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Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control | 
 enlarge | Brand: Logitech
Category: CE
List Price: $249.99
Buy New: $99.99
You Save: $150.00 (60%)
New (77)
Avg. Customer Rating:  1476 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 10.5 x 6.5
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: 966187-0403
Model: 966187-0403
UPC: 097855031792
EAN: 0097855031785
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Optimized for complicated HDTV and PVR systems | | • | Quickly choose a 16:9 or 4:3 ratio depending on the program source | | • | Includes a sleek docking station that keeps the remote fully charged | | • | Color LCD is both functional and stylish, with user-customizable backgrounds, button icons and text | | • | On-screen battery level indicator shows you charge status |
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Product Description
A dream comes true! One remote control for your entire home-theater and HDTV system. The Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote puts you in control of your entire audio-video system with just one button. Its home entertainment the way it should be?simple. Optimized for complicated HDTV and PVR systems, the Harmony 880 helps you tame tough configurations like switching your television between video aspect ratios depending on the program source. The interactive color display lets you quickly choose a 16:9 ratio for movies and HDTV, or a standard 4:3 ratio for basic television programming.
High-end systems deserve a high-end remote. Designed with brushed chrome and charcoal accents, a color LCD display and a low-profile recharging station, the Harmony 880 Remote will match your most advanced audio-video components perfectly. Logitech has won a total of eight Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in the past two years, including five of Japans prestigious 2004 Good Design Awards. This experience helped develop the Harmony 880 and its ergonomic design. Featuring a comfort grip shape and a centered directional pad, it fits easily in your hand and naturally guides you to the most frequently used controls. Even the buttons are sculpted, to help you locate them by feel not sight. Smart State Technology allows the Harmony remote to completely control an entertainment system by knowing how to control each separate component while tracking the current state of up to 15 devices simultaneously. Simply press an Activity button, such as "Watch TV" or "Listen to Music," and your Harmony Remote automatically sets up each of the devices required for that activity. Sleek docking station that remote fully charged Programmable with Windows PC or Macintosh computer / USB Cable included 53 top-mounted hard buttons and 8 on-screen activity buttons 2 MB non-volatile flash memory
From the Manufacturer
The Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote puts you in control of your entire audio-video system with just one button. It's home entertainment the way it should be--simple. Optimized for complicated HDTV and PVR systems, the Harmony 880 helps you tame tough configurations like switching your television between video aspect ratios depending on the program source. The interactive color display lets you quickly choose a 16:9 ratio for movies and HDTV, or a standard 4:3 ratio for basic television programming. Color display
Why settle for another boring remote? The Harmony 880Âs color LCD is both functional and stylish, with user-customizable backgrounds, activity selections, button icons and text. - Ample space for up to eight custom activities or controls
- On-screen battery level indicator shows you charge status
Recharging station
Never replace batteries again. The Harmony 880 includes a sleek docking station that keeps the remote fully charged. Your family will always know where to put the remoteâand youÂll always know where to find it! - Lithium-ion battery provides up to a one-week charge under normal use
- The horizontal docking station allows remote to be used while charging
Award-winning Logitech Industrial Design
High-end systems deserve a high-end remote. Designed with brushed chrome and charcoal accents, a color LCD display and a low-profile recharging station, the Harmony 880 Remote will match your most advanced audio-video components perfectly. Logitech has won a total of eight Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in the past two years, including five of JapanÂs prestigious 2004 Good Design Awards. This experience helped us design the Harmony 880. Featuring a comfort grip shape and a centered directional pad, it fits easily in your hand and naturally guides you to the most frequently used controls. Even the buttons are sculpted, to help you locate them by feel not sight. Patented Smart State TechnologyÂ
Smart State Technology allows the Harmony remote to completely control an entertainment system by knowing how to control each separate component while tracking the current state of up to 15 devices simultaneously. - Easy to set-up
- Easy to use
- Easy to get help
- Never out of date
Package Contents - Harmony 880 remote control
- Recharging Station
- AC adapter
- USB cable
- Lithium-ion battery
- Installation CD
- Installation guide
| System Requirements - IBMÂ compatible PC
- Windows 98, 2000, Me, XP
- USB port
- CD-ROM drive
- Internet access
- MacintoshÂ
- Macintosh OS X 10.2 or later
- USB port
- CD-ROM drive
- Internet access
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1471 more reviews...
Has my search for the perfect remote finally ended? July 16, 2005
337 out of 341 found this review helpful
I'm not entirely sure this would be the end-all-be-all of remotes, but it sure comes close. I suspect if I spent $1,000 or more on a Pronto, I'd be a little more decisive, but the Harmony is still an excellent middle-range remote.
Set up was quick and painless. The Harmony knew about all my devices, so I didn't need to go thru the painful process of head-to-head training.
