Customer Reviews:
 A Love / Hate Relationship December 23, 2006
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Summary:
A great remote, but one that may take many hours of your time to set up
Pros:
- Good ergonomics
- Nice tactile feel on buttons
- Highly configurable
- Seems to put out a strong signal (better then my factory remotes)
- Non-rechargable (I consider this a plus)
Cons:
- Setup is easy, but getting it right can take hours
- Not easy to map device buttons to activity buttons
- No dedicated "decimal point" for tuning digital stations
- Remote selection during setup doesn't allow you to pick from a list
I'll preface this short review by saying that I manage a group at work tasked with making human / computer interfaces work well. So I have a decent amount of experience in this area (but I'm also picky - caveat emptor). Having said that, I found that Logitech tried very hard to get things right, but are still missing the mark in a few areas.
I started by not installing the Logitech software from the disk (based on suggestions I had read here), but instead downloaded the software from the Logitech site. No installation problems, and my firewall software recognized and allowed the Logitech software to pass through without incident. I plugged the 550 into a USB port and XP recognized it and I was transported to the Logitech setup software. Good start.
The first part where I had issue was in telling the software what devices I had. You have to type in the name of your model numbers after selecting the manufacturer, and there is no real indication as to whether the software recognized the device or not. It would have been much better to select the device from a list.
After the devices are set up, you then tell the software what activities you want it to memorize. This is very powerful, a wizard-based method of macro programming. I soon had it programmed to perform the four activities I wanted (watch tv, watch dvd, listen to iPod, listen to music). I then downloaded the commands to the remote and tested it out.
This is where the issues started. Seems that some of the commands weren't recognized, and I was forced to endure an hours-long process of training the remote some of my specific commands. In most cases I believe that the software recognized the brand of my device, but not necessarily the particular model (I have Philips, Denon, and Sony devices - not really off-brand). Thus there were some generic commands that weren't right for my particular model. So I had to slowly discover which buttons worked and which did not, then go back and teach the unlearned commands to the remote. While this was not completely unexpected, it was very time-consuming and almost negated the value of the setup wizard.
The final issue that I had was in properly setting up activities. This takes a lot of trial and error. Additionally, there is no easy way to map device commands to activity commands. For example, I had to write down the TV remote commands down on a spare envelope and then manually input them into the activity commands section.
I can not properly express the joy I felt when, after hours of frustration, I finally had everything mapped out properly. The device works like a charm, and I am very satisfied with it overall. I'm sure that I'll completely love it after the setup fiasco has faded a bit.
So in summary, I would rate the device itself "5 out of 5", and the setup software "3 out of 5". Anyone with a fair degree of sophistication will be able to get it up and running, and behaving exactly the way they want it. But it may take several hours to do so.
 Easy to set up remote... December 22, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Logitech Harmony 550 is a breeze to set up and a pleasure to use. The list of supported components is frequently being updated so if it doesn't have your gear (or all of your gears specific functions), it will shorty. I have a Samsung HDTV, BOSE 3-2-1- GSII and a Motorola DCT3416 PVR from my cable company. The Harmony database had configurations for all three devices and using the configurable Activities I had it running exactly as I wanted in less than 20 minutes.
A couple words of advice; don't even bother with the software on the CD as it is very outdated, get the latest build from the Logitech web site (which will still get updated when you start it, but this will save you time). And don't forget to use the HELP button when you are testing the remote on your system, it really does a great job of getting your assorted components in sync and working as expected.
In reference to the reivew claiming that the Harmony software is malicious code, sorry, your system would have to be a disaster to have trouble with this very compact application.
And as others have said, the volume and channel buttons could be a touch larger.
Overall 5 out of 5 for an easy to set up and joy to use product.
 Mixed feelings December 19, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The potential this remote has is incredible, but I've had it for almost a week and still can't make it control my six devices after about five cumulative hours and three different communications with logitech. I think if I have patience I might be able to get it to work as I wish, but I probably wouldn't buy this again as I feel a small part of me die each hour I spend trying to program this device.
Not the highest-end, but that's not what you're looking for December 13, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'm a home theater junkie, and I've been searching for the perfect remote that can replace all others for a while. The problem is that I'm not willing to pay for the highest-end Harmonys, a Pronto, or some other $500-1000 remote. I know that they'll do absolutely everything that I want, but I have better ways to spend my money. However, I was still frustrated with my almost-but-not-quite-perfect remote that came with my Denon receiver. When the price on this went down around $100 I knew that I had to give it a try. The software takes some tweaking to get it to do exactly what you want (the trick is knowing exactly what your receiver/DVD player/CD player/TV needs to do), but I've been able to program absolutely everything directly into the remote. If I hadn't, I've heard great things about their customer support, but I've been lucky enough not to have needed it. The remote's highest compliment comes from my fiancee, who has never needed to pick up another remote since I set this up, and has never asked me to fix our (admittedly complicated) system when it's gotten into a funny state. The "Help" button at the top does wonders in fixing problems that might have come up from the system being in an unknown setting, or the remote not being pointed at the components. Now, with the 550 I have one-touch access to "Watch a DVD," "Listen to CD," "Listen to DVD-Audio," "Watch TV," and "Play Gamecube."
My only complaint with this is that the volume and channel buttons could be a bit more responsive. They require too much of a click and aren't easily repeatedly clicked up or down. Still, it's not enough for me to knock my rating down below five stars.
I know that I could easily set all of the components up myself one-by-one, but why? Get this remote, spend your time programming it and tweaking it, and you won't be sorry.
Logitech 550 with ease December 8, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having read some reviews about the setup, I knew that I just needed to know the model numbers and connections (inputs) used. With this information, the online setup of the remote was so easy, I had it configured at work. When I got home, I pushed one button and the DirecTV box, Yamaha HT Receiver and Samsung TV all came on with the correct inputs. To watch a DVD, again, it only required one button to turn off the DirecTV and power up the DVD as well as switch the inputs on TV and AV Receiver!
I have reprogrammed it after upgrading to HDMI cables and had very minor issues with the setup changes.
Occassionally, one of the devices does not come on properly and you just press the "Help" button and reply with Yes or No to what the LED screen go through to fix it...otherwise, I would have given this remote 5 stars!
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