[Review] Logitech Harmony 1000

Logitech Harmony 1000 - Advanced Universal Remote

Around Last year I was looking to upgrade my home entertainment center with a controller that would control virtually everything yet remain small and sleek at the same time - I decided to purchase the Harmony 1000 from Logitech.  Although it's an older version of the newer Harmony 1100, I decided to buy it due to it's steel brushed finish look - I may still purchase the Harmony 1100 later.

It has been sitting in my closet for the past year and I finally decided to break it out.  Below is my initial thoughts based on a few weeks of using it.

The good: This controller is flat and tablet-like does not take up too much table space.  It includes a rechargeable battery and a docking station which is great. It has both a color touch-screen as well as analog buttons which are very responsive.  The controller is Web-programmable and compatible with Windows and works with many different appliances.  It simply just looks good!

The bad: The battery life, unless you charge it all the time, is not that great.  You cannot customize the buttons or the screen layouts like some other remotes I have seen with similar designs.  Since it was sitting in my closet (and this is a complaint I have read about many Logitech accessories) the rubber became a sticky mess - I had to use a degreaser to remove the rubber coating since it could not be restored - a solution I read about on the web from others who reported similar issues.

The bottom line: For a entry level user like myself, this controller has everything I need.  The sticky rubber coating was just a minor speed bump that I had to deal with, that didn't really impact the functionality of the controller.  I am now programming to control everything including my lights and fan and it is proving to be very reliable.  If you are an advanced user looking for something more customization, this might not be the controller for you. For me it's great and I give it a thumbs up.

I hope to post a more detailed review as I use it more, so keep checking back for updates!

Purchased from Amazon for $185.00 USD