RC User Reviews: Harmony 659 / H659 / SST-659 Remote Control (7)

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User reviews for the Harmony 659 / H659 / SST-659 from Logitech.

Ratings	Reviews	MSRP (USD)
Average: 3.88/5.00 Median: 4.33/5.00	89	$199

The Harmony H659 remote control features simple Internet-based programming via USB, Smart State control for easy system automatation, full backlighting, a redesigned user interface and a large complement of hard buttons!

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Now viewing user reviews page 7 of 13 for
the Harmony 659 / H659 / SST-659 remote.

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Written by James Rowland from San Rafael, CA.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 47 made on Friday September 3, 2004 at 5:12 PM.

Strengths:

Ultimate ease of use. Very knowledgeable, helpful tech support.

Weaknesses:

Frustratingly difficult to program. Web site/download process is quite slow and tedious (even with a cable modem). The manual is woefully inadequate. The battery door is easy to break. You will still want your remotes for more complex, non-routine, functions.

Review:

Once up and running, this remote is a dream. One click and the TV, cable box, and AV receiver come on, and the receiver goes to the correct input. Watch a DVD? Just press Watch Movie, and the cable box goes off, the DVD player comes on, and the AV receiver input changes to DVD input.
BUT, it took two weekends of frustration to get there. The manual is clear -- once you've figured out the problem and no longer need the manual! According to an email from the company, they are aware that the manual is inadequate, and are in the process of re-writing it. Good move. A better move would be to turn the tech writing over to the Dummies folks to write a H659 For Dummies book. The web site is not too informative, either.
If the infrared receptors on your various devices are widely spaced, you have to be somewhat careful where you aim the remote, or else a device will not turn on/off appropriately. Fortunately, resorting to the Help key solves the problem in literally ten to fifteen seconds.
Overall, a little overpriced -- for $200 one should not have to put up with a poorly written, rather uninformative manual and web site. Having said that, I would still highly recommend it.

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Written by Marc from Wappinger Falls, NY.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 46 made on Wednesday August 25, 2004 at 12:33 AM.

Strengths:

Design, Functionality, Excellent Customer Service

Weaknesses:

Slow website, can be a challange to program remote by yourself

Review:

Had this unit for a week now & I am very impressed with it. As an 'average' computer user, It was a little difficult setting up my system. However, I contacted the toll free customer service & was walked through the entire process without a hitch. It took a while to set up. But it was well worth it. The one thing that would make this remote perfect is that when you click on an option like watch a movie, I wish the remote did not have to cycle through multiple inputs to get to the right setting. I hear that it's possible to do with other kinds of TV models (I have a Panasonic). I highly recommend.

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Written by J from Los Angeles, CA.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 45 made on Saturday August 21, 2004 at 8:02 PM.

Strengths:

None.

Weaknesses:

No Macro functions, bad website, terrible interface, price is outrageous for what you get, remote loses key configs.

Review:

I bought this remote based on the many glowing reviews on this website.

This remote, put as simply as possible, sucks the big one.

It is WAY to aggravating to setup. The ONLY way you can set it up is via the internet and a VERY bad website.

Honestly it took me a whole Saturday setting this thing up and it STILL didn't work properly.

The lack of a macro function and the fact that you have to scroll endlessly through screens to get to various components like your reciever etc. makes this remote not only overpriced but INCREDIBLY overpriced.

AND I GOT IT FOR $90!!!

I did not experience any manufacturer design flaws like the backlight not functioning etc. This is just, honestly, a really terrible remote.

It's a good idea that is so badly implemented that it's truly sad. If the company had given useres the option of programming their remote WITHOUT using their ridiculously bad website AND given them at least ONE (JUST ONE) macro button this could be a great remote.

But for those that are generally familiar with other universal remotes you will definately, without question, want to avoid this like the plague!

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Written by Dave Wilson from Texas.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 6-12 months.

Review 44 made on Thursday August 19, 2004 at 10:02 PM.

Strengths:

Ease of use, programming capability

Weaknesses:

Battery components and battery life

Review:

This remote does everything I needed for my home theater setup and all components were available online for setup. My wife loves it because she can watch tv or hd or dvd's with only one touch of the button. However, from the start the battery life was very short and the battery connectors did not seem fit or be seated well. Even with new batteries, the unit would lose power frequently and come back on after reseating the batteries. It now won't get beyond the testing stage before dying after adding new batteries. I am looking for a higher quality remote with the same capabilities.

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Written by John Garth from FL.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 43 made on Thursday August 19, 2004 at 5:44 PM.

Strengths:

An overall dream remote at the best price.
Great Button layout, easy to use etc etc.

Weaknesses:

Internet setup is quick for the first 85% of your setup and within 30 Minutes you have the basics done, but fine tuning the last 15% of the remote takes ages because of slow web site response and the back and forth between PC and TV. Once finished it's great but be prepared to spend hours on the net getting it right.

Review:

I love this remote, it's everything that you could want and works as advertised.
Daniel's review says it all so I don't want to be repetative, just a few things that have changed since then.
The display can now do 6 lines if you want or still be set to 4.
The battery life should be improved in the latest firmware.
The Zapit bookmarks no longer work because of a patent dispute.
The web service is faster and more reliable but is still slower than it should be.

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Written by Dan H from Ohio, USA.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 42 made on Saturday August 14, 2004 at 10:32 PM.

Strengths:

*Easy programmability.
*updates via web, including flashing hardware
*activity-based
*form factor
*strong IR beams
*ability to have TV listings in remote (why hasn't this been done before now! It's perfect!)

Weaknesses:

None, yet.

Review:

I have a full breadth of A/V components and have used multiple remotes in years past including the original remotes as well as many universal remotes. Up to this point, my favorite was the HomeTheatreMaster MX-500, but this is better for this price range. *Extremely* easy to set up and everything works.

A nice function for the wife and kids: Part of the remote is *activity* based. And, the remote keeps track of which components are on and which are off, so when you switch from one activity to another the important components stay on while the others turn off It's absolutely amazing.

Also, with the LCD screen it has mappable buttons to customize, but if you subscribe to their service you can download up to 2 weeks' worth of TV listings into your remote.

It's great to see someone has taken advantage of all the technology (including the net) to make things easy to set up, reliable, and to combine everything you need in the palm of your hand.

The blue backlight is great!

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Written by Vinny Sajkowski from NJ, USA.

The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.

Review 41 made on Monday August 2, 2004 at 2:32 PM.

Strengths:

Extremely easy to program and use.
Very comfortable to hold

Weaknesses:

Backlight button!!!!

Review:

So I purchased this remote because my wife has no idea how to use anything that is related to home video/audio electronics. I must say, this is THE easiest remote for anyone to use. Just a simple button press and it changes the TV input and selects the correct audio settings.

I didn't even have to tell her how to work it, she actually figured it out herself, it's that simple.

Programming on the harmonyremote.com site was a breeze and it took no more than 10min to setup.

Now the bad news...I purchased this remote and everything worked great for a day, maybe 2. Then the glow light(backlight) went out. I knew about this problem before hand by reading others reviews, but had hoped logitec had fixed this problem by now. So I purchased another remote, and everything worked great again for 2-3days. Then the light went out again. I'm getting frustrated now at this point. I plan on calling harmony and seeing what I can do, if not, I have to purchase another remote. Oh well. If my wife didn't like this remote that much, I wouldn't even bother.

Other than the backlight issue, I cannot say anything negative about this remote. You have total customization with ease of use. Gotta love that.

I recommend this remote...

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