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I was worried the remote would not handle all the complex commands my Dish DVR has but it does it all. All are working great even stronger than with the original remotes. Just purchased a week ago and it arrived today. I quickly ran the cd and hooked up the remoter to my laptop and ran the easy step program and got my Samsung hd dvd player setup along with my LCD tv and HD 722 Dish Network DVR. Even gives me options I did not realize I had.
This is not usable if you like your viewing room totally dark. I have looked at the Harmony controller for a while but put off getting one until about a week ago when I found a Harmony 520 at a price of under $40.00. If you have the patience to go through all the programing via the net required then this is really a good unit for the price. I guess the 520 could learn everything if I wanted to take the time to teach it but 5 sessions over the net was enough for me.Cons: Well the readout is very small and type is hard to read.
If money is no problem I'd look at the units with the color display and rechargeable batteries as it would be easier to read and you would not be replacing batteries so often. It is working very well so far but I still do find myself using one of the original controls once in a while for some more obscure commands.
The ability to train the 520 from your existing controls is outstanding and works pretty well. This unit uses 3 AAA batteries and I'm guessing it will use them up pretty fast.
The "glow" feature does not turn off automatically so you need to remember to turn that off when you don't need it.Overall opinion: this is by a long shot the best universal remote I've ever owned. I have tried several "universal" controllers and have been disappointed in most of them.
So far I have used it to replace 4 other controls for a Sony DVD/VCR, KLH AV receiver, Cable box and Memorex LCD. Once I got it home, I had to do the product registration and set up over the internet on my Mac.
All the software worked fine but this can be a somewhat involved process depending on home many different components you are trying to control, the age and brands of the components, etc.It took me several sessions at the computer before I really figured it out. Highly recommended
The initial configuration was done within 3-4 minutes once the Logitech software downloaded all software and firmware updates for the remote. And, everything just works. This is my first universal remote and I am amazed at what all it does. Bye bye four remotes just when my wife was starting to get frustrated with all the added complexity that came with a new LCD TV and home theater system.I have taken off one star because I am a nitpicker. The one star comes off for size and battery consumption - uses 4 AAA batteries. Setup was a breeze on WinXP with the provided software including juggling all the mind boggling connection combinations that are thrown up by a LCD TV, Yamaha Audio receiver, Motorola PVR and a Philips DVD player. OTOH, for what I paid for this remote on sale, $30 including shipping and taxes, I really should not be nitpicking :-)
Apparently this was independent of the hardware issue in the NEW remote which impeded updates. The use of ACTIVITIES to is very intuitive and a great approach. Setup seemed to go well, although the initial update took ~20 minutes vs the stated 5 minutes. What I don't like is the physical layout of the remote. Bottom line - after 5 CS reps and 3 hours on the phone, finally got a rep who concluded that there were hardware issues and the remote was referred to the warranty department.After Christmas, received several cryptic eMails from the warranty department. Finally, I loaded the software onto an XP desktop, deleted and reinstalled the cable box device and the remote set up and operates correctly. I replied that I had purchase a new remote and had gotten no use out of it. It does a very nice job of controlling multiple A/V devices.
Apparently, the software does not operate correctly with Vista, at least with the configuration on my laptop.Now that I finally have a functional remote, I can comment on its operation. Another annoying thing is that the remotes rattle. The remote would not have been suitable as a gift for my Dad, as he would have had significant problem with them. Noticed that the channel buttons (controlled Motorola dct700us cbl box) worked erratically.
I expected a new replacement, not a lower valued refurbished unit. Received it the week prior to Christmas and attempted setup for my Dad's system. The ship notice had REFURB in the description. The remote is very versatile. It's a good thing that there is a GLOW function, because users will spend a lot of time looking at the buttons to decide which to push. The channel buttons are microscopic. I followed the troubleshooting steps relative to driver reloads, etc with no success. The feel and placement of the buttons could be improved.
Purchased a 520 as a Christmas gift for my Dad. On 12/29 I received a repackaged remote clearly marked REFURB.The REFURB remote set up initially, but the original problem with channel buttons was present. Prior to receipt of the remote, downloaded the latest Vista software to my laptop. They replied that it their policy to replace with refurbished remotes. Contacted Customer Support (CS). In the updates associated with their suggested tweaking, the updates would freeze or, if they did run took up to 45 minutes. Both the NEW and the REFURB remote sound like there is something loose in the front (USB port) end.In summary, I think the concept is great, the execution could be better, and Logitech's customer support is a nightmare.
Fortunately the keys are reprogrammable so i was able to reprogram the stop key to work like a pause key, and the mute key to work as a volume down key. Fortunately logitech keeps the setting on their website so even after losing my old computer I was able to access my settings to change out my DVD player.Within the last couple months a couple keys have stopped working. so even though it is starting to fail I am getting every last bit of use.I am looking forward to upgrading to a new remote soon.
The pause (i use this a lot with tivo) and volume down. Three years of good use seems a good value for the $100 i paid. I have had this remote for 3 years now.
However, as stated by others it took quite a bit of tweaking to get my setup just right. So I think I can add a little perspective.This was the first "universal" remote that really worked for me. I have 5 different A/V components including a tivo and could program all of them to work well.
I would recommend this item.I see that the remote software has an upgrade/change function so I expect that i will not have to reprogram all the settings when i get my new remote.
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