HD Beat Review: Harmony 659
By Matt Burns 
posted Oct 29th 2005 4:01PM
posted Oct 29th 2005 4:01PM
The Harmony 659 remote is the most important part of my main home entertainment center. If you have a cable box, a DVD player, an A/V receiver, an XM receiver, oh and do not forget about TV, you need this remote. (Or one if its siblings) Many higher end A/V receivers come with a decent universal remote, but they are often confusing and cause you to leave a note pad full of instructions for house guest on how to watch TV. You will not have to do that with a Harmony. If you want to watch TV, hit “Watch TV.” It is that easy.
I once read a review that there are two types of universal remotes: ones that work and the ones that you can afford. This is somewhat true because the Harmony remotes start at $100 and this model is $150. But trust me. If you have any where near the amount of equipment that I do, it is work the money.
I went from this…
to this.
Setup
The remote throws
away the old school book of codes in 8-point font. This bad boy is
‘Internet powered’ and connects via a USB cable. This allows the online
site to configure the remote to exactly the way you want it. NOTE: while this is by far the easiest remote to use, it does require someone who is familiar with the audio/video equipment to program it. Do not use this setup as an excuse to not buy this remote, just keep in mind it took me about an hour to set it up. The biggest tip I can tell you is use a laptop and sit right in-front of the equipment because you will need a lot of info from them. While it is time consuming, it is not hard.
Using the remote
Like I said before, this is the easiest remote to use. On the top of the remote is a line of “Activity Buttons.” These take macro buttons a step farther by labeling them by the most common usage. If you want to “Watch a Movie,” hit the button and it will turn on the receiver and put it on the right input, turn the DVD player on, and then turn the TV to the right input. The button that says menu will then be used for the DVD on-screen menu rather then the TVs. All the buttons change usage for the different activities. The remote is that intuitive.
My Comcast DVR works fine with it as the media control buttons like pause and record are on the bottom of the remote. Once the “Watch TV” button is engaged those buttons will control the DVR rather then the DVD button.
My favorite part of the remote so far is the “Listen to Music” button that turns the TV off, turns cable box on and puts it on a great rock station, and then turns the receiver to a different input then what the cable TV uses so it utilizes a different sound setting for music. It is that easy. Once this thing is set it works flawlessly.
If you get lost or the macros do not turn on, let’s say the DVR, there is a help button on the top of the remote. The LCD screen will lead you through a series of “yes or no” questions that will ask you if different equipment is on. If you hit yes it will proceed to the next piece of equipment till you find the problem. Once the status of the DVR is in question, you would hit “no” to have the remote send another IR command in order to turn the DVR on.
Conclusion
If you do the remote control juggle and hate it, buy this remote. You will not regret it. Anyone can use this remote because, and I know I have said this more then once, but it just works. That’s the best description for this remote: it works.
The problem I'm having is I have LG HD Tuner with a DVD which I use to watch DVDs, a Panasonic DVR which I can't program with the 659. It's not easy to set up!
The bottom line is, "my wife won't touch the thing", and I bought it for her.
Coincidentally I setup my 659 yesterday. It did everything I expected and more.
The most impressive thing that I still can't figure out is when you tell it what Satellite/Cable service you use, you select which channels you get, and behond the freaking programming listings show up right on the remote! All you do is press teh harmony button, you can select favorites out of the hundreds of channels yuo do get and instead of fiddling with the slow satellite you can breeze through the listing on the remote.
Not bad for an entry level Harmony. I want the 850 now ;)
Great review, makes me want one..
I have the 680. All of the Harmony 6 series remotes are basically the same. They just have varying numbers of buttons and different layout.
Personally, I feel that the 680 has the best button layout for a DVR. The 659's FFWD/REW/Pause/play buttons are just too low on the remote to use as often as you do with a DVR.
At the 04 digital life - the Harmony guys (not the logitech folks). Made an interesting note. The 659 is one of thier best remotes and the release of the 676 sovlved one important issue - the typical stop/rec/play buttons are moved up so that you can use the DVRs without having to reposition your hand. I would have bought either one but after figuring that out.. i went with the remote that would handle dvr a little easier on the hand. Not sure what else is different.
Im addicted to my harmony.. I think i like it better than my other much more expensive components...
Cheers.
Oh and the upcoming 690 (with rf capabilities) will have an optional usb rf device (plugged to a computer) that will auto update all the programing info directly to your remote (throught the remotes rf!) ..
So Tim.. Start saving up now.. THat thing will be expensive but should be amazing!
i've got the h-655 (EU model, exactly like 659 but the color of some buttons) and just love it. also harmony support is the best i've ever encountered. on three separate occasions they were able to fix problems in less than a day!
Nice and well done review. Even though I only have 3 remotes it does give me something to think about. Thanks for the information.
Nice review. I have the Harmony 880 and I love it. It controls every component (both new and old) I own.
How can it be called a "universal" remote without track forward/back buttons (not to mention "quick skip/instant replay" buttons)? How am I expected to control my DVD player or PVR?
The top LCD screen can be programed for anything button you want. If you want to add the quick skip foward, then it will appear there on the "watch TV" activity. Good question and I should have put that in the full review.
I have the 676 with the detachable faceplates :) .. Love it. I had an earlier version that wasn't as great as it broke when i dropped it a few times.
The newer remotes seem more durable. I noticed the just released the new 880: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/detailsharmony/US/EN,CRID=2084,CONTENTID=9933
that looks nice too...
I got mine back before Logitech took over, so there weren't many to choose from. I did a lot of research and this one was the best all round. I got mine for $99 online somewhere (sorry, it's been a while). My wife complained that it took her 30 minutes to figure out how to watch TV once when I was not home. TV, receiver, cable box, input, input, input, etc...
The best is not only being able to have it set up before you get it in the mail (if you order it) but that it works the best. And LCD buttons suck, because we surf by braile. LCD you have to look down at the remote and aim for the button location. The nice thing about the Harmony's LCD buttons is that the button is not LCD, but next to it.
And the last but never least is the WF (Wife Factor). My wife has been telling people to get this remote (the married women).
This is a true Universal Remote. No more pressing a button before using a volume, back to a button to change channels. This is the one remote (any one of the Harmony remotes) to rule them all.
I guess these are outdated compared to the Harmony ones, but I sure love the HomeTheaterMaster remotes. They're pretty tough to find but lots of hard buttons, easy to program, and a screen that makes sense. I find TiVo buttons line up fairly well. The WAF is high!