12 HD Days of Christmas: Day 3
By Matt Burns 
posted Dec 13th 2005 6:20PM
posted Dec 13th 2005 6:20PM
"On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me"....Sweet, beautiful reduction of remotes is a gift the whole family can enjoy. We talk a lot about Logitech's Harmony remotes because they are great. They offer the right amount of customization and control for anybody thanks to the Internet. But why is this a great holiday gift? There is Harmony for everybody. (And at every price range) Seriously, your mother could use one, and maybe even your grandparents.
Remember that surround sound system that you bought your parents last year for Christmas. You know, the one that they only use when you are around because it is just too complicated for them to use. Well reader, this is your chance to redeem yourself. Or that nice receiver and speakers you bought for your wife last year because you knew she would love it. *Winks* Once again, this is your chance to give your wife a remote that would seamlessly integrate it into your life.
[more info about different models below]
The great characteristic of Harmony remotes is that they all do the same thing. The $129 (you can find it for $100) model will do nearly the same functions of the high priced models. The remotes increase in price with relation to the layout of the buttons and coolness.
For the Grandparents.I can picture it now. Your Grandma holding the recently unwrapped remote at the end of her fully extended arm so she can look at it through her bifocals; your Grandpa is of course leaning over and exclaiming "what the hell is it." Little did your Grandparents know that this remote will take a lot of stress off their daily life. They will never know that the real reason you gave the gift of remote is that you are tired of receiving those phone calls asking why the TV says "Video 3" and is just a black screen. This remote will allow your grandparents to use all of their devices with just one remote that works.
Keep in mind that you are going to have to program the remote for them. It is not hard to do, but rather, time consuming and requires the Internet. If they do not have the Internet, take note of how everything is hooked up and to what input devices are connected. You will need the model numbers as well.
Parents
Harmony offers more expensive remotes but they are not necessary better. I did a full review of one of them, the 659, a few months back. I love mine and find the layout a bit more pleasing that the lower priced ones. I like the macro buttons on the top right in a row.
For around $200 Harmony has a few different remotes that are offer minor differences. The 659 ($179) is the original award winning remote but for a few more bones you could get the 680 that caters to the media center users. Past that is the 676 ($229) that lets you change the faceplates and then the 688 ($249) is designed with TiVo in mind.
But
those are just remotes. If you can pony up the dough for the 880
($299), you can give the gift of pictures too! All of the Harmony
remotes have LCD screens that let you program different soft buttons to
them but only the 880 features a color LCD. This remote sports enough
memory to load slide shows of your favorite pictures on them. Can you
picture your Grandma holding this remote and exclaiming after she sees
pictures of her grandchildren?This remote retails at $299 and has all the features that the cheaper ones do but adds a bit of elegance and class. The remote comes with a docking station to recharge it.
Any of these remotes are sure to delight both the techno-geek and the Luddite alike. It solves the "remote control shuffle" simply and completely.
Previous HD Days of Christmas:
I have a Harmony 688, actually I have had like 4 of them. Functional they make great remotes but the build quality really sucks, and their reconditioned one's are particularly bad. Plus you have to send your old one off to Canada at your own expense. All in all I would be leary of buying another Harmony product.
FYI: I picked up the 880 for $180 shipped on Ebay and it's worth every penny. Harmony blows all of the other options I tried away (Sony, Pronto, et al).
I've got the 880 and it works great. It makes it easy for anybody in the family to work the home theater.
I have the 880 too. Love it! btw, to the person with the 688 poor build quality - the 880 is now made by Logitech. The 688 was before Harmony got bought by Logitech.
I have a 680, and it has been dropped on the hardwood floors of my house more often than I would like to admit. Probably on the order of 30 times. It is still working perfectly.
Is there any other company out there that has their product line in as good a shape as Logitech does? They simply don't have a product that I wouldn't want. However, given that I use Logitech gaming mice, a Logitech Bluetooth headset, a Logitech Harmony remote, and a Logitech USB force feedback steering wheel, is there anything left to get? :-) Maybe just their gaming keyboard with the LCD screen built-in (drool).
Oh, and funny enough, I just bought a Harmony 520 for my wife's father for Christmas. He could use some remote consolidation. Sears has them online and in store for $75 right now! :-D
After reading these reviews I think I'll pass on the 880 for now:
http://www.remotecentral.com/ureview/106.htm