Is It Worth Buying? Logitech 510 Review
If you are having hard time finding the Harmony 520, it is because Logitech discontinued it in favor of the Harmony 510. While the model name suggests 510 as the predecessor to 520, it is in fact the direct successor to the 520. Logitech has odd habit of naming their models in not so linear way. The Harmony 520was inexpensive upgrade to the remote controls included with the television or disc player sets. Priced around $50, it was a fairly popular item bought with the new entertainment devices. The Harmony 510 hopes to continue the trend for the entry level market.
Features
Like Harmony 520, the Harmony 510 features the computer based programming. All of the Harmony remote controls utilize this method of programming. You can program the remote in activity or device based controls. Basically, the remote will macro various devices if you choose to program the remote on activity based setting. For example, “watch TV” will most likely control cable box, television, and receiver if you have those devices. Like the 520 model, the 510 does manage to include a small LCD screen. While that is a nice carry over from the 520 model, the 510 can only control up to 5 devices instead 12. This is severe drawback for those in need of remote control that can control more than 5 devices.
Design
The layout of the remote is almost identical to the 520 model. The LCD is located at the top of the remote with 2 programmable buttons flanking the LCD on each side. The playback function buttons are right beneath the LCD screen. The directional buttons and few sound functions are located in the middle of the remote with numeric buttons bringing up the bottom. Four additional color coded function buttons are added from the 520 model. The more advanced models make good use of ergonomic design whereas 510 is just a carryover from the straight forward 520 design.
Ease of programming
The Harmony 510 is programmed the same way as any other Harmony remote controls. This is one of the real strength of buying Harmony remote controls. You connect the remote control to PC or Mac with the included USB cable. You install the program and follow the Logitech’s web based programming to complete the programming process. The website has built in database that includes almost all of the devices you might have for the remote. This makes it convenient as you don’t have to track down and manually enter codes for every device you own. As stated earlier, you can program the remote based on activity. You enter what you want to do and the remote automatically macros the devices to make that activity work. As with other models, your remote can “learn” from existing remote controls if you can’t control certain devices.
Ease of use
The remote is easy to operate and program. Once you have programmed your activity, you can press a button and operate the various devices. The layout of the remote is fairly easy to acclimate with few days of usage. If you have used other Harmony remotes, you will have no problem with the programming or using activity based function.
Overall
The 510 is nothing remarkable compared to the 520 model. It is simply a carryover model that adds few function buttons while removing the number of devices it can control. While it is a very competent remote control, the reduction from 12 devices to 5 devices seems to be unnecessary. Logitech might be asking the consumers to step up to higher model if they own more than 5 devices. This is a big drawback from a relatively good remote control from Logitech.
Pros
- Price
- Easy to use
Cons
- No rechargeable battery system
- 5 device limit
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Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote Control List Price: $99.99 Sale Price: $124.99 Used From: $90.00  |
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Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote Control List Price: $99.99 Sale Price: $124.99 Used From: $90.00 |
This site contains the personal opinions of various authors and contributors to this website. The opinions in these articles and reviews are offered in good faith, but also come with no guarantees or warranties.
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Works but needs work
I bought my 510 on Amazon about two months ago. It works but I’d buy something different if I could start over. The programming was a nightmare. All went well until final step where you load the program into the remote. Kept bombing out with some kind of data error. Attempted to find a solution and solution was to keep trying eventually it will complete. What should have taken 5 minutes, took 3 hours. I haven’t seen anything work this poorly since the 1960′s. After finally getting the program fully loaded, the remote does work. I don’t think I’ll ever try to improve my initial program as I don’t want another frustrating 3 hour download. I also find the keypad is made for something other than a human. I have average size hands but after two months I still have trouble with the tiny keys. The volume and channel up/down are very hard to operate. You also have trouble working it in the dark. The backlight is not of much value. The reason I bought this remote was that my wife claimed she couldn’t watch the “big” tv because of all the remotes. It really didn’t fix that problem because she wanted something “easy” and the 510 is not that easy. Also when you power on and it goes through initial setup, you have to set the remote on the arm of the chair and not touch it until the lights go out. It takes quite a while to send all the commands and if you hand hold it something always gets missed. The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because it does work but if you want quick smooth operation for the whole family, keep shopping.
