Harmony (Logitech) remote control review
By Eddie. Friday, 23. September 2005, 14:51:10
This is (more or less) the email I sent to Logitech customer support...
************begin**************
Model H659
Purchased from Best Buy on 19 Sept 2005
I’m not happy with my Harmony remote and plan to return it after continuing to use it for a full week to make certain it’s not a just a “getting used to” issue instead of a “usability” issue. I really was looking foward to this activity centered remote- the idea is precisely what universal remotes need- after reading it from my favorite author Donald Norman (http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/activity-centered_de.html) I decided I needed to try it.
Here are my concerns after two days of use:
-Pause/FWD/RWD/REC buttons are on the bottom. When using a PVR, these buttons are key for getting through commercials they are too inconvenient to use at the bottom and require me to completely shift the remote in my hand.
Buttons stick I’m hoping this would be solved as it “breaks in”
Harmony Media button. I would love for that to be the “Moxi” button for my Moxi DVR- but I can’t reprogram it. I want my remote to be a remote, I’ll let my DVR handle the programming information and favorite channels (Moxi has a “favorite channels” menu option already)
-I’ve set up the activity “Watch TV” to control the Moxi DVR, but when I press the “picture” button, the control switches back to my TV remote. I can’t get proper control of my DVR even after pressing the “Watch TV” button again.
-The Menu and Guide buttons are too small. These buttons are the most
used with DVR/Cable Guides, etc.
-All the buttons feel the same. There is no feedback as to which button I’m pressing without looking (except the volume and channel buttons)
When I press the up arrow to move through my channel guide for Moxi it sometimes “buffers” too many key presses so it goes about one or two
channels past the one I want. This may be in part due to moxi- but I don’t really have the same problem with original remote. Most interfaces that deal with this usually get it this right. Once I take my hand off the up arrow, it should stop immediately. I’m not sure if the remote is
still sending these commands to the PVR after I’ve taken my hand off the remote- It could also be tied to the “sticky” buttons mentioned earlier- but I doubt it.
Web based setup is a pain to use! There is not a “back” or “Start over” button in crucial places during the initial install. For example I couldn’t readily find the model number of my Television set but I noticed during the setup of my other devices that it (seemed like) it took the model number string, and did a lookup and replace the string with the correct model number (ie- I enter a string like “abc1244” and get back on the screen “ABC-1234.” So since I didn’t know the TV model, I typed the description “Tau BBE” and hit submit. I realized since it could not find any reference to my TV that I would have to dig it out of the entertainment center and look (no I’m not complaining about this part- I should have had the number handy to begin with- but this is still a problem if you mistype something or inadvertantly enter the wrong piece of
information). Once I get the model number, there is no way during initial setup to “start over” with the TV. It insist on getting Harmony to work with either my existing remote, or using one of several projector TV’s that I certainly don’t have. I even logged out and logged back in to
start the installation over, and it picked right up where I left off at trying to get this TV to work. I had to complete the install with the TV- and add another one which caused problems with the activities that I was setting up. Once I finished the install, I had to go back and remove the wrong TV.
Web based customization is confusing. I wanted to change the buttons for my DVR. I saw three (maybe four) places where I thought I could go to change the button behavior: Troubleshoot the device (I thought: ‘I can’t control this device right way I’m having problems- I need to troubleshoot the problem”), My Remote preferences, Adjust Setup, and Customize the
activity.
-Web based UI is painfully slow. Even in Opera!(www.opera.com)
(note: Moxi is a Charter Communication (Cable Company) DVR-http://moxi.com/)
Sorry- I really wish I could have been satisfied with this remote. I think the concept is remarkable and simple. I’ll give it a few more days to see if the activities based approach can overcome all these roadblocks I’ve hit.
*************end**************
I'd like to say that I got a meaningful response back. But I didn't really. They said something to the effect of "I'm sorry you're not happy. Let us know if you have any more problems" with a one sentence or so specifically address like one of the issues I brought up. I don't really remember- it wasn't nearly as nice as the OGIO response I got.
More reading:
Donald Norman on Harmony Remotes
Donald Norman on home theater
Jakob Nielson on remotes
Jakob Nielson on remotes/design
************begin**************
Model H659
Purchased from Best Buy on 19 Sept 2005
I’m not happy with my Harmony remote and plan to return it after continuing to use it for a full week to make certain it’s not a just a “getting used to” issue instead of a “usability” issue. I really was looking foward to this activity centered remote- the idea is precisely what universal remotes need- after reading it from my favorite author Donald Norman (http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/activity-centered_de.html) I decided I needed to try it.
Here are my concerns after two days of use:
-Pause/FWD/RWD/REC buttons are on the bottom. When using a PVR, these buttons are key for getting through commercials they are too inconvenient to use at the bottom and require me to completely shift the remote in my hand.
