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Logitech Harmony Universal Remote 650 $79.20 Delivered @ Amazon AU

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Logitech Harmony Universal Remote 650 $79.20 Delivered @ Amazon AUAffiliate
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opt on 31/05/2021 - 00:17 amazon.com.au (1263 clicks)
Last edited 31/05/2021 - 01:45 by 1 other user
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This may not seem like a great price compared to some of the deals from a few years ago. But I believe this is the lowest it has been since prices shot up back in April after Logitech officially discontinued the Harmoney line.
IMHO not a bad price for anyone who wants to grab one before they disappear forever. I bought one because my trusty old Harmony 600, which I got around 10 years ago is starting to show signs of wear.
Harmony remotes are arguably the best universal remotes out there, supports over 270,000 devices from 6,000 manufacturers.

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Electrical & Electronics Logitech Remote Control Universal Remote

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  • videoman on 31/05/2021 - 00:24
    +7

    I didn't know they still sell these. I got mine for $30 almost 10 years ago from one of these deals- https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/66417

    • opt on 31/05/2021 - 00:30

      Yep, they used to be a lot cheaper. If I'm not mistaken, I got my 600 for under $50 in 2011. It still works great. I've suggested these to many family members and friends; they all love them. Shame to see them go. Anyhow, as I've said, the prices went up to between $100 ~ $120 soon after the announcement, which is why I thought of posting this because they won't be around for long, chances are they will sell out before the prices drop any further.

    • No Child Support on 31/05/2021 - 15:49

      Lol got it from the same deal and used daily ever since

  • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 00:53

    Thanks mate. I had been meaning to buy a Harmony elite for a while, and had been waiting for them to drop to a reasonable price again. Of course since they killed of the harmony remote line, that wasnt going to happen again, so i missed out. This will do quite nicely though, and at a price i can live with.
    Hoping it plays nicely with my Nvidia Shield 2017, because my remote for that has been playing up badly lately (drains batteries in a few days). Nvidia were nice enough to send out a new remote to me outside of warranty, and that one does the same thing, so god knows whats causing it. There are many reports on forums of the same issue unfortunately.

    • opt on 31/05/2021 - 01:13
      +2

      You may want to do some research before buying a Harmony 650 for an nvidia shield because the Harmony site doesn't list 650 or any of the IR based remotes supporting the nVidia shield (only Harmony hub-based remotes are supported ). And a quick google search reveals that Shield 2017 doesn't have an IR receiver. However, some people have managed to get it working via HDMI CEC remote control pass-through, most new TVs support CEC controls but check your TV to make sure.

      • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 10:11

        Might look in to a FLIRC USB IR receiver on the shield to see how well that will work. Problem with CEC pass through is the tv doesnt necessarily pass through every function. Mine doesnt pass through the Home button which is annoying. Another issue is when holding the down arrow to scroll, the TV remote has a delay of about 1s between scrolling each line, while the shield remote scrolls through them fast.

        Either way though, i have been wanting a harmony regardless, so all good.
        Thanks mate :)

        • kirt on 31/05/2021 - 10:35
          +3

          I have a FLIRC and it's excellent, however I also use this $5 IR receiver on one of my Shields with a Harmony, and it works well too:

          https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32829833568.html

          Add it as a Media Center PC -> Chinavasion -> CVSB-983 in the Harmony software.

          • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 10:54

            @kirt: Thanks mate, So many options here. I dont believe i put up with Nvidias crap remote for so long :)

    • LoungeLizard on 31/05/2021 - 01:35
      +1

      Shield works pretty well with HDMI CEC, even my old el-cheapo Dick Smith TV has it. It's a little slower/laggy but so much easier than faffing around with setting up the logitech (the software is awful) or 2 remotes

      • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 10:26
        +1

        Just pasting this from my above comment:
        Problem with CEC pass through is the tv doesnt necessarily pass through every function. Mine doesnt pass through the Home button which is annoying. Another issue is when holding the down arrow to scroll, the TV remote has a delay of about 1s between scrolling each line, while the shield remote scrolls through them fast.

