Logitech Harmony 550 Advanced Universal Remote Control

Logitech Harmony Is The World's Best Remote. Period!!!

Strengths: Please Read Below

Weakness: None

Logitech Harmony Is The "World's Best Remote. Period!!!" Let me start out by saying that any negative reviews that you hear about Logitech Harmony remotes are from people that don't have patience or from those that did not pass 5th grade. I have had Onkyo's RC model universal learning remote for more than 5 years till a few of the buttons started dying. I wasn't very sure that the Logitech...
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Logitech Harmony Is The "World's Best Remote. Period!!!"

Let me start out by saying that any negative reviews that you hear about Logitech Harmony remotes are from people that don't have patience or from those that did not pass 5th grade.

I have had Onkyo's RC model universal learning remote for more than 5 years till a few of the buttons started dying. I wasn't very sure that the Logitech Harmony 550 would work; since it had fewer buttons and you had to use a program or website to program it. But, I was proved wrong towards a very pleasant surprise by my Logitech Harmony 550.

Great Features:
* Can customize almost all buttons to your preference
* Knows which units are on, so that only those are turned off, when you press the single power off button
* Can learn any IR command from the original remote
* HUGE database that already had 7 out of my 8 components... WOW!
* Remote goes into power save mode after 2 hours of non usage to save battery life
* 550 model has 4 extra buttons: Sound, Picture, A & B; I'd rather have more button, hence I picked this model
* LCD display itself acts as 4 additional buttons once you are into an activity such as watching tv, watching dvd etc.
* Great build quality and a high quality rubberized finish throughout the bottom of the remote so that it won't slide off your hand
* You can even control the speed of delay between IR signals to the same device, between devices, during power on and a couple more. Basically you can control any little thing you want to the finest level of detail with this remote

Important Tips:
* Software: Use the program from the CD, provided it is the latest or better version. My CD came with version 7.0.2 while the web based program is 7.0.1. I chose to use my CD program and I like the much cleaner interface of the CD program versus the web based program
* Forums: The logitech forums are amazing and you can get to it from the 'More Help' -> 'Contact Us' -> 'Forums'. Look for posts in this forum by a user by the name 'WannabeActuary' of 'Logi Guru' level and he seems to know answers to all your Logitech Harmony questions
* Programming: The basic programming if you know all your device model numbers takes 10 minutes. For advanced i.e. more picky users you can customize the remote to perfection and you can spend a whole day doing this, because of the sheer fact that you can customize anything and everything, which is great!
* Activity Buttons: Make sure that once you are inside an activity, that you customize the first two pages of the LCD screen to show the commands that you use most frequently. E.g.: In the activity of 'Watch DVD' with a DVD changer, you probably would want 'Subtitle', 'Audio', 'Next Disc', 'Previous Disc' commands are displayed on the first page of the LCD screen and so on

Conclusion:
This is best remote you can find for under $70 and it can do everything you want it to do and it is truly a universal remote. In final analysis, the only thing I can say is that this is the "World's Best Remote. Period!!!"

By efairdeal - Feb 20, 2007

One remote controls all home theater devices

Strengths: Easily Programmable. Help button solves most of the problem. Activity option rocks.

Weakness: Some learning curve. It wont work right out of the box for all your device. Some programming required.

One Activity button allows you to turn ON and OFF the right components of your home theater. Say you want to watch DVD, you just program this as an activity on your remote, so when you press that one button it will turn on your DVD, TV - set the correct input for TV and turn on audio receiver. You can control almost everything. I have Directv HD DVR, Dishnetwork DVR, Directv DVR, FTA unit,...
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One Activity button allows you to turn ON and OFF the right components of your home theater. Say you want to watch DVD, you just program this as an activity on your remote, so when you press that one button it will turn on your DVD, TV - set the correct input for TV and turn on audio receiver. You can control almost everything. I have Directv HD DVR, Dishnetwork DVR, Directv DVR, FTA unit, Samsung DLP, Onkyo receiver, Sony CD system, Oppo HD DVD player and this unit controls everything like a charm. Above all all your programming is stored on Logitech website, so you can program it from any PC with USB connection.
This remote can also learn commands from other remotes using Infrared. This feature is awesome, because you can make this remote learn some commands which it may include by default.
This one remote will replace all the remotes you have for all the components.
I would highly recommend this remote to others.

By mehul73 - Jul 13, 2006

Good remote for the price

Strengths: Looks nice, additional buttons, nice feel, activity buttons

Weakness: No favorite channel activity like other models, monotone screen

For the price (bought for $75), the remote functions good once setup. The setup software took some time to study and understand. I'm sure I'm still not taking full advantage of all the features. I just wish there was the favorite channel activity; probably no other reason to upgrade to pricier models unless you want color screen or recharging cradle.

By njchang - Jul 15, 2006

Harmony 550 Universal Remote

Strengths: Great look and nice performance

Weakness: NA

I've been using this remote for at least 2 months now and I must say this thing is awesome. Despite what other reviewers would have you believe, the ability to have every button from all your remotes is what I think makes this remote so great. Any "soft button" logitech doesn't include in the initial programing of your device can be learned through the IR port. Also, my remote never misses a beat...
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I've been using this remote for at least 2 months now and I must say this thing is awesome. Despite what other reviewers would have you believe, the ability to have every button from all your remotes is what I think makes this remote so great. Any "soft button" logitech doesn't include in the initial programing of your device can be learned through the IR port.

Also, my remote never misses a beat when switching between viewing modes. If I go from "watch TV" to "watch DVD", it gets all of the inputs right every time. This may be another issue of knowing how to program it properly.

I just had to give my 2 cents after seeing people giving this bad reviews based on improper use or not reading directions. I would buy this remote again in a heartbeat!

By cindy0586 - Sep 25, 2006

My dream remote!

Strengths: Every thing from ease of programming to ease of use. When you set up activities it turns on the proper equipment and sets everything up for you. No more turning on your TV then you receiver and so on.

Weakness: None that I found.

This remote is a godsend. I've been very skeptical about not buying enough remote or too much. The Harmony 550 is more than enough yet not too much. I read many reviews and most people complained about software and I'll admit it made me even more of a skeptic but they also seemed to say it worked wonderfully. For the price I do not think you can find a better remote. I saw some complain of button...
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This remote is a godsend. I've been very skeptical about not buying enough remote or too much. The Harmony 550 is more than enough yet not too much. I read many reviews and most people complained about software and I'll admit it made me even more of a skeptic but they also seemed to say it worked wonderfully. For the price I do not think you can find a better remote. I saw some complain of button size but they seem pretty standard to me. I compared them with all of the remotes they were replacing and they were very close. I had no issue with button size or programming. I assume software was updated because it was quick and painless for me. It actually took less than 10 minutes. My only advice is to make sure you have the brand name and model number written down before you program as that will only keep programing quick and smooth. For the novice to semi advanced system this is a best buy! I've already recommended it to my friends and co workers and I'm buying two more one more for my bedroom and one for my parents!

By thadon - Jun 28, 2006