User reviews for the Harmony 890 from Logitech. Ratings Reviews MSRP (USD) Average: 3.37/5.00 Median: 4.00/5.00 9 $399.99 The Harmony 890 upgrades the 880 with new RF capabilities - control equipment that's not in your line-of-sight! It also features a color LCD screen, activity-based concept for up to 15 devices, web-enabled setup with USB connection, television program guide and a rechargable lithium ion battery. Message Forum Add Your Review Find it with:

Written by bwilli03 from Johnson City TN. The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.

Review 9 made on Friday April 4, 2008 at 11:47 AM. Also owned: Harmony 880 Strengths: Very easy to customize and set up macros. Weaknesses: Very hard to update (see below) Review: The remote can not be updated with the battery in the remote. Technical Support refused to replace the remote saying it was the USB voltage on 2 different computers fluctuating. I have a Harmony 880 that updates with no problems on the same two computers. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by JGarth from Miami Fl.. The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.

Review 8 made on Tuesday November 20, 2007 at 6:30 PM. Also owned: Harmony 659 and 880 and numerous other universal brands. Strengths: Great Range in both IR and RF mode. Harmony well know web based system setup. Nice slim design fits in hand perfectly. Rechargable batteries last approx 5 days between charges. A reliable tilt sensor unlike the 880. Using RF is so much better than IR, it's like going from VHS tape to DVD. You don't need to worry about how the remote is pointed which seems so obvious but is so sweet in daily use. Weaknesses: The Tightly packed keys seemed to be geared towards anorexic people or fine boned Asian kids. Nobody with normal size fingers can press certain of these buttons without hitting others. Review: I recently purchased an 880 and had to return it. Some of the problems where one's that seem to be well documented on this forum, like Limited IR range, unreliable tilt sensor and a bit of charger jiggling. The only problem that was totally unbearable was the Limited IR range, I had to tilt the unit down and only the Left side and center of the remote had any range, the right side was useless. Overall I would estimate about 12 foot limit on range when I had it pointed dead on. Long story short I returned the 880 that I had purchased for $249 to Brandsmart and bought a 890 for $275 on Amazon which BTW has now been raised to $290 this week. The 890 I get the remote, transfer my 880 account and within minutes I am up and running. The first big difference is the IR range! If I use my 659 with 3 IR emitters as a benchmark, the 880 had about 60% of the range of a 659, while the 890 has about 120% of the range of a 659 and it has no tilting or left right differences in performance, overall it's better than I ever thought it would be. Next I did some tests on the Tilt sensor, it worked flawlessly every time, as opposed to the 880 which seemed to work sometimes and do nothing at other times. Lastly I set up the RF Link and installed the emitters etc. I must say this was not as smooth an operation as I had gotten use to, the remote linked the first time then I messed with some settings and evidently screwed the whole thing up. After spending 2 hours I was able to put both units in safemode and reload the firmware and settings, after that they reconnected and it has been working perfectly ever since. OVERALL: I love the 890! I no longer have to point the remote and I love that. The battery life is really good, about 5 days of proper use between recharges, the tilt sensor works on this model, the nagging problem of not being able to see the writing on the buttons is gone because now I can hold the remote straight and find the button and press it, no more holding it up finding the button then positioning my finger on the button then tilting down to issue the command. In a few months as I get use to using it by touch this will be moot but at the start it's a life saver. About the only thing I don't like about the remote is how tightly packed the buttons are but then again this is a well known issue that Harmony seems to ignore. I can't tell you how happy I am that I sent back the 880. I have read so many weird posts about the 890 saying how you have to dig up the RF unit and power source when you change the remote settings, this is not an accurate statement, all you need to do is disconnect the plugs and hookup only the RF unit, you do not need the wall adapter for programming the RF module, it gets it's power from the USB cable also the adapter that works on the charger is the same for the RF unit so if you ever have one die you can use the unit in IR mode and the single adpater for charging till you get a replacement. The 890 does not seem to have the power charging issues of the 880 as I have never had to jiggle the remote, it comes on and charges the first time I drop it in the cradle. The remotes may look the same but there is some major differences in how the 880 and 890 are made, I just wanted people who might be considering the 880 to know that the extra $$ you may spend on a 890 is well worth it, the RF section alone is a great option to have and well worth the extra money. Get an 880 and trust me you will be kicking yourself for not spending the extra money for a 890 :) Quality: Features: Value:

Written by thursday from Stratford, CT. The reviewer has used this remote control for more than two years.

