All hail Logitech

[fmw]

One good turn deserves another. Logitech deserves some serious praise for some seriously good customer service and that's the purpose of this post.

I bought a Harmony 880 universal remote a couple of years ago. I have to tell you I like the unit but it was always a struggle to reprogram when I made changes to the equipment in my home theater.

On Monday, I lost the struggle. I wasn't able to reprogram the unit even with putting it into the safe mode. The Logitech people weren't able to help me get it done either despite the fact that the second level support spent over an hour working with me over the phone. The final conclusion was that the unit is toast and, sadly, out of warranty. I sighed and took a Harmony 670 from upstairs and reprogrammed it for the home theater.

On Tuesday I got an email from the Logitech service department telling me that they had decided to ship me a new unit despite the fact that it was out of warranty. They shipped it today and sent me a DHL tracking number. They told me to pitch the old one.

Amazing. They went the extra distance to help me resolve the problem and, when they couldn't resolve, they decided to ignore the warranty and fix me up with a new unit. Great customer service. You can't go wrong with Logitech products.

 

[j_garcia]

Yes, they do have great customer service. I broke my USB receiver for my wireless mouse and they didn't even ask how it happened or if it was an accident, they just sent me a whole new mouse.

 

[GlocksRock]

You should have asked them to send you a Harmony One, they are awesome... but I'm sure the 880 is still a nice unit.

 

[jonnythan]

I've had plenty of great luck with Logitech replacing components that were out of warranty.

Logitech is a great, great company.

 

[zoinks]

I sighed and took a Harmony 670 from upstairs and reprogrammed it for the home theater.

Glad to hear they are taking care of you.
Did you have any issues programming the hard button activities (watch movie,watch tv,etc.)on the 670? Whenever I try,everything goes to default so I need to go through the more activities button to map what I want.
Not a huge issue but it would be nice to push "watch tv" and have everything turn on the way I want it to. Logitech says that it should be fixed with next update (end of November?). They don't seem to be in any rush to help out the 670 users on this problem.

 

[jamie2112]

I am glad you had a good experiance with them. I, on the other hand had very poor service and I ended up switching to URC as THEY have great service and a better product IMO of course......

 

[fmw]

Glad to hear they are taking care of you.
Did you have any issues programming the hard button activities (watch movie,watch tv,etc.)on the 670? Whenever I try,everything goes to default so I need to go through the more activities button to map what I want.
Not a huge issue but it would be nice to push "watch tv" and have everything turn on the way I want it to. Logitech says that it should be fixed with next update (end of November?). They don't seem to be in any rush to help out the 670 users on this problem.

Those buttons program just fine for me as long as I leave the description of the activity alone.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I have never had a single problem with my little cheapy 659. The only thing I can't seem to get it to do is add a network button for my Denon 3808.

 

[jonnythan]

I have the 659 too. It's awesome and I have no complaints at all. Everyone who sees it is amazed LOL

 

[Matt34]

I've always had great success with their customer service and will continue to purchase my remotes from them.


Yes that Harmony One does look nice.

 

[fmw]

It arrived today. Not just a new 880 but the complete retail package with battery, charger, data cable - the works. It programmed right up and is already in use in the home theater. I'm truly amazed. Pleased, but amazed.

 

[unreal.freak]

They don't seem to be in any rush to help out the 670 users on this problem.

I am glad you had a good experiance with them. I, on the other hand had very poor service and I ended up switching to URC as THEY have great service and a better product IMO of course......

You can add me to the list with the 670 that is not happy with Logitech. I spent hours on the phone with them trying to resolve the issue. They were no help and had no clue to what the problem was. I only found out what the problem was when i viewed the Logitech forums. There were more than a few complaining about the issue on their forums. The update has yet to come out and they are in no hurry to expedite one. This has been my only bad experience with logitech.....But the fact they handled it the way they did its a big problem with me. Im likely not going to buy Logitech any time soon.

Peace,
Tommy

 

[jostenmeat]

I bought a Harmony 880 universal remote a couple of years ago. I have to tell you I like the unit but it was always a struggle to reprogram when I made changes to the equipment in my home theater.

On Monday, I lost the struggle. I wasn't able to reprogram the unit even with putting it into the safe mode. The Logitech people weren't able to help me get it done either despite the fact that the second level support spent over an hour working with me over the phone. The final conclusion was that the unit is toast and, sadly, out of warranty. I sighed and took a Harmony 670 from upstairs and reprogrammed it for the home theater.

Kudos to Logitech for taking care of you. However, not to pour salt into the wounds (and those wounds look like they are healed and well-licked), but Harmony's remotes are just chintzier. My play button barely worked after a little over a year.

URC is SOOOOOOOO much easier to program, and its SOOOOOOOOO much faster to do. To make any small adjustment is TREMENDOUSLY easier and less time consuming. IMO.

URC also costs less. But better performing. More flexible. Bigger buttons. Heftier remote. Bigger screen. Radio Frequency at half the cost, or maybe 1/3 the cost, in fact maybe 1/4 the cost, or maybe even less than that.

