Comments on: Logitech Harmony 550 Remote Control Review

By: amrhamdy

amrhamdy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:47:20 +0000

Great product
This product really exceeded my expectations and the supplier was a true 5 stars one. Thank you.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:03:33 +0000

Pretty good remote
I just received my remote yesterday. I bought a refurbed one and it arrived looking brand new. The number of devices this thing supports blows my mind. Every single component I own is included and the remote supports every single function. The only thing I couldnt find is on TV mode how do you type a decimal point for tuning in OTA HDTV channels (ex. 25.1 or 25.2). They even had my FTA digital satellite receiver included. I’ve NEVER seen that. All in all I’m extremely satisfied so far. I’ve read some bad things about this remote, such as buttons failing after a few weeks, I’ll keep this updated if this happens.

By: kndy

kndy — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:37:42 +0000

A very good remote now offered for a low-price
The Logitech Harmony Universal Remote Controls are great remotes to purchase for its price. If you are like me and you have remotes for your receiver, your DVD, your TV, your Blu-ray player, your XBOX 360, it makes your life much easier to own a remote that can save you the stress and time.

The 550 can be purchased now from Amazon at such a low price and it feels good on your hand, buttons are pretty easy to use and it's not difficult to setup and no more going through AA batteries The only thing is that with these remotes, for how far you want to go with it, it'll take a few hours. But it's worth it!

Now, I talk about the 550 ala past tense and that is because being a home theater enthusiast, many friends and associates have tempted me to consider the Harmony One and the Harmony 1000 and being the kind of guy who jumps from technology to technology, I like the fact that it's touch screen.

But for those who like to keep things simple but still get the affordability and the quality from Harmony remotes, you can't go wrong with the 550.

Highly recommended!

By: dabrenn

dabrenn — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:41:29 +0000

Total nightmare
After struggling with the setup for most of a day, I finally surrendered to Tech support whose advice was to “play around with the buttons and see what happens.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:03:00 +0000

Great remote
As far as the layout of the buttons I like this remote far better than all others including the higher end Harmony remotes. It took about an hour to setup all my components on this remote and install software. I would have given it a 5 star rating but after you install the software you have to create an id and password for you to program. I have 2 of these remotes and had to create 2 accounts. You should be able to control multiple remotes under the same ID. I would prefer to install the software, setup the remotes and be done. All in all though it works great.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:52:06 +0000

One of the WORST high end remote controls ever
I have tried so many different remote controls over the years that I have lost count, and memory of most.

I have not forgotten the Logitech Harmony 550 which I just pulled out two days ago to give it another try after re-configuring my home components.

DON'T BUY THIS REMOTE!

It works .... But what you have to do to get it to work the way you want it to is so needlessly time consuming, complicated and very difficult.

The software required is web based and runs like a high encryption web application. It is just a remote but you need a name and password to log in .... Just to make any changes to your remote.

It is just stupid.

The most awful part of the software package is the need to "UPDATE" your changes to the remote (via usb) EVERY 5 MINUTES (LITERALLY) or all the changes you have made are lost.

It takes longer than five minutes to use the software to make the layout you want. Then IF YOU REMEMBER in time to "UPDATE" to the remote, that process takes 3-4 minutes to do.

Adding up the numerous 5 min intervals of workable time to make changes and the time to update to the remote can take hours (I spent close to a whole day and still couldn't get it the way I wanted).

Finally, the worst part of the Remote itself, is the button layout.

the Channel up and down, and the volume up and down are too small, narrow, flush with the surface and irregular in shape.

the location of the Play, Stop, Fast Forward etc ... is not in any way 'Logical' and makes it much more of a pain to use those basic features than a cheap universal remote with a user friendly layout.

The 'screen' (not touchscreen) is such a hassle to use and the 4 buttons to choose from the digital screen are again too small, narrow and not closely related to the orientation of the changing screen for which they operate.

Finally, there are no 'Red' 'Green' 'Yellow' 'Blue' buttons (which most satellite receivers need) nor any good way to customize them into the very limited number of hard buttons on the remote.

It sucks.

By: 0-0-0-0

0-0-0-0 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 10:13:32 +0000

Excellent for the price
Easy setup through usb with an extensive list of supported device. Of course you can't expect this to be as good as the harmony one, 880, etc., but for the price it's a great buy.

Pros: easy setup, easy to use, backlight, logitech online interface
Cons: frequent battery changes required (buy rechargeable batteries)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 09:39:09 +0000

Buy a Pocket PC instead!
These Logitech Harmony and similar universal remotes are not a good use of your money: a Pocket PC equipped with one of several software applications can use its built-in infrared port to control your entertainment devices and, if it’s an especially good Pocket PC with a 3.5 or 4-inch display, can do it just as conveniently as the Harmony 1100. A Pocket PC, as a true pocket computer, is a GENERAL PURPOSE device that is able to perform many other useful functions at other times. Why spend money on single purpose devices when a single device can perform several purposes? A used HP hx4700, for instance, can be had for $100-150; even factoring in the cost of the software, that is far less than a Harmony 1100 and much more versatile than a Harmony 550.

By: springsoak

springsoak — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:29:13 +0000

Just A Great Product
We used programmable remote control devices from Sony for several years (AX-4000 and its predecessor). While I enjoyed the challenge of programming those remotes – it took a couple of days for each one – my family did not like to use them, and instead often reverted to pulling out the 3-4 remotes that came with the A-V equipment. When my Sony started losing functionality in some of its buttons, we purchased a refurbished Logitech Harmony 550. Sadly, this device took about 20 minutes to program the operations of my Sony HDTV, U-Verse DVR, Onkyo Amplifier/Receiver, and Sony DVD player. Even sadder, every device “programmed” on the 550 (e.g., entering the brand and model of a TV on the Logitech Harmony website completes the programming for that device!) worked correctly, with every button on the Harmony matched exactly to the equipment’s original remote control device’s button. Customization of the Harmony is likewise so easy to accomplish that I now have time to watch my TV instead of programming its remote.

The 550 is so good and easy to use and program that we now have 2 of them (both refurbished, but arrived looking brand new and unused), and are ordering a 3rd one for our remaining TV/Set Top Box/DVD/VCR bundle of equipment.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:04:34 +0000

REMOTE HEAVEN
I just simply enjoy the fact of NOT having 3 remotes lying aroung to watch ONE TV set. This is remote heaven, easy to use and really plug and play. Thank you.