Review 7 made on Wednesday August 1, 2007 at 10:15 AM. Also owned: All Harmony remotes. I'm a dealer for them. Strengths: Simply the best remote I've ever used. It allows people who shouldn't own technology the ability to use it and when there's a major problem (like the cable box didn't turn on and there's no picture on my TV) the help button solves it every time. Tech support for programming and for problems is excellent most of the time. The support personnel are cheerful, helpful and patient. Weaknesses: Quality control doesn't exist. The chargers don't charge. The remote loses communication with the RF extender. Blue screen of death. Many bad remotes, many bad extenders. Distributors have stopped selling this product in favor of less problematic devices. Second zone is a nightmare to program and to use until it is finally configured properly. There is no owners manual. Tech support wait can be 40 minutes some days. Many of the programming tools are only available from tech support. This means you have to call them and explain what it is you are trying to do and have them do it. This doesn't always solve your problem....so you have to call back. The 40 minute wait time can be excrutiatingly long. Review: I am an installer/dealer. I've been incorporated since 2001. I have a lot of equipment. The Harmony controls my equipment so easily that my family (including my 78 year old mother can: Watch TV, Watch a DVD, Record to DVD, Listen to XM, FM. Change stations from in the house or from the patio or pool area. Listen to CD's and change tracks and disks easily. I have two harmony's that work flawlessly with each other controlling all the equipment. One from inside and one from outside. This programming is difficult and follows murphy's laws to the letter. When you think you have all the bugs worked out, you are just beginning a long and arduous journey. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by mullermuller from dana point, california. The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.

Review 6 made on Monday May 7, 2007 at 7:31 PM. Also owned: onkyo chad,marantz rc 2000, marantz rc 5000 Strengths: all i have to say is programming is so easy compared to a pronto, or rc 5000, any moron off the street could program this remote. You dont have to do any macro's it guides you threw everyrthing, all you do is tell it what components you have. Weaknesses: product feels cheap, its so light that it feels like it would break if dropped. Also after taxes mine cost about $370.00 thats a lot of coin. Review: although pretty pricey for what it is, this remote fixed my problems of to many remotes, and being able to control my system from outside, for i spend a lot of time in my backyard, were i have a tv, and speakers running off of my main system in the house. The RF works great no problems to speak of, its great just bring my remote with me and im in control of my whole system anywhere in my yard. I was considering buying an mx 3000, but im glad i got the 890, its comfortable to hold and just plain easy to program, and use. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by audiovue from canada. The reviewer has used this remote control for 3-6 months.

Review 5 made on Sunday February 25, 2007 at 9:58 PM. Also owned: H1000 Pronto tsu3000... Strengths: Très facile de programmations. 15 minutes ont suffit. Weaknesses: Boutons trop petit ! Le câbles de raccordement est fixe sur le module RF. Review: Comme je l'ai mentionné plus haut cette télécommande est vraiment admirable. Vous ne connaissez pas grand chose en programmation de télécommance et bien ses cette dernière qu'ils vous faut. Je crois que les plaintes ci-haut mentionné vienne d'installateurs jaloux. car voyez-vous ils vont perdres de grosses somme d'argent maintenant sans leurs inommable faculté de vous faires dépenser. Je viens justement de m'acheter une Logitech 1000 et vous en donnerez des news trés prochainement... Ciao Quality: Features: Value:

Written by jtfogbank from Sononma. The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.

