Harmony 520

[viaChgo]

Click here

Man, and I JUST bought the 880 last week and here they go and announce a new remote for $100! I like the look of this new one better too.

[oldskoolboarder]

To each his own, I prefer the 880/688 look. This new one looks too much like a cell phone. Harmony has now officially been "Logitech'ed". Pricing is good, should keep the product line alive.

Good to see they're still keeping the RF version alive too.

[AnthonyP]

looks cool, but the 880 looks cooler

[jtb50]

Any idea when the 520 will be released?

[newfmp3]

hmmmm, this one looks promising but not enough buttons.

if it's using real batteries, i might take a look at it though. Something simple for the woman.

Real batteries are for the remote extender i am using. The reason why i can't get the 880.

[russellps]

With an MSRP of $99, what is the consensus at to wher the price is likely to end up at most internet retailers? I'm trying to decide if its a good idea to hold off on a remote purchase. If the 520 isn't much less than $99, I'm thinking I might as well get the 659 or the 676.

[AnthonyP]

Logitech seems to be lowering MRSP prices but a the same time cracking down on cheap prices (compared to MRSP) 99$ is a good price for a Harmony remote, so I would be surprised if there is a big discount

[celticpride]

I can't decide between the 520 or the 688 remote ,I hope the 520 works good with the hd-tivo, because thats what i'm leaning towards. BTW their website says it'll go on sale this month on their website and at walmart!

[russellps]

FYI, I'm starting to see internet stores listing the 520 at under $70, though no one is offering to ship (backordered as the 520 is yet to be released). Can any industry folks/retailers comment on how realistic this price is?

[tokerblue]

We're not allowed to post non-MSRP prices on this site, but I can tell you that most retailers have quite a hefty markup on their remotes.

[russellps]

Originally Posted by tokerblue

I can tell you that most retailers have quite a hefty markup on their remotes.

That's not surprising. I've been putting off the purchase of a Harmony and it looks like it makes sense to wait for this remote to hit the shelves.

[robd1438]

I picked up one these babies yesterday at walmart for $98. They didn't even have them out yet, the guy knew of them and got one from the back for me.
I was considering the 880 until I saw this and the price difference sold me. The PC based setup was easy, I think it took longer for the remote to download the configuration then it did to set it up. So far works like a charm, the activities are great. I am using it for the following devices

Mitsubishi 62725
Yamaha HTR-5860
Scientific Atlanta 8000HD PVR
Sony DVD/VCR combo

I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to spend more then $100 on a remote!

[DasRaven]

Originally Posted by robd1438

I picked up one these babies yesterday at walmart for $98. They didn't even have them out yet, the guy knew of them and got one from the back for me.

I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to spend more then $100 on a remote!

Yup, Logitech's site now shows "Now available at selected Wal Mart stores" and still no report from their "notify me" service.

*drives to WalMart immediately, review later*

[DasRaven]

Awesome remote, but small buttons.

The Logitech DB had all the components already. 30 minutes later and I was up and running. This remote has significant WAF and flexibility even at only $98.

The only quible I have is that the buttons are very small and somewhat close together. The volume and channel up/down buttons should be more prominently sized.

I also noticed that the 4 "action" buttons below the keypad are missing despite being in the manual and some online photos. Those would've been nice and would have removed most of my need to scroll the LCD screen to get to other useful functions. They wouldn't be labeled, but I could live with that.

9/10

Questions are welcome.

[Rocket-123]

Originally Posted by DasRaven

Questions are welcome.

What part of the country are you located, where they have it in stock so readily? I checked three regular (not Supercenter) Walmarts in western Chicagoland and they all looked at me with a "Huh?" expression. Each one did an inventory check using walmart.com and of course it's not listed there...yet.

[DasRaven]

Originally Posted by Rocket-123

What part of the country are you located, where they have it in stock so readily? I checked three regular (not Supercenter) Walmarts in western Chicagoland and they all looked at me with a "Huh?" expression. Each one did an inventory check using walmart.com and of course it's not listed there...yet.

Arizona. I went to several stores in less well to do areas of Phoenix and they had the same response. Then I went to the Supercenter nearer to my home in Mesa in a very wealthy enclave and they had it, locked to the display arm I might add.

So you may want to find a Supercenter in a "better" part of town to find an early release model.

[andrew jc]

DasRaven- Are you satisfied with the remotes ability to control the SA 8300? Is your 8300 a DVR as well? The price is right, it pains me to spend money in WalMart. Il guess I'll have to get over it.

[DasRaven]

Originally Posted by andrew jc

DasRaven- Are you satisfied with the remotes ability to control the SA 8300? Is your 8300 a DVR as well? The price is right, it pains me to spend money in WalMart. Il guess I'll have to get over it.

Completely satisfied now, but not with the default programming.

I had to customize the skip forward/back buttons to control the PageUp/PageDown feature of the program guide. It was originally 2 pages into the LCD menu.
I also had to reorder the LCD menu items so that the A, B, and C buttons would all appear on the same screen. OOtB, the C button ended up on the second LCD menu screen. That was very annoying while using the DVR.

But now with a little tweaking, it is perfect.

