Harmony remotes - replacing 880

navychop

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I have two 880 remotes, one is going bad. Specifically, some buttons are not working well, even after opening and cleaning. And somehow it doesn't fit in the cradle well anymore. Not that that was ever a strong point.

So I'm looking at the Harmony One, mostly, with passing interest in the 900 or 1100. But I don't really need RF. I recall posts before about the One, but now I'm wondering, for you folks that have had one, how it's working out. Does it sit in the cradle better than the 880? "Feel" is right? Any comments? Any reason to consider the others?

Right now, it's controlling:
JVC DiLA TV
Onkyo 805 A/V receiver
ViP722
JVC VCR (rarely used)
OPPO 83

But I have it programmed for other activities, and sometimes I connect other devices.

MiL is half trained on the 880, so something similar or simpler is desirable.
 
The harmony remotes are great for ease of use.

Depending on your environment I'd look at the new harmony link which uses a smartphone as the remote.

Also, there's the unit below the one, maybe the 700?

Good stuff.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
 
Hmm, five years of decent use may be finally taking its toll. The Volume toggle is going on my 880. I have to press and hold lately to get it to move.

I've been looking at the Harmony One. I'll try to hold off until Christmas so that maybe Santa can bring me one....
 
The harmony remotes are great for ease of use.

Depending on your environment I'd look at the new harmony link which uses a smartphone as the remote.

Also, there's the unit below the one, maybe the 700?

Good stuff.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

I'm thinking of replacing my 880 with the link when the 880 dies.
 
AK:

So far the big knocks on the Harmony Link are:
  1. The guide isn't that useful. You can see a day out on iPad but you can't get it to program the DVR to record the event.
  2. You have to watch the screen instead of getting tactile feedback like on a traditional, hard-button remote.

Might pick this up at Best Buy and see if I like it... I have 45 day return privileges until February so I can see if I truly like it.
 
AK:

So far the big knocks on the Harmony Link are:
  1. The guide isn't that useful. You can see a day out on iPad but you can't get it to program the DVR to record the event.
  2. You have to watch the screen instead of getting tactile feedback like on a traditional, hard-button remote.
Might pick this up at Best Buy and see if I like it... I have 45 day return privileges until February so I can see if I truly like it.

Let me know, hopefully it works out. I don't have an iPad yet, but thinking about one next year.
 
Has anyone been able to get the Harmony 900 to work with the 722?
 
I ended up returning the Harmony Link... if it had support for the RF extender it would be great. As it is, I couldn't get the signals from my equiment closet to the projector and lens sled which made the link unworkable for me.

For less compex environments it is (imo) a good solution.
 
I've really come to prefer the Harmony One. Still getting used to the button layout. Some are better laid out on the 880, some are better laid out on the H One. It certainly fits snugly in the charging cradle.
 
Just for information purposes I got the Logitech Harmony 300i(gloss black finish),$29.99+tax at Target, it takes regular batteries(2 AA) and controls 4 devices.I use it to control my Vizio HDTV,VIP722k,Samsung Bluray player and Polk soundbar with wireless subwoofer.

This is my first Logitech Harmony remote control and I really like it.I like that it's USB internet programmable(setup your account online at Logitech),and it's also a learning remote control(to learn features from the devices original remote control).

For what I need a remote control to do the 300i does the job.;)
 
navychop:

You're still in the early phase with it. Give it another day or so and then share some thoughts :)

OK, let's compare the two Harmony remotes. First off, both are set up for the Dish ViP722 satellite receiver/DVR, an Onkyo TX-SR805 AV receiver, Oppo 83 optical disc player, VHS (never used, just 'left over'), JVC 61" HDTV, Sony DVR 500 (not actually connected anymore) and a VGA connection for laptop use of the TV screen. Both are programmed identically thru the Harmony site. I just copied over the 880 settings to the One. Originally, I set up the 880 by listing what devices were going to be controlled by the remote. Harmony automatically set up all the "activities" (more on this later). I did redefine the bottom two outboard keys as DVR & SEARCH. These options exist on the touch screen, I'm just used to pressing at that location. Defining the keys is easy, you just look down a list of keys and select which function you want it to perform. You can also teach it new IR signals if need be.

For the Harmony One, initial selections (& some later choices) are made on the touch screen. On the 880, the display was not touch sensitive, you would press a button next to the displayed choice you selected. The touch screen is nice, if rather fond of fingerprints. With Harmony, when you pick up the remote, it comes to life (motion sensitive) and you select an activity on the screen. Activities, which you can name, can be things like DISH - Watch DVD/BD - Radio - Listen to CDs - Watch TV (bypass AV receiver) - Sony DVR - VGA conn. The Harmony site placed these activities in an order I did not care for, so I changed the sequence. VERY easy to do. Initially, three activities are presented on the screen. Later, six onscreen options are available for controls. Also, you can have multiple screens, just scroll right or left. I made Dish the first option, as the most used and the most MiL friendly.

Once you make a selection, such as Dish, you aim the remote at your equipment for a few seconds. Then you see new selections appear on the screen. At this point, most actions you take will be with hard keys; very few choices you want will require the touch screen. I will comment that I think the 880 came to life when picked up ever so slightly faster than the One.

The 880 is more peanut shaped, but the One has a comfortable notch that works just as well for keeping a firm grip. The 880 could sit in it's charging cradle ever so slightly askew and you would not know it until you tried to use it and the batteries were dead. This never happens with the One. It's contact with the cradle is firm. The Harmony One screen is slightly larger, brighter and easier to read. Both are quick to get comfortable with if you are familiar with the standard Dish remote layout. Both have a center diamond that is straddled by volume and channel controls. The 880 has some thin buttons around the screen and dropping down below it. There are no thin buttons on the One. The Activities button, in particular, is much easier to use on the One. This button lets you go from watching Dish, for example, to watching a DVD, without turning off and on the TV set. For those of us with TVs that have a mandatory 90+ second cool down time, this is a mandatory feature.

The Play, Stop, FF, skip and similar buttons are laid out differently. I'm having some difficulty in adjusting, but frankly, they are laid out more logically on the One.

You can adjust the touch screen sensitivity, but I haven't had the need to. I'll note that the 880 was poor at maintaining the time. You could adjust the time, but it always defaulted to a.m. You can adjust the time manually on the One also, but I haven't had the need too; the One seems to keep good time.

I definitely prefer the One over the 880, as do my wife and MiL. But I still use an 880 on my bedroom TV.

Anybody still reading this far? I hope this is of some use; feel free to ask any questions.
 
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