Guest EZYHD Posted May 30, 2005 Posted May 30, 2005 Received my Harmony 680 from Bluedo yesterday, considering I ordered it on Friday 13th and there were 2 weekends in between (and I'm in FNQ) the delivery time was excellent. Paid $210 AUD inc. freight and nothing extra after arrival in OZ. First Impressions... Within half an hour of receiving the 680 I had entered my gear info into the computer database and then downloaded all into the unit, then went to my home theatre room and bingo... one button press and on came the Pj, Amp and STB WOW!. I was able to switch easily between the STB, DVD, CD, Radio etc. with only pressing one button. The remote is near a perfect weight and size, at first the buttons seemed a tad small compared to the heafty clunky MX500 I have, but with little use they were fine. The up/down station and volume buttons have a small raised button either end and were easy to find in the dark. I guess like mose new remotes its just getting used to which buttons are which, however most are clearly defined. I was very suprised to see my special Opentel STB coloured buttons in the LCD window now called Red, Blue, Yellow, Green etc. as I was wondering how this would be overcome but alass they simply gave them a name as the 680 has no corresponding coloured buttons. I now at least know my wife can use tis 680 Harmony as well, she is happy. Now I can try a bit of tweeking. As my room is pitch black dark I haven't found a way to keep the remote light on longer yet? any ideas? So to those who pointed me in the right direction (especially SPDF) thank you so much.
taggartc Posted May 30, 2005 Posted May 30, 2005 taggartc - just wondering - I have a 659 myself, but I have mislaid the USB cable for it - don't suppose you know if it's a standard mini usb cable or not?? --------------------- Sorry for the slow reply, I have been moving house and therefore haven't been online. Yes it is a standard cable, i quite often use my digi cams lead to do configuration changes. As for a "bulk" buy I bought my 659 through a contractor that i work with, he runs his own Home Theatre business in Sydney and buys direct through IDT hence i got my 659 VERY CHEAP... I'm sure he would/could arrange a bulk buy for the 885 when i becomes available. Should we start a count as to how many people are interested? I've asked him already to get a price on the 885 but one isn't available at this time. Of course if people are interested in other remotes i'm thinking this offer could be extended out to the full Harmony range of remotes although ideally he would want to buy remotes in lots of 5+ preferably 10+ Anyway just thought i would put this out there as i am a HUGE fan of the Harmony remote and am quite interested in getting the 885 myself.
czzer Posted May 30, 2005 Posted May 30, 2005 taggartc - just wondering - I have a 659 myself, but I have mislaid the USB cable for it - don't suppose you know if it's a standard mini usb cable or not?? --------------------- Sorry for the slow reply, I have been moving house and therefore haven't been online. Yes it is a standard cable, i quite often use my digi cams lead to do configuration changes. As for a "bulk" buy I bought my 659 through a contractor that i work with, he runs his own Home Theatre business in Sydney and buys direct through IDT hence i got my 659 VERY CHEAP... I'm sure he would/could arrange a bulk buy for the 885 when i becomes available. Should we start a count as to how many people are interested? I've asked him already to get a price on the 885 but one isn't available at this time. Of course if people are interested in other remotes i'm thinking this offer could be extended out to the full Harmony range of remotes although ideally he would want to buy remotes in lots of 5+ preferably 10+ Anyway just thought i would put this out there as i am a HUGE fan of the Harmony remote and am quite interested in getting the 885 myself. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I would be interested in a bulk buy on 880/885 if the price was right. Can your friend at least get a price on the 880, as that should be a good indicator on what the 885 will be? Was your 659 price comparable to Bluedo's 659 price? (US$86+del = A$140)
achjimmy Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Harmony remotes I have had a play on the web site but it only lets you do so much with out a remote. How does it get around two display devices i.e TV and projector? Can you have 2 off "watch TV and watch DVD" one for TV and the other for PJ? Would you need use the learning function if you wished it to control a screen as well? Jim
czzer Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Harmony remotesI have had a play on the web site but it only lets you do so much with out a remote. How does it get around two display devices i.e TV and projector? Can you have 2 off "watch TV and watch DVD" one for TV and the other for PJ? Would you need use the learning function if you wished it to control a screen as well? Jim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, you can have a "Watch DVD on TV" and a "Watch DVD on Projector" activity, or pretty much as many activities as you want. You could even have "Watch TV in 16:9", or "Listen to CD with DSP mode ???" or whatever.
