Evlauating the Logitech - Harmony 650 Universal Remote

Over the years, I have used, owned and purchased many, many remote controls. In fact, the first remote control I used did nothing more than power a TV on and off, or change the channel up or down. It had a grand total of three buttons, was about the size of two decks of cards, and cost about $100. Remotes have come a long way since then.

In their infancy, remote controls were great... they prevented us from having to walk to the TV to choose between the three or four available channels, and maybe allowed us to increase/decrease the volume as well. In the decades since their introduction though, we've grown to have a love/hate relationship with remotes. It's convenient to never have to leave your chair. But it sucks to spend 20 or 30 minutes finding a lost remote, and having to juggle between a half dozen different clickers.

The answer, of course, is the universal remote. But all universal remotes aren't created equal. When you buy those $10 Wal-Mart jobs, well, you get what you pay for. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you can spend several hundred dollars on a high-end remote, but these things are generally too complicated for the average end user. (I say this as someone who has actually been hired to program the high-dollar remotes.)

I think I have found the sweet spot with the Harmony Universal Remote series. The device I bought was the 650, primarily because I have a new TV and Blu-Ray player, but I only need to control a grand total of four devices. The programming was good... three of my four devices were in the pre-existing online database, and the fourth device was flawlessly learned through the remote-to-remote learning function. I was up and running relatively quickly.

I particularly like the one button macros. I can choose "Watch TV" and the remote will automatically turn on the TV and Cable box, select the correct inputs and so forth. I will say that this is not 100% flawless, but it also brings me to my absolute favorite feature of the remote control.

At the end of every macro, the remote asks you if it did what you expected. If not, there's a help function that gives you step-by-step assistance until you achieve the expected result. THIS is my favorite feature, because even my mom could use it.

In short, I recommend this product. It's not perfect, but it's a great bang for the buck, and the help feature is just awesome.