THE PROBLEM

In a recent living room shuffle I found myself with the space to finally get all of my old video game consoles hooked up again. Sure, I may only have a handful of games for these, but I felt there was just something incredibly geeky about having many generations of consoles all in one space. I rewired my living room, got everything setup and then realized something I had overlooked before I began the project. The issue was that after the project was complete my coffee table looked as if my neighbours got together to collectively donate their remote controls to me.

THE SOLUTION
For years I had heard how Logitech had made a universal remote that was super simple to use, functional and apparently was the remote control to beat; however, until recently I never actually had a chance to actually try one. Although I knew that the Logitech Harmony One remote was the way to go, I couldn’t justify dropping $200+ on a remote control. As I began my quest to investigate the other models of Harmony remotes I found that the $29 unit (harmony 300I) seemed to be too dumbed down for my liking, yet the $109 model (Harmony 700) might just be more than I needed; thus I found myself looking at the Harmony 650i with a $69.99 price point.

THE PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE
Because my only encounter with the Logitech Harmony remotes had been with the Harmony One I really wasn’t sure if I was going to like a lesser Harmony; however, for $130 less I figured it was worth giving a shot. I brought it home, unboxed it, and started the setup. I hooked the remote up to the computer, went to myharmony.com and began the simple step-by-step walk through process of the controller.

I will admit that I had no idea what to expect when setting up the remote. As I knew I’d be reviewing it later I thought I’d try to bring my mindset down a few geek-notches to see if I thought the general public could set it up. While I don’t think your Grandparents will be programming it any time soon, I do think that the setup process can only be described in one word: Simple. Logitech has really perfected the setup by making everything a step by step method – the most difficult part for me was getting the software installed as I had to dust of Internet Explorer to get it to work. Putting that aside though, not only does the setup process ask the user the details in a step by step fashion, it also walks you through in an order that simply makes sense. For example, Logitech starts by asking to get the information for all devices that will be used (TV, Audio Amplifier, Cable box, XBOX 360, etc). Only once setup has walked the user through getting that information does the configuring the Activities functions begin. I also believe that programming the Activities function will be a cakewalk for most users as the step by step process continues to make the task easy using simple language that most people can probably understand.

It’s also important to note that while some users may question why Logitech will make them create an account during setup, it actually makes complete sense when the remote needs to be reprogrammed later. By remember the settings a lot of the initial steps are remembered saving a ton of time.
Overall the programming went extremely smooth and the only real issue I ran into came when I tried to sync using a different cable than the one provided by Logitech. Until I used the correct cable the sync would fail halfway.

THE USEABILITY FACTOR
I know what you’re saying now. Sure it’s easy to program the Logitech Harmony 650i, but that’s really only good if the remote is able to be used in a practical environment.

Initially I was a little concerned as the Logitech 650i is limited to 5 devices and I had more than 5 functions to do. I wasn’t sure if this device limit would allow me to execute all the activities that I wanted to do in order to make the device worth the money. Upon programming I found that as long as I only needed the Harmony to replace 5 remote controls – all was well. For example I was able to program an Activity for my Playstation 2 and also one for my Playstation 3. Since neither of these units needed to be controlled by the Harmony they did not take a device slot. To clarify further – I have my 5 devices programmed in my remote which are my audio amplifier, my cable box, my tv, my xbox 360 and *mumble* my VCR. However, in my “Activities” functions I have programmed “Watch TV”, “Playstation 2”, “Playstation 3”, “XBOX 360”, “XBOX”, “Wii”, “Media Computer” and “VCR”. While all of the activities will make the devices function in different ways, at the end of the day the remote is still only controlling a maximum of 5 devices.

Now that it was established that I could get the remote functioning in a way that on paper it would be useable for my functions – it was time to put it to the test. I set the remote down and told my wife to start using it. I figured this was a good practical test as she hadn’t had any part of programming it. She cycled through the pages in no time, figured it out with basically no help, and was easily shifting between functions easy as pie. As we went through the various activities we found a few missing features and a few that needed to be switched. Of course, being as flexible as the harmony remote is, these issues were not an issue as I simply went back to myharmony.com and reprogrammed the remote to the way I wanted it to be.

Overall I am extremely happy with my Harmony 650i. While part of me is inclined to upgrade to the $40 higher model, the cheaper side in me doubts the point of it when this is doing everything I want in a remote. Furthermore, the lightness and slenderness of the remote compared to the next model up makes it even more appealing. The Harmony 650i fits perfectly in your hand and furthermore the IR on the remote is wonderful. I used to find myself occasionally having issue with operating my cable box, but the Harmony’s IR is well above any other remote I’ve seen. If you have to use more than one remote on a regular basis, buy yourself a Harmony 650i.