Guest EZYHD Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 I want to have TV and another for Pj, had a lash at it but no luck, so emailed to see what they think.
czzer Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 I want to have TV and another for Pj, had a lash at it but no luck, so emailed to see what they think. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You should be able to just add a second "Watch DVD" activity, but put the PJ as the display device on the second one.
Guest EZYHD Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 having a few 680 probs... On the top left button is DVD Next devise button is PVR Next one was CD but I changed that to TV Now I can't find CD When I go to devise button bottom left of screen I get TV, Pj, DVD, Amp, STB, no CD comes up there either. Where has CD gone?. Another problem is there is a swag of items in the amp that I do not want or use and a number of items are showing first up and I'd like to move them further down the list or delete them. For instance... when I first press amp I get next, previous bank A etc,, when what I would ike is DTS, 5.1 CD, Radio etc.
thomfam Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Anyone bought a Harmony 659 of ebay? Jim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I got my 659 from eBay. It does all I want it to do very nicely. However I think all the ones recently on sale on eBay have gone. They had them coming up every day or so for about a month but nothing has been seen there for a few days now. They came from justdeals-au which seems to sell a lot of refurbished Logitech stuff.
Hawk Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Anyone bought a Harmony 659 of ebay? Jim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Bought one last week for $85, waiting for delivery now.
czzer Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Foxtail, it sounds like you're trying to use it the same way as your MX500, ie as a device based remote. You need to change your way of thinking to work in ACTIVITIES. eg. make a "Watch DVD" activity, then add any amp commands you want (DTS, DSP mode, whatever) to that ACTIVITY. Likewise you should have a "Listen to CD" activity, "Listen to Radio" activity etc. It might take a while to get used to the Harmony way when you're so used to the device way, but keep at it! When it's set up properly, you should never even need to use the device buttons. Also remember the Picture and Sound buttons for less used commands. GOOD LUCK!
Guest EZYHD Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Don't know how to make say "listen to CD" etc. but I'll keep trying. Thanks Czzer.
fattchoi1503559854 Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Is there a limit to the number of activities that you can create? Cheers.
jojon Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Anyone bought a Harmony 659 of ebay? Jim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I got my 659 from eBay. It does all I want it to do very nicely. However I think all the ones recently on sale on eBay have gone. They had them coming up every day or so for about a month but nothing has been seen there for a few days now. They came from justdeals-au which seems to sell a lot of refurbished Logitech stuff. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I bought one of the EBAY 659's last week and was wondering how long it took to deliver to you once they acknowledged payment had been received and the item was sent? Also was the 659 in good condition? Still waiting for my 659
czzer Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Foxtail, I don't have mine yet, so I can't tell you exactly how to do it, sorry. I think there is an option for a "generic" activity, as well as the standard "type" activities like Watch TV etc. It should tell you in the instructions??? Otherwise check the Harmony group on RemoteCentral for heaps of info, and people much smarter than myself! fattchoi, there is a limit to the number of activities, but you shouldn't come anywhere near it. I think it's somewhere near 100...maybe even more
achjimmy Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Foxtail, I don't have mine yet, so I can't tell you exactly how to do it, sorry. I think there is an option for a "generic" activity, as well as the standard "type" activities like Watch TV etc. It should tell you in the instructions??? Otherwise check the Harmony group on RemoteCentral for heaps of info, and people much smarter than myself!fattchoi, there is a limit to the number of activities, but you shouldn't come anywhere near it. I think it's somewhere near 100...maybe even more <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I thought the number of activities on the 680 was 15! Jim
Guest EZYHD Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Had a quick email back from Harmonmy Service explaining what to do. Stuffup's are mine as I use my DVD player for CD's so no separte CD devise is required same as radio amp/tuner. Anyway I'll follow the instructions given and see how I go. Used the 680 last night very impressed. I was able to navigate around most of the time, just need to get used to it more, one button at startup and one to turn off mmm nice.
SPDF Posted May 31, 2005 Author Posted May 31, 2005 Foxtail, send me an email today and I will walk you through it. I agree with Czzer, the Harmony's logic is primarily Activity-based, not component based. The left hand button is 'Watch DVD', next one with the TV icon is 'Watch TV', next one with music notes is 'Listen to music/CD', and the one with the star on the right hand side is 'Other Activities'. This is where I have set up 'Watch PVR', 'Watch Video', 'Listen to Radio' etc. Under the screen, there is a button called 'Device'. This allows you to select individual menus for each component. But, also, when you, say, 'Watch TV', in that mode you can select all of the TV controls as well (or in fact any you want as online there is a table which allows you to assign any button from any of your other remotes to that particular activity. Bloody awesome! Then with the green 'Media' button (exclusive to the 680) you can have that, as I do, for my 'Favourite Channels', press again and it shows 'All Channels' by name. However, to set this up, it is all done online, and getting that tweaked perfectly to suit your exact setup is not always simple (unfortunately). But, as said by me before, this is where the best feature of this system comes into play; Tech Support. As they have done for me on numerous occasions, they just go into your account on the difficult issues and fix it!
