Logitech Harmony 555 Universal Remote control LCD Remote Control

I have only recently starting trying to build my home theater system up to anything, so I have many different machines from many different manufactors. Two of my machines, in fact, are hand-me-downs from the mid 90's, so I was quite surprised when I found these machines listed as compatable products.

So excited about my new purchase, I ripped it open, plugged it into my computer, and answered all of the simple questions that it threw at me. It seemed like it would be perfect to eliminate our 4 remotes, so I was looking forward to showing it off. The interface used on my computer was simple - read the prompt, answer the questions. Very straight-forward, no huge terminology, fairly easy. I had to get up several times to find out the model numbers on my stereo components, but that was to be expected. The remote plugged very simply into my computer through the front USB port, with a USB cable that was included.

After going through all of the commands with it on the computer, the programming part was through. It needed to be tested, however, so I started the testing process, which is pretty much just doing everything that the remote's LCD screen tells you to do. I went through, step by step. It turned on my non-name brand television, it turned on the satellite tuner. It let me surf channels with ease, adjust volume, etc. Perfect for watching basic satellite TV. It was at this point that I noticed that the buttons do make sort of an annoying clicking sound when you push them, but at that time, I didn't mind too much.

Next test phase was to see if it would work with my DVD player and receiver. I hit "watch a dvd", which is supposed to turn onthe receiver, dvd player, turn the tv to the appropriate output, and then become a controller for the dvd to play, fast forward, etc.
Well, what it actually did was turn the TV to a completely different output, and it wouldn't turn on the receiver or the DVD player. Cue total confusion for the next 2 weeks.

I desperately tried and tried to reprogram the remote. I just couldn't understand why it would say that it was compatible with my components, and then not be able to work them exactly. I still to this day can't get the remote to put my television on that output. It will go to output 1 and 3, but not to 2. The only thing that I can think of is that it is just not comunicating with my television properly. I also can't get it to turn on the dvd player, nor the receiver. I even tried setting it up so the receiver stays on all the time, so it would only have to turn on the DVD player.....still won't work.

Now that I have reprogrammed it more than a few times, the remote now won't even turn on my television without some prompting. I have to ask it to turn on my tv, and it does nothing. So I hit the help button on the remote, and it says, "Now is it on?" no, it's still not on, so I hit "No". Then it sends another signal and says, "Now is the problem fixed?" finally, my television is on, so I hit "yes" and it's done. I have to go through that EVERY TIME to turn on my television, when it was working fine before. I can't figure that part out. It's almost as if the remote is just guessing at which signal to send, and not remembering which one worked. Perhaps my remote has a defect??? Or does it just not like my components?

After becomming utterly aggravated with that, I decided to try it out on the Xbox 360. That seems to work fine - which makes sense, because it was specifically designed for that. So, instead of 4 remotes, I have minimized it to 3. Not very exciting because I was really hoping to only have 1. So I still have to play with all sorts of buttons on different remotes to watch a dvd. Very sad.

Once I realized that this remote was not going to help out my multiple remote situation, the clicking sound of the buttons got REALLY annoying REALLY quickly. So, this remote has migrated to the closet, and all 4 of my other remotes have returned.

Perhaps this remote will work better when I get a new receiver and dvd player, which should be soon since these items were given to us and they are older components. We'll keep the remote, and hope that better uses for it will come along eventually. If it worked perfectly for all my components, maybe the clicking wouldn't be so obnoxious. I really like the way it looks and feels. I really wanted to use it. Honest. I wanted it to be the answer to all of my remote problems! Too bad that I'm not quite there yet.