I purchased the Logitech Harmony 550 a couple weeks ago and I'm very impressed.
After doing the online set-up initially I couldn't get it to switch inputs on my Samsung HDTV correctly. My TV is somewhat unusual in that the remote has two input buttons. One that goes through Component video 1 and 2, DVI and whatever the last antenna input that was used. THe other button goes through the 2 antenna inputs, A/V 1-3 and S-video completely skipping the component or DVI inputs. The button on the TV itself actually goes through them all, but that defeats the purpose of a remote. So I go through the set-up again and choose a few different options and it asks me to edit what inputs the TV goes through. I only have one coax input hooked up to the antenna, so the first input function is the one I wanted to use, so I changed the inputs to Antenna, Comp1, Comp2 and DVI and re-did the configuration with the remote connected to the computer and it actually worked. It switches through only the inputs that I selected.
The activities I have set-up for it are Watch TV, Watch DVD, Play video game, Play CD and Listen to radio. The one that surprised me the most was play video game. I have a PS2 slimline and I used to have the standard one with the IR receiver that could be turned on and off with the Sony add-on remote. The slimline says in the manual that it cannot be powered on and off with the remote, but all the other functions work. Well, the Harmony actually turns my PS2 on when I switch to play video games. When I go to another activity, it actually turns the PS2 off again. Everything else works as it should. I no longer have to endlessly cycle through inputs to go from one to another.
I only have one gripe and it's not really a gripe. I like to think of myself as an electronics power user so I usually figure out how to use every last feature of my electronics. That being said, the harmony downloaded the controls to my Pioneer VSX-56TXi and it has 30 pages of controls which you have to scroll through 4 at a time on the LCD screen. I only mention this because this remote makes it extremely easy for the wife and kid to manipulate the home theater system, but for the ones out there who want to be in total control. You absolutely cannot get rid of your oem remotes. My girlfriend and 7 year old daughter have learned to use it. You just have to remind them in the beginning not to turn anything on or off without the Harmony or they'll have to go through the built-in help menus to set things right again.
I highly recommend the Logitech Harmony 550. So much so in fact that I purchased one for my father for his birthday.
