Harmony 550 Official Thread. For all info and FAQs - Page 3

Except maybe the 520 @ $28.

Great price, but the extra buttons on the 550 are worth the $22 difference to me.

Has anyone seen the 550 for $50?

What buttons??

I got a harmony 550 for $51 on ebay... please review on it again... should be some left.

also amazon had them for 50 (s&h included a few weeks ago...) maybe is a good idea to wait for black friday

I'm not trying to make waves here, just wanting to give some options. I tried the Harmony 520 but found the blue/black screen too difficult to read; wife included. Since the 550 appeared to have the same screen, I passed on the $50 price. It's hard for me to believe the company continues to use this type of screen on so many models.

The Harmony Xbox 360 has the green screen which for me was much better; and the backlighting of the entire remote seems much brighter. Also, the 360 has extra buttons (eight I think). I've already dedicated the YXAB keys to Audio,Subtitle,Eject, and Powertoggle for all my dvd players...cool. Dealsurprise.com has them for 58.95. I bought two and shipping was 15.00. Total was 132. I used Logitech's buy 2 get 10% off rebate and hopefully will get $12 back making them $60 apiece. Unfortunately, promo ended 10-15 But Logitech has run this before. Anyway, for me the slight extra cost was worth it.

Weird thing, although both units were brand new in the blister pack, on one of the remotes the Activities button is smooth and the words are backlit along with the light around it; on the other unit the Activities button was slightly indented and only the surrounding light around the button lights up.

I had fears about getting involved in a web-based remote, but at this point I'm a very happy camper. This is my first Harmony (other than buying and returning the bluescreen one) and I'm on the learning curve but I really think it is going to be able to replace my original remotes; something none of the half dozen so-called universal remotes I have sitting around have never been able to do.

P.S. For those who have x-10 lighting/automation, X10 is offering the IR543 IR converter to RF on a BOGO free. Since the 550 and 360 are IR this allows you to control x10 modules from the Harmony.

On the Logitech Web Page for the 550, if you click "product tour", you get a flash tour of the remote.

The flash window is titled "Harmony 550 Universal Remote" but clearly shows a remote with the model number 555. I think this may be the European version.

The version in the product tour shows a row of colored buttons on the bottom. Do these buttons appear on anyone's 550, or are they exclusive to the 555? If they are there, do they map to BD-J functions on blu-ray players?

I guess you are right -- I was able to press the volume buttons without having to use my fingernails. But it still did not seem nearly as easy as it would be if the buttons were raised instead of being flush. All buttons except volume, channel, and glow are raised, so why not make these raised as well? In my opinion, it would make these buttons easier to locate (if you can't see very well) and to press.

It is still $50 with free shipping at pcrichard.com

My activites button is extremely hard to press. Other buttons work fine but I have to really squeeze this one hard before it responds. ANyone else have this issue? Luckily, I don't need to hit it very often.

Thanks for the heads up! Just placed my order 5 minutes ago. Can't wait to put this to good use. Thanks again.

This is caused by the motion-detector switch. On many Harmony models it is too sensitive, or may just be ON all the time, and the backlight keeps coming on. The problem with the 520 and 550 models is that they don't have a charger stand, so your battery will go dead with the lights on all the time, and you will have problems using the remote. My 520 had the same problem and I got tired of changing batteries every week. I find it distressing that Logitech is still churning out this crap from their Chinese factory. If your remote is under warranty, complain to Logitech and make them send you another unit. If it isn't under warranty, then throw it out, or find my post about removing the offending switch.

Definitely get a replacement. I do not have this problem with my 550. The light comes on with certain motion, but doesn't stay on. It is inconsistent though - motion only lights it up on occasion.

Look at the picture of the 550 on the first page of this thread. The 520 doesn't have the bottom row of buttons (Sound, Picture, A, and B) and doesn't have the two buttons above and offset from the numbered buttons. These two buttons are the Mute and Prev buttons on the 550. The Mute and Prev buttons on the 520 are instead of up and down pointing buttons on the 550. The rest of the setup appears to be the same.

