Logitech Harmony 890 Advanced Universal Remote Control

I am done with Logitech!

I have 2 Harmony 890 Pro remotes with extenders. My ordeal with this product has caused me to research alternatives and I will be going with the massively less cumbersome Next Generation Home Products Wireless RF Extender. I am appalled at Logitech for the following reasons:

1. I encountered the error "Unable to Display Content" on numerous occasions as I was attempting to update the settings on my remotes.
2. This is a well documented issue on the Internet and has existed since 2007!
3. The Logitech support representative informed me that the 890 Pro is a non supported product and that is why the issue still exists because the software has never been updated.
4. Even though this is a known problem with the product, the 3 representatives that I spoke to insisted that they could not help me unless I paid for a $40 incident assistance. Are you kidding me!
5. The best I got from each of my calls with the representatives was an emailed list of tutorials. In some cases, the tutorials did not pertain to my issue and in some cases they were repeats of previous tutorials that did not solve my problem.
6. Once I had done the various updates numerous times, each taking around 7 - 8 minutes for the 4 products to be updated, the one remote kept on crashing. The only way to get the remote to reboot was to remove the battery which was a challenge. I had to use a scissors to do this and landed up cutting myself. That little scar will be an appropriate reminder of the pain I have gone through over this.

I could keep going with my list of complaints, but I will leave it at that for now. I am disgusted by Logitech's lack of support for their product and their lack of empathy for their customers in a situation which is clearly a result of that lack of support. Shame on them!

Ease of use: *****
Features: *****

The Harmony 890 is almost identical to the model 880 I used for many years. In terms of end user functionality, these are the best remotes I have ever used, seen, or read about. You have to use one to understand how good they are.

Battery life: *

I don't know if the 890 will suffer from the same problems as the 880. But I will not give Logitech the benefit of the doubt after the fiasco that was the 880 battery charger.

I was forced to scrap two (2!) Harmony 880 remotes when they stopped powering up. There are well-known issues with model 880: batteries slide out of position, contacts on the base wear down, remote does not make full contact with the base. I was very sad when my 2nd 880 died, so I decided to take a chance on a new 890.

The 890 looks and feels almost identical to the 880. I'll be very satisfied if the 890 has a longer working life than the 880.

Ease of setup: *

Setting up the 890 can be fairly straight-forward. Or it can be a total nightmare. I don't know how the designers expect anyone to get these things working. Long story short: download software, connect the remote to your PC via USB, and use a GUI to build a configuration that describes your A/V devices and "activities"; upload configuration to the remote, test, debug, lather, rinse, repeat. If this process goes smoothly, and if the configuration is accurate, then the remote should work very well. But there are about a million things that can go wrong.

I've run through this configuration process many many times, and I still made a few mistakes, but mostly I ran into problems with the software itself.

My mistake: I should not have tried to tweak my existing configuration. Their mistake: the software was willing to give it a try, and failed. My old configuration wasn't 100% accurate, but after the "upgrade" to the 890, it barely worked at all. It took me quite a while to figure out that I had to remove one of the existing devices and add one with a different (precisely accurate) model number. I figured this out while I sat in queue waiting for Logitech Support to answer the phone. (My call is very important to them...)

The new configuration is fairly good, but some device remote buttons are not programmed in. As an experienced Harmony user, I know how to define new "soft" buttons. But as someone who just wants a working remote, I really don't want to go to all this trouble.

I have owned my 890 for about 2 years and the first problem was the screen glow feature died (when you pick up the remote) slightly after one year and recently the volume-up button failed. Based on postings here and elsewhere, volume button failure has affecting many users and makes the remote almost useless. In addition, several of the small buttons around the screen are starting to fail. They must now be pressed very hard to work. I will have to reprogram the volume-up function to another button which will be a usability problem for my family. I will get many complaints. The remote is on its last legs and past the 1 yr warranty.

I like the programming which is very flexible and I have been able to control all my equipment to my satisfaction including DISH, basic cable, dvd, home theater receiver, and a SageTV HD200 DVR streaming HD video from the DISH and HD rooftop antenna connected to a PC server (highly recommended).

The software is pretty easy to use and you can access your configuration from any computer since Logitech retains the setup on their server, not on your PC.

If not for the failing buttons I would give this remote a 4 or 5, but the buttons should last far longer considering the cost of the remote. If Logitech would fix this in future versions the remote would be a winner.

I read reviews all the time for products because we share the best feedback, so here it is: This is the best RF remote. Here is why:

1. Easy to set up. Literally you type in the manufacturer and model number of the items you want to set up in the software and the remote is ready to go
2. IT WORKS! My cable box, TV, and sound system all turn on and off together. My cable box is in a closet in another room. (**I have a Samsung sound bar system that said in reviews that no remote works with it... this one did!)
3. It is so easy to use MY WIFE USES IT AND LOVES IT!!!
4. Even though it 'dumbs' down the remote to look like your cable remote, you can still easily access all of the the other remotes if necessary by selecting 'Devices'.
5. This remote is extremely similar to standard cable remotes in feel and functional buttons (Comcast)

In short, this remote came highly recommended to me, and I am highly recommending it. It was a bit more expensive than the others, but I have heard numerous horror stories, like the up and down button are on different pages of the menus.

I don't have much to add to all the other reviews EXCEPT,
Between my wife and child, the remote gets dropped about 1 a month (2feet or less) and causes one of the following:
a. take out battery to reboot
b. put back on charger to "jump start"
c. all out have to re program remote

Now I realize that it was not designed to be dropped, but it is a remote for heaven sakes, it bound to happen at some point.