harmony 895 any good??

"Gunther Gloop" <me.DeleteThis@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:57vmfuF2ed938U1@mid.individual.net...
> "ady2007©" <adrian.jefferybad.DeleteThis@spamntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:53wSh.8109$xT6.3784@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net...
>> thinking of ordering one of the above remotes to replace my pronto 940
>> but are they good??
>>
>
> I have an 885 and a 650 (I think it's the 650 at least). To be honest, of
> the two, I'd go for the 650, which I last saw going for around 20 quid in
> Currys or Dixons or someplace.
> The 885 is a £180+ downgrade as far as I'm concerned. The buttons are
> flush and not as good. It comes with built-in battery and docking station
> which soon had problems (the connectors 'sunk in', stopping it from
> charging easily). I talked with one other person I know with the same
> remote and he had the same problems.
>
> The 885 does look very nice, but it never really allowed me to throw away
> all other remotes (as a pronto does).
> If I had no kids, I'd have two prontos. As it is, the 650 and 885 are in
> one room and used interchangeably, but still I keep the 'real' remotes on
> hand for those off-standard problems that arise from time to time.
>
> I use a pronto in the other room and never had a problem with that.
>
> I don't know the differences between the 895 and the 885.
>
> -Kevin.
>
cheers kev the harmony 895 arrived this morning and was up and running
inside 10 mins... so its not all bad
i must say it's no pronto and would still like another one a newer one
seeing as i have sold my ru940 now.
what pronto are you using?
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

"ady2007©" <adrian.jefferybad DeleteThis @spamntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:76tTh.917$NZ2.697@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> i must say it's no pronto and would still like another one a newer one
> seeing as i have sold my ru940 now.
> what pronto are you using?


RU890
It's old now and looks it, but it's still the best remote I've had by far.
2nd best was the Marantz 2000 MK3 (actually not sure if that's the model,
but it's something like that). The top-heavy one.
That worked nicely (eventually), but broke some years ago.

I really don't see any Pronto-beaters out there in that price bracket, which
is strange as it's really old technology nowadays and the market is bigger
than ever. All the good-looking ones seem to have too many quirky issues,
annoying fiddlynesses and silly-but-necessary work-arounds.

-Kevin.

--
A great book I heartily recommend...
http://www.ooyay.com/
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

"> Flexibility.
> The Harmony is a nice family-friendly multi-remote, but it just can't cope
> with all the niggly bits that home cinema enthusiasts (especially)
> require.
> I have yet to find someone who had no issues with theirs and didn't
> eventually 'settle' for some workaround way of performing some task
> (and/or by keeping the 'real' remotes to hand).
>
> There's none of that with a Pronto. If it doesn't do it, you program it to
> do it, then it does it without issue.
>
> -Kevin
>

agree 100%
its a cracking remote that is missing a decent technical side!
the way you tell the website the make & model is fine but
it would be nice to have a user inter face to tweak there pre
defined settings.
also I don't like the big brother thing that if any thing happens to
Logitech
in the future how will you be able to add more functions to your remote?
although this would not have put me off buying the remote in the first
place if I had known about it before hand.

ady
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

ady2007© wrote:
> i must say it's no pronto and would still like another one a newer one
> seeing as i have sold my ru940 now.

Shucks, I've just ordered the Harmony 885 (if it ever arrives from an
eBay-er). I liked the idea of the tactile buttons, which I miss with the
Pronto. What do you think's missing from the Harmony?

--
StainlessSteelRat
http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net

Leela: You went to college?
Bender: Of course. I'm a bender. I went to Bending College; I majored
in Bending. Fry: What was your minor?
Bender: Robo-American Studies.
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

"StainlessSteelRat" <usenet.TakeThisOut@stainlesssteelrat.net> wrote in message
news:58fgj4F2gj4b4U1@mid.individual.net...
> ady2007© wrote:
>> i must say it's no pronto and would still like another one a newer one
>> seeing as i have sold my ru940 now.
>
> Shucks, I've just ordered the Harmony 885 (if it ever arrives from an
> eBay-er). I liked the idea of the tactile buttons, which I miss with the
> Pronto. What do you think's missing from the Harmony?
>


Flexibility.
The Harmony is a nice family-friendly multi-remote, but it just can't cope
with all the niggly bits that home cinema enthusiasts (especially) require.
I have yet to find someone who had no issues with theirs and didn't
eventually 'settle' for some workaround way of performing some task (and/or
by keeping the 'real' remotes to hand).

There's none of that with a Pronto. If it doesn't do it, you program it to
do it, then it does it without issue.

