Rechargeable Tv Remote Control

Review by Eric : Had some problems, but excellent tech support fixed it.

I bought the 1100 in early December, 2009. It worked perfectly and was able to control all of my electronics (even a 17-year old receiver). My wife loved not having to use five remotes to control everything. So far, five stars... great remote. In early February, I plugged it into my PC to modify the settings, and the program told me that there was a new version of the firmware (version 7.6) available. I installed it and the program told me that the update was successful. I made the modifications to my settings and downloaded them into the remote. Again, the program told me that the process was completed successfully. I then tried to use the remote and as soon as I pushed an activity button, the remote froze. I tried everything (re-doing the update, taking out the battery, etc.) several times with the same result. I called Logitech's tech support and they had me run thru all the troubleshooting steps again (by this time I'd re-done the firmware upgrade and removed the battery, etc., a dozen times, and every time the software reported that the process had completed successfully). They determined that there was a hardware failure and shipped me out a new remote under warranty. I also have to give Logitech's tech support five stars. They were polite and seemed competent, and I didn't have to wait on hold for hours. I got the new remote today (four days after talking to tech support. Again, five star service) and connected it to my PC to load my settings into it. The software also did a firmware update to 7.6. Guess what? That's right, this new remote is dead as a doornail. I will be calling tech support in the morning again. If there's not a way to go back to the previous firmware, and there is no way to not do a firmware update when updating the remote's functions (I'm not sure, as both of the times I did original updates, I was also distracted watching TV and didn't notice if there was an option to skip the firmware update) I will be requesting a refund. [UPDATE] I just got off the phone with tech support. They've upgraded my case to "engineering level." The tech took a remote, logged into my account, and it also froze after updating the firmware. So that's three dead. At least now they have a clone of my remote to work on. He seems to think it has something to do with one of the devices and not the firmware or the remote itself. Again, I have to give kudos to Logitech's tech support. They've been polite and helpful, they seem to know what they're doing, and wait times have been short. [UPDATE AGAIN] I've changed my rating from one star to five stars. I got an email from Logitech today telling me to update the remote. I did and it works perfect. They really went out of their way to fix the problem, despite the fact that my CD changer is 17 years old and possibly the only one of its kind still working.

Review by L. Brucker : To compete with the BIG guys and stay in this price bracket is Impressive!

I'm writing this review wearing 2 hats. The hat of someone who has owned the Logitech Harmony 1000 (the previous generation that was silver) for 3 years and as a professional remote programmer and Home Theater installer. I want to start as an owner of this product and the previous generation. I have owned the 1000 for the past 3 years and been Very Happy with the product. It's easy to set up for anyone slightly technical, and just an afternoon project for someone who's not. The programing interface is about as complicated as sending and writing emails. Recently a client came to me and wanted to install this product in his home. I was happy to begin this project because I knew that the client would be happy with the end result and because I would get a chance to see the improvements between the 1100 and the 1000. Until recently all I knew was what you can tell from the photos. I'd like to tell anyone who is thinking of upgrading that this remote has mostly minor cosmetic changes and some physical build quality changes (for the better). If my 1000 broke, I'd buy this unit in a second. But if you're just itching for something different and think it might be worth the $280 upgrade, it isn't. If you don't already own one of these two models - then the 1100 is a great purchase. Now - as a Home Theater installer I want to say that I have programmed many $1000+ remotes over the years. I've spent time working with most of the top brands. First of all the top brands require a trained installer because the interface for programming is WAY over the head of most home users. Even if your'e the dorkiest one of your friends, a project like the MX-3000 by Universal Remote is a huge undertaking. Besides the interface being much more complicated, there are plenty of places to make a mistake that will spend hours trying to find. This remote is a perfect balance of customizability and value. Its pretty close to dummy-proof and its very reliable. Most of the programming is automated and then you can fine-tune the custom stuff you want to do. Of course with the more professional ones you can do ANYTHING you want, but that comes with a price - doing MOST of the things you want to do are way more work. I use this remote in conjunction with the RF adapter and its fantastic. The only gripes are that the adapter severely benefits from not being inside of a cabinet and only has 4 inputs for the IR blasters. If you have more devices you just need to get 3.5mm audio splitters from a place like radioshak - and then you can wire up to 8 blasters. Also the RF unit (SOLD SEPARATELY FROM THIS PRODUCT PICTURED) comes with dual blasters so if you used 8, you could control 16 devices. I'd be happy to answer questions about this review/device so please feel free to make comments. In summary, this is the best consumer friendly remote on the market as long as you don't mind giving up a typical remote form factor. Harmony makes plenty of other remotes that do that - so you can feel confident choosing one of them if you prefer. But if you want to do a little bit of customizing, this is it!

