I had switched HD boxes from the cable company and had to change my video inputs. I plugged in my Harmony remote via USB and the website is down.

I consider the internet part to be a major drawback.

Hopefully Harmony gets the site back up soon but it is rather annoying to be dependent on their website.

It seems to me they should make some standalone software that has the option to download updated drivers.

I also hope Logitech doesnt decide to stop supporting it the earlier model remotes in a few years and only support the new ones.

Dean

The upside of the website support is a shared database of IR commands. Its annoying when its down (which is really quite rare), but I think you underestimate the value of a live, constantly updated, shared IR code database that only a web interface like this can provide.

It was also the quickest way for Harmony to get to market - KISS in action - web form -> Perl (guessing here but its not a hard guess) -> XML -> Download to remote by flashing memory.

By running their code compiler in a known environment, they cut months off their development and testing time, not only for their first model, but also for each generation.

The upsides aren't so apparent, but they are very real.

And let's not forget the ability for Harmony support to see and modify your configuration.

I still think they should create some standalone software with the option to download updates from the internet.

Standalone software = lots and lots of environment testing to see if it conflicts with any common software application + separate Windows and Mac OS X programs. You're talking about adding some significant time and cost to each generation of remote. If this remote shipped 100k units, it might make sense, but right now the fixed cost of development is a big chunk of the cost of each individual unit, so keeping that cheap keeps the remotes cheap. This is probably one of the primary reasons that the Harmony remotes are generally cheaper than comparable universal remotes.

I don't see it as a major drawback, either. Though I haven't received the 880 yet, which will be my first Harmony remote, I can't imagine the website would not be accessible for any great length of time. Losing access to a remote's configuration for a short period of time shouldn't be that difficult to live with. The benefits of the web-based config far outweighs any negatives.

Considering I haven't touched my configuration in over a year....I agree.

As a new Harmony user, I've been bitten by the website being down. But I can always find something else around the house to do, so no big deal. So far I like this remote and I have a number of IR devices to control.

I am not located in US, so the web approach has saved me long distance charges. Moreover, they can see my configuration and make the fizes for me.

I install a lot of HT gear for people, and when I am configuring a remote, it is a pain to have to get internet access to program it. I wish I could just take my laptop to the customer like I do with every other kind of remote, instead of hoping that they have wireless or having to install the client software on their computers.

It would be nice if there was a loca software that served as a backup if the web server was down. That way every time you do an upgrade or make a change they would log you online but if there was a problem the error message would be "for (whatever) reasn you cannnot access Harmony Online but you may continue to configure your remote based on the loca software updated during you last update."

If I lose power, I lose my internet access but would love to further "tweak" things on my laptop... at least till the battery dies.