Harmony 880 question

[TPK]

Well, I took the plunge and purchased a harmony 880 remote (I paid a 'reasonable' 180 dollars for it with shipping, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the box on my doorstep less than 24 hours after the order, even though I went with the ground shipping)..

Anyhow, I have a question about the LCD display...   Basically I think the LCD display looks 'wierd' on my remote, and I want to know if this is normal, or if I have a defective harmony....   The wierdness is not enough to make me want to not have the remote, but if the remote is defective and I can replace it with one that doesnt look like that then it is worth my time to get an RMA and send it in and have it replaced...

I do realise that the color LCD display is at a quite low resolution..   But the display is obscured by what almost looks like horizontal 'banding'...  It sorta looks like what happens if you print a color picture in draft mode on your ink-jet printer, and every other quarter-inch horizontal band is a bit off-color than the other bands...

Its enogh to make the text on the display slightly more difficult to read (but not impossible to read), and is kind of annoying (but not so much of an annoyance that I want to get a different remote)...

Otherwise, the remote works perfectly and I do enjoy using it very much (although I do agree with most people in that the buttons are way too small and spaced too closely together, although I imagine that this is something I can get used to in time)...

So, since I havent even seen a harmony 880 remote besides this one, I want to know if this is 'normal' for a harmony 880, or if I have a strangely defective one, and I should go through the process of returning it and getting a new one...

Thanx for you help..

TPK

[murdoc]

Well if yours is defective so is mine.  I have the exact same "banding" you described.  Other than that, I've only had 1 problem with my remote.  Once I picked it up off the charging base and the screen was frozen.  The remote still worked, but the screen was stuck.  I ended up removing the battery for a few minutes and reloaded the settings in.  I must say I love this remote.

[TPK]

Well if yours is defective so is mine.  I have the exact same "banding" you described.  Other than that, I've only had 1 problem with my remote.  Once I picked it up off the charging base and the screen was frozen.  The remote still worked, but the screen was stuck.  I ended up removing the battery for a few minutes and reloaded the settings in.  I must say I love this remote.

Okay, thats what I wanted to hear...

So it seems its not a 'defective' remote, although my guess is that the LCD they are using is on the cheap-side...  Still, getting a color LCD in a device such as a remote is a lot to ask for, so I won't complain (much)..

Yes, I do love the remote too, although it does feel a bit cheap, so I wonder what the logevity of it is...   I bet it wont last more than 18 months with the way I use things around here, but we will see....   My MX-1000 was starting to die on me so I guess it was time for a new remote...

It seems that most things electronic are built cheaply these days, because they know that you will just buy another one down the line...  Why pour money into the quality of a thing when you can pour it into features to get people to buy it, and then force them to buy it again when it breaks...  heh...

[murdoc]

Okay, thats what I wanted to hear...

So it seems its not a 'defective' remote, although my guess is that the LCD they are using is on the cheap-side...  Still, getting a color LCD in a device such as a remote is a lot to ask for, so I won't complain (much)..

Yes, I do love the remote too, although it does feel a bit cheap, so I wonder what the logevity of it is...   I bet it wont last more than 18 months with the way I use things around here, but we will see....   My MX-1000 was starting to die on me so I guess it was time for a new remote...

It seems that most things electronic are built cheaply these days, because they know that you will just buy another one down the line...  Why pour money into the quality of a thing when you can pour it into features to get people to buy it, and then force them to buy it again when it breaks...  heh...

Agreed.  Actually now that you mentioned it, I noticed some ghosting on my LCD last night.  When the remote is in the charging base it does a slideshow.  I'm starting to see some burn-in from those images it looks like.  I just checked Harmony's website, and you can't disable this feature. :bang:

[basshive]

I am taking my 880 in to BB this weekend to be replaced. I will say this is hands down my fave remote. Previous to this I had never gotten 1 remote that could/would truely control every device for me. The 880 does it all flawlessly, so well that even my in-laws can come babysit and are not stuck watching 1 channel


THAT said, it is built cheaply. I have not noticed any real problems with the display, seems ok to me. There are alot of quirks with the charging. Over time it would not do its thing when put in the charging cradle, I would have to move the remote around to get it to beep and indicate a charge.  Now more often then not, when I pick it up, the movement sensor no longer works and I have to hit a button like Activities, to get the display to come on.  That is what really irkes me and my wife.

I am glad I purchased the 2 year warrenty and I am happy to take it back for a new one. Will also be nice to be able to use the same web settings to bring the new one online

[TPK]

YA, putting the remote in the cradle is a bit touchy.....

I don't seem to have any problems with the motion sensor on mine...

Can you please let me know if the new one has the same type of 'banding' on the display..  I may decide to have mine replaced if this isnt a normal 'feature' of the remote (I think I have a 90 day return policy from where I bought it)...

Another thing that sort of irks me is that I do not have any control over the order of the custom buttons (unless I am missing someting)...  No matter what I do, the remote seems to want to group them by device type and then it alphabatizes them (yuck!)...   Kind of silly if you ask me....  Why not just let us assign to the buttons on the pages so we can logically group the buttons the way we want to...

I am taking my 880 in to BB this weekend to be replaced. I will say this is hands down my fave remote. Previous to this I had never gotten 1 remote that could/would truely control every device for me. The 880 does it all flawlessly, so well that even my in-laws can come babysit and are not stuck watching 1 channel


THAT said, it is built cheaply. I have not noticed any real problems with the display, seems ok to me. There are alot of quirks with the charging. Over time it would not do its thing when put in the charging cradle, I would have to move the remote around to get it to beep and indicate a charge.  Now more often then not, when I pick it up, the movement sensor no longer works and I have to hit a button like Activities, to get the display to come on.  That is what really irkes me and my wife.

I am glad I purchased the 2 year warrenty and I am happy to take it back for a new one. Will also be nice to be able to use the same web settings to bring the new one online

[Paul S.]

THAT said, it is built cheaply. I have not noticed any real problems with the display, seems ok to me. There are alot of quirks with the charging. Over time it would not do its thing when put in the charging cradle, I would have to move the remote around to get it to beep and indicate a charge.  Now more often then not, when I pick it up, the movement sensor no longer works and I have to hit a button like Activities, to get the display to come on.  That is what really irkes me and my wife.

)

x2 on the charging!