power interruptin if on AC. The symptom was as if the battery was removed. Harmony finally decided to give me a Harmony 1100 with full RF control as a replacemt. The ergonomics (table top instead of hand held) are not to my liking, but it does work. I do know that I was not the only one with this problem as a web search showed multiple users having the same symptoms. Even Harmony's tech forum had several users with the same symptoms that I had. I'm not sure if Harmoiny has ever fixed this problem as I stopped following the forums after I got the 1100. The 1100 is nice, but if I could be guaranteed they fixed their problem, I would go back to the hand held form factor instantly.

Bob


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Love my Harmony 900, but the touch screen sometimes "touches" when I just move my hand near it, and sometimes I have to smash my finger into it, to get it to accept. Very odd. Dont like the touchscreen. Rest of the remote is great.


----------



## lugnutathome (Apr 13, 2009)

I will add a vote for the 700 as well.

I have a One and an 880 in addition to a 700 and though the eye candy on the One is cool I don't like the touch screen as it does sometimes go off unexpectedly and emit a command unintended. If they added the color buttons as on the 700 I might like it better.

Overall I like the 700 best. Would be really nice if it handled more the 6 devices though.

My 880 is set up such that its left side display button array controls the systems in my video game room and the right side my workout room but it's FF/RW/play/pause/stop key layout is awkward whereas bth the One and 700 are very intuitive.

Ideally they would make a "770" with the 700 base, add one more line of buttons to the screen display and give it a 15 device limit.

Don "I'd be in my bunk" Bolton


eatswodo said:


> I recently picked up a 700 at Costco for $97 - it replaced a well-used 550, which has been reprogramed for the upstairs setup.
> 
> The 700 is a very nice upgrade, and has the 4 colour buttons. Ergonomically, much nicer - and Harmony's setup and programing routine is just superb.


----------



## larryah (Jul 29, 2010)

I have had a Harmony One for about nine months, and have never had a problem of any kind with it. Works with all me equipment, and I never have to use my other remotes.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

The big questions is......and alot of remotes dont allow u to do this...............i use an audio receiver for my sound and i did that trick programming on my hr20-700 remote so whatever electronic device i'm using (ie dvd, hr20, roku player) the remote is programmed so that the volume button is set to control the audio receiver no need to keep switching back and forth from av1, av2, to control volume

So can you program the harmony so that the volume button controls your audio receiver no matter what electronic device you are using or do you have to click onto the audio receiver on the lcd screen everytime u want to change the volume on from the harmony?


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

gregftlaud said:


> The big questions is......and alot of remotes dont allow u to do this...............i use an audio receiver for my sound and i did that trick programming on my hr20-700 remote so whatever electronic device i'm using (ie dvd, hr20, roku player) the remote is programmed so that the volume button is set to control the audio receiver no need to keep switching back and forth from av1, av2, to control volume
> 
> So can you program the harmony so that the volume button controls your audio receiver no matter what electronic device you are using or do you have to click onto the audio receiver on the lcd screen everytime u want to change the volume on from the harmony?


You'll get what you want. Harmony sets up "Activities," like Watch Roku. It'll change all tv/av inputs you need and allow volume control for your stereo.


----------



## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

gregftlaud said:


> The big questions is......and alot of remotes dont allow u to do this...............i use an audio receiver for my sound and i did that trick programming on my hr20-700 remote so whatever electronic device i'm using (ie dvd, hr20, roku player) the remote is programmed so that the volume button is set to control the audio receiver no need to keep switching back and forth from av1, av2, to control volume
> 
> So can you program the harmony so that the volume button controls your audio receiver no matter what electronic device you are using or do you have to click onto the audio receiver on the lcd screen everytime u want to change the volume on from the harmony?


