It's often astounding how time flies by and companies bring out the latest and greatest products for us to see. I saw the Logitech Harmony 900 way back in June at a product unveiling and was excited by the prospect of testing one later in the year. Well I've been using it as a replacement for my home remote for quite awhile now so that I would get to know its personality, quirks, and annoyances. Overall it has been a great experience, but I'll go over everything in detail below.
Accessories
The accessories for the Harmony 900 are plenty. It comes with a docking cradle and AC adapter, USB to Mini USB cable, Lithium-ion battery pack, IR Blaster, and Mini IR Blasters (more on these later).
Features
(Much of this is a port from my Harmony 700 review because they are features that apply to most Harmony remotes)
PC/Mac-based Programming
The Harmony 900 has the feature that makes most of Logitech's remotes much better than their competitors. This is the ability to connect the remote to your PC/Mac and use their Logitech Harmony Remote Software to program in your many devices. That means you don't have to fiddle with codes for each manufacturer and enter them in tediously while staring at a manual. You just need the manufacturer and the model number. Pretty much every infrared, and for some remotes RF, device is in Logitech's database. The box on the Harmony 900 claims that this includes 5,000 brands and 225,000 devices.
Activities
Many people would find it to be sufficient that they are able to find and control their devices from information contained in an online database. Well the part that makes remotes like the Harmony 900 shine is that you can also program activities. I'll give you examples from my usage. I have "Watch TV" as my first activity. When I hit the button for the activity it turns on the TV and AV receiver and changes the inputs on both as well. That only required one button press and that is by far the simplest activity a user can program. It then controls the volume through my AV receiver and changes channels through my satellite box.
A more elaborate activity involves using the Intel based HTPC that I featured in a prior HTPC Round up. The Thermaltake case used for this PC has an infrared remote so it was replaceable. The activity involves turning on the TV, computer, and AV receiver. It then changes inputs on the TV and AV receiver. Once in operation, it controls the volume through the AV receiver and the mouse and keyboard functions.
Color LCD Screen
This is a high quality color LCD screen that appears to have better color depth and a much improved animated interface over the Harmony One. The screen is bright when in use and sleeps automatically to conserve power when not in use. It can be awakened through a button press or movement of the remote (the quick tug from picking up a remote usually will suffice).
The improved interface with fancy animations comes at a slight cost to performance though. The Harmony 900 is noticeably slower at navigating through LCD menus than when performing the same operations on a Harmony One. It appears that the new programming of the remote was pushed a little beyond its processing capabilities.
Device Control
The Harmony 900 can control up to fifteen total devices at any given time. This represents the upper echelons of device control within the Harmony line of products.
Functionality
The remote comes with many buttons to choose from for activities and controlling a wide array of devices. This includes the fairly popular colored buttons that you see on a Blu-ray or DirecTV remote. The colors are physical buttons on the Harmony 900 whereas they are onscreen choices on the Harmony One.
IR Blaster & Mini IR Blasters
These are really the defining accessories for the Harmony 900 that set it apart from its kin. The IR blaster and Mini IR Blasters are ridiculously easy to setup. You simply place the IR Blaster on a shelf and the Mini IR Blasters on other shelves within your cabinet. Plug in the IR Blaster, program your remote and then follow the remote's onscreen instructions. Most of the setup is automatic. My experience is that the IR Blasters worked nearly without fail from the living room and even through the wall into the adjacent room. These are definitely a treat and are well worth the upgrade if you need to control devices that are encased in a wooden cabinet or other material.
Aesthetics and Feel
The Harmony 900 is near the top of the totem pole in the Harmony line of remotes. The design is almost identical to the Harmony One except for the colored buttons and a glossy coat of silver that runs up from the battery compartment until it splits off to the sides of the device. That little addition of color for contrast really helps with the overall appeal of the remote. I don't blame Logitech for not straying too much from the Harmony One design because it would be hard pressed to get much better.
The feel is also just as good as the Harmony One. Weight distribution seems fairly equal from front to back. The Harmony One and Harmony 900 both share this because of similar design and battery pack style. This is in contrast to the Harmony 700 using rechargeable AA batteries that causes it to be more bottom heavy.
Price
So you wanted to play with the big boys right? Well there is always a high price for such things. The Harmony 900 comes in at $295.00 on Amazon.com. The list price on it is $399.00 so think of that as a considerable savings. The cost of the unit is a bit steep, but in terms of price for performance you're getting a deal.
Conclusions
I'd say that the most irritating part of using the Harmony 900 day in and out was the sluggish navigation through the LCD menu. Be that as it may, I liked every other part of it. It is essentially a beefed up version of the Harmony One. Think of it as a Harmony One in a tuxedo. That little bit of satin, other small details and accessories set the tux apart from a nice suit. That is the answer that makes the tux and, by extension, the Harmony 900 so much better.
For more info:
email Nicholas at technic.amoroso@gmail.com
Logitech Harmony 900
Related Articles:
Logitech Harmony 700 Review
Comments
How come these remotes can not keep accurate time???
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