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The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:
User reviews for the Harmony 768 / H768 / SST-768 from Logitech. |
| Ratings | Reviews | MSRP (USD) |
Average: 4.27/5.00 Median: 5.00/5.00 | 32 | $299 |
Available in three stylish colors, the H768 is the ultimate Harmony remote. Featuring a large number of hard buttons, the compact SST-768 makes no compromises with its blend of powerful programming features and ease-of-use.
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Navigation: [ < Previous|Next > ] Now viewing user reviews page 3 of 5 for the Harmony 768 / H768 / SST-768 remote.
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Written by Glen T from Vancouver, BC. The reviewer has used this remote control for 1-3 months. |
Review 18 made on Sunday October 26, 2003 at 5:03 PM. |
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Weaknesses: |
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Review: | My impressions of the SST-768 in no particular order:
I judged the display resolution to be too course and it consequently did not show enough characters for the built-in TV listings guide to make it useful. This is especially true with satellite systems, where the first four characters (three digits plus a space) are used up by channel numbers. The remaining characters are just too few to get much information on what's on a given channel. Also, when you have a large number of stations spread over an even larger number of slots (200 channels spread over 0 to 950) scrolling just becomes way too tedious to browse what's on the guide.
As it turned out for me, there is only enough memory in the 768 to store a couple of days of satellite programming (200 channels +-). I was pretty disappointed by this. I just couldn't see myself logging on the website every couple of days to download fresh guide information. It would have been different if I could have downloaded two weeks of programming. In any case, I found the onboard guide to be redundant when compared to the ExpressVu satellite guide.
Programming the 768 is surprisingly slow, even with a 2mbit++ modem. I had some initial problems trying to program the remote. The interface kept telling me that my programming choices were too large to fit into memory, but I had to do trial and error tests to see how many days would fit. Also, the intial programming attempts failed with an error "You are trying to load programming for a different model remote than the one you have attached to your computer..." I didn't know how to fix this, so ended up reloading the firmware, which seemed to fix the problem after I rebooted the remote. The small display clips entries rather than wraps them. The web-based customization interface that Harmony provides for you to customize your remote allows you to give activities names that are longer than can be displayed on the 768 display. The first and last characters of long names were clipped, which made them hard to read. This was a minor annoyance - I shortened the names.
I had programmed some of the keys to access the ExpressVu guide, but this was awkward to use without dedicated hard keys, such as Guide, Info, and navigation buttons. You have to remember which of the nine keys at the top of the remote do what. On the other hand, the scroll/command access to the ExpressVU guide in control mode requires several steps to access and you have to look at the remote while you are doing it.
Out of the box, the remote worked pretty well with the configuration that I had previously set up on the Harmony website. However, the Sony DAV S500 configuration was not correct, and the system did not respond properly to activity changes, and got left in the wrong modes. It would have required reprogramming, but I did not pursue this because I decided to return the remote (for other reasons).
I found the scroll wheel to be quite awkward. The click is a little too stiff, and the wheel is a little too small and often turns while you are trying to click, and you end up with the wrong menu item. This is especially annoying in activity mode, when your click launches a set of macros that you have to wait through.
Overall, the 768 had the look and feel of something that is going to be fairly delicate. The display and/or scroll wheel were already giving problems on mine out of the box. I had strong concerns that the unit would not survive more than one or two falls off the couch onto the hardwood floor. The scroll wheel switch is exposed and will collect dust and debris over time. The battery door looks pretty delicate. One of my previous OEM cable box remotes (now retired) ended up with duct tape on it because a similar little plastic tang on the battery door broke off when the remote was dropped, and the weight of the batteries pushed the door far enough to break the tang.
I had concerns about the long-term viability of the web-based programming. If Harmony went out of business, there is no PC-based system that would allow me to store and update my configuration. I would have preferred a java-based client that would allow the existing configuration to be stored locally on my PC and run independently of the web-based tools.
I probably bought the wrong model. I should have given the newer 659 a try, which has more hard buttons and is probably easier for the wife and kids to pick up and use. I was attracted to the idea of having fewer buttons, but in the end, everyone is familiar with the existing remotes to some extent, and named buttons are an asset. I got a deal on the 768 because it was old stock (new ones have lighted keyboards), but even at the deal price, it seemed expensive for what I got.
The remote that I received from Harmony turned out to have a factory defect. The display occasionally went blank when you turned the scroll wheel. Once in a while, the display would lose contrast and 'gray-out'. I discovered that flexing the case a bit would make the display come back on. Harmony offered to replace the remote.
All things considered, I decided that this was not the remote for me. As a package, it doesn't appear to have the high-end quality of materials that I was expecting for a big ticket item. For example, the manual was done in-house on a b&w laser printer. The web-based programming interface is reasonably functional, but pretty crude. Overall, I was fairly disappointed. I really wanted to like this remote more than I did, given the reviews and user comments.
I ended up buying a One-for-All 8811 for about 1/10th of the cost of the 768. I built a JP1 programming interface for it for $5, and now I have a remote that I can program from my PC, and store my configuration locally. It is not perfect, but I can get it to do almost all of what I needed. I have a one-button on/off for the most popular activity (watching satellite TV with the Sony home theatre system providing sound). While the activity-based functions were a neat idea, I don't think that they are worth paying ten times the price to obtain. And if the kids drop this one (or sit on it, or feed it to the dog) I won't lose any sleep over it. |
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Navigation: [ < Previous|Next > ] Now viewing user reviews page 3 of 5 for the Harmony 768 / H768 / SST-768 remote.
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