The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:
User reviews for the Harmony 659 / H659 / SST-659 from Logitech.
Ratings
Reviews
MSRP (USD)
Average: 3.91/5.00 Median: 4.33/5.00
88
$199
The Harmony H659 remote control features simple Internet-based programming via USB, Smart State control for easy system automatation, full backlighting, a redesigned user interface and a large complement of hard buttons!
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 60 made on Thursday February 24, 2005 at 11:30 AM.
Strengths:
Well made, design is almost perfect (nothing can be perfect). Your database is saved on the web, and you can make adjustment to a remote setup anywhere. Come home; update the remote, and you done!
Weaknesses:
None
Review:
Activities cover most of the things you want to do with your system, also you can add some more commands to it. I have replaced 8 remotes, and for some systems like PSII I did not buy a remote, but Logitech database has everything in it.
If you can buy some other remotes cheaper, and have them do the same, than I paid to much money, but if not - it is worse it.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 59 made on Tuesday January 18, 2005 at 1:28 PM.
Strengths:
Fits well in hand Great instruction booklet. Excellent software w/ simple and clear set-up steps. Completly idiot-proof!
Weaknesses:
None
Review:
Although this product is considered in the mid-range for price (in the higher end of user markets), it still cost me $125.00. These fears about the cost being worth it were allayed once I started reading through the instruction booklet.Instructions were clear and in every-day language which made following the enclosed set-up CD a stress-free, pleasent experience. I now have only 1 remote instead of 5! BoooYahhh!!!
Quality:
Features:
Value:
Written by James Laine from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 58 made on Sunday January 9, 2005 at 4:54 PM.
Strengths:
Very robust, yet very simple to configure and use. Looks and feels great. Stylish and elegant. Very easy to use and program, but without sacrificing good programability and customization ability.
Weaknesses:
High Price! After all, it contains no more electronics than other devices (like those pay-as-you-go cell phones with color displays at my local 7-11 which sell for $125, or wireless computer keyboards which can be bought for under $70).
Review:
I bought this remote at Future Shop during the boxing week sales for $100. If it were full price ($200) I would not have bought it (and, knowing what I know now, would have regretted doing so).
I LOVE IT !!!
I had been looking for a good, useful, iexpensive remote control for a few years now, and have tried many different low-cost (under $100) universal remotes, but have not been completely satisfied with any of them, until now. The main thing I wanted was to be able to program a buch of commands (macros) on the device selection buttons. No inexpensive remote I ever tried allowed me to do this, so when I added a surround sound reciever to my system it was a pain in the butt to change devices, and almost imposible for someone who was not familiar with my setup.
The H659 changed all of that for the better. It replaced 7 different remotes, and after a very easy (5 minute) setup was instantly useable by my roommate with absolutely no instructions from me. It now controls my entire home theatre system without the need for ANY other remote. The ability to configure the remote via my PC is excelent! making changes to my configuraiton is no longer a hastle.
In the past, with other 'universal' remotes, I have ALWAYS found something I want to do, but either the remote could not do it, or I could not figure out how to make the remote do what I wanted. So far, I have not run into that problem with the H569. It has met every one of my needs and challenges with grace and dignity. This is one remote which I have not had to fight. It just works!
And to top it all off, the 'MEDIA' button is something I never even thought of expecting in a remote control. When watching TV, It contains my local TV listings, which is great because I don't use Digital cable, and I don't have a TV guide. Not only that, but it stores a list of CDs in my 50-disk CD-Changer, so when I'm listening to music, the 'MEDIA' button lets me and my friends select music way more easily than before.
It's going on two weeks now, and I have yet to find anything disapointing with this remote. Quite the opposite in fact, I find more unexpected positive surprises every time I try something new with this remote. It's great!
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.
Review 57 made on Sunday December 19, 2004 at 5:39 PM.
Strengths:
Easy of use, nice argonomics, easy to read buttons/LCD
Weaknesses:
Short battery life - New firmware helps SOME.
Review:
I like buttons! I hate remotes that have LCD based touchscreens that you have to look at to press. The Harmony series of remotes have it together. I also like the feel of this remote in your hand. You can easily operate this remote with one hand. No need to take your eyes off the TV to see what you are doing. I have gone through numorous multi-function remotes before I found this one. Nothing compares. Very customizable.
My only complaint as others is the short battery life. There is a new firmware that helped some, but 2-3 months is the average for me on batteries.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 56 made on Saturday December 11, 2004 at 1:35 PM.
Strengths:
The Activities buttons.
Weaknesses:
Battery Life. Hours of tweaking functions on the website and just to top is off you get the "You found a problem on the website" and you are unable to program the changes in your remote. Bad feeling in the buttons too.
Review:
What a great product you think when reading about it. Well it is a great idea. I have rather many items in the setup so programming took hours. The website programming is great if you have your machines in the database. If you have not add hours to the programming. I think the programming would work better if you hade the software on your computer and it just contacted the Hamronysite when in need of database information. Now I finished many hours of learing missing functions with "You found a problem on our website" I will use this remote in the guestroom from now on.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-2 years.
Review 55 made on Sunday November 28, 2004 at 11:50 AM.
Strengths:
Very easy to program using their online site and features. They are very current on the latest devices that a user may have purchased. I bought a HD Tivo DVR and before the manufacturer of the device had their technical support up and running, these guys had my recorder in their data base. Man, that is service.
Weaknesses:
Battery life seems short.
Review:
Simply the best remote available. One of the things that makes it the best, is the technical support. I switched from PC to MAC and they helped getting me up and running again. Further, I have had issues with special settings to regulate six devices. The support people have been patient and very helpful in correcting my mistakes and fixing problems. I cannot say enough about this company and their product.
The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months.
Review 54 made on Friday November 12, 2004 at 11:49 PM.
Strengths:
Ease of Programming Intuitive Use Activity Based Help Key
Weaknesses:
None so far
Review:
I had A Harmon Kardon Take Control for several years, and programming macros for it was a chore. It finally stopped working and I needed to replace it. I did some research and found the H659 and I liked the feature set. (I wanted computer based programming.) I found it at Tiger Direct, an "authorized retailer," for $109.00 plus shipping. Using the "test drive" feature I set up the remote before it even arrived. I had kept my component manuals and the model numbers were easy to find. (JVC TV, JVC Receiver, JVC DVD, Sony VCR) My components were all already in the database. I had a very good experience programming with the web-based utility. I only chose to download a weeks worth of programming at a time for about 18 channels. The remote programming worked like a charm from the minute I unplugged it from the computer. I may tweak the VCR device settings a little, but pushing the activity buttons caused the exact actions needed to complete every activity, including scrolling through inputs on the TV and receiver as required. It works every time, for every activity and button. I have decided that I prefer hard buttons (H659) to touch screens (HK). It would be nice to have more text visible on the LCD screen, but it is what it is and I find it more than adequate. I thought it might bother me, but it does not. After programming macros the old fashioned way, I can't believe people are complaining about the Harmony activity based programming. It is orders of magnitude easier and less time consuming. I probably completed it in 15 to 20 minutes, compared to several hours for the HK remote, which also required lots of tweaking. I might add that I experienced no notable delay using the web based utilities. My wife and grade school age children operate the remote without instruction from me, and I don't get any more calls at work asking how to get the home theater reset to watch TV because a macro didn't go off properly. There haven't been any aiming issues. I would add that you should turn your system OFF before downloading TV listings or doing any additional programming, since the remote resets to this condition after downloading, and will need to be resynchronized with the help button otherwise. I don’t think you’ll find another remote in the $110 price range with these features. If you do, I’d like to hear about it.
Return to the user reviews index...