Once my devices were defined, setup walked me thru a wizard which assigned the most logical "activities" to the remote. "Activities" are basically macros - power on the selected components, select the proper inputs/outputs, and assign the buttons.
An example is "Watch a DVD". This powers on the TV and selects VIDEO5, powers on the receiver and selects the DVD/LD input, and then powers on the DVD player.
The wizard asked how I control the volume or channels for each activity. When I watch cable, I use the TV volume; when I watch a DVD, I use the receiver volume; and so on.
This may sound a little confusing, but going thru the wizard takes only about 10 minutes. If you compare this to other remotes, you would have to press about six or seven buttons, and even then, you'd not have full functionality.
If you're not happy with the Activities, you can redefine things. I changed the behaviour of the VCR, which defaults to pressing play when you select "Watch a video".
When you're using Activities, the Device button will still let you fully control any device. I like to watch TV with Closed Caption, and that was actually easier to do with the Harmony than the factory Sony remote!
My only gripe is the physical buttons. They're a little small and placed right next to each other, so it can be easy to fumble. I find that I need two-handed operation when I want to fast-forward my VCR, because the FF/REW buttons are in an awkward location which makes it hard for my fingers to find.
Great Remote - Hope Logitech Fixes The Reboot Problem January 10, 2006
183 out of 189 found this review helpful
I'm on my 3rd replacemnt 880 since October, but still love it. For anyone having the dreaded reboot problem please read on. The remote will be working perfectly fine and suddenly reboot itself as evidenced by the "Testing" screen appearing before the Acivities screen reappears. The remote now thinks that all your devices that it turned on 10 minutes ago are now off because it has rebooted itself. Tech Support does not know how to resolve the problem except to replace the remote.
After several replacements I have finally learned that the design of the battery compartment is the problem. The battery fits loosely enough in the compartment that it can move slightly away from it's contacts. When this occurs it is the same as quickly removing and replacing the battery, the remote shuts down and then restarts.
Solution: Until Logitech redesigns the battery compartment, here is a simple fix. Take a piece of paper (card stock works well) cut the same size as the battery. Fold one end several times like an acordian and then place that between the lower compartment wall and the battery end. This should act like a shim and prevent the battery from moving away from the contacts.
Can't Dumb it Down Enough for Mom September 2, 2005
145 out of 232 found this review helpful
Mom is a senior. She is baffled by complexity. I'm able to make this device easier, more foolproof, then other remote contols that we've tried. We're still not there yet.
Making this device simple takes time and expertise. Logitech has some outright bugs and lack of features that prevent this device from being even simpler. I've sent them feedback but this really isn't their target market. I told mom not to hold her breath. She can't anyway.
The screen quality is improved over previous models but it's still a bit disappointing. Her old eyes have trouble reading the button labels and small screen fonts. Like others, I'm not in love with the button layout.
 This is not a Logitech device November 5, 2005
113 out of 168 found this review helpful
I'm very disappointed, and that is an understatement. I have many Logitech products around my house, mostly computer related, and i usually find them to be user friendly and correctly designed. If the Harmony didn't have a Logitech logo on it, I would say a third world country designed this remote, possibly during a coup de'tat.
The Design:
Like many Amazon reviewers rightfully said here, the remote does NOT sit comfortably on the cradle. It's more than a mere nuisance, since the cradle is also the charger and if it doesn't sit precisely on it, and we're talking microns here, it will not charge itself. I said microns, and I'm not exaggerating - you can tap the table next to the remote and it will set it off charging. It's that delicate. The remote beeps when it recognizes a charger, but funnily, it also beeps when it recognizes someone picked it up, so the result is that you can't tell which sounded when. You would think the human race would know how to create charger cradles by now.
The Color LCD:
Call me a weirdo, but why does a Universal Remote Control have to be in color? It has to have an LCD screen with lights, ok, but why color? What good does it do to see a hamburger with fries, pixelated and visually unpleasant, as the background of a black and white text that says "Watch a DVD". The resolution is such that even the black and white text is very pixelated. You get a feeling that the screen is there simply because some product designer said "Hey lets make that LCD in color, we can charge 100 bucks more".
The Button Setup:
Some good, some bad. The Volume control and channels are not illuminated enough, as you would expect of such important buttons. The VCR/DVD controls are all positioned in a rectangle, not surrounding the Play button, so if you like how most remote controls are built, you won't like this one. The ON/OFF buttons, as well as the Help and Activities buttons are located on the top of the remote, and that's a good thing, since you won't be needing any of those, they are totally useless - read the next part to see why.
