Review on 🔌 Logitech Ultimate Home Harmony | Discontinued by Manufacturer by Jillian Bishop

I have to say this remote control is fantastic. Setup was pretty easy. My previous remote was the Sony RM-AV3000, a highly customizable (and clunky) remote with macros and timers, but very difficult to program. I've found Logitech to be missing some of these features, but it might be possible to work around them, but I haven't figured out how. Since my last remote control was so versatile, I was very skeptical about any new technology. I think it took me about 2 hours to set up my first "activity" with this remote. The great thing about the remote is that it has a near perfect set of hardware buttons for what you need. Other buttons that may be "missing" are just a click or two away on the touchscreen. Also, during setup, all buttons work EXACTLY as you would expect (ie volume controls corresponding device, as does DVR, channel, play, pause, etc.). I have a dashcam, smart tv, blu-ray, 5 disc dvd changer and receiver. This remote control turns on the necessary components and the corresponding input. It knows if there's a post-powerup delay before you can change inputs to your device, so Logitech takes care of everything. It just seems that the system takes a bit of time to turn on. I've discovered a few quirks that might cause problems for me in the future. One day my 1 year old grabbed the remote, pressed a few buttons and the remote wouldn't go to sleep. It looks like it's trying to send commands continuously. An internet search revealed this to be the problem, but it has been fixed in the latest firmware. During the installation process I already updated the firmware but the problem persisted. My solution was to turn off the remote completely by holding down the OFF button until everything went black. I then put it back into the charging cradle and it booted back up with no issues; My screen timeout and lock settings got reset to default - but that's about it. Literally a few days later, the remote only started responding to a few commands, then not at all. I had to turn off the console again and even restarted the hub just in case. It came back fine. I hope this is not a sign for the future. Luckily this remote does X10 if you have an IR receiver. Unfortunately, they don't make RF ceiling fans, although my fan is on the compatibility list (if you have an IR remote, you're in business). It may work with Windows Media Center, but you'll have to do a Google search to find some simple, free, third-party software that you can download and trick your computer into believing it's a PS3 Bluetooth Remote control acts - provided you have Bluetooth enabled on your computer. Logitech doesn't support this themselves for some reason. Edit: While there were remote emulators for media centers, I couldn't get over the fact that they state on their website that they support a media center. So why did I have to use a PS3 emulator? It took some work and a few calls during my free call time (which lasts 90 days after the remote is online) with Logitech to get the media center to work properly without posing as a PS3 remote. Bluetooth is the only way to do this and the only thing I did differently on a tech phone was pair with an app on my smartphone rather than the remote itself - this pairing doesn't seem to be working properly. I've turned off my computer several times now and never had to pair the remote with my computer again. Works flawlessly! Unfortunately they have NO documentation at all on how to properly make this connection and I had to contact some people at Logitech who didn't make sure my complaint was properly submitted before I got someone to direct me to the Called back at the time I asked for it and it actually got it working. I also received several emails saying my issue was closed, but that turned out to be their default message after the call ended, or so they said. Learning what "activity" is is a little crazy. There are many options for turning devices on and off that can really mess with your head. However, I have found that the activities don't work well with my X10 flashlights. This is because disabling an action disables all the devices you are using. I might not want to turn off the lights and turn off the entertainment center at the same time. So I just control them manually with the Harmony remote - no macros or shortcuts. You cannot do more than one activity at a time. So don't think of activities as independent macros. In this way, Logitech manages to remember the state of each of your components at all times. They switch from one activity to another, but never two at the same time. Unfortunately I can't find a manual to control lights with a remote control, but I've seen examples where it's been done. You can also change the action of the hardware buttons. For example, the four colored buttons below were automatically set to match my DVR (Verizon) colors for ABCD. However, the colors aren't in the same order as they are on the Verizon remote, and the Verizon OSD labels the buttons along with the colors as ABCD. But the console arranges the colors so that the letter pattern is CADB or something like that. But since my menus show a letter, I aim for the letter. I was able to arrange these buttons to be in letter order, but didn't match the color of the original remote button. Now my Vizio TV mainly works with colors, so I can leave it alone even if they're not in the same order. I've found that you can customize the hardware buttons differently for each action separately from each device remote, which is both confusing and cool. In other words, to rearrange my letters, I had to do this for the DVR remote and the 'Watch TV' action I created, more importantly, the action and the DVR remote as a backup. At the moment I fully recommend this remote for people who want to dive. Although programming is not as difficult as my previous remote, I would like to warn you that this remote is not for everyone. You must have a "programming" mindset to understand all the details. While I would describe my previous remote as "expert", I would describe this remote as "intermediate". You just need to know your system. If you don't know how something is connected in your system, don't worry about this remote - it will only complicate things. If you "know that guy off the street," get one and ask him to set it up and you'll never have to look at 6 remotes again. Logitech did a great job here. They should be recommended (except that they don't support Windows Media Center - because it can). Almost 4 stars for that, but I like it very much! Edit: Downgraded to 4 stars. I still love the remote control and functionality, but Logitech recently released a firmware update that broke the basic toggle functionality — devices that turn on or off against your intention. Luckily they fixed it but I had to wait about 6 weeks with a broken remote and never knew when it would be fixed. There was never a way to downgrade the firmware, so you're at Logitech's mercy if you make a mistake. Often you have no option not to update and are forced to update when you make configuration changes. At least it works great now!