Review 4 made on Wednesday December 27, 2006 at 2:43 AM. Also owned: Sony RM-VL710 Sony RM-AV2500 Strengths: None to think of. Weaknesses: Poor ergonomics-Important buttons too small, poorly backlit. Much touted rechargable battery? Try and find a replacement locally. Cumbersome, time consuming, tedious, non-effective programing. If you are not a "tech" person, this software is going to drive you wild. Review: I'm amazed that some people put up with every weakness that I'm going to mention and still give this product three stars or more. Why do people pay so much money for such punishment and shortcomings? I'm not one of them. I'm getting a refund. All the promises this product makes are moot since it refused to power up my father-in-law's newish Sony TV. After 10 hours of laborous programing it shot itself in the foot since it was intended to solve the clutter of 5 remotes being used to watch TV and DVDs. For starters there is no indication that the battery is "charging". On every other device I've used in my life (with a display) there is some indication that charging is taking place. Not on this thing. Speaking of the battery. I nearly couldn't get the battery cover off until I discovered the trick of NOT placing your thumb where logic dictates it should be to remove the cover. And make sure you have a coin or screwdriver to disloge the battery. Poor backlighting: The backlight makes the buttons more difficult to read in any lighting condition except pitch blackness. The buttons appear to have black text on silver but pick it up and the blue backlight obilterates numbers and letters producing just a blur. The lightsource appears to be deep in the plastic of the buttons so the illumination changes dramatically with just minor movements of your hand. Some buttons become nearly unreadable when the backlight comes on. Isn't this "feature" supposed to work the other way around? The big Activities and Help buttons at the top are good examples of what I mean. The smaller eight activity buttons on either side of the screen have backlighting dots the diameter of a sewing needle which means they are virutally invisible even in complete darkness. And you have no choice to defeat the button backlighting since it is linked with the screen. Small buttons: The volume and channel select buttons have the smallest labels and the poorest backlighting and are not easily distinguishable just by finger feel. Certainly not compared to most Sony remotes which make these important buttons fall naturally under thumb. Once you do find them there is very little tactile feedback to confirm you are pressing a button. The mute button is just above the volume + key but has no differential feel. Programing: 10 hours, no success. I'm sending it back. My in-laws don't have a laptop and their computer is down stairs on the other side of the house. I got a good workout at least. Why should anyone have to suffer with a website that doesn't recognize scrolling in this day and age? Logitech makes scrolling mice for pete's sake. This is just simply ridiculous and there is no excuse for it. There are website pages in which you cannot keep all the information on screen (even maximized) and you are forced to use up/down and left/right buttons. Naturally you can no longer see the row and colum headings so you have to move around or try to remember them. There is a "Tips" box in the upper right of the programing software. The problem is sometimes these "tips" are very important and other times not. And sometimes they are the exact same text that are in the programing step. The tips are so brief why put them in a box far off to the other side of the main instructions? The software also says "updating remote" when in fact you are updating the repeater it just insisted you plug in. Poor, poor, poor. Didn't anyone beta test this? You have to update the RF/IR repeater every single time you make a change to the remote even if the changes you made are not for the devices it controls. This adds several minutes to every single update you make. Heaven forbid you installed the repeater and all it's associated wiring in a cabinet because you'll have to yank it back out again. There is no way my elderly in-laws would have gotten this thing to function as promised. It requires too much time on very poorly designed, clumsy software. Add to that the tiny, anti-backlight buttons and you have a product that deserves more bad reviews like this one to save potential future customers needless grief. Quality: Features: Value:

Written by eruffbug from tn. The reviewer has used this remote control for under 1 month.

Review 3 made on Sunday December 10, 2006 at 3:27 PM. Also owned: sima , rotel Strengths: it's pretty Weaknesses: Multiple software and firmware updates are required before alowing configuration, this takes up to 1.5 hrs. Next, when ever you are able to config the unit the website dosn't have the I.R. codes/ configs for older components. such as a Sony 200 disc cd changer cdp cx250 or my reciever, the Carver HTR-880. Then when I had to go to manual learn mode the thing still could not even power on or power off these components Review: In short this unit is JUNK! with poor ergonomics, poor loyout and design, poor quality and even poorer customer service, these guys were woried about how I had made my conections on the reciever when the remote couldn't even power up the reciever. DON'T WAST YOUR MONEY and more importantly YOUR TIME ! Quality: Features: Value:

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