Harmony Remotes Being Discontinued?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I want an MX890 now (just saw it)

Those are a great looking remote - but I simply don't need a smart remote anymore. girder does all the smarts for me. The most important thing for me is the button layout.

[comedian999]

I've used URC remotes for years - first the MX-500 and then most recently the R50 - until I recently upgraded to a Panasonic Plasma and discovered that, along with showing a killer picture, it also acts as a 55" IR noise emitter for my USB-UIRT. This led to a sudden and unexpected need for some kind of RF remote with IR repeaters for my genius solution of "Let's just put the UIRT in a box."

My girlfriend has long since gotten used to a big color screen with the clear, plaintext names of what Sage-specific commands they perform, so I was looking at the MX-1200 and the MRF-350, but based on a cost-benefit analysis (all told, that combination would be well over $500) and the availability of the software (my local retailer was hesitant to cough it up), I decided to go with the Logitech Harmony Ultimate, and take on faith Logitech's assertion that they will continue to support their remotes in the long-term.

Gotta say: I'm generally impressed. The programming was easy; the Ultimate can be synced via wi-fi, so I could tweak settings and update the remote without having to run it up and downstairs to the computer to plug it into USB every time. And while I prefer the hard mapped buttons I can make with the URC remotes with screens, I was able to get my three most-used Sage buttons right on the touch screen for no scrolling, and the remote gives a vibration on push of those buttons to give you feedback that you actually did something.

And frankly, my girlfriend *loves* the Activity-based paradigm of the Harmony Ultimate. It is much easier for her to just say, "I can turn everything off no matter what I'm doing and know that if I press "Watch TV" later, it will just work" than our old model of, "Okay, I watched a Blu-Ray, so I need to use the macro to switch back to Sage, because the Power On macro assumes that the TV input is set for PC, and if I forget I won't be able to figure out how to fix it until comedian999 wakes up from his drunken stupor."

Where it falls down, for me, is the Android app. Don't get me wrong, it works, but it doesn't carry over my custom labels for certain commands. Like, I'm sure, many people, I programmed the remote to think Sage is a TiVo, and remapped some custom TiVo commands to custom Sage commands. So while "D" shows up as "Scheduled Recs" on the remote, it is still just "D" in the app. It limits the app's usefulness, but your time and anal retentiveness mapping commands might lead to different mileage.

Plus, the damn thing is a fingerprint magnet. And being an RF remote, there's nowhere closer than my neighborhood bar where I can clean the screen without sending Sage into a command panic.

But for functionality for money for an RF remote with a hub and multiple IR flashers, the Ultimate just beats the URC stuff. If they were only $50 apart with the software freely available, I'd have gone with the URC, but the Ultimate more than does the job.

Of course, I'll feel like a dope if Logitech shuts down myharmony.com and I have to spend the money on a URC anyway...

[Skirge01]

My Harmony 890 has about 3 buttons which are no longer working (most used ones, of course). This is my 3rd Harmony remote in about 6 years, so I'm seriously considering a URC remote now. However, I'm extremely concerned about being able to get the CCP software for programming it. I have found some "alternative" sources, but I'd prefer to do it the right way and avoid the potential pitfalls inherent to those sources. Has anyone been able to get the software from a dealer in NJ?

[mgpaulus]

Originally Posted by comedian999

Plus, the damn thing is a fingerprint magnet. And being an RF remote, there's nowhere closer than my neighborhood bar where I can clean the screen without sending Sage into a command panic.

Not that taking your remote to the local bar is a bad thing (unless you spill your beer on the remote while "cleaning" it..... Or your girlfriend wants to watch something.....), but couldn't you just remove a battery while cleaning?

<slaps forehead> Of course..... That would take away the primary reason for going down to the local bar.... </slaps forehead> Ignore my above statement. :-D

[comedian999]

Not that taking your remote to the local bar is a bad thing (unless you spill your beer on the remote while "cleaning" it..... Or your girlfriend wants to watch something.....), but couldn't you just remove a battery while cleaning?

The Ultimate has a built-in rechargeable battery that takes a screwdriver to open up and pull out (meant for replacement upon battery death only, I suppose). This gives me that necessary excuse to go to the bar with the remote for "cleaning" while Hell's Kitchen is on. Everybody wins!

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by comedian999

And frankly, my girlfriend *loves* the Activity-based paradigm of the Harmony Ultimate. It is much easier for her to just say, "I can turn everything off no matter what I'm doing and know that if I press "Watch TV" later, it will just work" than our old model of, "Okay, I watched a Blu-Ray, so I need to use the macro to switch back to Sage, because the Power On macro assumes that the TV input is set for PC, and if I forget I won't be able to figure out how to fix it until comedian999 wakes up from his drunken stupor."

A couple things, the Complete Control (or Total Control) URC remotes can do this too. I have activities setup for everything on my MX880, and I can go from my "SageTV" to my "Xbox" to my "XBMC" (I just used names that made sense to me) and all the inputs and power on sequences are correctly handled.

