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User reviews for the Harmony 880 / H880 from Logitech.
Harmony 880 / H880
RatingsReviewsMSRP (USD)
Average: 3.36/5.00
Median: 3.83/5.00
46$250
The H880 is the first Harmony with a color LCD screen. It also offers their famous activity-based concept for 15 devices, web-enabled setup with USB connection, television program guide and a rechargable lithium ion battery.
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the Harmony 880 / H880 remote.
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Written by Oakville Guy from GTA Ontario Canada.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 6-12 months.
Review 46 made on Friday September 19, 2008 at 8:42 AM.
Also owned:Harmony 740, Marantz RC2000, several "no name" universal remotes
Strengths:Large data base
Controls everything
Easy to setup
Once it is setup you can forget about it
Weaknesses:The buttons and print on this remote is WAY TOO SMALL! Lots of people need glasses, especially us older folks. I have set the font to Large, which helps, but the small buttons remain a weakness.
Review:While this remote does take 10 or 15 minutes to set up properly, it is easy and straight forward compared to the old Marantz that requires macros. This is a set it up and forget it remote. I have bought other Harmony products for friends and family, because of the ease of use and setup. The latest firmware seems to have addressed the concerns raised previously on this site.

I have found the tech support to be good and has addressed all the issues that I have had with the remote.

On the whole, I like this remote and would recommend it to others. If you want to be able to do macros and spend time tweaking a remote...look elsewhere. If you want to set it up and have anyone in the family use it, then this is great. You can also pick up this unit on sale, otherwise the list price is a bit steep.

The only down side is for those with reduced vision or hand function, print and buttons are too small/ close together.
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Written by Zooberizer from So, Cal..
The reviewer has used this remote control for more than two years.
Review 45 made on Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 3:16 PM.
Also owned:Harmony 676, many assorted others.
Strengths:This can be programmed to do ANYTHING. Amazing database. Tech support really supports (with a bit of time on hold). Programming with a computer saves so much time, particularly when you change or add equipment. Since I got this, I usually don't even bother putting the batteries in the remote a device comes with. It's all online and usuing a familiar remote makes it easier to learn new equipment.
Weaknesses:You have to keep the contacts clean to keep it charged.
After over two years, one button came off, but it pops back on easily.
Review:After trying many other remotes, this is the first one that really let me have just one to control everything. My 80-plus-year-old mom can operate my complex home theater system. Even if she doesn't point it while goes through the process of turning everything on, the help button gets her back on track.

If you have a Macintosh, this may be the only completely compatible remote. It's just so easy to program. It takes a bit of time initially, but no other remote I've ever seen can be programmed faster to do as much.

You can make any button do anything. But the best part is REALLY being able to just push one button to turn on satellite, DVR, receiver, what-have-you, put them on the right inputs, change your tone controls if you wish and have it all be done. If you have the cradle pointed at the system, just push the button and wait while it does it all. And having the charging cradle has another advantage: One you learn to put it back, you always know where it is.

Everybody I've ever shown this too watches with eyes growing wide.
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Written by Moris Beracha from Venezuela.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.
Review 44 made on Tuesday February 5, 2008 at 9:53 PM.
Also owned:SONY RM-AV3100
Strengths:Easy to use once programmed, nice display, long battery life, never out of date, huge online device database, the software started very poor but have reached a good level over the years.
Weaknesses:You may receive a defective unit more often than you think. Having bought 4 of them, and having 2 with problem, I will say that 50% chance of receiving a defective unit is a lot. One of the defective unit came with a problem on the Off button, the other has the common problem of the cradle that looses contact during the charging process, and therefore the remote never charges.
Review:This remote is a great product, you can show off to friends, and have your mom, wife or maid learn to use it.
Programming is a different story, you don't have control over the way the remote sends the commands, the remote tries to be too smart, and sometimes it really fails at it.
For example, the remotes turn off those devices that you are not using, and in my case it turns off the lights and air conditioning each time I turn on my XBOX. Yes, you can go to the software and do so magic, and with some luck, you can solve this issue, but I can go on and on giving similar samples when the remote "intelligence" was not good. Another example is that even though I program some discrete codes to turn on devices, if the remote thinks the devices are on, it will not send the signal, loosing the advantege of the discrete code.
I have an old but excellent Sony RM-AV3100 which does not have the incredible database that the Harmony has, but I use the Harmony to download the device's codes and the teach the commands to the Sony. Actually this alone is a good reason to have a Harmony remote, so you can teach commands to your other remotes.
I will recommend to buy this remote for any person who wants a nice and easy to use remote control for their Home Theatre System. I only Logitech would give the option of macro programming for those willing to go that way It will be the perfect remote.
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Written by dhlwtu from toronto.
The reviewer has used this remote control for more than two years.
Review 43 made on Thursday December 20, 2007 at 12:50 PM.
Also owned:Universal Sony
Strengths:I haven't come across a component or activity that this remote can't operate. Touch 1 button and everything is setup exactly the way it should be!!!
Weaknesses:This is truly a "UNIVERSAL" remote. It can do everything and then some without a hitch. If for what ever reason it can't you can always learn commands from your original remote. I've aslo found that their customer support is second to none (just my personal experience).
Review:I'm not very fond of the way the # buttons are set on the remote. Or for that matter the buttons above them either. Not very distinctive.
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Written by Hookster from Austin, TX.
The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.
Review 42 made on Monday December 17, 2007 at 5:22 PM.
Strengths:Ease of set-up. Recognized all of my components.
Weaknesses:Seems a bit quirky, but I need to play with it more.
Review:Love this remote so far. I've tried other discount universal remotes, but this is the first one that does it all. The initial set-up was a breeze just hooking it up to the computer and typing in model numbers. It even found a typing error I had on my CD changer.

