Harmony 880 Remote
                                                                                                                      An overview by Ronald Epstein

Masculine power has never become more apparent in a household when it comes to the almighty remote.  It's the one device that puts the man in charge of his domain.

For every piece of electronic equipment we own, there is a remote to match.  For that reason, it's very common to find living rooms with remotes strewn across coffee tables.  Sometimes watching television and navigating through the DVD player menu can turn into a shell game of switching remotes. 

It's no surprise that many would question forking over $200 for a remote control.  I had the same question five years ago when I paid well over $200 for a Pronto remote.  It didn't take long for me to realize that spending money often brings you luxuries that you can't get with sub-$100 remotes.  The Pronto not only boasted a large touch screen display with an intuitive user interface, but offered direct access buttons to effortlessly control every component in the home. Unfortunately, over the years I quickly lost interest in my Pronto remote as it became a very tedious experience to program and design its menus.  In short, the Pronto was not a remote designed for novices.

For the past year I have heard great things about the Harmony family of remotes.  Their ergonomic design and simplicity to program have made them a popular word-of-mouth across Internet discussion groups. The word was getting out that there was finally a remote that everyone in the household could master with little effort.

With Logitech now taking over the Harmony brand, a new remote is just making its way into the marketplace.  The Harmony 880 is now the company's flagship remote -- the very first to feature a graphic LCD interface.  Early word-of-mouth had been so positive, I figured now was the time to invest in a new remote. I found the 880 at Best Buy for $249.  Though I don't normally purchase service plans, I thought that spending an extra $40 was a good investment knowing I could return or exchange this remote anytime in the next two years should something fail to work.  Please note that prices on the Harmony 880 are poised to go even lower in the next few months.

The Harmony 880 comes packaged with the remote, charging cradle and power supply, rechargeable lithium ion battery and USB connection cord.

Upon unpacking, a quick set-up guide instructs you to plug in your cradle and perform an initial charge on the remote.

After recharging the remote, it's time to install the included CD software that will configure your Harmony 880  to your computer.  After the software installation, you simply plug the remote into your computer USB port where you will be taken to the Logitech website to create a personal account for your device. 

Here is where things get real fun! All the programming of your Harmony 880 remote will be done through Logitech's website.  After creating a personal account for your remote, you will be asked to register your individual Home Theater components.  This process involves typing in the make and model number of each component.  In doing this, you pull individual equipment codes off of a master user database and create a file that represents your Home Theater package.  All your settings and changes will be saved on the Logitech website for easy download to your remote.

The next step is to create an activity.  This step enables you set up a "macro" that will turn on and adjust each piece of equipment in your Home Theater according to your selected activity such as Watching a DVD or Watching Tivo.  In setting up the function of Watching a DVD , for example, the user is asked a series of questions such as What devices are turned on when you want to watch a DVD and what inputs do your receiver and television need to be switched to in order to receive an audio and video signal?  This remote also allows you to program the functions of a CD-Jukebox, Xbox or Computer.

In under 30 minutes I had easily programmed my system.  The final step was having my computer download the file to the remote.

Testing Time!  The first time using the Harmony 880 remote you will be guided by an on-screen assistant that will help you make sure all your pieces of equipment are working according to each activity you programmed.  The first time I selected Watch Tivo, all my devices turned on except my Tivo box.  The on-screen assistant asked if all the components turned on.  When I pressed the NO button, the remote sent out commands to fix the problem.  Within seconds, the Tivo box came on.   The beauty of this remote is that it has a HELP button that will prompt you through fixing any problem with a device that fails to turn itself on.  It's this feature that makes the Harmony 880 the perfect device for novices.  You will never be called from another room again to assist a family member who is trying to watch a DVD or otherwise.

I am happy to report that every single one of my components were fully integrated into this remote.  I must admit, I was worried there would be problems since I have a few "off brands" such as an Outlaw receiver and Malata DVD player.  I learned that when connecting to Logitech, the user is connected to a huge database of user-shared equipment codes of all existing devices, including the most obscure brands and a list that continues to grow each and every day.

Another great feature of the Harmony 880 is the ability to customize this remote exactly to your liking.  Through the Logitech website interface you can easily change background images or even add your own graphics.  Any graphics you add must be scaled down to size for proper display.  I found this terrific website with logos that are already properly scaled and ready to upload to the Harmony remote.

I found the Harmony 880 to be ergonomically comfortable.  The remote is 8.1 inches long by 2.3 inches wide by 1.3 inches deep and weighs just under 6 ounces.  Having previously used touch-screen remotes, my first impulse was to touch the graphics on the Harmony's 128x160-pixel color display screen.  What I quickly discovered was that there were small "hard" buttons surrounding the display that corresponded with the graphics.  A master VOLUME and CHANNEL as well as a directional TOGGLE button were conveniently located beneath the display screen. Though the overall button layout is quite logical,  I think Logitech should have done this remote one step better by placing the VOLUME and CHANNEL controls on the side of the remote for easier access.  The "soft" function and number buttons on the bottom portion of the remote have a "rubbery" feel to them.  These buttons sport a warm glow that make them readable in the dark.  The 880 also features a sensor that lights the remote upon picking it up.

The only real flaw I have found in this remote after a few day's use is the charging cradle.  One really has to fidget with the remote to get it to sit securely in the cradle in order to perform a charge.  Based on complaints I have read across the Internet, this seems to be a common problem and an obvious design flaw.  Whether it is something that will prevent you from purchasing this remote is up to you.  I can live with it. The remote also emits a rather overly bright glow and switches to a slideshow while sitting in its cradle recharging.  It took me a while to figure out how turn it off. 

 Realize also that this remote is designed for single-room usage as it lacks RF capability which would allow passage of signals through walls and cabinets. 

In my opinion, the Harmony 880 is the perfect remote that bridges the gap between the standard inexpensive all-in-one remote and the expensive touch-screen remote that offer a lot more "tweaking" choices.  While the $250 pricetag will be questioned by those who are prone to shopping at Walmart for their all-in-one remote or those that have paid far more for a Pronto, both will ultimately appreciate the simplicity and easy-to-program features of the Harmony 880.  This is by far best remote I have purchased to date.

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6/22/2005