Harmony 550 or 659

Samantha31

So I was in the market recently to buy a universal remote for the componets I have recently bought, and decided I only wanted to spend $100 or so.

I bid on a Harmony 550 on Ebay and won it for $69 + $20 to ship, so $89. The then next day I see the 659 model is on sale at the local FS for $90 taxes included, so I buy it. Now I have 2 remotes :-).

Has any one had the pleasure of owning both these models? I am only keeping one and the other is going on Ebay...or the 659 may find it's way back to the store.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Sammi

Systems

Im also thinking of snagging one of those 659's at FS.

McLoki

I currently use a Harmony 659 and love it.

Have never used a 550 but I am not digging the look of it nor the lack of macro buttons. I would keep the 659....

Michael

BaggedLancer

Sell em both, get an 880/890.


Kidding, whichever one you prefer is the one you should keep. You ARE the one that will be using it, not us.

jfeinman

the 659 is a piece of ****. The buttons will stop working in about 8 months, and the display is hard to read with extended text. So is the 670. The only advantage to the 659/670s is that they have the quicker macro buttons on the top. But those are all available on the main activity screen of the 550. The 550 has better buttons, and an easier to read display. Trust me, I've setup over 100 harmony remotes, as a home theater installer for Circuit City.

disneyjoe7

Tell us more how would you compare the 880 to the 659/670 or the 550?

I'm asking because I thinking of adding a remote for the whole house audio system.

jfeinman

The 880 is good, thats what I use. The chargers on the 880 and 890s seem to develop problems with the contacts quite often. The fix is to put something on top of the remote when its on the charger. Other than that, they are very solid. Compared to the 550, functionality is the same, except that it has a color screen, and 8 side buttons rather than 4. For a whole house audio system, the 890 would be a much better choice, as the RF capability will let you control the system from other rooms. I installed a 9 zone audio system with the 890, and my customer had the audio components in a closet, and was able to turn it on, change tracks, and adjust the volume all from their hot tub.

I'd really suggest the remote that Monster Cable makes. It has better Z-Wave support, a better charger, and they use Harmony's product data base. Its like a deluxe 890, almost to a T (Same macro schemes too).

McLoki

jfeinman wrote: »

the 659 is a piece of ****. The buttons will stop working in about 8 months, and the display is hard to read with extended text. So is the 670. The only advantage to the 659/670s is that they have the quicker macro buttons on the top. But those are all available on the main activity screen of the 550. The 550 has better buttons, and an easier to read display. Trust me, I've setup over 100 harmony remotes, as a home theater installer for Circuit City.

I purchased mine used, have had it over a year and use it every day with no problems.

As a Circuit City home theater installer, what follow up is done, and how do you know that all 100 installs you have done have crapped out in 8 months?

Ricardo

jfeinman wrote: »

the 659 is a piece of ****. The buttons will stop working in about 8 months, and the display is hard to read with extended text. So is the 670. The only advantage to the 659/670s is that they have the quicker macro buttons on the top. But those are all available on the main activity screen of the 550. The 550 has better buttons, and an easier to read display. Trust me, I've setup over 100 harmony remotes, as a home theater installer for Circuit City.

:rolleyes:

My 659 has seen daily HEAVY usage for the last couple of years and still works as good as the first day. I would add that this remote has fallen into hardfloor at least 100 times. I am impressed by its quality.

Samantha31

As for the 880/890, looked at them, and the extra cost was not justified just so I could have a couple extra buttons and a pretty colored screen. I just want something that will work all my "modest" componets. When I need something that can flush the neighbours toilets, and bring down the space shuttle I will invest the extra dollars :-P

As for anyone that is wearing out the buttons on a remote in 8 months, you may want to a get a hobby because you are spending way to much time with your home theatre system!

Sammi

McLoki

jfeinman wrote: »

Trust me, I've setup over 100 harmony remotes, as a home theater installer for Circuit City.

jfeinman wrote: »

I'd really suggest the remote that Monster Cable makes. It has better Z-Wave support, a better charger, and they use Harmony's product data base. Its like a deluxe 890, almost to a T (Same macro schemes too).

A Circut City home theater installer suggests not getting the cheap harmony 659 (currently $119.99 @ Circut City - customer rating 4.5 out of 5 stars) home theater remote and instead suggests the much higher quality and better constructed Monster brand remote (currently on sale for $399 @ Circut City, Normally $499 - customer rating 2.8 out of 5 stars).

Thanks for your help - you have my complete trust.... :rolleyes:



Edit - all information, pricing and ratings taken from Circut Citys website.

Ricardo

Touche

AsSiMiLaTeD

I bought my 880 as a refurb model from Amazon for 90 bucks, doesn't look like that's still a valid deal though. The thing that I miss is the dedicated macro buttons of the 659 (still have my 659 after three years, working in the bedroom). The 880 is definitely 'slick', but in terms of real functionality not really all that much better than the 659.

