Logitech Harmony 520 Universal Infrared Remote Control

Pros: It will work Sometimes.

Cons: It takes forever to program with their software. If you loose (or dont have) internet connection guess what your out of luck. And Customer service is not in this country.

Other Thoughts: This would be a great product if the software worked.

Pros: its completely user configurable. easy to use.

Cons: had some issues w/ win 7 x64 w/ the logitech software.

its buggy as mess...always tells me i have an update available, but runs & says no updates avail!

the remote construction is seemingly subpar...it creaks whenever you push buttons bcuz the whole remote flexes.

it wont let you rearrange the devices in the order you'd like to have them and it seemingly moves them around as they see fit which has no logical explanation, not like most frequently used, or most recently used or anything.

the led screen was so dark when i first got it i couldnt read anything unless i tilted the remote to the side on an 80 degree angle. so my wife wouldnt even touch the thing...she was preferring to grab our 20 remotes over using the harmony. so i had to waste about 4 or 5 hours talking to logitech support and sending them pictures of it & junk like that. anyways, finally ended up getting it to reset firmware & then re-update firmware in safemode to get it to work. bleh.

Other Thoughts: i guess i need to cut it down to 3 stars instead. anyways, thanks for reading, i like you, lets be friends.

Pros: Controls multiple devices, accesses more functions than I expected with an after market remote. Lightweight, cool design. Great looking menu driven LCD screen.

Cons: Haven't been able to program for my Aiwa 5 disc CD changer. It asked if I had the orighinal remote, unfortunately I don't. Have yet to call customer support. Not too worried, I don't listen to many CD's

Other Thoughts: I have a very new TV and was very surprised that this remote was able find codes for some of the more advanced features that the tv has. Overall, very pleased with the remote. User tech level may need to be a bit higher than you average Wally World universal remote, but worth while if you have the patience to learn to use it.

Pros: It's awesome having just one remote to control all my devices! This really makes it easier for the kids and my wife. This remote with one button (Watch TV) will - turn on the TV, set it to the right input, turn on the receiver and put to the right input. Same with Watch Blu-ray, Watch DVD, etc.

This makes having a home theater very simple for my kids.

Cons: Some of the buttons could be better - one of them you really have to push hard. Other than that it's awesome.

Other Thoughts: If you have a PS3 - you need another device since the PS3 is bluetooth. I got the Nyco BluWave remote for $20. I don't need the remote - just the PS3 adapter which is an IR adapter. Then the Harmony remotes and do most operations on the PS3 (cannot Power on though).

Pros: Looks nice, bright back-light, nice weight and feel.

Cons: Have to use Activities to turn devices on, unnecessarily complicated and simplistic at the same time.

Other Thoughts: Apparently I was under the wrong impression when purchasing this remote. I simply wanted to replace an old TV remote and thought this would be more than sufficient, and have the benefit of being able to download commands from the internet instead of using an old remote (since the old one was broken). I had no need for controlling multiple devices or programming activities. I simply wanted it to work like the old remote: Power toggles the power on and off, volume up and down, channel up and down, etc. Unfortunately this is not how the remote works. The power button on the remote ONLY turns things off, it does not toggle the power on, so you HAVE to program an Activity just to turn your TV on. Very frustrating and not very useful for my needs. I'm amazed that this doesn't have an option to work like any old remote. With all this thing can do, what seems like such basic functionality is completely lacking, therefore 1 star for the lack of oversight.

Pros: Price, options, dependability.

Cons: NONE

Other Thoughts: Glad I didn't read some of these reviews before I purchased mine. I got mine well over 2 years ago at walmart. Simply the best remote I have ever owned. Recently installed windows 7 and had to get latest software. No problem, it installed fine. I control my panasonic plasma tv, oppo dvd player, scientific atlanta cable box, and pioneer receiver. I even control my Fedders a/c unit with this thing. It is sturdy and the letters are like new, no wear after 2 plus years of everyday use.

Pros: Super easy setup, super bright (non visible) IR doesn't have to be pointed directly at devices. It just simply works like a universal remote should! Online database is amazing and makes setting this thing up a breeze, can customize buttons, menus, and name them to anything you want on the display screen!

Cons: Small buttons but even that isn't much of an issue.

Other Thoughts: I have had a lot of universal remote controls in my time and this is by far the best remote! I had this up and running exactly the way I wanted in under 30 minutes. Normally I would have had to spend hours customizing a typical universal remote to work the way I want it to. I can't imagine making programming this any easier. The software is very intuitive and walks you through what you want to do. It automatically updates for new devices and the online database is full of stuff that other devices would require "learning" buttons to function. I was initially concerned about possible battery issues due to the bright back lighting but so far this hasn't been an issue after 2 month of use so far on the first set of batteries.

It boils down to this: GET IT AND YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!

Pros: the cats meow. this baby does it. i like the macro ability most. my tv displays the "Mute" when muted, which is annoying. so i programmed the remote to volume down 15 times when i switch to the tv/AV combo. SWEET

Cons: Blue backlight sucks with black letters

Pros: It works well once you've set it up. You can get it do most anything you want. Your profile is saved on their site. It should be easy to replace the device and restore your programming

Cons: You have to connect to their site and use their Windows only software on to program it. A slow internet connection will make it more painful. It's hard to make a truly custom setup. They've tried to make it easy for non-techies to program it - and made it difficult for those who know what they want it to do. The printing on the buttons wears off after a while.

Other Thoughts: The price has come down since I bought mine. I do not have this model, but a similar one with an X-box theme

Pros: - The number of devices is not limited, unlike some other low-end Harmony's.
- This has buttons for Next/Prev Track, unlike some of the more recent models.
- It will control any device, and is extremely versatile.
- The activity-based model is very powerful, and the fact that it remembers the state of your devices is extremely useful.

Cons: While this is certainly easier to set up than say, a Pronto, setup can still be tricky and there are some quirks in the process:
- You have do so some weird things to perform activities where every device isn't remote controllable. For instance, when I want to tell it I want to use my Wii, I have to define a "phantom" video device (like a DVD Player, VCR, whatever) in order to set up a video-using activity. (i.e. I still need the receiver and TV set up, even though the remote can't talk to the Wii itself.)
- Not the sturdiest-feeling device ever.

Other Thoughts: Heh. If you accidentally put one of the batteries in backwards, the batteries will explode, hurling the remote and battery cover in the air. Don't ask how I know. :-) (The remote still works after I took it apart and scraped battery bits off the mainboard.)