Didn’t quite have all the buttons yet.
I don’t have all the buttons programmed to control this Toshiba SD-V296 Tunerless DVD VCR Combo yet. All I got missing is tape speed control, and a few other odds and ends (tracking, perhaps). I’m ordering in the original remote so I can properly teach it the proper commands. Other than that, I’m able to control more of the DVD player functions.
Wouldn’t do what I wanted
I was looking for a product that would learn a group of commands. However, the Harmony is limited to no more than 5 commands.
Does it all
I own a DVD, HD TV, and cable box, which all have their sound routed through my reciever. I also have a Roku player which has its sound directly connected to the TV. Switching between gadgets has always been a pain – turning on one device, turning off another, changing video input on the TV and changing audio source. This guy does it all. Set up was a breeze. now one button is all I have to press to go from DVD to cable (or Roku player).
After I initially set it up, I couldn’t control the roku player – it initially set it up to play and pause, but I couldn’t navigate. Went back to the setup software and found all of the options. Its a very powerful remote in that you can assign different buttons to do different things if you really want. Basically the remote has buttons and the software knows the commands for your device, and you can reassign commands however you like. Of course, not too many people will want to set the fast forward button to rewind and vice versa, but that is theoretically possible.
I don’t mean to intimidate anyone over the set up, just pointing out that you can customize the remote to a further degree than I imagined. In most circumstances, you won’t need to customize buttons or add functions (the receiver, TV, cable box, and DVD player all worked flawless once I specified the models). It was just that Roku player I had to manually set up a bit. Took 5 more minutes and made me quite happy. I’m really impressed with the capabilities and completely satisfied with the purchase. I see no need to pay an extra $50+ dollars for touch screen functionality. But I guess those other models can control more than 5 devices, so that may be a requirement for some (just not me). If you use more than 2 remotes, buy this.
This is all the remote you likely need
As long you don’t need to control more than five devices then this remote is all you need. It seems to have pretty much everything the more expensive models have. You set up the remote from your computer using the provided easy to use software. The software recognizes pretty much every A/V device on the planet and can quickly and easily create a default setup for your system that works well. But you can go beyond that and customize the remote to do pretty much anything your A/V system is capable of. The remote itself looks nice and feels nice in your hand.
If Logitech is reading this then I have one suggestion: Allow the user to install the program wherever they wish like all other software does, rather than forcing the installation to C:Program Files…
Not a Great Remote
The concept is good but the execution is anything but easy. It works well if you don’t have to switch inputs to the TV. It is possible to switch inputs with what amounts to macros but you can’t switch from one activity to another with a different input. I still intend to get with Tech support to solve the problem. If things get better, I’ll update the review.
Everything on one remote! I promise – 1 remote
Would it be worth it to you to have just one remote, I promise “only one remote” that can control everything you have? Would it be worth it if the remote simply asked you “what do you want to do?” and you could click “watch TV” or “watch DVD” or “play a game” and it took care of switching everything over and setting everything up? Would you pay ~$70 for that?
A friend of mine turned me on to Logitech’s Harmony Remotes. This does everything you’d expect a universal remote to do without having to spend hours typing in 3 digit codes hoping to get the right one and suffering with not being able to adjust all the features of entertainment system without having to dig out the old remotes.
3 things this remote does for you:
- Easy to program – connect it to your PC (cords, etc. provided), select the make and model from Logitech’s online database, and you are good to go.