It's going to come down to your preference, but I do think you can do better than $89 for the 550 - hell Amazon has them for $85 with free shipping of course...

Kex

Harmony remotes all rely on the same abilities, and the same massive database of 180,000 devices, so the entry level models can do everything the high end models can do, except RF. The use of the database (rather than pesky codes, or IR learning abilities) also means that you can program a Harmony even if you have lost the original remote to any piece of equipment. A Harmony can also learn IR though, which can be useful. Other than that, the only real features that differentiate them are:

- Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, or standard "throw away and replace" batteries.
- Color LCD or monochrome LCD.
- The number of dedicated macro buttons (next to the LCD screen).
- Tilt sensor or manual operation "glow" button for back-lighting.

I have read lots of posts from lots of happy users for every Harmony remote (as well as a few unhappy ones, obviously). My conclusion is that there do seem to be some reliability issues with the older peanut shaped models, related to:

1) Failing buttons.
2) Charger base malfunction (880 & 890).

These issues seem to be fairly limited in number, but they obviously do occur. Harmony usually have excellent c/s though, and there have been cases of replacements shipped out via DHL even when the warranty had expired several months previous to the incident.

Otherwise, the 550 is excellent, although I found the monochrome blue screen with black letters to be a little unpleasant to read. The Xbox 360 remote is an excellent alternative (with a better screen color IMHO), even for those who do not have an Xbox, since the extra buttons can simply be programmed to do something (anything) else.

One of my favorites is the 720, not widely available in the U.S., but amazon.com have it. Costco, when they have stock, have been selling it in stores from $120-170. This is the one I would choose, or the Xbox.

I have heard the Monster recommendation before, since it is basically a Harmony in Monster clothing, so jfeinman's recommendation did not surprise me. The price is a bit of a shock though.

To anyone considering these, other than the real issues of rechargeable batteries and RF capability, I would simply suggest choosing the button layout you prefer, since any Harmony remote will get the job done.

jfeinman

ok, I've had 2 659s, one for myself and one for my dad. he's had two buttons just pop off, and I had a few that just stopped working. Reliabilty aside, the feel of the 550 is better, in terms of reading it, and its a less-expensive remote. Furthermore, we don't carry the monster remotes in the stores, only on the web site. So thats not why i'm recommending them. All I said is that they have better Z-wave support, and can do multiple systems. They are higher end than the 890s, and are priced pretty reasonably, when compared to the 890 because they can do more. The Harmony 1000, the touch screen one, is a complete piece of trash, but costs 500 bucks and doesn't even come with the RF extender (purchased seperately)

What circuit city makes has nothing to do with what I recommend. We don't get commission. I won't sell bose, or sony audio, because they are pieces of ****. Do we have much larger margins on those, than say Polk or Boston or Denon? Of course. In fact, I've been there for 4 years, and have only sold 2 Bose Lifestyle systems, only because the customer was like "Wrap this up for me right now". And even then, I try and convince them otherwise.

* We don't sell the 659s anymore, its been replaced by the 670. Also, the 550 is the first harmony that Logitech actually designed.

When **** breaks or malfunctions, and we did the install, we are the first people who are called, regardless of whose responsible for the failure. I can tell you all kinds of little quirks, like Onkyo 604s take 10 seconds to start responding to any remote commands when the Zone 2 has been turned on. Weird **** like that.

While you may want to challenge my opinion because you think I don't get follow ups, I have seen a much larger sample size than anyone else on here, or any reviews you can see on my professional experience.

Willow

659 here for more than a year, been dropped, tossed, stepped on sat on... works just like the day I bought it! so for the $ you can get get it..Eff Monster's 500$ remote. Use the harmony for 29 days if you don't like it, bring it back on day 30.

Systems

Willow wrote: »

659 here for more than a year, been dropped, tossed, stepped on sat on... works just like the day I bought it! so for the $ you can get get it..Eff Monster's 500$ remote. Use the harmony for 29 days if you don't like it, bring it back on day 30.

Its good to know they are durable,so for a lowly $79($83US:D)I think I will get me one.

jfeinman

yeah, I agree, for basic users, the monster one is waaay overkill. It may be a rip off if you have a single room system where all the components will be line of sight, and you don't need lighting controls. But if you are trying to do a multi-room system, or if you wanna be able to hit Watch A DVD, and have your lights dim at the same time as your dvd player coming on, then the monster is the one to go with.
I like the feature with the 550 of being able to have two lines of text for each button, rather than 1. The rubber buttons will wear out a lot faster. You also have to realize that this will be the only remote you will be using in your setup, so it'll get more wear and tear than usual.

Moral of the story though, any harmony is better than no harmony.