I read owner reviews on this remote that complained of a constant reset issue (touching the remote or remote turning over bumps it out of the current mode - eg Watch TV - resulting in it being unusable for that mode) but figured they just received a dud and mine would be fine (4 out of 5 stars is not bad).
About 30 days into ownership (and therefore too late to return), the problem started. If batteries are not 100% fresh or battery contacts haven't been adjusted recently (see note below), the problem happens constantly.
The up arrow button "sticks" as well - need to press it at least 2x before action registers.
I'm still awaiting word from Logitech but my guess is I'll have to pay to ship it in and this may not be the only warranty replacement incidence needed on this baby.
So... moral of the story is stay away from this model even if the price is attractive.
An aside - Logitech forums and other reviews indicate the reset problem arises from momentary loss of contact in the battery compartment. That makes sense to me. I've very gently bent out the battery contact prongs, which makes the problem occur less often - but it still occurs. If you're stuck with this remote, try adjusting the prongs every time the reset issue occurs. Ugh. Logitech Harmony 650 Remote (Silver)
I loved this remote when I first got it. It was easy to set up and I really liked how you can do it all through the Logitech website.
However, within a couple of months, it started to lose its connectivity with some or all of the devices. Usually it was the receiver and sometimes it was also the digital box. This would happen within a few minutes of turning everything on. The only way to get it working again was to turn everything off and back on again.
When I started researching the problem, I saw that a lot of people have the same issue. It is not a battery connection issue like some suggest. There is a design flaw with the remote itself. It should be recalled.
For about as long as I've had more than just a TV I've had a pile of remotes that were necessary because each device had some function that could only be controlled with the remote it came with. Clearly I'm not the only one that's had this problem or these types of universal remotes wouldn't exist. So recently when I was updating my home theater I decided I'd get myself one of these. The Harmony series was immediately attractive, with it's computer programability. You can even go to the Logitech website and check if they have all your devices in their database before you buy a remote (it's the same database for all the Harmony remotes from the cheapest to the most expensive). I spent quite some time drooling over the expensive One and 900. Then I found out about the 650. Despite the weird numbering system of the Harmony remotes, the 650 is one of 3 brand new Harmony remotes (the others are the 300 and 600) released in April 2010. I would have ideally liked something like the 900, because it has a ton of cool stuff but the 650 is much cheaper and maintains a great feature set.
First off this and the 600 are both apparently the same remote, just the 600 has a monochrome screen instead of a color screen, and it's a good amount cheaper for that reason. So you might check that one out too. I had exactly 5 devices I needed control of so the 5 device limit on the 650 was good, although it doesn't leave room for me to add additional devices in the future.
Some places it says the keys on this aren't backlit but they are. They have an orange glow (I wish with all the customizing you could change this cause it's kinda ugly but a small complaint) when the remote is activated. The screen and the backlight turn off when you put the remote down and turn on when you pick it up using a motion detector. This is a really cool feature and you can adjust the amount of time the screen and light stay on after you put it down to fit your needs. Speaking of the screen it's a nice size, easily readable, and seems pretty high quality. You can also see it perfectly even in direct sunlight.
The setup process could be difficult for some non-tech savvy, but really they made it as easy as they could. If you know the model numbers of all your equipment and how it needs to be set (like what input on your tv you need on to watch dvds) then you'll be done with the set up pretty fast. But you're going to want to go back and make tweaks. The remote software (which you download from the Logitech website along with the full manual, neither actually come with the remote, I guess as a money saving measure) is easy to install and allows you to tweak the heck out of this thing. You can add icons for your favorite channels (these are downloadable from various websites but you can also make your own), set delays between commands, set the order things turn on, etc. All the adjustments make it so that this remote will work perfectly on your setup and for your specific needs. For example if you use a certain command more than others you can move it up to be first in the list of commands on the screen, or even map it to one of the hard buttons. That's another thing, every button on the remote can be changed to do whatever you want it to. For example if you have a DVR you probably have a "List" where your recorded shows are. Instead of the list command being on the screen you could set it to be one of the actual buttons on the remote like the # key for example.
Overall I am very happy with this. It's got a little bit of a learning curve, and you can spend days tweaking to perfection, but for the price it's got a ton of great features and if you have 5 or less things you need to control this is the remote for you. - Logitech Universal Remote - Logitech Harmony Remote - Harmony Remote - Logitech'
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