My activities button presses easily, so you probably have a defective button. Maybe you can get Logitech to replace your remote.

Its working much better now. It felt very 'stiff' when I first got it. Now that I've been using it a couple of weeks it seems to have 'broken in'.

Thanks

These are exclusive to the 555, and you are correct that is the EU version of the 550. They are instead of the A-B, Sound or whatever that bottom row is on the US model.

I recently purchased the 550 and I have not set it up yet. While I was looking over the remote I had a question. I have a Dish Network DVR, I think it is a 722. What button on the 550 corresponds to the DVR button on the Dish remote?

^^^
There is no dedicated DVR button nor "View Live TV". When I programed 550 they were assigned to soft LCD buttons. If not you can do that yourself.

I just purchased and installed a WD TV media player (hot topic else where on AVS). Logitech has codes for it which I downloaded onto my 550. I set up an "Activity" to turn the LCD on, change to HDMI 2 and turn the WD TV on. However the Logitech setup insists on adding a "Set WD TV to tuner" command. First of all, "tuner" does not apply to the device. Second of all, the command causes my AVR to come on, which I don't want on or need. Any suggestions for getting rid of that command? I tried every option in the Hamony software, but cannot remove it!

OK I resisted it for to long, I finally got a Harmony. I have a MX500 for my main system front projection/stuff/even more stuff/and stuff/and whatever stuff system. I just thought I would never get used to Activities based remote usage. Well upstairs where we watch talking heads, listen to CDs, radio and other stuff, I thought for that system why not.

We were at Best Buys not so secret sale last night, for reward zone participants. And they had the 550 for $59, it was between the 550 and a URC inc. learning remote for $20 at best buy last night, and I am so glad I got the Harmony. Even my mother could run my living room system, now, and that is saying A LOT. Where we had two or three remotes (cause not one of the remotes could do all that we needed), for 6 things, we now have the 550 to do all things.

Only one problem, once you have gone Harmony you are going to need a Harmony in all your systems, I guess I will have to sell my URC inc. MX500 and get another 550 for the "big system". Although a color screen looks cool...might have to move up the Harmony chain for that system.

I can't find it on pcrichard.com...it appears to either be sold out, or my search capabilities are not what they once were.

It is not there at this time...

SRR and gab2409: It's on sale today and tomorrow in Canada at dell.ca for $50 (CAD, free shipping).

I can't post the URL (because I've been a lurker ), but if you google "Days of Dell Deals" you should find it.

If you know someone in Canada who can ship it to you, it'll probably still work out equal to or cheaper than $50US...

I too purchased the 550 at the Best Buy "special event" last night. I had not even gone in there planning to buy it, but i had grown sick and tired of my 6 remotes. I will set it up tonight.

Also picked up 300 and Troy (2 for $35) and got the PS3 bluetooth remote for free.

One question how may activities can the 550 handle? Viewed the web site and the manual but there was no quidance. As long as its 5 or more it would fit my needs. Thanks in advance for helping.

It seems that pcrichard.com only sells the 550 for $50 on the weekends (perhaps Friday through Monday). Strange I know, but I had placed an order with them (over the weeend) and needed to change it, but it wasn't showing up anymore when I called Tuesday. The rep told me they sell them on the weekends. Sure enough, the next weekend the 550 appeared again.

I use the 550 and like it except for the 4 narrow buttons (guide, info, menu, exit). I use these buttons a lot with my DVR, and they are a little hard to find and push. Other than that, the remote it great.

Any known issues with the 550 controlling an AppleTV?

Yes it is more then 5, or should say at least 5. I don't know the limit but I had 5 set up for awhile, don't know what the limitations would be but I would be surprised if it was less then 10.

I have a new sealed 550 remote that I plan to give as a gift.

The remote is still in the hard plastic packaging, but the blue activity light keeps flashing every 5-30 seconds. Is this normal? The sticker says to press the Activities button for a demo. I think it may be a way to get people's attention, but I hope it's not a flaw with the remote.

Thanks!