- Want to watch TV or a DVD or play a game? Today’s technology requires you to change multiple settings on your numerous devices to just get from one activity to the next. I tried writing it out directions for my wife using our old remotes, but she would just get frustrated. This remote, pick it up and the LCD asks you what do you want to do “watch TV”, “watch DVD”, etc. Hit the button and it switches everything over and changes all the settings for you. It remembers what’s on (so it doesn’t turn things off again) and you can jump back and forth.
- Finally, for the inner geek, this remote is highly customizable. The main mode is “activity” mode where each button can send commands to any device and you can easily reassign buttons. There is also a customizable menu built into the LCD for you to add additional things there isn’t a marked button for. You can even switch to “device” mode and the original TV or DVD, etc. remote is available with most of the advanced features in the LCD menu (again customizable).
This is a fantastic remote that has exceeded my expectations and the wimpy promises of other companies.
Great Universal Remote
Logitech Harmony 510 contols my TV, surround sound receiver, PS3 (accessory required), and most importantly, Directv DVR. I would highly recommend this product if you’re looking for an inexpensive universal remote.
Good if you like the activity based control
This control is setup to do activity based control, like “Play a DVD” it assumes all components are off and then proceeds to turn the components on and then trigger the other actions. This works well for some features but is painful for others.
One of my biggest complaint is that you have to keep switching components, if I’m controlling the DVD but then want to change volume on the TV I have to switch components. The DVD doesn’t have a volume so why doesn’t the volume still trigger the TV?
Excellent remote
This remote is excellent. With a little tweaking you can customize it to exactly the way you want unlike other remotes that you can only have it the way the manufacture wants. Seems to use less battery power than other Harmony remotes also (I have owned about 6 Harmony remotes). I also like the 4 buttons on the bottom, red blue green yellow, for Direct tv’s PVR. This remote works perfect…..
Good remote eats battery life
Kills brand new batteries in only a few weeks. Going to return for new remote.
Bad Configuration Software
Great remote overall, but hampered by terrible configuration software.
At vers 7.5 I’d think it would be a bit more customizable, but you are a long way from an easy to use and highly configurable product.
Here are the principal issues:
1) General cludgyness: the setup is so terribly long, involved and “Fisher-Price” simplified. It is annoying, cumbersome, slow, tedious, and limiting.
Specifically, adding and moving custom buttons, navigating through the “wizards” and trying to find where you have hidden some particular “option” is utterly aggravating. Seriously, you expect us to guess the difference from “Settings” or “Options” ??!?! – how unclear can you get?
“Customize buttons” is on the main activities page for activities, but buried in the “options” or “settings” page for devices. The inconsistency throughout the application is aggravating.
2) LACK OF CONTROL: you have designed the remote to function around “activities”, yet you do not provide full control of activities. WHY? In order to have functions of a certain device available in an activity, then you have to add that device TO the activity.
But ALL devices added to the activity are turned “Full On”. The light controller, air conditioning, air purifier, etc etc. We the users (your customers) need to be able to enter an activity without changing the state of every device in that activity.
For instance, when I listen to CDs, I may also want to watch TV. Or not. While listening to CDs, I need control of the TV. But when I go to listen to CDs, if the TV is off, I do NOT want it automatically turned on. I WANT THE CHOICE.
3) CAN’T REORDER DEVICES (in or not in an activity). Okay, so you want us to program the device around activities – but as noted above, even then you do not have accurate control of devices added to an activity.
We need the ability to reorder devices when not in an activity, and reorder them separately if desired for each activity. they way you have it now, the devices move all over the place in seemingly random ways, and when you have more than 8 devices it is INCREDIBLY annoying to hunt and find them in some new location each time.
Random device positions? Yea, great idea. NOT. This is a horrid “feature”!!
4) BAD IR COMMAND DATABASE. Okay, here’s a case of quantity does not equal quality. It seems like every user’s custom programmed commands get stuck into this database. While this might be an easy way for you to “grow” your database, using the database becomes cumbersome at best. Moreover, many commands are mislabeled, or do not function as expected. It seems that mis-named commands get into the database and never get out.