Buttons stick I’m hoping this would be solved as it “breaks in”
Harmony Media button. I would love for that to be the “Moxi” button for my Moxi DVR- but I can’t reprogram it. I want my remote to be a remote, I’ll let my DVR handle the programming information and favorite channels (Moxi has a “favorite channels” menu option already)
-I’ve set up the activity “Watch TV” to control the Moxi DVR, but when I press the “picture” button, the control switches back to my TV remote. I can’t get proper control of my DVR even after pressing the “Watch TV” button again.
-The Menu and Guide buttons are too small. These buttons are the most
used with DVR/Cable Guides, etc.
-All the buttons feel the same. There is no feedback as to which button I’m pressing without looking (except the volume and channel buttons)
When I press the up arrow to move through my channel guide for Moxi it sometimes “buffers” too many key presses so it goes about one or two
channels past the one I want. This may be in part due to moxi- but I don’t really have the same problem with original remote. Most interfaces that deal with this usually get it this right. Once I take my hand off the up arrow, it should stop immediately. I’m not sure if the remote is
still sending these commands to the PVR after I’ve taken my hand off the remote- It could also be tied to the “sticky” buttons mentioned earlier- but I doubt it.
Web based setup is a pain to use! There is not a “back” or “Start over” button in crucial places during the initial install. For example I couldn’t readily find the model number of my Television set but I noticed during the setup of my other devices that it (seemed like) it took the model number string, and did a lookup and replace the string with the correct model number (ie- I enter a string like “abc1244” and get back on the screen “ABC-1234.” So since I didn’t know the TV model, I typed the description “Tau BBE” and hit submit. I realized since it could not find any reference to my TV that I would have to dig it out of the entertainment center and look (no I’m not complaining about this part- I should have had the number handy to begin with- but this is still a problem if you mistype something or inadvertantly enter the wrong piece of
information). Once I get the model number, there is no way during initial setup to “start over” with the TV. It insist on getting Harmony to work with either my existing remote, or using one of several projector TV’s that I certainly don’t have. I even logged out and logged back in to
start the installation over, and it picked right up where I left off at trying to get this TV to work. I had to complete the install with the TV- and add another one which caused problems with the activities that I was setting up. Once I finished the install, I had to go back and remove the wrong TV.
Web based customization is confusing. I wanted to change the buttons for my DVR. I saw three (maybe four) places where I thought I could go to change the button behavior: Troubleshoot the device (I thought: ‘I can’t control this device right way I’m having problems- I need to troubleshoot the problem”), My Remote preferences, Adjust Setup, and Customize the
activity.
-Web based UI is painfully slow. Even in Opera!(www.opera.com)
(note: Moxi is a Charter Communication (Cable Company) DVR-http://moxi.com/)
Sorry- I really wish I could have been satisfied with this remote. I think the concept is remarkable and simple. I’ll give it a few more days to see if the activities based approach can overcome all these roadblocks I’ve hit.
*************end**************
I'd like to say that I got a meaningful response back. But I didn't really. They said something to the effect of "I'm sorry you're not happy. Let us know if you have any more problems" with a one sentence or so specifically address like one of the issues I brought up. I don't really remember- it wasn't nearly as nice as the OGIO response I got.
More reading:
Donald Norman on Harmony Remotes
Donald Norman on home theater
Jakob Nielson on remotes
Jakob Nielson on remotes/design
WIDGETIZE
Anonymous # 14. June 2006, 19:22
i think your a loser,becuase you are complaining about simple little things. there is nuthin wrong with shfiting the remote in your hands. you are just lazy the harmony remote works great.
Anonymous # 21. June 2006, 11:11
I have to agree This remote rocks it does work wonders my tv Mitsubishi 52525 hidef tv's remote sucked dog balls Oversized and no direct input buttons had to go to a menu to access diferent inguts like hdmi input Video1 Comp1 and so forth
Now I press one button Or maybe two to change To my 400 disc sony DVD single disc dvd, DVR, TV tunners(two in the TV)even AM and FM HELL it even controls My XBOX 360 and window A/C unit
Never had a problem installing software
And it does search for best matches on the device setup I typed MIT 52525 and found my TV
only problem i have with it is that it has to0 high of a delay to control the MOXI DVR box properly so I still use its remote for now but I do know you can change the IR delay times just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. Hey, but two remotes are better than six
Eddie_Lopez # 19. August 2006, 04:35
Yeah- read the subtitle of the blog: "studying the design of everyday things."
That's kind of the point. See this:
http://my.opera.com/usability/blog/show.dml/46945
Anonymous # 3. January 2009, 11:03
hi
it's just a great info about it i owned this remote it is very reliable and easy to use and now i don't have to just find my other remotes for another system...only thing i don't liked is the price they are very very high...
http://www.karlonia.com/2008/12/27/b...h-harmony-one/