    • xenoic on 31/05/2021 - 08:30
      +1

      Just download the Nvidia Shied app. It’s so much better than the actual remote and I’ve been using it all the time for both of my shields

    • pennypacker on 31/05/2021 - 09:48
      +1

      I had exactly the same problem with my 2017 Shield remote! Bought a new button cell and it must have gone dead flat in a week or two.

      Do yourself a favour and buy a WeChip G20 remote for ~$20 delivered..

      • uses 2 X AAA batteries
      • USB receiver - can use on Shield, Android, PC, Mac etc
      • air mouse
      • voice control
      • 2.4GHz remote, so no line of sight required (as with IR)
      • etc…

      Absolutely brilliant for the Shield, wish I had one from the start. Has all the buttons you need for a Shield remote replacement, none you don't.

      Edit: check other listing for G20 remote, because the one I bought came from OS, but I ordered other things at the same time and got free delivery. There's another local listing for $19.99 delivered for example.

      • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 10:12
        +1

        Cool, will check this one out too. Thanks for the recommendation.

        Edit: Just grabbed one anyway. At least I will have one while i decide whether to screw around with a IR Receiver and the Harmony remote. This looks like it will be useful to have as a backup remote regardless. I probably should have bought one months ago instead of suffering with the shitty Nvidia remote :)

      • DanielP2 on 03/06/2021 - 14:17
        +1

        Hey mate, Just an update. I bought the local one, and it arrived today. It kicks ass. works easilly as well as the shield remote did when it worked properly, feels nicer to hold, plus has all the extra buttons which all seem useful. Dont think ill use the air mouse function, but its not like it hurts to have it there.
        One other massive plus. On both shield remotes i owned, voice commands never worked. I just figured google assistant couldnt understand me, or i had something set up wrong. Well it works perfectly on this, not that im likely to use it. But it just goes to show how much Nvidia failed when it came to the 2017 shield remote.
        Thanks for the recommendation!

        • pennypacker on 08/06/2021 - 11:41

          Nice one! Glad you enjoy it. Can't go wrong for a twenty.

  • chrism238 on 31/05/2021 - 06:02

    (oops, my comment covered in the summary)

  • Aglet on 31/05/2021 - 06:59

    Good deal, opt, thanks. They were a great little remote and the software for programming was quite simple and mostly intuitive. The reason I replaced a Harmony was when the buttons became old and often required multiple presses to activate a command.

    I wonder what an alternative to Harmony is that is as good (or maybe even better). I hate multiple remotes.

    • Martyroz on 31/05/2021 - 08:23
      +1

      Harmony Elite user here.

      I've never enjoyed programming or using this remote. The software is clunky and illogical. For example; you can only have one 'Activity' on at any time. Why can't I toggle power for multiple activities and then select which one I want to control? this is the whole reason I bought this remote; for multi-room use. Updating the activities is also a total pain in the ass and straight from the 80's; the remote wants to Sync with every change you make - rather than letting you make a host of changes and then Sync. Synching is very slow; I can download a HD movie faster than this syncs.

      On top of all that, the touchscreen is now faulty at the 3y 4m ownership mark. I need to soft reset the remote prior to every use because the touch screen has frozen.

      These days I prefer to use my 12 year old, $29 Harmony 350 as a daily driver, because it has no screens and the buttons still work. It's way faster to control multiple devices, albeit only 4, because you aren't waiting for a laggy touchscreen to update.

      Time again? I would buy as many H350 as I need to power my devices. They are reliable after more than a decade. You can also power on and control multiple activities this way! This is a serious benefit that the Elite will never have.

      Where does this H650 stand in the line-up? well it doesn't have a touch screen, so you shouldn't expect that to fail after 3.5 years. There is a screen though, so I guess it remains to be seen. Worst case scenario, the screen dies but the buttons still work.

      • opt on 31/05/2021 - 08:55
        +1

        I’d say it’s a H350 with a tiny colour screen.
        Despite being non touch and small, IMO that screen is still quite useful to have, because you can make it show the current activity/device and all the functions supported by each activity/device. Which means you don’t need to remember all the physical key mappings nor need to map every single feature to a button (because you can always access the unmapped features through the screen). Also handy when controlling devices without an on screen display.