Worse, for use users, there is no way to permanently edit the database to suit our particular device. In other words, we’d like to be able to make our own localized version of a particular device and customize the entire command list – this would not affect your main database, just our remote. This way, everytime we went to adjust the programming of our remote, we wouldn’t have to scroll through the hundreds of useless commands that do not apply to our device.
5) IR COMMAND LEARNING LIMITATIONS. Yes, you can learn new commands. But you have little control over those commands.
For instance, on original remotes, some commands will “stream” a commands when you hold a button down. With harmony, you seem to be able to do that only with volume. A serious deficiency.
6) CAN’T SAVE SETUPS. Right, so we make a mistake, but after we re-configure, there is no way to “get back” to a previous programmed state.
7) MUST BE ONLINE. Why? why should I have to be online for a learning remote? You should allow for offline configuration, learning, saving, etc.
SUMMARY OF MISSING FEATURES:
:
Put all settings for a device in ONE place, under ONE menu. Stop spreading config pages all over the place.
Consistency: Chose one term, “settings” OR “options” and stick with it. Put related settings in the same relative place throughout the application.
Allow for direct settings controls instead of cumbersome wizards.
Allow devices in activities to NO CHANGE STATE when entering that activity.
Allow device reordering, both outside of activities, and in each activity.
Allow deleting IR commands for a device.
Allow “stream” commands (like volume) but for any command (selection choice).
Be able to “save as” setups, to store previous configurations.
Be able to work offline.
Great All-in-One Remote
I ordered this remote for my Dad for Father’s Day since he has an HDTV, DVR, Surround System, and DVD player. We went through the steps of setting up the remote, and after picking the type of equipment we had and setting up our activities, we tried the remote. It worked perfectly. Everything turned on when it was supposed to and in the correct order. On the TV, the correct input channels switched, and for the A/V Receiver, it switched to the correct output.
There are two cons I have for this remote:
1) Whenever you buy something new, you have to go into your LogiTech software and change out your old and new software, and this can be a pain. We had to remove the “Watch TV” activity and set it back up a couple of times after my dad got a new DVR box. However, with the “HELP” feature, we soon got it up and running.
2) There is a small learning curve on how to use the remote. It will take some getting used to, but there is one.
Overall…very good product. I would recommend to anyone.
Exactly what it claims to be.
I purchased this remote to use with an old TV that doesn’t have a remote and to combine with my new DVD player. I looked at other universal remotes, but none would work with both devices. This was an expensive investment for a remote ($50 on amazon), but once my summer internship is over, I am going to set this up for my parents and their TV system.
I would give this product 5 stars, but I have two gripes. It uses AA batteries instead of the rechargeable batteries offered in the more expensive models. With that said, the LED screen is always on and there is no way that I have found to adjust it. As a result, battery life for me is only about a month per pair. The second gripe has to do with the setup. I don’t think that the documentation does a very good job of helping you through the process of collecting model numbers and diagramming how the system is connected to itself. This is essential for a successful set-up. Be prepared to spend some significant time setting this up if you have a lot of devices.
Like I said, at the end of the summer, I will be setting this remote up for my parents. I plan on purchasing another Harmony remote and the bluetooth adapter for PS3. My entertainment system has 6 devices so this remote will not work.
I imagine that for almost everyone, this remote will meet their needs and work as claimed.
Disappointed
The product works fine, but it took a lot more playing with than I was lead to believe.
Logitech’s web site said that the 510 worked with my TV, a Syntax 27 inch LCD, but as it turns out, my TV is not really in their database. To get it to work I had to get the TV’s remote and teach the 510 some of the codes, then I “guessed” which code set would work. It took quite a while, with me correcting it, before it got the correct one.
My experience with Logitech has always been better than this.