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(More customer reviews)Hi, I had tried this remote but was disappointed by a couple of things. Don't get me wrong, like all Harmony's, this remote is overall great and is well worth the money if you want a great universal remote. Compared to some of the others, however, it's a little disappointing. For reference, I own a Harmony One, and 880, and have used Harmony for 6 or 7 years, back when the first remote ever came out.
If you're looking at Harmony remotes, you already know how great they are and you will know if this will do the job. I'll basically mention what I don't like about this remote, and why I would go for the 880 instead:
1) This remote has a flimsy feel to it. The buttons are squishy and have some "play" in it..they don't just press down -- they move a little in some other direction while being pressed. It's a little subtle, but noticeable compared to the other remotes. It somewhat has the feel of one of the rubberized button cheap remotes that come with the AV equipment you might buy. Overall the remote just feels light and plasticky and I just don't get the feeling that it would handle normal drops and wear and tear that well. Obviously, I didn't test the durability. Again, I would just note that in contrast to every other Harmony I've owned, the build quality on this is not that great. It's not bad, just not what I've come to expect. It does not have the same premium feel to it.
2) No cradle. Definitely disappointing that there is no cradle for this remote. The charging is through the supplied USB cable and a wall dongle. Basically, it takes two hands to plug this remote in. But think about it from the perspective of where you would keep this remote. Do you want to have a lone USB cable dangling around, free to slip off the endtable when you're not charging it. It seems like a pain to fish for the USB cable and plug it in. This is in contrast to dropping it into a nice custom cradle that the other remotes just "slip" into. A word on the wall charger part of it...Cheapo. It comes in two pieces (the plug and the transformer), but the fit and finish is just bad. It really feels like it was made with minimal effort in design...it reminds one of buying a really cheap piece of electronic gear by some off brand that no one has ever heard of and is only sold in Korea or China, with one of those cheap boxes with bad faded photography and Asian letters describing all the features and you know it's just not going to work. I know, I digress, but when you buy a [...] remote, you really don't want to be reminded that they cut a corner here. (for reference, I own other Logitech devices that don't have cradles, but at least the power supply is decent, such as the DiNovo Mini Keyboard).
3) Only 4 screen buttons. When it comes to extending this remote, the screen only supports 4 buttons. At first, I was excited that it actually had easy to access buttons next to the screen. The Harmony one has Touch Screen buttons, which I personally find hard to use. In the dark, you can't just go on feel with the One. The One supports 6 potential buttons. The 880 supports 8 buttons on the screen, via hard buttons next to each item. While the buttons are hard, they can be a little hard to find in the dark without practice. But it's doable. I was hoping the 700 would be the best of both worlds. In reality, it probably is, especially if it supported 6 functions instead of only 4. But even at 4 buttons, it's a reasonable sacrifice if the rest of the remote was outstanding. One advantage of this remote is the 4 colored buttons that correspond to a lot of the DVR and Satellite boxes out there, as well as game systems, etc. So in a way, you don't need as many Screen buttons. Still, this remote would have been better with 6 buttons and would have made it feel like you were buying a premium Harmony remote. Here, it just feels intentionally crippled.
4) This is a bit of a minor gripe....but, after getting the less than premium/cheapo feel on this remote, the batteries continue the cheap feel. It comes with AA sized rechargeable batteries. They are NiMH. Now, if I got a remote in 1997 that sported AA batteries that charged inside the remote, I would be telling everyone how awesome this was. But these days, we're all used to those slim little Li-Ion batteries that come in every other rechargeable gadget like cameras, gameboys, etc.
So overall, again, this remote is still a great Harmony remote and will blow away most of the other remotes out there. These are all relatively minor points of distinction for the discerning user. I would think about your purpose and how often you'll be using, and how many devices you will control.
In fact, I would agree with the first poster on this point: it's a great second remote for limited applications. It's perfect for a bedroom, or a very small, simple setup. I don't think this competes at all with the One or the 880. With the 880 at only $10 more on Amazon right now, I think it is the better buy. Personally, I find some of the buttons more user friendly on the 880 than on the One/700. And of course, there are some buttons on the One that are better than the 880. The layout of the 700 could have been awesome, but the remote is limited by the fact that it is designed to be a crippled, entry-level remote in comparison to the higher end models.
So I would think hard about the 880 (I wish the screen on the 880 was prettier....) if you're looking at this.
Finally, I really hope Logitech isn't ruining the Harmony brand here. I hope they are not planning on continuing to make a cheaper feeling product across all the models. The new 900 apparently is weaker than previous remotes in that it does not support "sequences". I know most people were hoping that it would be a One with RF. But it sounds like you have to give something back to the get the RF. I hope Logitech remembers that there are plenty of "power users" out there who want a fantastic remote and are willing to pay for it.
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Logitech Harmony 700 Rechargeable Remote with Color ScreenLogitech Harmony 700 is the rechargeable remote that's simple to set up and use. It can go a week between charges, so you won't be looking for batteries when you want to be watching TV. Its color screen can show icons for your favorite channels as well as the commands you need for the devices you're using. And its one-click activity buttons automatically turn on the right components and select the right settings depending on what you want to do. It replaces six other remotes and supports 5000+ brands and 225,000+ devices, so you can be confident it will work with what you own today, and the things you'll add in the future.
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