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Harmony battery life

post #1 of 10
8/15/10 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
I am looking to switch to a Harmony activity-based remote (definitely not the H300). That means a remote with a screen, which I assume uses lots of power. I can't seem to find a definitive treatise that relates expected battery life to activity, only anecdotal stuff like "they last months for us". However, I have visions of our usage pattern requiring a change of batteries daily.

We typically watch TV sourced via a DVR (RTV 55xx). This means frequently hitting the skip button to advance past commercials in 30 second increments. And, we also frequently use the replay button to back up and see (or hear) something again, whether on live TV like a ball game, or a time-shifted show or movie.

I presume every time we hit the skip or replay button, the LCD will light up, and stay lit for some time uselessly draining power. But, never having used a Harmony, I have no idea how it behaves.

I would like to understand this equation better before making a choice between a 650, 700, or possibly a refurbed 620.

Anybody have any thoughts to share on this?
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post #2 of 10
8/16/10 at 6:25am
My Harmony 1 goes about a week between recharges.

Highly recommended.

Mike
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post #3 of 10
8/16/10 at 6:36am
You can customize the way the lighting behaves when you program it. If you don't want the LCD to light up at all or only for a second you can program it to do so. I have 3x Harmony 880's and love them. I usually get about 1-2 weeks from a charge using it with a DVR.
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post #4 of 10
8/16/10 at 8:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by edelbrock View Post

You can customize the way the lighting behaves when you program it. If you don't want the LCD to light up at all or only for a second you can program it to do so.

Sounds good.

Quote:


I have 3x Harmony 880's and love them. I usually get about 1-2 weeks from a charge using it with a DVR.

I am getting the impression if I go with something like a 620 or 650, I should invest in NiMH.
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post #5 of 10
8/16/10 at 8:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ocahui View Post

Sounds good.



I am getting the impression if I go with something like a 620 or 650, I should invest in NiMH.

If you buy any Harmony without the proprietary rechargable and cradle, then NIMH is probably a good idea.. however, you might want to consider a unit that comes with the battery and recharge cradle ..
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post #6 of 10
8/16/10 at 8:48am
People have reported getting a couple of months on 650/700. I can tell you I get about 6 weeks on my 700 with a 10 second off delay and fairly heavy DVR use (I estimate a few hundred button presses per day). I get 2-3 months on my 550. I use NiMH batteries in all my harmony remotes, otherwise batteries would get pretty expensive. For the sake of comparison, I get about a year on my One-For-All's with no backlighting, or 6 months with backlighting and a 5 second off delay, depending on my JP1 download activity. I don't use rechargeables in those remotes.

As you probably already know, a refurb 620 is only $50 and is 12 device, versus 5 or 6 for the other models you're considering. You may also want to consider the 600 which is $20 cheaper than the 650 but has a black and white screen. My local target has tons of them. I'd expect the 600/650/700 to all have about the same battery life. I'd expect the 620 to have battery life closer to the 550, which is longer than the newer remotes.
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post #7 of 10
8/16/10 at 9:47am
Today only, I believe ..

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O7I6VE/...MKZB7CGF6ZR6YE
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post #8 of 10
8/16/10 at 10:58am
Two Harmony 880s. Over a week before I have to charge.
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post #9 of 10
8/16/10 at 12:11pm
^^Likewise on my 880. My 650 is like the Energizer bunny; bought it in May and haven't needed to replace the batteries yet.
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post #10 of 10
8/16/10 at 1:20pm
One other thing to consider if you're really concerned about battery life is that older monochrome LCD models like the 620, 550, etc. don't need a backlight at all to be able to see the LCD in ambient light. Newer ones do.
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