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I bought one of those newer low end Harmony remotes

S

SAWYER

Lifer
I had an older Harmony and it finally died on my. I got the 600, the build is pretty good and a noticeable improvement over the older model I had. This one uses a web interface to set up your stuff, no more desktop software.
 
I have a Harmony One and I like it. I had an 880 for years but it eventually conked out. Actually I bought Harmony 650s for a couple of people last Christmas and in some ways I prefer the simplicity of the 650 to my One.
 
They make good remotes with the exception of the 880, but I really wish they would give up on their own proprietary batteries. My old 680 works great for 4-8 weeks on a set of four AAA eneloops. My Harmony One can barely last a day or two with barely any use at all. Sure, its nice to include a fancy charger/cradle, but not when the included battery is terrible. A Harmony One that doesn't come with a charger but takes AAA's would be a very good remote.
 
Binky said:
They make good remotes with the exception of the 880, but I really wish they would give up on their own proprietary batteries. My old 680 works great for 4-8 weeks on a set of four AAA eneloops. My Harmony One can barely last a day or two with barely any use at all. Sure, its nice to include a fancy charger/cradle, but not when the included battery is terrible. A Harmony One that doesn't come with a charger but takes AAA's would be a very good remote.
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I fully charged my H1 on Saturday. Still had a full bar when I was using it last night. Have used it every day since, but not that much. Will see how long it lasts but comment on slickdeals said it should last at least 1-2 weeks.
 
My 880 lasts weeks on a full charge. That said, the contacts on the volume up and channel up are starting to go on mine (have had it for about 3 years now). Don't know why you don't like the 880 Binky. To me it was the best combination of LCD, number of devices, very good IR strength, and physical buttons out of all the Harmony remotes. The touch screen ones suck to be honest, since you have to look at the remote and stop looking at the movie/show to do anything that uses the touch screen since the is no tactile feedback to allow you to have confidence that you touched in the right spot.

Out of the current ones, the "300i" just doesn't allow enough devices, even for a bedroom build, 4 devices is pretty restrictive. The 650 Advanced is just way over-priced for only being able to handle 6 devices. Heck, my parents have over 6 devices in their living room that they need to control for it to all work with one remote! The 900's aren't bad, but again, the touchscreen really limits it compared to the older 880 where you could have 8 functions on the LCD screen per screen. I mean, to me, they have really gone back in quality/functionality since the 880/890. The biggest gripe with the 880/890 is that the buttons eventually wear and requires you to open it up, clean out the contacts and re-apply the contact paste to them.
 
I still have an 880. It sucks because the buttons wear out too easily(yours too). the harmony is a much better unit, but the battery has a much shorter life than the 880.
 
Debating whether to get one of these or just go all the way to a RedEye and control via smartphones/tablets.
 
Binky said:
They make good remotes with the exception of the 880, but I really wish they would give up on their own proprietary batteries. My old 680 works great for 4-8 weeks on a set of four AAA eneloops. My Harmony One can barely last a day or two with barely any use at all. Sure, its nice to include a fancy charger/cradle, but not when the included battery is terrible. A Harmony One that doesn't come with a charger but takes AAA's would be a very good remote.
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I have a 650 and while it doesn't have a charger, it takes normal AA's. I have only had to change them once in a year. We love it and wonder why we didn't get one sooner..oh yea..the price 🙂
 
I recently got a 700 to replace my long-useless 880. (Went through two charging cradles, and I just got tired of dealing with it.)

As far as I know, the 700 is the same as the 650 with the addition of being rechargeable. In this case, the batteries are actually normal rechargeable AAs, so there's no issue with some proprietary battery like in the 880. Charging is done directly through the USB cable, rather than a cradle. I also actually like the buttons themselves a lot better than the 880 - more of the rubbery feel than the smooth hard plastic on the 880.