      • Srey on 31/05/2021 - 11:32
        +1

        I also use an Elite as my remote, upgraded to it from a 650 because I wanted something that would talk direct with my bluetooth based devices, do away with my IR extender/receivers and let me hook my google home into my AV setup.

        I got mine second hand and at a reasonable price, but if I'd paid the full $400 for it I'd be pissed. There's a reasonable lag on inputs for a lot of devices, and the damn touchscreen has no place on a remote, I regularly bump the damn screen when I reach for the remote or just move my arm over the arm of the couch and find that it changes activities or kicks me out of the current video I'm watching into a home screen etc.

        For all the missing functionality, the 650 was a better remote in some ways, primarily ergonomics. Importantly, the screen on the 650 isn't touch, it's just a display, you have 4 physical buttons around it to activate the functions show on the screen.

        If it wasn't for the fact that it's not backlit, I'd ditch the elite and get the companion or whatever it's called - the one that works with the hub but has no screen.

        • Aglet on 01/06/2021 - 02:21

          Yep your experience is why I'd never want a touchscreen if there was an alternative. When fumbling around for a remote while watching telly in the evening I want BUTTONS!

  • sixfthick on 31/05/2021 - 08:00

    My Harmony 650 is still going strong, but I had to buy a spare just in case. 😄

  • Ben Kenobi on 31/05/2021 - 08:06

    You have to program them through the website don't you? How will that work if they have dropped support…site will disappear? Is there any way to program them offline?

    • chairman miow on 31/05/2021 - 08:26

      Nah, there's local software to program them

      • Ben Kenobi on 31/05/2021 - 09:21

        Logitech told me I have to use their website (the app connects to the site as I recall)…have they brought out local, offline solution? I've had one of these for several years so maybe things have changed?

        • ESEMCE on 31/05/2021 - 09:33

          The software has been around for as long as I recall.
          And I've owned a Harmony for at least 10 years now.

          • Ben Kenobi on 31/05/2021 - 12:42

            @ESEMCE: As Opt said, the s\w needs to connect to Logitech site to complete the programming of the remote (logitech confirmed this to me several years ago). Every now and then a remote will loose it's program and needs to be reset so it is important to have the capability to reprogram them…a true stand alone solution would be preferable.

        • opt on 31/05/2021 - 11:35
          +2

          Haven’t used their desktop app in a while, but from what I recall even that needs to connect to Harmony servers to work. But I don’t think it'll be a problem for few more years, because Logitech has said they will continue to support the platform, and given how long these remotes have worked with very little software updates from Logitech (for example the latest Windows installer is from 2017) chances are they will continue to work for at least 5 more years. The only thing Logitech has to do is keep the servers online, which IMHO is fairly trivial thing for them to do.

          • Ben Kenobi on 31/05/2021 - 12:39

            @opt: Hopefully they will release a true stand alone app to program them.

  • g12345567 on 31/05/2021 - 08:12
    +1

    I though these were one of Logitechs best sellers. Shame these are being discontinued as they are excellent universal remotes. What alternative remote would people be using instead once these are no longer available for purchase?

    • ESEMCE on 31/05/2021 - 09:34

      I similarly cannot understand this business decision.
      There is no competition that I'm aware of and existing users are highly likely to replace a broken remote with a Harmony if only to save reprogramming.
      It's not like they'd even need to redesign them!

      • whatgift on 31/05/2021 - 17:55

        There's just not a lot of market in them, and it would cost them money to maintain warranties and support etc.

        • ESEMCE on 01/06/2021 - 07:58

          Their words say it's 6% of their Keyboard business…
          As probably the largest keyboard manufacturer in the world, that's a fairly sizeable chunk of change.
          It's peanuts for them, but not so small that they're not making money on them.

          • whatgift on 01/06/2021 - 09:48

            @ESEMCE: Sales are only part of the equation - in the case of the harmony there is a lot of server and software maintenance that comes with it, unlike keyboards which require little support after sale.

            • ESEMCE on 01/06/2021 - 10:43
              +1

              @whatgift: I can't imagine that the server cost would be large, it's not like the traffic is heavy on data.
              Their website would be more intensive than the requests for data the few times people refresh their remotes.
              And they're keeping the servers up without selling anything (for an undefined period).
              Logitech was always an unusual fit for Harmony and this final business decision shows.