Yes you can. You define an "activity" of say "Watch Directv". In that activity you can define any of the buttons to do pretty much any of the commands from any of your devices. So if you want the volume and mute to be the receivers, you simply assign the volume buttons in the "Watch Directv" activity to be the receiver's volume/mute.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

gregftlaud said:


> The big questions is......and alot of remotes dont allow u to do this...............i use an audio receiver for my sound and i did that trick programming on my hr20-700 remote so whatever electronic device i'm using (ie dvd, hr20, roku player) the remote is programmed so that the volume button is set to control the audio receiver no need to keep switching back and forth from av1, av2, to control volume
> 
> So can you program the harmony so that the volume button controls your audio receiver no matter what electronic device you are using or do you have to click onto the audio receiver on the lcd screen everytime u want to change the volume on from the harmony?


Actually, most universal remotes have the volume punch thru or volume lock you describe. It's hard to find one that doesn't.


----------



## SteveInNC (Oct 8, 2007)

While some parts of Logitech setup are pretty obscure, doing volume control is very straightforward. After you tell the site all of the devices you have connected, you then set up an activity, like Watch TV. As part of the process, the site recognizes that you have several potential volume controls, such as an AVR, the TV itself, etc. and it will ask you specifically which device is used to control volume for this activity (usually via radio buttons showing the available candidate devices). It also asks you which input to set the TV to, which input to set the AVR to, etc.

When you actually use the remote, unlike other remotes that have straight macro capability, the Harmonys maintain state information about each device, so that the remote already knows that you were just watching a DVD and as a result that the TV and AVR are on, so it skips executing the step that would normally power those devices on, and simply sets the appropriate inputs on them for the next activity. A side-effect of this is that you need to use the remote to turn things on and off. If you (for example) turn off the TV by it's power button, the Harmony will still think that it's on, and will "forget" to turn it on if you select another TV-related activity.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

Is the Harmony an IR or RF remote?

Also a couple of more things......

I have a Roku netflix player but when i went to the logitech harmony remote website to see what devices it supports i didnt see that one.

Also I have a Panasonic Viera 50" tv. The remote has a Viera cast button on it to get to the apps like amazon on demand etc. I looked at the Harmony Remote and it doesnt have a button even similar to that so to get to my Tv's Viera Cast app's would i still need to use my tv remote?

Thanks


----------



## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

Harmony remotes are IR. There are a few RF models, but these act more like an IR extender and communicate with an emitter that sends IR to the receiver.

You could always use a programmable button for Viera Cast (any of the buttons could be re-assigned). If it isn't in the list of available commands, the Harmony could learn from your existing remote.


----------



## UhClem (Oct 1, 2009)

Nobody should buy a Harmony Remote ...

without first "consulting" the resource available at http://www.harmony-remote-forum.de/harmony_compare.php?lang=en .

And, as either further research, or as a vital "OK, I bought it, now how do I *exploit* it" resource, you want to read "Bev's Harmony FAQ". Sorry, no link *here* (per author's request) but it *is* linked at the end of the introductory paragraph of the above link. [Or, you can google >bevs harmony faq<]

I guarantee that you *will* learn mucho.

And, to Greg: don't overlook the "Maximum # of devices" when deciding on which model of Harmony to purchase.

-- UhClem

"Life is such monotony,
without a good lobotomy." --RH


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

Oh so basically when i go in to program what tv i'm using there will be an option there to re-program one of the buttons on the remote to activate viera cast?


----------



## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

gregftlaud said:


> Oh so basically when i go in to program what tv i'm using there will be an option there to re-program one of the buttons on the remote to activate viera cast?


Yes. There are two areas of interest, activities and devices. Under devices, you have the option to customize buttons, both standard buttons and the ones with programmable names.

Edit:

You can download the programming software from the Logitech website and give it a test run without a remote to see what is involved.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

cool thanks. i noticed this remote has a lithium battery with charger. do u have to fully charge this thing first out of the box or can u immediately start programming it? i looked at the online manual and couldnt find anything about that.

i'm actually about to leave and just go buy one at bestbuy so i can get to it. i was supposed to get the one from amazon tomorrow but i dont want to spend my friday nite programming this thing. i'm just gonna send that one back. i have absolutely nothing to do tonite so tonite is a perfect nite to spend on this remote.


