Harmony 550 Official Thread. For all info and FAQs - Page 2

Bump,

Anybody have any advice or opinion about this?

POsting this as separate threAD...

when using this remote with the cable box does it bring up the on screen guide and allow full fuctions of all devices? I have never used such an advanced remote just going by the cheap ones never seen to do ALL the functions of the cable box/tv/dvd etc.

Hi Kevok,
Yes it does, I control a receiver, HD DVR, DVD player and TV and the remote gives me all the options that each of the other remotes do. It lets you set up both Activities adn Devices. Activities being 'Watch TV', Watch DVD etc, which lets you turn on/off the right equipment with one click based on the activity. The device setup allows you to set up each device and their functions. In my case, all the components I have were part of the database so I didn't have to set up any custom keys, but in addition to that you can 'teach' the remote by using the original remote and 'transfer' the commands to the Harmony 550. Once the setup is done, all the functions of each of your components should be available with just this one remote.

ok that sounds awesome and what I was really hoping for. Also for $50 you really cant beat that! Going to get one today, Ill check back and let you know how it works out. thanks again

Hi Kevok,

Out of curiosity, where are you buying your remote from?

got it from PC Richards but I think Amazon has it at the same price. Got it yesterday, set up was a breeze and it works great! So much better then switching 3 different remotes just to watch TV/DVD. Glad I stumbled across this thread.

Try changing the order in which the components are powered on and see if that makes any difference.

Thanks fireman, I actually did try that already. I emailed Logitech regarding this and they said that the two tv's even though it's the same brand same model could vary a little bit.

It's frustrating though because it's not a little bit. I have to have the power on (warm up) delay set to 7000ms with the new tv. The other one was fine with 1500ms.

I agree with Logitech, often the manufacturer will change something such as firmware or even components in the middle of a model year, or if the model is produced in multiple facilities, or even just to cut the cost.

I had a Toshiba that kind of exhibited that behavior. What I did was cut the time down to almost nothing and it worked. In other words, if I hit power on and immediately changed the input things worked. But if I waited, then the unit would ignore commands for some time period before accepting them.

Cheers, I will try to dial the warm up delay right down and see what happens. The funny thing is when I returned the first tv, they had it and the new one side by side by customer service in the future shop and I looked at the serial numbers, they were off by one number

I just recently purchased the Harmony 550 remote. I have a simple question if someone could please help. I setup my TV, Sat Recv, Surround Sound receiver and 360. My question is, when I am watching dish, can I change the volume while I have satellite selected?? it would be nice to be able to turn the channels for dish and adjust my tv volume w/out having to change the device back to TV. I have a Vip-211 recv. Anyone know if this is possible, I just got the remote yesterday, still a noob. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

When you set up your watch satellite activity it should have asked you what devicde controls the volume. As long as you told it the TV controls the volume you should be able to control your TV volume when you are in the Watch Satellite activity. However, if you go into the satellite receiver's device mode you will not be able to control the TV's volume.

There was no satelite activity, there was a watching tv activity which I did add my satelite recv to that. It asked me what I wanted to use to control the volume my tv or my surround sound recv, it never asked me if I wanted to use my satelite option. So if I want to change the volume if im watching satelite and have it on satelite so I can change channels, I have to hit device go to TV, then adjust volume, then hit device go to satelite recv to change channels. Kinda sucks, I wasnt' expecting to have to do so much button switching from a $80 remote.

You set it up the wrong way then. You should have set up an activity that uses the satellite receiver to change channels and the TV to change the volume. If you want you can PM me your Harmony login info and I can make the change for you, or let me know what devices you are using and I can ry to give you instructions on how to set it up.

I have DirecTV and I actually have 2 different activities for it. One activity uses the DirecTV receiver to change channels and controls the TV volume, the other uses the DirecTV receiver to change channels and my Denon AV receiver to control the volume. I do this because sometimes when watching TV at night I don't want to use my receiver so I don't bother the neighbors.

I have a question, I just set up my 550 in the basement. I have a panasonic 32" LCD. I have set up the following: Receiver w/ Cable and tv, DVD player w/ receiver and tv, cd player w/ receiver and my Wii and PS2 w/ the tv.

My problem/ question is this: every time that I click Play game, the tv switches to component 1 (which is cool) but when I click watch tv, the receiver and cable box goes on but the tv stays on component 1 and doesnt switch over to HDMI. The help key doesnt work, I tried to go into the remote/ computer and fix it but nothing. I have to use the remote and hit devices/ tv and manually put it in.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I can't find the setting to change the number of repeats. Can you point me in the right direction?

Scratch that. I found it.

Hi,

I often walk into the room and find the blue lights on my Harmony 550 glowing. I press the GLOW button and they go out, but then at some point they come back on. What causes this and how do I keep them off?

Gregg

You know I pondered that for a while as well. I use a Harmony 550 to test the ps3toothfairy device and on occasion I'd walk in and sit down and the remote would start glowing. A friend came over and told me that it will turn blue if it "wakes up" after sleeping if it detects motion. The screen has to be off for the remote to be considered asleep. If you shake it and listen carefully near the bottom, you can hear a little sensor moving, which I guess is the detector.

This is how I understand it as well. It lights up when it "wakes up" and it wakes up when it senses motion.

I have just purchased the IR4PS3 module and a harmony 550.

I havent received them yet.. but Im getting ready to configure all my system, does anybody have a 550 with an IR4PS3 module working right now?

any trouble to report?

I was using a 550 with my IR4PS3, before i got an 890 for the theater and put the 550 upstairs. I did have to play with the power off sequence a bit, the default harmony one did not work. Overall it worked great for me, in fact i liked the 550 better, but I needed RF.

Good question. I've been planning to buy an IR4PS3, and am very curious to hear responses to your question.

when i use the activity to watch tv or watch a dvd, my monitor turns on properly and starts off on the right input but then changes the input to the next one. wtf?

Sounds like your remote is sending out an extra, undesired command to make the TV scroll to the next input. Double check your settings.

Is there a way to set this up so that the activities button doesn't light up every time you press a button?

Hi,

I'm new to the Harmony 550. I was really hoping to like it, and some features are very nice, but why are the volume (and channel) buttons recessed so much? They seem to be flush with the body of the remote and I find them very difficult to operate. I do not have fat fingers, but I almost have to press them with my fingernail to get them to work. This seems like a horrible design. Why don't they stick up like the other buttons? The glow button is larger and not quite as recessed, so I don't have much trouble with that one, but the volume buttons are terrible. Are they really worried that I might mistakenly raise or lower the volume too easily?

Gregg

I dont know why youre having an issue with the volume and channel buttons. You can put your thumb on it and press shouldnt need to be using your fingernails, unless youre in denial that you do in fact have fat fingers, haha. I have no issues using them and so far love everything about this remote.

yeah its pretty awesome. i cant see any remote beating it for $50.