-Kevin

--
A great book I heartily recommend...
http://www.ooyay.com/
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

Gunther Gloop wrote:
>> Shucks, I've just ordered the Harmony 885 (if it ever arrives from an
>> eBay-er). I liked the idea of the tactile buttons, which I miss with
>> the Pronto. What do you think's missing from the Harmony?
>
> Flexibility.
> The Harmony is a nice family-friendly multi-remote, but it just can't
> cope with all the niggly bits that home cinema enthusiasts
> (especially) require. I have yet to find someone who had no issues
> with theirs and didn't eventually 'settle' for some workaround way of
> performing some task (and/or by keeping the 'real' remotes to hand).
>
> There's none of that with a Pronto. If it doesn't do it, you program
> it to do it, then it does it without issue.

Ah, I didn't realise the Harmony was so inflexible. I did notice there
seemed to be a bit of a forced structure though, that it organises by
activity rather than keeping things open. Hopefully it won't drive me
crackers, but I do miss tactile buttons with the Pronto, and the UI is a bit
slow.

--
StainlessSteelRat
http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net

"Oh, great, a one-way street! How does that work if I'm going
backwards?" -- Francis, Malcolm in the Middle
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

"StainlessSteelRat" <usenet.TakeThisOut@stainlesssteelrat.net> wrote in message
news:58fjgpF2gped8U1@mid.individual.net...
> Gunther Gloop wrote:
>>> Shucks, I've just ordered the Harmony 885 (if it ever arrives from an
>>> eBay-er). I liked the idea of the tactile buttons, which I miss with
>>> the Pronto. What do you think's missing from the Harmony?
>>
>> Flexibility.
>> The Harmony is a nice family-friendly multi-remote, but it just can't
>> cope with all the niggly bits that home cinema enthusiasts
>> (especially) require. I have yet to find someone who had no issues
>> with theirs and didn't eventually 'settle' for some workaround way of
>> performing some task (and/or by keeping the 'real' remotes to hand).
>>
>> There's none of that with a Pronto. If it doesn't do it, you program
>> it to do it, then it does it without issue.
>
> Ah, I didn't realise the Harmony was so inflexible. I did notice there
> seemed to be a bit of a forced structure though, that it organises by
> activity rather than keeping things open. Hopefully it won't drive me
> crackers, but I do miss tactile buttons with the Pronto, and the UI is a
> bit slow.
>


The one thing that could save the Harmony product-line is if they had
user-defineable macros -ie. press one button while in one activity to do a
number of things.
Macros are not a feature on any Harmony (that I've seen/ heard of).

The 885 has a button to allows you setup/select various digital channels
from the screen on the remote. You can download real channel logos to
display in this screen. It looks nice, but is made pointless (IMO) by the
fact you have to click that initial button to show the channels first, then
go look for the specific channel on the remote's screen. It's easier to just
press the (3) numbers, or press the Favourites button. !

But if that button lead the user to a list of MACROS, then it could be very
interesting ...and Harmony-saving! ...but it doesnt', so it's not. :(

-Kevin.


--
A great book I heartily recommend...
http://www.ooyay.com/
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

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 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

"5605" <not.TakeThisOut@chance.com> wrote in message
news:2007041523004716807-not@chancecom...
> So there you are Kevin, someone who had no issues with theirs and didn't
> eventually 'settle' for some workaround way of performing some task
> (and/or by keeping the 'real' remotes to hand).
>


I remember you saying so, way back when, but thought I'd get away with
ignoring you Trendy Uncle. ;)

So yes, I admit to lying for the sake of brevity and clarity. :)

Clearly you're a persevering and/or lucky so&so. You could well be right and
there is a way to set up my particular devices trouble-free, but honestly
it's more hassle and time-consuming than it's worth -for me.

....One 'issue' I have is when I want to press AV twice (which is needed
sometimes to go from, say EXT1 to EXT3 -no discrete code available), it
fails to recognise the 2nd press until I send another signal to that device
first.
My Marantz used to have the same issue.
Really, I couldn't be arsed going through a thing like that with the (very
good) Harmony support. But I do have possibly 10-or-so such niggles that
regularly occur, some more 'serious' than others.
They're not worth raising here and they're not worth "explaining" to
customer support -but they are a hindrance at times nonetheless.

-Kevin.

--
A great book I heartily recommend...
http://www.ooyay.com/
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

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 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

"5605" <not.RemoveThis@chance.com> wrote in message
news:2007041612103416807-not@chancecom...
> On 2007-04-15 23:45:41 +0100, "Gunther Gloop" <me.RemoveThis@privacy.net> said:
>> So yes, I admit to lying for the sake of brevity and clarity. :)
>
> Why change the habit of a lifetime :-)
>

Now now. No call for that young man!