----------



## ToBeFrank (May 15, 2009)

azarby said:


> With all of the fan-boi responses, I need to chime in. I bought a Harmony 1 last Christmas. This was a replacement for a long progression 550, 880, 990, etc of Harmony remotes. I thought this was going to be the ultimate remote, but what a mistake. The unit started to act up almost immediately. It kept resetting itself. I contacted Harmony and after a lot of trouble shooting, was sent a replacement. Within two days, the replacemet started doing the same thing. My account was then taken over by a specialist and we tried to work through the problems. Reprogramming, different configurations, special sw, etc, but the problem kept reoccuring. After two weeks of daily phone calls (sometimes 3-4 calls a day), they sent me a third unit. This third unit didn't even go 4 hours before it also started to act up. The problem as I could best determine was a problem with the charging station (new one every replacemet) and also with the SW that forced a complete reset if any minor interruption of power occurred. There should never be a power interruptin if on AC. The symptom was as if the battery was removed. Harmony finally decided to give me a Harmony 1100 with full RF control as a replacemt. The ergonomics (table top instead of hand held) are not to my liking, but it does work. I do know that I was not the only one with this problem as a web search showed multiple users having the same symptoms. Even Harmony's tech forum had several users with the same symptoms that I had. I'm not sure if Harmoiny has ever fixed this problem as I stopped following the forums after I got the 1100. The 1100 is nice, but if I could be guaranteed they fixed their problem, I would go back to the hand held form factor instantly.


The problem was the battery was slightly too small for the space it was in so the contacts would disconnect some times. My 880 is a few years old and has this problem. The simple solution is to stuff a small folded up piece of paper in there so the battery doesn't move. I believe they've corrected this on newer remotes.


----------



## rock819 (Mar 13, 2007)

I would absolutely recomend the Harmony One remote it works on every thing I have and its so simple to operate once I got it set up that even my mother in law who is not a techie in any way was able to use it with no problems at all and I love the lcd touch screen it's especially nice to just push one button to watch a dvd or directv. If I were you though I would check on ebay and get a factory refurbished unit I did and it saved me alot of money and if you buy from ebay in most cases you can get an extended waranty from square trade for up to two years


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

do u have to charge the battery first or can u go ahead and program it then charge it?


----------



## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

My experience has been you have to charge it first. A quicky charge will be OK. Just put it in the cradle for an hour or two. After you program it, then give it a good overnight charge.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

anyone know in general how long it takes to fully charge?


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

My 900 takes about 2 hrs from one bar to full charge.
Its Lithium Ion, so you can just charge it whenever you arent using it. Dont have to wait til it goes dead to charge it.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

ok problem. how do i add the "previous channel" to the remote. i went into the software and made the "plus" button previous channel......applied the settings to my remote but the plus button doesnt change the channel to the previous one 

another thing i dont like.......the red, yellow, green, blue buttons being on the touch screen but i can live with that

i'm really impressed with this remote. some missing buttons but i can deal with that with the touchscreen. i really cant believe they dont have a "previous" button though.


----------



## UhClem (Oct 1, 2009)

gregftlaud said:


> ok problem. how do i add the "previous channel" to the remote ... i really cant believe they dont have a "previous" button though.


I don't have the H1 (I have 670), but looking at the One's picture, isn't that curvy arrow just above the fast-forward button your "Prev" ? (And, "Mute" to the left).

Anyway, Prev? (This is a DVR) We don't need no stinking Prev. Charlie don't surf! j/k

I've got my Prev set up with a "Sequence" for commercial-skip (5 x 30-sec skip) and Mute is my
"Next Play" sequence (during football season), a replay (-8 sec) followed by a 30-sec skip.

Enjoy your new toy.