I cannot think of a single thing that makes Harmony better than URC. Not one single thing, whether ease of use, ease of programming, aesthetics, reliability, construction, anything. JMO having owned both. I've also programmed others' Harmony's. Man, those docking stations are the worst designed/performing I've ever seen for any electronic product. [/rant] (sorry, headaches from these products)...

Im sure happy owners are happy. I still recommend URC if ever looking to buy a new one. The URC Rf-20 + blaster is $80 shipped. Seen it as low as $73.

 

[jonnythan]

Here's a question I have about URC remotes.

Do they remember what state everything is in? For example, when I go from "Watch TV" to "Laptop," my Harmony knows to turn off the cable box, then change the input on the receiver, and do nothing else. Do the URC remotes have equivalent functionality?

The Harmony remotes also have a Help button that quickly runs the user through to make sure everything is right, and corrects anything that's not right. It's really really handy, especially for those wives and kids and other non-experts. Do the URC remotes have this?

 

[Geno]

Here's a question I have about URC remotes.

Do they remember what state everything is in? For example, when I go from "Watch TV" to "Laptop," my Harmony knows to turn off the cable box, then change the input on the receiver, and do nothing else. Do the URC remotes have equivalent functionality?

The Harmony remotes also have a Help button that quickly runs the user through to make sure everything is right, and corrects anything that's not right. It's really really handy, especially for those wives and kids and other non-experts. Do the URC remotes have this?

Not the two URCs I have. However, they are much easier to customize to your exact desires and also for your own custom macros. For the more tech-savvy folks here, URCs are really superior. I also have 2 Harmonies that are easy to program on line, but IMHO pure hell to customize. My wife & kids like the Harmonies for their "One Button" activity feature.

Of course, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong

 

[jonnythan]

So if I have, say, six primary functions, I'd need to either turn everything off before switching to a new function or create macros for going from one to the other?

I'll take my Harmony, thanks. I like the state-based function style much more than straight-up macros. And I'm a very tech-savvy person who is a network admin by trade and a huge gadget geek.

Mine was a bit of a headache to customize because the tweaks are buried and hard to change, but I set it up once and haven't touched it in about a year. It "just works" and it's super functional. It's smart, and I like smart devices.

 

[jostenmeat]

So if I have, say, six primary functions, I'd need to either turn everything off before switching to a new function or create macros for going from one to the other?

The one-button strength of the Harmony is also sort of an achilles heel. 1) The biggest pain in the butt that I see with others is all of their stuff going out of sync. I programmed one for an old long-time brain scientist at a UC. His remote is almost always dead because of that poorly engineered docking station. He can't save himself from sync issues. If he had a URC I know it would be SOOOO easy. Just click on any designated power button for any source that is off to be in sync. The "help" thing is totally lost on him.

So, I just programmed my recent gift to my brother, a URC. He's used my old Harmony as well, btw. I programmed every macro with the on and off button being for TV power. (No discrete on/off, but I programmed them both anyways). For the 5 large keys on top, one is dedicated to receiver power, and one is dedicated to the source (either STB, DVD, Bluray, depending on macro).

If everything is off, it takes less than two seconds to click three buttons. With a system going out of sync with a Harmony macro, how long does it take to use the help button to get everything right? What if you only want to use TV speakers for late nite news? You have to program an entire new macro for that? Let's not talk about the time difference in programming a macro b/w the two brands. I did all three in less than 15 minutes. Maybe in 10. I think with Logitech, I might be at about the point where they accepted my email and registration, maybe I even have got the thing plugged in. Oh, and those long default delay times. And the slow loads for any thing I change, of course having logged in, plugged in, etc.

Yet another scenario where 1-button macros are less helpful: if he wants to pause a baseball game (he can pause it during live playback, cuz he's sick of commercials, and it starts saving up to an hour), to watch some comedy he loves in the meanwhile (The Office), he selects macro, and is in control. Assuming the DVD is on, he clicks the two buttons I programmed for both TV and receiver input. One second, maybe two at most. With a Harmony, if you selected DVD macro, that cable box turns off. Right? I thunk anyways. If I'm right, you have no choice in HAVING to turn it off. The only way around this with a Harmony would be to yet again create a new macro ONLY to make the tweak of not toggling cable power? Right? (another 15-45 minutes of your life). Oh, see, Im already confused. I guess you could also hit the "macro", and cover up the IR, so that the STB doesn't receive. Then again, if it was an RF setup like the URC, that doesn't work anyways.

Oh yeah, the backlight must always turn on as well with a Harmony AFAIK. Its so nice not to deal with that in my HT. Bit distracting to the rest of viewers, especially if Im in the front row.

I still have yet to find someone who has actually owned, used, or programmed a URC, and still preferred a Harmony. I know they are out there, they must be, but I still haven't met one. The best part really is how much more affordable the URC is. It's like RF plus the blaster and stick on emitters are a freebie, all while keeping cash in the pocket. Oh Im beating a dead horse.

sorry, just my 2 cents. I'm glad a lot of you like your remotes as much as you do . . . an essential!