>> Clearly you're a persevering and/or lucky so&so. You could well be right
>> and there is a way to set up my particular devices trouble-free, but
>> honestly it's more hassle and time-consuming than it's worth -for me.
>
> No I'm neither persevering nor lucky - I simply adopted and understood the
> Harmony ethos of activity based remote control as opposed to device based.
> You're so last century Kelvin (sic)
>

I understood that too. And have always set up my multi-remotes (including
Pronto and Harmonys) in that way, Playtrick. (sic)


>> ...One 'issue' I have is when I want to press AV twice (which is needed
>> sometimes to go from, say EXT1 to EXT3 -no discrete code available), it
>> fails to recognise the 2nd press until I send another signal to that
>> device first.
>> My Marantz used to have the same issue.
>> Really, I couldn't be arsed going through a thing like that with the
>> (very good) Harmony support.
>
> I had the exact same issue with my TV. I contacted Harmony Customer
> Service and explained the issue (it's common on certain brands - the code
> has a toggle bit which makes it hard to learn). Within 45 minutes they had
> updated my setup to include the toggle bit codes in clean form. I've never
> looked back.
>
>> But I do have possibly 10-or-so such niggles that regularly occur, some
>> more 'serious' than others.
>> They're not worth raising here and they're not worth "explaining" to
>> customer support -but they are a hindrance at times nonetheless.
>>
> If you don't explain them to customer support and give them a chance to
> address them, then your complaints sound like carping that justifies your
> continued support of the Pronto.
>

Well at least my Pronto support is justified. :)
I gave my point of view. I have no problem with you putting yours. I don't
deny you've had your issues solved for you.

Going to the bother of explaining things like that to customer support and
waiting 45 minutes or so for them to sort it out (if possible) is nice for
some. I prefer to have the power to do it myself. Who knows what future
issues may arise with future products?

-Kevin.


--
A great book I heartily recommend...
http://www.ooyay.com/
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

Gunther Gloop wrote:
> But if that button lead the user to a list of MACROS, then it could
> be very interesting ...and Harmony-saving! ...but it doesnt', so it's
> not. :(

I've had a chance to use mine for a few days now, and it's definitely a
mixed bag. I do like the tactile buttons, and the remote is light, unlike my
Pronto. Also it's very straightforward to setup, a few minutes vs. a few
hours with the Pronto. Of course you pay for the lack of flexibility, and
that's where the problems start.

For example, selecting inputs on my TV. To get to Ext5 on my Sharp Aquos it
runs through a sequence of first turning on the TV, then opening up the
input menu, then sending a number of down signals to scroll through the
menu, then selecting the input. This is assuming all the remote commands
have registered, and it hasn't missed one of the inputs (there are 8 on the
menu, so lots, and room for error). "Oh well," I thought, "there can't be
discrete commands from the remote to change the input". But then I was
browsing through the specific device menu for the TV on the remote, and
there they are! Not even Sharp's remote seems to have these. So why doesn't
the software/remote use these in preference to the klunky stepping through a
menu? I can't see any option to change this.

My other beef with the device specific menus are that they contain commands
which do nothing and aren't relevant for the model. So they ought to be
optimised and removed.

Another issue I had is trying to kludge an activity. I sometimes want to
listen to music from my PC. So I don't want the TV to turn on, I just want
the amp to turn on, and the remote to become the equivalent of that I use
with the PC. After submitting a question to support I figured out how to add
my PC, and specifically the remote control for my Audigy Platinum, as a
device. But when I try and add an activity for listening to digital music it
tells me I don't have any devices capable of doing it! It ought to be more
flexible and let me force a device as capable.

--
StainlessSteelRat
http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net

"I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid.
Then I ran some more." -- Narrator, Fight Club
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good?? 

StainlessSteelRat wrote:
> So why doesn't the
> software/remote use these in preference to the klunky stepping
> through a menu? I can't see any option to change this.

Ah! Solved this problem. I found the relevant part in the settings menu.

> My other beef with the device specific menus are that they contain
> commands which do nothing and aren't relevant for the model. So they
> ought to be optimised and removed.

Solved this problem also. You can edit the screen button options.

> Another issue I had is trying to kludge an activity. I sometimes want
> to listen to music from my PC. So I don't want the TV to turn on, I
> just want the amp to turn on, and the remote to become the equivalent
> of that I use with the PC. After submitting a question to support I
> figured out how to add my PC, and specifically the remote control for
> my Audigy Platinum, as a device. But when I try and add an activity
> for listening to digital music it tells me I don't have any devices
> capable of doing it! It ought to be more flexible and let me force a
> device as capable.

Not solved this yet though...

--
StainlessSteelRat
http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net

Willie: There are two dead people in here!
Indiana Jones: There's gonna be two dead people in here! Hurry!
 >> Stay informed about: harmony 895 any good??