-- UhClem


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

gregftlaud said:


> ok problem. how do i add the "previous channel" to the remote. i went into the software and made the "plus" button previous channel......applied the settings to my remote but the plus button doesnt change the channel to the previous one
> 
> another thing i dont like.......the red, yellow, green, blue buttons being on the touch screen but i can live with that
> 
> i'm really impressed with this remote. some missing buttons but i can deal with that with the touchscreen. i really cant believe they dont have a "previous" button though.


You can move the color buttons, or any button for that matter, anywhere you want...on the LCD or on the hard buttons.


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

yep that curvy arrow button is the previous! i thought it was that go back 8 second button and replay it like the hr20 remote has on it. thanks!


----------



## gregftlaud (Nov 20, 2005)

Now all that's missing is the dash (-) button for inputting and going to ota channels. 

Any suggestions for a fix for that?


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

gregftlaud said:


> Now all that's missing is the dash (-) button for inputting and going to ota channels.
> 
> Any suggestions for a fix for that?


Doesn't it have a #? Just make that your -


----------



## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

I used the + for - on my 880 (same physical position as on the Directv remote).


----------



## dinotheo (Sep 22, 2006)

Long time Harmony user here (pre Logitech) 659 up to Harmony One. I love them all EXCEPT for the 880. The 880's buttons are a mess. They butt up against each other and it is VERY difficult to use without looking at it. Every other one I have (I have 10 Harmony remotes at the moment) can be used without looking at it.


----------



## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

ToBeFrank said:


> The problem was the battery was slightly too small for the space it was in so the contacts would disconnect some times. My 880 is a few years old and has this problem. The simple solution is to stuff a small folded up piece of paper in there so the battery doesn't move. I believe they've corrected this on newer remotes.


Don't see how that caused my problem. My problem occurred at the time of inserting the remote into the charger, which we only did at the end of the day. There is a way to boot the remote in safe mode and when you do that, it shows the number of times the remote was rebooted. In two weeks my remote was rebooted over 80 times.

The remote we have now (1100) works fine, it's just that my wife has trouble with the ergonomics. We use it RF mode and have all of our gear connected with IR blasters. This is a nice capability in that you don't need to be pointing the remote directly at the equipment. I belive the H1 has that also, but I would have to change things out as I was told it is not compatible with the 1100 RF. In any case, unless I couild be guaranteed that the problems are solved, I'm not switching back.


----------



## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

got a 550, 880, and a 1000 (main one) and love them. 1000 hits charger for about an hour each morning when I first wake up and is fine for 18+ hours.
550/880 are spares/wife remote.


----------



## digibob (Dec 1, 2005)

I have a 880 and it works great most of the time. It gets stupid sometimes and needs to be reconnected to the computer to reset it. I am thinking about sending it to the office TV and getting an iTouch with the RedEye app so I can use the iTouch for a universal remote. There is a $49 charge for the plug in IR device. http://thinkflood.com/products/redeye-mini/ If you are spending a couple of hundred might as will get something that can do all kind of stuff including a Universal remote.


----------



## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

Does the Harmony 700 have the "motion sensor" where if you pick it up it lights up? 

I'd like to sell my Harmony One and get the 700 for the 4 hard buttons. I absolutely hate the touch screen color buttons. My Harmony One lost it's "motion sensor" backlighting after about a year. It still backlights upon activity but picking it up no longer lights it unless I shake it like I'm mixing a martini.  That seems to be a common issue with the "1."


----------



## BruceS (Sep 23, 2006)

I am having a problem getting my Harmony 900 programmed to work with the DirecTV H24-100.

I cannot get it to program the OK button correctly. It is supposed to be the same as Select on the DirecTV RC65X remote.

When I just use the default value from the harmony database, the H24-100 doesn't seem to recognize the button at all. It won't recognize it from the program guide, the list of recorded programs, the menu, etc.

When I learn the command from the DirecTV remote, it works on some of the screens, but not all of them.

Before somebody asks the question, the H24-100 and DirecTV remote are not programmed to use RF since all the other buttons on the 900 are recognized and there is nothing wrong with the OK button since it works fine controlling my Tivo.

Is it possible that the 900 doesn't put out as strong an IR signal as other harmony remotes?