holo1503559724 Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 alas the suppliers I was talking to can't ship overseas. Sorry But due to shipping issues in the past - i.e damages and lost goodclaims as well as the problems arising with VAT and warranties, we no longer ship outside the UK mainland, northern Ireland, Ireland and the Channel Isles. Sorry for any inconvenience. Best Regards, Lee Scan Computers
czzer Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Foxtail, I don't have mine yet, so I can't tell you exactly how to do it, sorry. I think there is an option for a "generic" activity, as well as the standard "type" activities like Watch TV etc. It should tell you in the instructions??? Otherwise check the Harmony group on RemoteCentral for heaps of info, and people much smarter than myself!fattchoi, there is a limit to the number of activities, but you shouldn't come anywhere near it. I think it's somewhere near 100...maybe even more <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I thought the number of activities on the 680 was 15! Jim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, the maximum number of DEVICES is 15. I just found out, via Remotecentral, the maximum number of ACTIVITIES is actually 255....aka plenty!
Guest EZYHD Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 SPDF, I just about have a 95% handle on how this Harmony 680 works now after following their instructions of this morning, its rather simple when pointed out. When done as you say its bloody "awesome', amazing what one realises after 24 hours of receiving it and changing the way I thought (with the MX500). I changed the order of some custom buttons, but mostly will hardly be used, as the devise download has set up the hard buttons automatically in a logical order. I'll give that favorites a try as you suggest. Man I'm happy with this new toy!.
thomfam Posted June 1, 2005 Posted June 1, 2005 Anyone bought a Harmony 659 of ebay? Jim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I got my 659 from eBay. It does all I want it to do very nicely. However I think all the ones recently on sale on eBay have gone. They had them coming up every day or so for about a month but nothing has been seen there for a few days now. They came from justdeals-au which seems to sell a lot of refurbished Logitech stuff. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I bought one of the EBAY 659's last week and was wondering how long it took to deliver to you once they acknowledged payment had been received and the item was sent? Also was the 659 in good condition? Still waiting for my 659 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Delivery is not as quick as other eBay sellers, mine took almost 3 weeks to come through. Not a scratch on it, as far as I could see, it looked 'new' to me. I missed out on the advertised "Quick Guide" from the seller but I was able to download it quickly from the Harmony Site. It came without batteries too so you may need to eBay a dozen rechargeable AAA's. I got a dozen rechargeable AAA's delivered to my place for $15 As a follow up to other questions some people have regarding programming their Harmony, the Harmony Support Team are fantastic. Queries answered by email with detailed instructions within 36 hours. Once you get your head around how programming the remote on the internet works, you could get your Harmony to do almost anything you want. Renaming Activities is easy. Just have a good look around your member's site and all the links are there to do almost whatever you want. If you make a real mess of it, just sign in again as a new member and you are back to where you started. The whole setup from my point of view is brilliant!
Guest EZYHD Posted June 1, 2005 Posted June 1, 2005 QUOTE: "As a follow up to other questions some people have regarding programming their Harmony, the Harmony Support Team are fantastic. Queries answered by email with detailed instructions within 36 hours". ditto
SPDF Posted June 1, 2005 Author Posted June 1, 2005 QUOTE: "As a follow up to other questions some people have regarding programming their Harmony, the Harmony Support Team are fantastic. Queries answered by email with detailed instructions within 36 hours". ditto <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In fact, I would go as far to say that despite how good their remotes are (and they certainly are that), it is this amazing tech support that makes them KING OF ALL REMOTES. It's like their remotes have parents (ie. tech support) who let their kids (us) learn how to use their toys. If ever the kids muck up, the parents are always there ready to make things better. If you think that is too soppy an analagy, think again, because that is exactly how it works. You are never left on your own! That, folks, is their best selling benefit!
Guest EZYHD Posted June 1, 2005 Posted June 1, 2005 Yes we all agree how good the Tech support really is. The answers to my questions came back very promptly. Had my Harmony 680 three days now and its sold me. I am able to navigate around with ease and the way the system is downloaded into the Harmony is simply brilliant, so in my book its a bargain, nothing wrong with the MX500 my former remote, this is better but for only a few dollars more, well worth it though. So once again this forum and its people came to the fore, thanks guys...
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