Logitech Harmony 650 Review, Photos And Price

 

Logitech Harmony 650 Review

Logitech Harmony 650 is a powerful, universal remote control with great ergonomics and color LCD screen with by five contextual buttons.  The Logitech Harmony 650 is web programmable using Windows or Mac PCs. The unit has excellent button layout and overall design and supports custom sequences/macros.

Logitech Harmony 650

Logitech Harmony 650 has a couple of drawbacks. Fistly, it only controls five devices. Secondly it requires Internet-connected PC in order to program the unit. Also, adding favorite channel icons is rather more difficult than it should be.

Logitech Harmony 650 Remote

Except for different color schemes, the Logitech Harmony 650, which is gray with black buttons, has the same button layout and chassis as the Harmony 600, (step-down model) which is silver with white buttons, and the Harmony 700 (step-up model) which is all black.

Logitech Harmony 650 2013

The Logitech Harmony 650 goes one better than the 600′s monochrome screen with a color version and it displays colorful favorite channel icons instead of plain text, like the 600. The Logitech Harmony 700′s price tag is more expensive, retailing at between $120 and $150 but it can control six devices to the 600/650′s five, and it also has the ability to recharge it’s Sanyo Eneloop batteries by attaching the USB AC charger (both included).

Logitech Harmony 650 Remote Control

 

As is standard for Logitech remote controls, all three models are programmable via a Mac or Windows PC, and employ activity-based commands such as “Watch TV” or “Listen to Music” to control your home media system.

Logitech Harmony 650 Manual

The Logitech Harmony 650 remote is roughly split into three main areas. The top section is dominated by the previously mentioned color LCD screen which is a square 1-inch-by-1-inch display. There are five buttons, two on each side, and one on the bottom which are all dedicated to choosing contextual items on the screen. You may also page through additional screens, which multiply the available choices. The middle section of the remote has a five-way directional pad, volume and channel controls, and some basic DVR keys for Menu, Guide, Info, Exit etc. The lower third of the remote, consists of standard video transport controls, for example, play, pause, rewind, etc. and a 12-digit keypad. All of the remote’s buttons are backlit, as is the LCD display so it’s easy to use in a dark room.

Logitech Harmony 650 Universal Remote

The setup process is almost the same as previous Logitech Harmony remotes. You simply connect the Logitech Harmony 650 to your Internet-connected Windows PC or Mac with the supplied USB cable, and install the model-specific version of Harmony software which can be downloaded from Logitech’s web site, and answer an online questionnaire. You simply choose your home-theater components from a list, explain how they are connected, and identify their roles in activity-based functions, such as “Watch TV,” “Watch DVD,” and “Listen to music.” For each of the functions, you specify which devices and inputs you require the remote to enable. You can also choose which keypad functions will access which specific devices, always having the channel buttons control the program box or the volume controls dedicated to the TV, for example. When you have completed the questionnaire, the software will upload all the relevant codes to your Harmony 650.

Logitech Harmony 650 Universal Remote Control

The software automatically maps obvious functions to the default keys “pause” to “pause,” “2″ to “2,” and so on. However,  you are able to customize and change anything to what you’d like. You are also able to map specific functions to the colored buttons on the remote control, as well as the contextual areas on the LCD screen.

Logitech Harmony 650 Price

The Logitech Harmony 650 overall is one of the best universal remotes you can buy for under $100. The retail price is around $74 and an additional $20 gets you the step-up model rechargeable batteries.

Logitech Harmony 650 Review, Photos And Price – Copyright 2013

Tags: color lcd screen, ergonomics, logitech harmony, remote controls, sanyo eneloop batteries, universal remote control

Category: Gadgets