I have been able to control an HR20-700 and HR21-200 with either my harmony 800 or harmony 890. The IR signal on both of those remotes are strong enough that I didn't even have to point them directly at the box to work. I could bounce the signal off a side wall with no problem. They even worked bouncing off the wall behind my chair.

I suppose the next thing I will have to try is to set the 900 to RF for the H24-100 and try the IR blasters that are included with the 900, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to.

EDIT: After changing over to RF, I found a way to make the OK button work. It still doesn't work with the first screen that comes up when the activity is selected, but if I then press devices and select the H24-100, everything seems to work fine including the OK button. Switching to devices may work with IR as well, but since I have it working I think I will stick with RF for now.


----------



## SteveInNC (Oct 8, 2007)

TBlazer07 said:


> Does the Harmony 700 have the "motion sensor" where if you pick it up it lights up?
> 
> I'd like to sell my Harmony One and get the 700 for the 4 hard buttons. I absolutely hate the touch screen color buttons. My Harmony One lost it's "motion sensor" backlighting after about a year. It still backlights upon activity but picking it up no longer lights it unless I shake it like I'm mixing a martini.  That seems to be a common issue with the "1."


Yes, it does have a motion sensor. I just bought a 700 at Costco the other day.

I really hate their new programming software (7.7?) - it runs as a local app on your computer (at least for the Mac version), and seems to be even less intuitive than their old web-based version I used to set up my 800s.


----------



## gator5000e (Aug 29, 2006)

"SteveInNC" said:


> Yes, it does have a motion sensor. I just bought a 700 at Costco the other day.
> 
> I really hate their new programming software (7.7?) - it runs as a local app on your computer (at least for the Mac version), and seems to be even less intuitive than their old web-based version I used to set up my 800s.


Besides the software issues, do you like the Remote? I saw it at Costco also and was thinking of getting one.


----------



## SteveInNC (Oct 8, 2007)

gator5000e said:


> Besides the software issues, do you like the Remote? I saw it at Costco also and was thinking of getting one.


I haven't had a chance to mess with it much. It's in a second home. So far, I like it well enough. The static Activity buttons across the top are different from those on the 880 which use the LCD, but they're good enough for my purposes. Unlike the 880, it apparently won't let you reorder the extra activities that do show up in the LCD either.

I've seen reports that the 700 is not rechargable; it is, it just doesn't have a dock like the 880/890. You plug it into a micro-USB plug that plugs into a small wall-wart.

Not specific to the 700, but like many of the Harmony remote "pre-programmed" Activity setups, I often wonder what they or whomever were thinking when they left particular button definitions off in particular modes.

For example: my setup using the 700 has a Denon AVR, a Denon DVD, a DirecTV box, and a LCD TV. When I choose the default "Listen to digital music" activity that was offered for the AVR (this lets you listen to digital music off of a USB thumbdrive or off internet streaming), for some reason, they didn't define the 4-way rocker buttons, making it impossible to navigate the Denon's menu to select the appropriate digital source. It's easy enough to add these buttons via customizations, but why would you _not_ include them in the original definition in the first place? They are not being used for other functionality in the activity.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

SteveInNC said:


> Not specific to the 700, but like many of the Harmony remote "pre-programmed" Activity setups, I often wonder what they or whomever were thinking when they left particular button definitions off in particular modes.


The default button assignments on all harmonys are usually worthless. The first thing I do after adding a device or activity is change most of the buttons. The problem is they weren't thinking anything. An association has to be made in the database between classes of functions and buttons, but no human being (apparently) ever does that at logitech outside of the really obvious ones like numbers, vol, ch, and transport controls. All bets are off for menu functions and colored buttons.


----------



## jeffstra (Jun 23, 2006)

gregftlaud said:


> Now all that's missing is the dash (-) button for inputting and going to ota channels.
> 
> Any suggestions for a fix for that?


Select "Devices" and then your DVR (mine is a HR-20) and the upper right hand corner LCD button is the "-".


----------