At this point I would say it works well, just seems to need a little bit a patience. Sometime when switching activities from watch TV to Watch DVD, it misses turning on the DVD player. I have not isolated the problem, but it is fun tweaking the thing while it is hooked up to the PC.

Overall, I am very happy with the remote. Once I have it to the point that I think it is done, that my change, but I don't think so.
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Written by GFTSFG from California.
The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.
Review 41 made on Monday October 22, 2007 at 6:12 PM.
Also owned:Marantz RC2000mkII
Strengths:Looks good in it's retail packaging.
Weaknesses:Doesn't work 40% of the time and activity (macro) buttons are way too small.
Review:OK, the world has changed since I manually programmed my Marantz - it's supposed to be easier to set-up a universal remote. But you couldn't prove that by my experience with the Harmony 880.

I purchased this remote, connected it to my computer, installed the software and began the set-up process. Over the next 6+ hours I wore a hole in the carpet from my den to the living room - trying repeatedly to "test" my latest attempt to get the remote to turn on my TV and my receiver.

I did't think it was too much to ask that the unit actually turn on my TV (a new Sharp LC-52D64U), but apparently it was. 40% of the time, it would turn on my receiver, but not the TV. When I used the proverbial "help" button (something I actually pushed more than any other button on this remote), it asked if my TV was turned on, to which I would press NO. Immediately, it turned on my TV. Next time, same result.

Having programmed universal remotes before, I know that sometimes you need to give each command some "space." Sometimes a device will miss a command if it comes too close to a previous command. So I increased the time space between commands, without success. I didn't think I needed to add this space, since turning on the TV was the FIRST command the 880 issued in this activity, but I knew it couldn't hurt, so I increased the time to 1000 miliseconds, again without success.

When I say, "...without success," I mean it would work approximately 60% of the time. This might be a great batting average, but it doesn't work for an electronic device that's supposed to simplify your home theatre experience.

I tried just about everything I could think to try. I deleted the activity and started from scratch (at least 5-times). I moved the turn-on TV command to different places in the activity order. I held the remote at various distances from the TV. I manualy "taught" the 880 directly from the TV's remote.

Nothing increased my success percentage. Every time it failed, and I pressed help, and it asked if the TV was turned on and I said no, it immediately turned on the TV (using help, it always worked). In fact, it never failed to turn the TV off (which is the same command). This would suggest to me that there is a problem sending the command from within an activity string.

I checked everything - battery meter showed almost full (only one bar short of full). I programmed my old Marantz, and the macro I created to turn my new Sharp TV on, worked every time - as in 100% of the time. The TV's remote worked 100% of the time. The IR sensors were all clean and unobstructed.

It's like driving a car that works perfectly as long as you don't drive north, and then it will die.

When I called the help desk, it was after hours for a Sunday (EST).

Feeling like a fool for having wasted so much time, I conceeded failure and today, I returned the remote.

If you can overlook the intermittent functionality, I would say that the activity buttons are 50% smaller than they should be - it's like you needed to activate them with the eraser on the end of a pencil - anything larger, like your finger, and you run the risk that you will push two buttons. The buttons did not give back much tactile feedback, that you actually pushed it correctly. All of this means that you will need to look very deliberately at the unit every time you press a macro/activity button.

Other than this, it's a great remote!

Quality: Features: Value:

Written by Photodan from Conway, AR.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.
Review 40 made on Sunday August 19, 2007 at 8:20 PM.
Also owned:Pronto TSU3000, MX500, Rat Shack 2116, Cinema 7, etc, etc, etc
Strengths:Activities
Charger
Color screen
Wide lcd field
Weaknesses:The internet setup! Slow and tedious.
Review:I love this thing! The Activity-based system is terrific and, if it does get out of synch it's easy to get back. Mine has always had a very wide field. I can point it at the ceiling and it operates everything fine. Never a problem with devices codes or learning. Never had the charging problem and I leave it on the charger whenever I'm not using it.

The 880 even controlled my previous receiver, a Sony 50ES, and NO other remote handled it fully. Impressive.

Sadly, my wife still has problems but then she's had problems with EVERY remote I ever owned.
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