Logitech discontinue Harmony remotes

[highfigh]

Does anyone have any experience with the Harmony 665?

I can still get one at Best Buy.

Same as the 650, but it's black and you can add more devices.

 

[DigitalDawn]

I don't know what he wrote on RC (Remote Central?) but my decade old Harmony 900 had the macros removed and I certainly can understand why some would want it. For myself I worked around that with the Denon AVR having QuickSelect buttons that stores a number of settings and I've a different QuickSelect for each activity.

Now that I just bought the Elite I see that it have macros, but have not used them yet.



The problem is that online is the only option to program a Harmony remote, so when the servers are down I'm toast.

That's what I was getting at. Definitely problematic right now. OTOH, if Logitech says they will still support Harmony remotes, then I would believe them. I know a lot of consumers love the platform and they should feel confident that they will be supported for several years to come.

 

[BMXTRIX]

This disappoints me to no end.

Logitech really had consumer-based universal remotes figured out about as good as it can get. I never used them myself, mostly because I always used Crestron systems and am comfortable with the flexibility and use I get from those systems (and I'm a programmer). But, I've recommended Harmony to tons and tons of people over the years and really don't know any other direction that consumers, especially non-techie consumers, can turn to for a good universal remote.

No question that Logitech Tap systems and such are selling like hotcakes. They are one of the best values out there for conference rooms these days. We sell them all the time. So, yeah, sorry... we're to blame.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

That sucks donkey balls!!! There is no viable alternative out there that is as easy to setup. I just ordered 3 off of ebay open box.

from eBay? Good luck, I'm STILL waiting for something I ordered from eBay back in OCTOBER 2020.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Well, I hope my ten-ish-year-old 880 keeps working. I'd hate to have to re-train my wife on a different, less user-friendly, brand.

 

[Trell]

Well, I hope my ten-ish-year-old 880 keeps working. I'd hate to have to re-train my wife on a different, less user-friendly, brand.

Wholeheartedly agree, and I've had Harmony remotes since about 2007/2008. RF is, for me, a necessity and all my Harmony remotes have had it.

Before I bought the 900 a decade ago I had the 895 for some years until it broke (children ), but the 900 has worked very well and still does apart from a couple of buttons that has gotten a little sticky.

I've been looking for an updated Harmony remote for some time and I was expecting that the Elite would get a refresh, but the we have this bad news. Some of the Harmony models between the 900 and the Elite had some very strange design designs like play buttons on top of the remote Having used the Elite for a few days I say that my old 900 is easier to use in the dark due to more sculpted/marked buttons while the buttons on the Elite are way to similar and flush to the surface.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Over the weekend, I got the Harmony 665 at Best Buy. Absolutely love it. I don't know why I waited so long to purchase a universal remote.

 

[lovinthehd]

I sold one Harmony almost 15 years ago and I don't remember very much, except that I wasn't a huge fan. Anyway, I seem to remember that you needed to program the remote online. Is there also a learn function where you can capture IR codes?

Yes it has both facilities, the online database is much easier, tho in general terms, altho you can tweak in a few ways, and in the past Logitech has even added/modified things to the database in response to requests IIRC. Be great if they keep all the support up, but makes me wonder how long that would happen for.

As long as I can keep mine alive; I've had a few where some of the more often used buttons lose the conductivity and won't function....but that CaiKote kit I mentioned before did a great job on reviving my worst (and oldest) Harmony 650.

 

[Mr._Clark]

Wired has an article about the demise of the Harmony controllers. With all due respect to the author, the following strikes me as being written by someone who has not had a great deal of experience with HDMI-CEC and HDMI-ARC.

>>>Dispense with the obvious part first: The number of devices in the living room has shrunk, particularly as streaming has obviated DVD and Blu-ray players for many. That’s one remote down. But a development behind the scenes has had an even more substantive impact: the rise of HDMI-CEC and HDMI-ARC.<<<

How the Smart Remote Lost Its Way

Once, we dreamed of one controller to rule them all. But when Logitech killed off the Harmony line, it ended an era.

www.wired.com

 

[lovinthehd]

Wired has an article about the demise of the Harmony controllers. With all due respect to the author, the following strikes me as being written by someone who has not had a great deal of experience with HDMI-CEC and HDMI-ARC.

>>>Dispense with the obvious part first: The number of devices in the living room has shrunk, particularly as streaming has obviated DVD and Blu-ray players for many. That’s one remote down. But a development behind the scenes has had an even more substantive impact: the rise of HDMI-CEC and HDMI-ARC.<<<

How the Smart Remote Lost Its Way

Once, we dreamed of one controller to rule them all. But when Logitech killed off the Harmony line, it ended an era.

www.wired.com

LOL and it was HDMI-CEC and ARC features that drove me to using universal/macro driven remotes

 

[Cos]

Just noticed Best Buy marked up the Harmony Elite Remote from 349 to 379, perhaps they want to get in front of all the people who are buying to sell on ebay?

 

[cpp]

Buy a spare now !

 

[panteragstk]

Buy a spare now !

Bought three.

 

[highfigh]

This disappoints me to no end.

Logitech really had consumer-based universal remotes figured out about as good as it can get. I never used them myself, mostly because I always used Crestron systems and am comfortable with the flexibility and use I get from those systems (and I'm a programmer). But, I've recommended Harmony to tons and tons of people over the years and really don't know any other direction that consumers, especially non-techie consumers, can turn to for a good universal remote.

No question that Logitech Tap systems and such are selling like hotcakes. They are one of the best values out there for conference rooms these days. We sell them all the time. So, yeah, sorry... we're to blame.

So, you're supposed to say "Sorry, no" if someone asks for a conferencing system?

Since the Hub works with so many other systems (Alexa, Home, IfTT, Smart Things, etc,), I don't know why they couldn't continue selling it. It's a good way to tie all of the others together in one app, if someone doesn't want to use a remote.