Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm very disappointed, and that is an understatement. I have many Logitech products around my house, mostly computer related, and i usually find them to be user friendly and correctly designed. If the Harmony didn't have a Logitech logo on it, I would say a third world country designed this remote, possibly during a coup de'tat. The Design: Like many Amazon reviewers rightfully said here, the remote does NOT sit comfortably on the cradle. It's more than a mere nuisance, since the cradle is also the charger and if it doesn't sit precisely on it, and we're talking microns here, it will not charge itself. I said microns, and I'm not exaggerating - you can tap the table next to the remote and it will set it off charging. It's that delicate. The remote beeps when it recognizes a charger, but funnily, it also beeps when it recognizes someone picked it up, so the result is that you can't tell which sounded when. You would think the human race would know how to create charger cradles by now. The Color LCD: Call me a weirdo, but why does a Universal Remote Control have to be in color? It has to have an LCD screen with lights, ok, but why color? What good does it do to see a hamburger with fries, pixelated and visually unpleasant, as the background of a black and white text that says "Watch a DVD". The resolution is such that even the black and white text is very pixelated. You get a feeling that the screen is there simply because some product designer said "Hey lets make that LCD in color, we can charge 100 bucks more". The Button Setup: Some good, some bad. The Volume control and channels are not illuminated enough, as you would expect of such important buttons. The VCR/DVD controls are all positioned in a rectangle, not surrounding the Play button, so if you like how most remote controls are built, you won't like this one. The ON/OFF buttons, as well as the Help and Activities buttons are located on the top of the remote, and that's a good thing, since you won't be needing any of those, they are totally useless - read the next part to see why. The Activities: You would assume that a universal remote lets you pick a device and control it, as if you're holding the original remote in your hand. Well, Logitech thought it would be nice if you pick an Activity, such as "Watch a DVD", "Listen to Music", "Watch Tivo" and so forth, and the remote will decide which devices to turn on or off, based on prior configuration. This leads to two major drawbacks - the first is that you have to spend hours getting to know the ugly web based textual interface that the folks at Logitech implemented in order to design those activities. Nothing makes sense there, the most relevant options are hidden behind several screens and mouse clicks (such as the option to NOT turn off any unused device when you pick an activity). The second drawback, is that the device has to remember which device is in which state, so if you accidentally clicked the on/off button or an activity button while the remote was not directed at the device, you go out of sync. The next time you will try to turn the TV off, the remote will think it is already off. There is, however, an option to control the DEVICES in your household but since the remote is so ACTIVITIES oriented, I found it hard to operate the remote this way. It requires too many button clicks and too many menus to choose from. I think the breaking point for me was when I clicked "Watch PVR" and the remote turned off the PVR (cable box, which should be always on), turned on the TV, and refused to let me rectify the situation by turning the PVR on again. The Web Site: On your way to configure this device you will be taken through a user registration form in which you will have to put your personal details (including a MANDATORY SURVEY, where did you buy the device, how did you hear about it, etc etc). Then it's the wizards part. I had the assumption that wizards, such as those you use in windows when you try to add a new device, were built in order to make our lives easier. Logitech takes this assumption and throws it out the window. Nothing is short and to the point here, everything is question and answer oriented, so if your system does not adhere to the most basic configuration, you are in trouble. For example, lets say you have a Tivo connected to your computer. Since Logitech does not have this configuration, and you will have to specify a TV that is connected to this Tivo, you have no easy way of adding the activity "Watch Tivo". In Short: If you are a gadget guru with nerves of steel and the most basic devices configuration, then go ahead, buy this remote. Otherwise, keep looking, this remote, definitely, is not it.