The Activities:
You would assume that a universal remote lets you pick a device and control it, as if you're holding the original remote in your hand. Well, Logitech thought it would be nice if you pick an Activity, such as "Watch a DVD", "Listen to Music", "Watch Tivo" and so forth, and the remote will decide which devices to turn on or off, based on prior configuration. This leads to two major drawbacks - the first is that you have to spend hours getting to know the ugly web based textual interface that the folks at Logitech implemented in order to design those activities. Nothing makes sense there, the most relevant options are hidden behind several screens and mouse clicks (such as the option to NOT turn off any unused device when you pick an activity). The second drawback, is that the device has to remember which device is in which state, so if you accidentally clicked the on/off button or an activity button while the remote was not directed at the device, you go out of sync. The next time you will try to turn the TV off, the remote will think it is already off. There is, however, an option to control the DEVICES in your household but since the remote is so ACTIVITIES oriented, I found it hard to operate the remote this way. It requires too many button clicks and too many menus to choose from. I think the breaking point for me was when I clicked "Watch PVR" and the remote turned off the PVR (cable box, which should be always on), turned on the TV, and refused to let me rectify the situation by turning the PVR on again.
The Web Site:
On your way to configure this device you will be taken through a user registration form in which you will have to put your personal details (including a MANDATORY SURVEY, where did you buy the device, how did you hear about it, etc etc). Then it's the wizards part. I had the assumption that wizards, such as those you use in windows when you try to add a new device, were built in order to make our lives easier. Logitech takes this assumption and throws it out the window. Nothing is short and to the point here, everything is question and answer oriented, so if your system does not adhere to the most basic configuration, you are in trouble. For example, lets say you have a Tivo connected to your computer. Since Logitech does not have this configuration, and you will have to specify a TV that is connected to this Tivo, you have no easy way of adding the activity "Watch Tivo".
In Short:
If you are a gadget guru with nerves of steel and the most basic devices configuration, then go ahead, buy this remote. Otherwise, keep looking, this remote, definitely, is not it.
 Probably the Last Harmony remote before Logitech destroys the company December 14, 2005
40 out of 48 found this review helpful
I've had 4 harmony remots and been a user since the first model came out. everything work on all the remotes. My latest remote is the 688 which came out right when Logitech was buying the company... I have watch Logitech infuse their horrific customer support, total lack of driver updates, and pathetic coding work jsut eat away at a great product. The 880/890 was in development at the time and will probably be the last real harmony remote, going forward I'm sure it will all be based on Logitechs incompetent engineering department to push out a defective product.
The key to the Harmony remote is the website which customizes your remote and updates the firmware, allows you to add devices etc... The site under Harmony's control was a little slow and dated, but it did everything and worked perfectly. Logitech has come along and now made it so you can not choose the order of your customized buttons, you get 6 per page, but logitech wants to alphabetize it for everyones inconvience... so your least used buttons on the top, and important buttons such as power are 5 menu's into the remote. Different activities use to have independant buttons you could customize... until logitech stepped in and now anytime you add a button to one activity for a particular device... it now shows up in ALL of your activities. i.e. for your receive if you want to have a button availble while watching a DVD, you would add it to the DVD activity... but now logitech makes that button appear while just watching TV, or listening to a CD.
One last thing, since logitech took over they no longer maintain their IR code database and it has fallen into complete shambles. If you try and add your TV, i.e. Samsung DLP HL-P4674, instead of seeing the TV and adding it as it would in the past when Harmony was running things... now you will get hundreds of TV's all with slight variations in the model number because users are making custom labels and have full access to add garbage to the master database, now you will see hLp4674, HLP-4674, Hpl4674, hlp46744, and so on... now because these are all inputted by users, 1/2 of the TV's don't work, the IR codes are wrong, they are missing commands, or have incorrect labels i.e. PowerToggle, PowerToggle1, PowerToggle2, PowerOff, PowerOn, PwrTgl1, PwrTgl2, Power, Pwr, Powr... etc... and you could spend hours trying to figure out how the frig' to turn on and off your TV... and every change to the remote is a solid 5 minute upload, verify, reboot process, then go test with TV, then come back, rinse, repeat.
Logitech has been cripling this product since the first week they took over. It's still a good product overall, but I can tell you that if you think this thing is easy to use... you are sorely mistaken... with Logitech's new web site as your backbone you WILL spend 20-40 hours of effort trying to set this thing up... take a week of vacation for this one.
I hope logitech fires all the staff and starts off fresh with some people who know what they are doing... this one's slipping quickly. and at a price of $200+ I demand more customer server and a better interface.
Just to give you an idea of how back-ass-ward Logitech is... go visit the support forums and you won't find anywhere to get support on the Harmony remotes. Then go look at their products page, and you can't find a picture of their products larger then a thumbnail, click the larger picture view and it pulls up a medium size thumbnail.... you can't see any of the buttons or anything... that's the level of effor they put into trying to sell a $250 remote... imagine the effort they put into supporting it after the sale!
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