[pwrtrader]

Hi all,

Was able to find the 520 at a Walmart in Duarte, CA yesterday (4 left). For those calling around the UPC # on my receipt is 009785503569. As mentioned before, these remotes are locked up in cases with the Video Games etc.

I'm not so sure the regular Walmart folks will see the "value" in the 520 for $100.

Anyways, I'm coming from a 4 year old sony RM-VL900 which was on its last leg due to my fiesty 2 year old son, and the very first thing I noticed was the very small numbers as others have mentioned.

I have ReplayTV and the remote does a good job with the commands. I do wish however, that the Guide and Menu buttons were a bit more pronounced or set aside on their own from the middle. The Menu button is squished between the Info and Prev button and I've already missed it a few times and pressed the others. So I think that will take some getting use to.


On the software side, I had a bit of trouble setting the 520 up. While the software is very complete, it did take me a couple of shots screwing with the Input Modes for my Sony 34XBR2 and my devices. And everytime I would make a change, the software takes forever (3-4 minutes) to upload into the remote. I'm running a P4 3.0 with 1Gig RAM so i don't think the computer is slowing the remote down. This is my first Harmony device so I'm not too sure if other software setups take as long.

For you other Harmony 1st timers, I did find that moving through the software menus when making changes or tweaks was a bit cumbersome. For Instance, if you selected a device to make changes to, once you made the changes, the software didn't give you the option of going back to the top level of the software where the "update remote" button was located. It would kick you back to the page to choose which changes to make even though you just made them. The only selections available where BACK and NEXT. The next button would give you an error message to ask which changes you would like to make (I just did?) Back is the selection to make, although it didn't make sense to me ( I guess I was thinking too much of moving around in a web browser etc).

I also wish any button on the remote would activate the backlight on the remote. Sure, there's a GLOW button but any button would have been a nice feature.

Pretty nitpicky stuff, I just need to get use to the remote. But it does a very nice job of driving my ReplayTV, Sony TV, Sony Receiver, VCR, JVC DVD and my SA8000HD. Performs as advertised and it looks like the WAF might be pretty high with this one.

Now my 2 year old is another story.....I'm sure he'll break this thing in a week.

Sorry for the long winded review.

Regards,

eric

[DasRaven]

Originally Posted by pwrtrader

And everytime I would make a change, the software takes forever (3-4 minutes) to upload into the remote. I'm running a P4 3.0 with 1Gig RAM so i don't think the computer is slowing the remote down.

...

I also wish any button on the remote would activate the backlight on the remote. Sure, there's a GLOW button but any button would have been a nice feature.

I'm pretty sure the step which converts the commands for the remote is the time hog. The connection runs at USB2.0 speed and making changes from the website is definitely slower than from the software.

Is your tilt sensor set to "on"? My 520 lights up as soon as I pick it up with it on.

[pwrtrader]

DasRaven,

Good point about the tilt sensor. I was under the impression from reading some posts over at remotecentral.com that the feature was somehow disabled in the 520. I'll have to go back and check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

-eric

[robd1438]

i picked mine up at a Walmart in Cromwell, CT. I'm pretty sure I was the first one to buy it there and after a week I am completely satisfied and the wife loves it to. Very easy to use and update. I exchanged my reciever (to a Pioneer 1015), updated the device and activities easily and was working in no time. I'm glad I didn't spend the extra $150 to get the 880

[DasRaven]

Just read my copy of October's Money magazine and they have a comparison of several programmable remotes.

They picked the 520 over the Harmony 880 siting essentially identical functionality with real batteries and half price as key benefits.

Me too.

[gzabar]

I agree with that statement, but I believe the 520 has no Page UP/Down buttons...not the biggest deal, but important to me...

[jsheffield]

A couple of questions:

1. Can anyone other than DasRaven confirm the tilt sensor?

2. What is the number of characters per line, per activity on the LCD display?

Thanks for any information.

[krooooog]

For those interested in finding this remote at Walmart....here is the list of "exclusive" stores that are carrying it....

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...10929,detail=2

I guess as only the 5th largest city in the US, Philadelphia is just too rural to handle this kind of technology!!!

[cccamel]

I found the 520 at a fairly small (comparatively) Walmart on the North Shore of Boston. honestly i was shocked they had it, it was just very near work so I stopped in and picked it up last week. It is fantastic!! As far as the page up/down, you can program that in and add it if you wish.

[Andrew67]

Originally Posted by krooooog

I guess as only the 5th largest city in the US, Philadelphia is just too rural to handle this kind of technology!!!

Same goes for Atlanta. That's really odd.

[DasRaven]

Originally Posted by jsheffield

A couple of questions:

1. Can anyone other than DasRaven confirm the tilt sensor?

2. What is the number of characters per line, per activity on the LCD display?

Thanks for any information.

1. I just reconfirmed it, but it is somwhat tricky to trigger the turn-on. Remember the Harmony tilt sensor is fairly specific so as not to turn on the backlights all the time and waste you batteries.

2. I believe there are 15 characters/line and 2 lines per activity. But the word wrapping function of the screen is weird. The line "Watch the DVR" stayed on one line but "Watch TV/Cable" ended up on two lines.

[Brian Hampton]

I bought the Harmony 659 for $99 on the walmart website. Looking at the 520, 659 and the 880... I like the 659 best and it was as cheap as any of them.

=B