Harmony 628 Remote

Early B.

I recently purchased a new-in-box Harmony 628 remote. You can find them for $35 - $40 all over the 'net. I was a bit reluctant to buy it because it was so inexpensive. I'm hoping it works well. Does anyone else have this particular model?

PolkThug

hmmm, I don't really see the difference between it and the 659, they even have the same number of buttons. I'm sure you'll like it.

Early B.

Does anyone have directions on how to use the learning remote feature on this damn thing? I'm guessing the process is the same for all of their remotes.

I've been fooling around with programming this remote for most of the evening and everything works except for the cable box. Not sure why. At this point I prefer to use the learning remote function and do it manually. Well, the instructions do not include it and I haven't been able to find an explanation anywhere on the Harmony website.

Thanks.


BTW, the remote is very cool, but the software to program this thing is pain in the ****.

bknauss

What you'll need to do is say its a remote for a product they don't have listed. Then you can start learning all of the commands.

I agree with the software being a bit of a pain. Its made for Joe Schmoe who needs to go at a snails pace. I need something that allows me to pick the manufacturer and the model number and download everything right away. Would save me about 5-10min every time I program a Harmony remote. Other than that, the software is pretty nice.

Early B.

bknauss wrote:

What you'll need to do is say its a remote for a product they don't have listed.

I just tried that, but the software still forced me to manually type in a the manufacturer and model number. Nevertheless, I finally got to the learning screen and followed the instructions, then afterwards it said my remote already has those settings in it.

I'm tired of fooling around with it. For now, I'll have to leave my cable box powered on 24/7 if I want to use this remote.

I'll say it again -- the software sucks! It offers little flexibility for tweaking. The menu driven process is cumbersome and not user friendly.

Early B.

Since programming the cable box was such a fiasco, I decided to change cable providers!

Actually, I called my exisiting cable provider (Bellsouth) and asked them to send me a more current model cable box (mine is at least 9 years old). They said I had the most recent cable box.:eek:

Bellsouth also doesn't provide HD programming. Then the customer service rep said something very interesting -- she said since they are in the process of merging with AT&T, they are not investing heavily into cable at the moment. Of course, my first thought was to change cable providers. It's gonna cost me a few extra dollars per month, but at least I'll have current technology.

PolkThug

Wow, I thought the web-based programming was super easy. I have all the model numbers written down before hand and it takes about 5 minutes for the basic stuff. Then another 15 minutes or so to cusomize things like "Demo the Polks" etc.