And I made a Help screen so if something doesn't turn on you can tell the remote "SageTV Off" and then when you hit the "SageTV" activity it will resend the power on sequence for the HD300.

I've looked at the 890 and it looks even better (I'm sure the 1200 is awesome) you can have buttons with variable-based text among other things.

[tvmaster2]

has anyone heard any more news about Logitech abandoning these remotes, with regards to software / Internet support? There are some good sales on, but you don't want to buy dead tech I guess. I have a 700 and was thinking of a backup or two...

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

has anyone heard any more news about Logitech abandoning these remotes, with regards to software / Internet support? There are some good sales on, but you don't want to buy dead tech I guess. I have a 700 and was thinking of a backup or two...

Was this rumor even true.... It did not come from Logitech as a matter of fact they are still selling new remotes. My old Harmony 200 still works and still using myHarmony.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/harmony-remotes

[wayner]

Logitech had announced in January that they were putting the Harmony business up for sale, but in June they changed their mind. Perhaps no one was willing to buy it.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by wayner

Logitech had announced in January that they were putting the Harmony business up for sale, but in June they changed their mind. Perhaps no one was willing to buy it.

Great find thx Wayner

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Great find thx Wayner

Ditto! I had only heard the bad news. Glad to know they're going to stick around a little longer.

[reggie14]

I just bought two Harmony 650 remotes when they were on sale on Friday for $40, so I hope they're not going under! I already had a Harmony One and a Harmony 650. I almost like the Harmony 650 more, since I prefer the physical buttons to the touchscreen, although I wish it could control more than 5 devices. The 700 would be great, but I couldn't justify the $100 for TVs that right now only have HD300s connected to them. But $40? Sure!

[reggie14]

I just got one of my new Harmony 650 remotes. It's been a while since I programmed a Harmony remote. They don't use the old software- instead they want you to use their MyHarmony website to configure the remote.

All-in-all, the website is an improvement over the old software. It does a fairly good job of setting everything up for you automatically. However, it's also pretty restrictive about what you can override.

For example, I wanted to create an activity that launches Netflix on my TV (it's a smart TV). It's pretty simple- it just needs to turn on the TV, switch it to the SmartHub input, and then send the Netflix command.

Creating an activity like that, by itself, is easy enough to set up. But, I also wanted that activity tied to the physical "Watch a Movie" button on the remote. The Harmony config site doesn't let you manually map activities to those physical buttons. Instead, when you set up an activity, it asks you what kind of activity you're creating. If you create a "Watch a Movie" activity, it will automatically be tied to that physical button. if you have two activities like that, it seems to be tied to the first one you create.

That wasn't a problem for me- I only wanted to create one. So I tried creating an activity for a "Watch a Movie" activity, but it wouldn't let create one without selecting a playback device. The Harmony database recognizes the TV as a display device, but it wants something like a DVD player for a playback device. But, there's no way to override that.

I thought I could "cheat" by adding my Sage extender to the list of devices used under that activity, and tweak the activity so that it doesn't actually turn on or use the Sage extender. Unfortunately there's no way to do that. The software actually gives you quite a bit of flexibility to tweak the IR commands that are sent when you enter or leave an activity, but it won't let you change basic stuff like power-on and power-off.

I still think the Harmony remotes are a great value- particularly the 650 and 700 when they go on sale- but they aren't free of frustration. The layout, form factor, and rubber buttons on the 650 are great. I'm more than a bit worried, though, that if/when Logitech shuts down the Harmony configuration page I won't be able to reprogram the remote when I get a new component.

[wayner]

You can still use the old software, not just MyHarmony. MyHarmony has the advantage of allowing you to have multiple remotes tied to one account, but it limits your customization options. I remember not being able to use it since it wouldn't let me do the customization that I needed. I am guessing that with their full software you could get around the issue that you are having with using Netflix on your TV.

I wouldn't worry about the website going away for now since Logitech has now said that they are going to keep the business.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by wayner

I am guessing that with their full software you could get around the issue that you are having with using Netflix on your TV.

That's what I thought, too. After an hour with Logitech support, they did explain how to use the old software. It's a moderately painful process. You can't just create a new account within the Harmony Remote Software application and connect the remote. The software detects that you have a new remote and sends you to the website. Instead you have to create an account using the old web client, do an initial sync with that, that, and then the Harmony software will work.

So I tried it, but ran into similar problems in the software. There are still restrictions there that you can't always bypass. I couldn't remap the physical activity buttons in that software, nor would it let me create a watch a movie/dvd/video activity without involving two devices. Maybe I could have found a goofy workaround, but I got frustrated pretty quickly and went back to the webclient.

I think the software is a little bit more flexible with what you can force it to do through goofy workarounds, I will say the new webclient is significantly easier to use.

[tvmaster2]

ok, great news for now. thanks for all the updates.
picked up a 700 at Costco for $60, down from $80.
They had quite a few, so if anyone's looking, check Costco first (plus, you can return them for ever if Logitech goes nuts)