The main downsides as I see them are the number of devices supported (6), and the lower number of custom buttons on the LCD (4 on the 700, 8 on the 880). 6 devices is enough for me, and I only really use the LCD buttons for favorite channels most of the time, so I don't have any issues with those limitations, personally.

Interestingly the 700 can also be programmed with both the older, installed software, and the newer web-based version. I use the older version as it seems to provide more control than the web version does. For less technical users, the web version is probably more than good enough.
 
Fallen Kell said:
My 880 lasts weeks on a full charge. That said, the contacts on the volume up and channel up are starting to go on mine (have had it for about 3 years now). Don't know why you don't like the 880 Binky. To me it was the best combination of LCD, number of devices, very good IR strength, and physical buttons out of all the Harmony remotes. The touch screen ones suck to be honest, since you have to look at the remote and stop looking at the movie/show to do anything that uses the touch screen since the is no tactile feedback to allow you to have confidence that you touched in the right spot.

Out of the current ones, the "300i" just doesn't allow enough devices, even for a bedroom build, 4 devices is pretty restrictive. The 650 Advanced is just way over-priced for only being able to handle 6 devices. Heck, my parents have over 6 devices in their living room that they need to control for it to all work with one remote! The 900's aren't bad, but again, the touchscreen really limits it compared to the older 880 where you could have 8 functions on the LCD screen per screen. I mean, to me, they have really gone back in quality/functionality since the 880/890. The biggest gripe with the 880/890 is that the buttons eventually wear and requires you to open it up, clean out the contacts and re-apply the contact paste to them.
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Concur 100%
 
after about about a year of use my harmony 676 off button didn't work most of the time 🙁. Lately the off hasn't been working at all (pressed it dozens of times).
 
I've had a Harmony One since 2008 and a 670 since 2009. Both have been fantastic and I haven't had a major problem with either. Love them both.
 
s44 said:
Debating whether to get one of these or just go all the way to a RedEye and control via smartphones/tablets.
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Go with one of these. The pain with touchscreens is that you have to look at them to use them. With physical buttons on the Harmony remotes, you can feel around in the dark to change the channel, pause, adjust the volume, etc. without looking at it or lighting up the room.

I really wish that they'd make a Harmony remote in the shape of a Tivo remote - favorite remote ever :biggrin:
 
Had my 550 for around two years. Works great. Changed batteries twice I think. My old roommate had the 1000, I hated it. Having to look at what your doing all the time and hitting the wrong button sucked. Plus having to put it back on the dock or go pick it up all the time was annoying. And it was uncomfortable.
 
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Still using a 4-5 year old 520, with only the channel down button getting a little sketchy (fortunately, I very rarely use it).

I really prefer that shape, though 6 programmable buttons would be nice.

I don't get the 5 and 6 device limits - especially having to 'upgrade' to get 6 devices (why isn't it 26?). 6 isn't even really enough if you throw in a couple of video game consoles or a laptop or some such thing.

The 520 does 12 devices, and it was the cheapest one they had at the time. Makes no sense to me...
 
3chordcharlie said:
I don't get the 5 and 6 device limits - especially having to 'upgrade' to get 6 devices (why isn't it 26?). 6 isn't even really enough if you throw in a couple of video game consoles or a laptop or some such thing.

The 520 does 12 devices, and it was the cheapest one they had at the time. Makes no sense to me...
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Yeah this might be the dumbest part of the current lineup of Harmony remotes. There's a big gap in both cost and device limits between the 700 and the One/900/etc. 5 devices on the 650, 6 on the 700, and then 15 on the One? Why isn't there something that slots in there with 9 or 10 devices? (Probably because there's a lot more people that need 7-8 device support than have 15+, and thus they get them to buy the higher level remotes. :\)
 
We've got an 880 and love the shit out of it...although more and more we are having to do the "put the remote on the cradle *just right* or it wont charge" thing.

Will probably step up to a One in the near future.
 
got the new 3 device harmony 200 remote for $20 @radio shack b&m for the sharp aquos and the xtreamer, need to research on correcting the lag issue...
 
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