Hardware Review Logitech Harmony Elite: Home Theater Forum Review (2 Viewers)

[Raul Marquez]

Raul-


I can feel your pain-! I have two Ultimates - one regular and one Home, and I love them both - when they work - which, honestly, is about 99.7% of the time. The 'downtime' usually revolves around an unsuccessful update - either thru a Harmony update, or a change I initiated. When those situations rear their ugly heads, you can usually get past them with some patience.


It sounds as if somehow the remote/hub is stuck in 'mid-sync'. I don't know if you're using the phone/tablet app or the MyHarmony app on a computer, but I would suggest using the MyHarmony desktop/laptop app, and perform the following:


Open the MyHarmony app and select your remote. Connect your remote to your computer using the USB cable, then select "Sync" in the upper right hand corner of the page. That should re-sync and update the remote & hub. Whatever you do - don't lose patience during the synchronization. It may creep up to 100% and may very well seem to stop somewhere near the 97, 98 or 99% mark and not appear to be moving forward; but continue to hang tight.


If this doesn't work, you may need to try this method for syncing... https://support.myharmony.com/en-us/harmony-fails-to-sync And don't underestimate the Community Forums or the Harmony Support pages to help you find answers.


Let me know what happens.


-Steve

Steve,


Thanks for the above. I tried them ALL without successs. Tried using the iPhone app and my Macbook and also my iMac. Sync happens fairly quick, less than 2 min, but after 100% and Finish the remote screen remains unchanged.


Raul

 

[nanook]

Raul-


In my experience, two minutes is waaaay too fast for a reset. Clearly something is amiss.


Try this little exercise. On either your Macbook or iMac, open MyHarmony. When it opens before logging-in, simultaneously press: Function - Option - F9, which will bring up this screen - BUT...

SCROLL DOWN THE LIST to: "Harmony Ultimate (4.x) " - and Update Firmware. I'm unclear if you should first Reset your remote using the "Harmony Ultimate", and then proceed to 'Harmony Ultimate (4.x)' for the Firmware Update. (The current firmware version is: 4.8.25, but unless you happen to know that, you won't be able to access it on your remote). My thought is, try updating the Firmware, and then once again try the reset as I first suggested.


Onward and upward.


-Steve

 

[Raul Marquez]

Steve,


FIXED IT!!!!!!


Following a last Sync, left everything plugged in (Remote USB to Mac) for 30 min, even though it said 100% on Sync.


My clue for doing this was your comment that it appeared to be stuck in mid-sync. That's why I decided to leave it plugged in....


BTW, I had done the "little exercise" you described above, but all options were greyed out, and a red message appeared in the bottom stating that my remote was not supported.


Whatever this problem is, it appears on the Logitech Forums since 2014. You'd think they would have done something to fix it by now. (Even something as simple as telling users to wait for a while even though 100% appears on the app)


Anyway, MY REMOTE IS WORKING AGAIN!!!


Thanks a lot.


Raul

 

[nanook]

Aha-!


That's what we like to hear-!!


"I'm not a computer programmer, nor do I play one on TV", but I've been told there are only so many truly 'great ones' to go around - which leaves the rest to take-up the slack. Whether that's what's at the root of the (sometimes) oddities which give many Harmony users splitting headaches - while leaving the rest of the us in blissful ignorance, I don't know. Or Logitech is unwilling to spend the $$'s necessary to provide the proper manpower to work thru what I'm certain is a difficult platform in which to navigate successfully, we can only guess. I would imagine in many cases, users (are understandably) not waiting long enough for changes/updates to fully integrate. Although, 30 minutes-??!!


I would'a never thought waiting that long could produce nirvana. (Definitely something to file-away for the future, just in case...)


I'm so glad this worked out for you, 'cause as for me, I really do use both of the Ultimate's to the hilt, as they work so well, and can just imagine how you must've felt with your hands essentially tied.


-Steve

 

[Ronald Epstein]

[COLOR= rgb(48, 48, 48)]Launch your Harmony Activities without even opening the app[/COLOR]

Now you can start playing music, turn on the TV, or change the volume, all without opening the Harmony app. We've introduced Harmony control in the Today view on iOS and in the Notification drawer and lock screen on Android.























iOS TODAY VIEW NOTIFICATIONS







To enable on iOS: swipe down for your Today view, select Edit and include Harmony. You can launch or stop Activities and send common commands such as volume up.

ANDROID NOTIFICATIONS

Harmony is included in your Android Notification drawer by default and appear on your lock screen when an Activity is running. Launch or stop Activities and send common commands such as volume up.



Want to remove Harmony from the Android Notification drawer? Launch the Harmony app, select MENU then App Settings.







Learn more about iOS and Android notifications.

[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 0)] [/COLOR]

 

[smithbrad]

Wow...I feel really behind the curve. I'm still using my Harmony SST-659 that I bought back in 2005 when i finished my dedicated theater room. The only qualms I've had has to do with continuous battery replacement. I just picked up the Harmony 700 for Christmas for $50 to remove that hassle.

 

[DaveF]

Does the Harmony configuration app still require Java on the Mac?

 

[nanook]

The MyHarmony app wants to use Silverlight. And although it's a nuisance with the number of updates it requires (probably around once every two or three weeks) I've had no issues with it.

 

[hearrean]

I have owned several different Harmony models over the past several years. My current remote is the Ultimate Home. However I have really never been happy with this remote as it simply isn't as responsive as the other models I've owned like the Harmony One. etc. It just seems to be very slow in getting everything set where it needs to be when I change activities, particularly powering up everything first thing every morning. And my set-up is fairly basic; I have (3) components (Dish Hopper 3, Samsung UBD-K8500 4K BD Player & Roku 4) with each going into their specific HDMI Input on my Pioneer AVR & then just (1) HDMI Out from that AVR to HDMI 1 on my new 4K LG TV. I have been reading up on the Elite trying to determine if it would be a more responsive remote, but can't seem to locate any review comparisons between the Ultimate Home & the Elite. I realize the biggest advantage (from what I read) of the Elite is the fact that it can control up to 15 devices. As you can see, I certainly don't need the Elite for that purpose, but for me, it would be worth the higher cost if the Elite is a more responsive remote & provides a more seamless operation than my Ultimate Home does. Can anyone provide any comparisons as it would sure help me with my decision to move forward or not?.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Ken,

I have both remotes -- at least I believe I do.

If I am correct, the UItimate came out two years before the Elite. So it is currently the second in the chain of remotes from top to bottom.

Really, both those remotes are basically the same. Just different positioning of the touch screen and buttons. From memory, they both have similar software. I prefer the Elite for the hard buttons that control my lighting.

I hate to tell you the Elite is better in responsiveness, as it has been awhile since I switched from one to the other. But personally, overall, I love the Elite.

If I may make a suggestion...

Buy it from Amazon. Use it for two weeks. If you don't like it or don't see an improvement you can return it.

 

[Raul Marquez]

Ron,

The only thing that would worry me at this stage is that the Elite was released around a year ago and maybe a new model could be released soon.

Raul

 

[Mike Frezon]

A new model might be able to open a jar of pickles!



I'm using a Harmony Ultimate...and loving it. But, yeah, I don't love the placement of the buttons above the touchscreen...but I ain't complainin' either. It's a first world problem, for sure.