        • g12345567 on 01/06/2021 - 08:25

          What. You mean everybody still prefers to use the original remotes for each device connected to there setup than a more convenient all in one solution?

          • whatgift on 01/06/2021 - 09:46
            +1

            @g12345567: Having a lot of devices connected to a tv is not as much a thing any more, and people are using their TVs inbuilt apps for most of their watching. CEC covers the gap for only using one or two devices for most people’s needs.

            Don’t get me wrong, I rely heavily on harmony remotes myself, but I’m not a regular user in terms of technology, and realise I’m in a niche market.

  • DrRetail on 31/05/2021 - 08:22

    This is a good remote but I have been through 3 over about 10 year as as the buttons fail. Anyone have tips on how to fix faulty buttons?

    • dalepop on 31/05/2021 - 08:53

      Had mine for about 7 years, a couple buttons have failed, but I just remap them to a different button.

    • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 10:23

      I havent got one yet, so Im not sure about this, but on other remotes with similar issues I have cleaned the circuit board contacts under the button pad. I would google this first though to see if it is even possible/easy to do with the Harmony remotes.

      • Shonky on 31/05/2021 - 10:30
        +2

        Soft buttons on the screen stopped working on both my 650s. Cleaning helped a little with some but not all of them.

        Used this repair kit and they work great again. Not too hard for a DIYer.
        https://p1repair.com/logitech-harmony-650-button-repair.html

        • DanielP2 on 31/05/2021 - 10:32

          Tempted to buy one now for 5 years time when mine fail :)

    • Thrifty McGifty on 31/05/2021 - 12:25

      I've been using my two for (checks email receipts) 9 years? Take it apart, squirt the circuit board and rubber pad with Isocol, then scrub it with an old tooth brush. Leave it to dry before reassembly.

      If you still have problems with a button, you have two options:
      1. Draw on the rubber button pad with a lead pencil. This will improve it, but not fix it forever.
      2. Get some copper tape from AliExpress, cut/hole punch a tiny piece, stick it on the rubber pad. You'll probably need tweezers as the tiny tape pieces stick to your fingers.

      When you push the rubber button, the conductor on the rubber pad pushes on the PCB and closes the circuit. Either there's gunk insulating and stopping the circuit from closing, or the rubber pad is no longer conductive enough.

  • Guybrush- Threepwood on 31/05/2021 - 08:39

    I got one of these a few years ago but it wouldn't pick up many of the crucial functions of my Foxtel box (IQ3 at the time) which made it redundant.

    • Jace81 on 02/06/2021 - 03:28
      +1

      You can use the devices original remote to send it’s signal to the harmony remotes.

  • Orrelljet on 31/05/2021 - 09:09

    Just bought one on ebay, as I had a voucher to use, and have asked ebay to credit the difference :-) My lounge room 525 is still going strong but my daughter managed to kill her 600.

  • stevem42 on 31/05/2021 - 11:09

    I replaced my 650 about a year or so ago.. with another 650

    Perfect remote for my use. Don't know if I should buy another one as a backup

  • juzdownunder on 31/05/2021 - 12:10

    I'm with all y'all, been using Harmony remotes for so long now, since the early days of Windows Media Centre on Windows XP. I've had a few along the way but settled on the 650 ages ago. Only recently bought another after the kids dropped ours and the screen went completely skewiff.

    Are there alternatives? So handy to have 1 button that can switch on the TV, Fetch Box & Amp and set all the right inputs. Then another single button to switch over to the HTPC to watch some 4K content in VLC the Fetch can't decode. And yet another button to switch over to the Xbox One for some gaming.

  • megawatt101 on 31/05/2021 - 12:11

    Thank you for this. Have been waiting for months to replace my 600 which is suffering from button failure. Still, 10yrs + at 4 hrs per day is fairly good value for $30 😝👍

  • ESEMCE on 31/05/2021 - 12:40

    These use AA Batteries? How long do they last?

    I have a Harmony 525 in storage that runs off 4xAAA, but it chewed through Eneloops so quickly that I gave up and bought a Harmony One.
    I should probably hack up a lithium battery pack for the remote I already own.

