A True Universal Remote...that isn't

I got the Harmony 880 because, like a lot of other people I know, my home theatre system was running away with me and I was juggling remotes with alarming frequency. The biggest problem was the sheer number of functions that 8 or 9 remotes can have. Even the so-called "learning remotes" have only so many buttons, and to use them requires that you either;

1) memorize which cryptic button label corresponds to which function (e.g., to activate my television's picture-in-picture mode, hit the "record" key..."

or

2) resort to using the universal for the common functions and going back to the OEM remote for anything out of the ordinary. In other words, add to the problem by adding yet another remote control to juggle.

The Harmony 880 tries to solve this problem by using a color LCD to provide user-programmable labels for the top 8 buttons, in addition to the normal array of standard A/V controls on the bottom. The salesman touted this as the most powerful and flexible remote he had ever seen, and I suppose he is right. But it is far from the easiest to use.

The Harmony 880 operates in two modes. The first, "device mode," is familiar to anyone who has ever dealt with a universal remote. Icons are displayed on the LCD for each piece of equipment in your system, and selecting one of them takes you to that device's programmed buttons. To change devices, you need to hit the "Device" button, then the key for the device you want to use. There is no way to go directly from one device to the next - no dedicated buttons on the remote for "TV', "DVD", etc., and no way to program the remote's buttons to do so.

The second mode is "activity mode" and is Logitech's clever but clumsy method of trying to second guess the user. You program in common activities, such as "Watch television," "Watch a DVD," or "listen to digital music.' The remote then stores lengthy macros containing all of the commands needed to turn on all of the needed equipment for that activity, turn off any equipment that isn't needed, and switch to the necessary inputs or outputs. All at the touch of a button. Sounds great, except that it doesn't work half of the time (see below), requiring you to go into device mode to fix things.

All of this customization is managed by hooking your remote up to your computer's USB port with the included cable and accessing a web-based application which accepts your specifications, generates the necessary macros, and programs the remote. At the same time, you will be able to change the labels on the LCD, and even upload icons to be displayed there. The problems with this system are myriad. First of all, the site connection is extremely slow at best, and frequently drops the connection in the middle of an update forcing you to - you guessed it, start over again. Secondly, the user interface for programming the remote is clumsy and difficult to navigate. Some functions are on tabs, some are on links, and yet others are on smaller links up on top of the page. There is no logic to where anything is laid out. In addition, the application offers you only limited ability to modify what it thinks the "correct" settings should be, and no instructions on how to do it. furthermore. just because you set up a bunch of custom buttons under the "Cable Box" device, don't think that those settings will carry over to those activities USING that device. They won't, unless you repeat your task for EACH activity that uses it.

If it actually worked as advertised, I wouldn't mind going through a bit of hassle when programming it. After all, it's only one time, right? Nope. After several attempts at programming this thing, one of my components (the Roku Soundbridge) is almost completely non-functional. A couple of other components are missing key pieces of functionality because the commands that Logitech said were supposed to be correct weren't, and the remote simply refused to "learn" the commands via the normal face-to-face method. It also seems to have a problem with the simple task of remembering to turn on all of the components it is supposed to. I still have to manually turn on my tv when watching cable because it doesn't do it for me. Note that it HAS the correct code in memory, because I use the same remote to turn the tv on...it just doesn't do it during the "watch tv" activity startup.

All in all, the Harmony 880 is a clever idea, executed very poorly. For the money, I expected a lot more.