 

[Matt34]

The one-button strength of the Harmony is also sort of an achilles heel. 1) The biggest pain in the butt that I see with others is all of their stuff going out of sync. I programmed one for an old long-time brain scientist at a UC. His remote is almost always dead because of that poorly engineered docking station. He can't save himself from sync issues. If he had a URC I know it would be SOOOO easy. Just click on any designated power button for any source that is off to be in sync. The "help" thing is totally lost on him.

So, I just programmed my recent gift to my brother, a URC. He's used my old Harmony as well, btw. I programmed every macro with the on and off button being for TV power. (No discrete on/off, but I programmed them both anyways). For the 5 large keys on top, one is dedicated to receiver power, and one is dedicated to the source (either STB, DVD, Bluray, depending on macro).

If everything is off, it takes less than two seconds to click three buttons. With a system going out of sync with a Harmony macro, how long does it take to use the help button to get everything right? What if you only want to use TV speakers for late nite news? You have to program an entire new macro for that? Let's not talk about the time difference in programming a macro b/w the two brands. I did all three in less than 15 minutes. Maybe in 10. I think with Logitech, I might be at about the point where they accepted my email and registration, maybe I even have got the thing plugged in. Oh, and those long default delay times. And the slow loads for any thing I change, of course having logged in, plugged in, etc.

Yet another scenario where 1-button macros are less helpful: if he wants to pause a baseball game (he can pause it during live playback, cuz he's sick of commercials, and it starts saving up to an hour), to watch some comedy he loves in the meanwhile (The Office), he selects macro, and is in control. Assuming the DVD is on, he clicks the two buttons I programmed for both TV and receiver input. One second, maybe two at most. With a Harmony, if you selected DVD macro, that cable box turns off. Right? I thunk anyways. If I'm right, you have no choice in HAVING to turn it off. The only way around this with a Harmony would be to yet again create a new macro ONLY to make the tweak of not toggling cable power? Right? (another 15-45 minutes of your life). Oh, see, Im already confused. I guess you could also hit the "macro", and cover up the IR, so that the STB doesn't receive. Then again, if it was an RF setup like the URC, that doesn't work anyways.

Oh yeah, the backlight must always turn on as well with a Harmony AFAIK. Its so nice not to deal with that in my HT. Bit distracting to the rest of viewers, especially if Im in the front row.

I still have yet to find someone who has actually owned, used, or programmed a URC, and still preferred a Harmony. I know they are out there, they must be, but I still haven't met one. The best part really is how much more affordable the URC is. It's like RF plus the blaster and stick on emitters are a freebie, all while keeping cash in the pocket. Oh Im beating a dead horse.

sorry, just my 2 cents. I'm glad a lot of you like your remotes as much as you do . . . an essential!

That's great that you enjoy the URC but I've had macro based remotes before and no thanks, they might be great for you more tech-savvy guys but those things frustrate me to no end.

P.S-- When you program you DVR you click, "always keep the DVR on" and you can switch between different sources without shutting it off.

They replaced, for free, the messed up docking stations on the 880's. I actually received an entire new remote even though I bought the first one second hand.

The only backlight that is motion-based is the 880 and up model's AFAIK and that is easily defeat able in the initial setup. The rest are manual by way of a button.

 

[fmw]

I used to have a remote similar to the URC. It was a Marantz (perhaps made by URC, similar to the URC top line unit.) My wife couldn't use it. It was too complex. The Harmony is much simpler to use. Simpler for me as well. I can't think of a single way in which that complex Marantz universal was better than the Harmony. The help button on the Harmony units is possibly the most important feature. Different folks. Different strokes.

 

[jonnythan]

If everything is off, it takes less than two seconds to click three buttons. With a system going out of sync with a Harmony macro, how long does it take to use the help button to get everything right?

Generally under 5 seconds. 2-6 button presses depending on how far in you have to go before it finds the problem.

BTW, my TV doesn't have speakers The Harmony does give you access to all of the functions of all of your devices, too. If I know my monitor is off and I want to turn it on, I press Device, Monitor, On. The only time I think I've ever had to manually set things up was when my girlfriend plugged her laptop into the receiver and wanted to listen to music. So after a few times of that I just programmed a "Laptop" function that turned the receiver on and put it on the right input.

I have about 7 "Activities" in the remote... watch tv, watch movies, listen to CDs, laptop w/video, laptop no video, PS2, Wii. These cover everything I want to do with my system. If my TV did have speakers and I wanted to sometimes use them instead of the surround system (don't know why I would, really), I'd just put a "TV speakers" activity in there as well.

And my cable box remembers where you were in that program, so if you turn it off and come back to it, it's about 5 seconds from hitting the "watch TV" button to being back at the same point in the DVR playback

I still have yet to find someone who has actually owned, used, or programmed a URC, and still preferred a Harmony. I know they are out there, they must be, but I still haven't met one. The best part really is how much more affordable the URC is. It's like RF plus the blaster and stick on emitters are a freebie, all while keeping cash in the pocket. Oh Im beating a dead horse.

sorry, just my 2 cents. I'm glad a lot of you like your remotes as much as you do . . . an essential!

Are the URC remotes cheaper? My 659 ran me about $60 on Amazon when I got it a couple years ago.