    EDIT: Searching reveals pretty awful battery life

    The AA batteries in the Logitech Harmony 650 remote last only between 7 to 10 days. Battery life is relatively low compared to other remotes and can vary depending on a few factors such as how many devices it is connected to.

    • opt on 31/05/2021 - 14:48

      My Harmony 600, which appears to be identical to the 650 (except mine has a monochrome screen) lasts around a year with a pair of regular AA batteries.

      • Nom on 31/05/2021 - 15:01

        I have a Harmony 525 in storage that runs off 4xAAA, but it chewed through Eneloops so quickly

        @ESEMCE I use two 525 remotes in my household, and both last for months on a set of Eneloops. Battery life is outstanding.

        • ESEMCE on 31/05/2021 - 15:29

          I'm definitely double checking this then.
          I have a set of ALDI LSD rechargeables that are only a few months old.
          I seem to recall my 525 would light up of its own accord. Maybe this is something that can be turned off, or sensitivity turned down.

          • Nom on 31/05/2021 - 15:37
            +1

            @ESEMCE: Yeah there's a thread about it here - https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1001389
            Turns out there is motion and movement detection in the remote so it lights up when it thinks you're nearby !

            • ESEMCE on 31/05/2021 - 16:07

              @Nom: Hmmm, I may need to do this surgery (from that thread).
              Unless there is a software toggle.

              My 525 kept lighting up constantly and draining the batteries, so I took it apart and "fixed it" :)

              Inside the remote is a small metal cylinder shaped thingy with 2 wires going in either end and plugged with plastic. There are 2 tiny ball bearings inside, you can hear them if you shake it. I unplugged the wire/plastic bit from one end of the cylinder and the bearings fell out – fixed.

              • Nom on 31/05/2021 - 22:14

                @ESEMCE: I'm pretty sure you can turn it off, I think I saw a setting for "presence detection" or something but I haven't been into the desktop app in a long time so I might be imagining it 🤷🏼‍♂️

                Mine stay on the coffee tables so I haven't had that issue, they only light up when I'm using them…

      • ESEMCE on 31/05/2021 - 15:09

        Wow,
        I've seen up to about a month from search results, but a year is unbelievably impressive!
        Are you sure, and if so, surely it never gets used?
        My 525 with Blue backlit monochrome screen chewed through batteries once every fortnight. (4xAAA may not be directly equivalent to 2xAA, but can't be too far off)

        • opt on 31/05/2021 - 16:10

          Yep, pretty sure I last changed my batteries during the strict lockdown last year. But then again I probably don’t use it as much as some. While I use it every day, its mainly used to turn on/off the TV and occasionally to control my Xbox when watching blurays, or HDR content, but most of the time I watch stuff on my HTPC and use a mouse with a keyboard, so the remote only gets few button presses most days.

  • bleeder on 01/06/2021 - 10:52

    What's the advantage of having one of these. These days I pretty much chromecast everything, so use my phone of the chromecast remote to control, trying to work out if this would be of any benefit. I've wanted one of these for about 15 years, but I think I'm too late, not much use for it anyway, would have been great when I wanted to control TV, DVD player, stereo with one remote.

    • ESEMCE on 01/06/2021 - 12:43
      +1

      For your use case, probably nothing.

      For my use case, I need to control TV and Projector, Receiver, Android TV, FireTV, xbox, HTPC and Chromecast Audio.
      With one button click, the Harmony Remote can turn on my TV, and switch input on the TV (if necessary) ,Turn on my Receiver, switch the receiver to the correct input (if necessary), and turn on the device I want to use.
      If I want to change from watching on my TV to the projector, same thing, one button click changes all the settings on all the devices including turning off the TV and any device not required).

    • opt on 01/06/2021 - 15:37
      +1

      In addition to all the AV equipment, you can also control other home appliances like ACs, Heaters, Fans and whatever else you have in your home that has an IR remote.

    • bleeder on 01/06/2021 - 16:14

      thanks guys, yeah looks like no good for my use case, would have been great 10 years ago

  • g12345567 on 01/06/2021 - 16:37

    Purchased another Harmony 650 as a spare for $75.25 pricematched at Officeworks. Since these have been discontinued and currently the best price at the moment.

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