Review by Occham's Razor "Occham's Razor" : Some Additional Points

I won't reiterate the other technical reviews here- Read those, they are accurate. Rather, I'll address other issues not mentioned previously. First, this is an incredible remote. I've owned a Sony Commander for 10 years and decided to try this one when my last Sony died. This one puts all others I've owned and used to shame. Save a few exotic features (see other reviews), this is all most people will need. RATING: I gave it 4 stars because of the difficulty of the software. Specifically: 1. I had to turn my firewall and virus protection off (I use McAfee). A call to tech support gave me 6 URLs the software uses, but McAfee requires the IP Addresses to add to the trusted sites list (trusted programs does not work). The tech didn't know these, but I traced them through McAfee. Once added, I was able to leave my firewall and virus protection on. Since Amazon does not permit disclosure of URLs, check the Harmony forum; I've posted the IPs and instructions there. 2. Navigating through the software is not very intuitive and the manual isn't very comprehensive. For example, there is a Device List and an Activities setup, each with several choices. Some items are listed under Activities that logically should be under Devices and vice versa. Even the tech agreed on this point- he said the software was "dumbed down" so the unsophisticated computer user could operate it. Paradoxically, simplifying it actually makes it more difficult to use. 3. The software uses a wizard, "linear" approach as opposed to a "drill down" approach used by most software. This is fine for initial setup, but to make changes, you must find the point in the wizard that guides you through the modifications you want to make. This can become tedious. On the good side: 1. Once operational, the remote performs flawlessly. I don't even need the remote extender. 2. Tech support is the best I've come in contact with (I called twice). They are very pleasant, knowledgeable, patient, and not condescending. I stumped them a couple of times, but they were able to come up with a solution. The software connects with Logitech, so they are able to see your setup and even modify it if you want them to. When completing the initial setup, you are asked to rate the device; I rated it low because of the software issues. The tech said he noticed the low rating and asked what he could do to improve it. That led to a discussion concerning the software issues. 3. Other reviews complain about the size of the remote. Consequently, I was surprised to discover how relatively small it really is (about the size of a slice of bread and about two slices thick). There are also "handgrips" of a sort on the bottom of either side so that it can be operated one-handed. 4. After an activity is chosen, there are several "screens": each denoted by an icon. The heart represents favorites (for example, channels on the TV), the 123 is a numeric keypad, the Star is for custom controls, Stop/Play (called Transport Control) icon is for DVDs, VCRs, etc. and a Game Controller. The favorites and custom screens are individually programmable with your choice of icons, and all icons on all screens may be individually programmed to provide your choice of function. 5. Not mentioned elsewhere are 8 additional programmable icons, four on each side of the screen that provide more user defined functions (called SideBars). These are in addition to the screens mentioned above and can be programmed differently for each screen (i.e. Heart, Star, 123, etc.). I use these for utilities- e.g. TV mode or the menu etc. 6. The unit comes with a small choice of icons, but the tech referred me to a website with over 5,000 free icons including most TV channel icons. Refer to the Harmony forum or call Tech Support for the URL. I was even able to copy icons from the websites of my local TV stations and plug them into the Harmony without any difficulty (technical note- the icons use .bmp, not .ico files). 7. Each screen does have limits. For example, Favorites has a maximum of 24 icons, displaying 6 at a time (for example, 24 favorite TV channels). 8. The buttons to the right of the screen are also individually programmable. 9. There is a Learn function common to most universal remotes, but I haven't had to use it even though I have a wide variety of devices to control (i.e. receiver, dvd recorder, Blu-Ray, CD player, home theater, VCR, & TV).