I've had the Harmony 768 for a few years now and it is showing its age. In addition to the obvious physical deterioration, the responsiveness has declined. Or perhaps, I'm more impatient in my old age.

Anyway, I want a new universal remote.

I'm a huge fan of the activity based approach. Am I right in thinking that Harmony still has a monopoly on _easy_ activity/task based macros? I realise it is possible with most remotes, but without crazy programming?

I have a question about the dizzying array of Harmony remotes these days. When I bought mine, there were but two. I saw this excellent compilation of the different remotes.

I'm leaning toward the 550 because it looks slick, but am I right that there is no capability differences between the different models? Just different physical buttons and shape? They all rely on the same (crappy, at least for the Mac) software?

Are there any reliability/build issues with any of the models? Anything else that causes you to pick one or the other?

Cheers.

Yes, activity model and remote function is still the same.

Some folks have had trouble with the 880 charging cradle and the RF base unit with the 890. Nothing big other than those and I think the charging cradle was fixed a few months ago.

I would look at the 880, 720, 550 and 670. If you use the Sound and Picture buttons be aware that some models have them and some don't. Other than that the biggest difference is the LCD screen (4 vs 6 vs 8 buttons, color vs B/W) and the button type, placement and feel and battery (regular vs. rechargeable).

Sound and picture buttons? I've been using the 768 for going on four years. It doesn't have these buttons, so I don't know what I'm missing...

Thanks for the quick response.

Starting with the 659, Harmony added a Sound and Picture button. Pressing Sound while in an activity is similar to pressing Device, then selecting the device controlling the Sound for that activity (A/V receiver, TV, etc.) except that the hard and soft buttons can be configured independently of the device itself. e.g. if you're watching TV you can program all of the various sound fields for the A/V receiver or any other settings. Picture does the same thing but only for the Display device (tv or projector). You can use it to set picture modes or display properties.

You press each button once to activate and again to return to the activity (whereas device mode requires 2 button presses each way.

You can put other commands in each one by teaching those commands to the Sound or Display device.

If you use a lot of sound fields or picture modes (still haven't figured out why you need to do that - set it accurately and forget it) they're indispensible. If you haven't used them you probably wouldn't miss them.

Cool, thanks for that. I decided on the 550 and just ordered it. Cheers.

Me Too. My 768s are driving me nuts.

1) Battery holders are craptastic
2) Activity wheel is gettin senile - skipping activities.
3) LCD blanks out for no reason.

Perhaps I can save you some money...

[Link: gizmodo.com]

Thanks for the tip. I bought from Amazon for $85, plus a $10 rebate. Besides as a Mac zealot, if I can avoid buying from Dell, I do. :-)

The display on my 768 is practically dead. Every other line of the LCD is dead, plus the battery cover is held on by a rubber band.