Harmony 900 Plays Nicely With DirecTV
Whenever I shop for a universal remote, one of my considerations is how DirecTV’s DRV-based remote control will match up with the new remote. The DirecTV remote is itself a well-designed control, featuring color-coded buttons for that match-up with DirecTV’s on-screen GUI to record shows, advance the on-screen guide, etc. Fortunately, the Harmony 900 replicates these functions, right down to matching color coded buttons. The remote’s array of up, down, left and right and buttons match-up well with the DirecTV’s remote’s controls. Within a day or two of using the Harmony 900, I was able to put my DirecTV remote on a shelf without missing it.
RF to IR Transmitters Feel Slightly Cheesy
The Harmony 900 generates both infrared and RF (radio frequency) signals, allowing it control devices inside home theater cabinets, and in other rooms. Unfortunately, the design of the IR receivers may be one of the minor weaknesses of the remote. For at least 15 years or so, high-end home theater systems have relied on a fairly standardized system of small IR receivers to convert RF into infrared signals. These IR transmitters can be placed directly on top of the infrared input of each home theater component, often with their own supplied self-adhesive tape. Unfortunately though, the designers of the Harmony 900 chose to reinvent the wheel. The remote is supplied with a kludgey-looking main RF module, which connects to a small A/C adaptor, and two IR blasters, which are themselves larger than necessary. Perhaps Logitech didn’t want to risk marring a component with the gunk from adhesive tape, or were worried that it would take inexperienced used some time to position their blasters. But once the blasters are positioned, they work fine, if not as small and aesthetically pleasing as they could be.
Powering the Harmony 900 is a rechargeable lithium ion battery which must first be placed inside the Harmony 900 once you remove the unit from its box. The Harmony ships with a cradle to place it in to automatically charge the battery when it’s not being used. Logitech promises the Harmony 900 will run for about a week on that battery, but most users will likely return the unit to the cradle after each session in the den or media room, ensuring that it’s fully charged before each use.
As C/Net noted in their review of the Harmony 900, beyond the step-by-step activities commands, the Harmony 900 doesn’t support macros, which may cause some power users to eschew this remote:
Like the Harmony 1100, this model doesn’t support customized user-programmable macros. To be clear: the activity-based programming that has long made Harmony models a favorite of ours is still here. So, when you hit “Watch TV,” you can have your TV, AV receiver, and DVR power up and toggle to the preferred input and settings. But you cannot program separate custom multi-step commands. So, home theater enthusiasts who are used to programming the lights to come up whenever they pause the disc player (for instance) will now need to handle that sort of duty manually (with one or two additional keystrokes). We don’t think it’s a huge loss, but the absence of custom macro programming on such an expensive remote is notable. If it’s important to you, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
All in all though, this is well-thought out and highly functional remote control. If you’re comfortable doing a little of the set-up work via your PC, and you’d rather not spend four figures for the high-end version of Philips’ Pronto, and/or go the custom route and have a home theater professional integrate your system, for under $250 at Amazon.com, the Logitech Harmony 900 is an excellent universal remote.
It is a great remote, but one big and one little caveat: the big one is it’s got a limited lifespan. Expect ot replace it every year or so. Kind of hard to justify at that price. I’ve switched to a cheaper, sturdier, not as slick remote.
The little caveat is that the RF is a bit slow. Often a 2-3 second delay before the units being controlled out of line-of-sight responded.
I wish it didn’t have those problems. It’s got a lot of promise, but I can’t afford to keep plunking down that much cash for replacements.
Not sure I agree about the lifespan of this remote. I’ve had one for almost 4 years now, and it still works great.
Glad to hear it. I bought one, had it fail after a year and a half. Bought a replacment because I liked it so much, and the second one failed a year later.
Maybe I just got two lemons in a row, but I couldn’t afford to see if the 3rd time was a charm.
While I don’t have this remote, I am a fan of Harmony remotes in general. When I needed to upgrade remote I bought very early on, (probably early 2005), it was so awesomely easy I couldn’t believe it. Hardest part was finding password for my online Harmony account. I’ve recommended these remotes to friends and family, and one very tech savvy co-worker who is hard to impress who loves his.
got some harmonys, 550,880,and 1000, probably won’t buy another.
when their servers have issues (since they have for last 2 months) you CAN’T update the remote.
the computer software is just to access the online (cloud) database in a gui instead of using the myharmony website.
they need to allow local storage of the codes before I buy another,
I have a Harmony 300 and it will NOT permit programming, direct access, or custom learning of decimal or dash channel numbers (or the dash button) for my Samsung TV – invalid command. Only integers permitted for this device. Other devices work fine. TV is 5 years old. I’m glad my investment was small – no more Harmony for me.
I have owned a Logitech 670 for several years (won it in a Christmas drawing), and I have never had any problems with it. It works great with DirecTV and my Vizio TV. I’ve only updated it a couple of times from the website, but that has always gone smoothly too. I took the batteries out of the remotes for the individual devices and stored them all in freezer bags because they aren’t necessary any more.
trust me this remote is the shizzle. you always trust your crazy uncle right