Customer Reviews
Awesome. About the fears I had about Activity remotes 
2008-08-09
I just got the 520 a week ago. I'm a perfect example of someone that was skeptical about this kind of "activity based" universal remote. This is the type where you instruct the remote in 3-5 of the main activities that you use your system for ("Watch TV," "Watch DVD," "Listen to Airtunes," you can also make your own) -- and then the remote (1) remembers the full sequence of signals to your various remotes to get into that state with one button push and (2) allows you to customize the functions associated on the remote's buttons while you are in that state.
In short, this remote is about perfect and has made dealing with our entertainment system totally painless.
Here are the worries that I had had about buying one of these things and why I was wrong.
-- I read about "Getting out of sync." The problem is supposedly that at some point, when you have the remote take you to a new Activity, one of the multiple commands doesn't get recieved by the system, and therefore your remote winds up totally confused as to what state your devices are in, causing a scramble.
However: (1) this has not happened ONCE the entire 10 days I've had this thing. and if it did happen, you press this Help button that just asks you some questions about what state things are in, and gets it back in order. But the bottom line is, this is obviously RARE. Note that I'm careful of making sure the remote is pointed at the devices when I press stuff.
-- I was worried that this new style of remotes was "over engineered" and way more complicated than what I wanted, which was a simple, universal remote that I could flexibly control my stuff with.
It just isn't so. Once you get set up, the tool gives no sense of being more complex than you need. Once set up, it looks and works simpler than the average out-of-the-box remote that came with your dvd player. (Note: on this topic, I would say that I recommend the 520 model. Because I still think that the other Logitech model that has the color lcd screen would be a little bit much, with the cheesy icons of popcorn next to your DVD entry, etc. That's lame.)
-- I thought that, with all of the emphasis that the advertisements made about the LCD "soft buttons," that the tool wouldn't do a good job of also allowing you to change the function of the regular old plastic buttons on the remote.
Not true. When you have set up an activity (like Watch DVD), you can totally customize the function of almost EVERY plastic button AND pages and pages of customized "soft buttons" on the lcd screen -- and those functions can be related to ANY of the devices you have -- and a single button press can also be made to create a *sequence* of commands on one or multiple devices. You can REALLY get custom with it.
Note: the computer software where you configure the remote's functions is EXCELLENT. excellent interface, easily understood. (you would not want to be a true novice though. You want to be a little comfortable with using computer programs.) Setting up your remote's activities and functions, getting it just right, will probably take place over about 1-3 days, as you make changes, try the remote, realize some adjustments, etc.
My only complaints (and they are few -- I still give this 5 stars):
-- the "soft buttons" on the lcd screen are awesome, but I wish that it would allow more than 4 buttons at a time (if you program more, you have to page through the selection of "buttons" you've made. six would be better. maybe that color lcd on the other Logitech has six -- I'd prefer a non-color lcd screen that accommodates 6 buttons.
-- You should realize that it's not lightning fast when you press a button on the remote that's doing 3-5 commands. It can take 5-10 seconds.
-- the construction of the plastic buttons is extremely good looking BUT a couple of them (like the down direction button, and a few others) you need to press solidly. if you just press it enough to hear the button click, sometimes it's not hard enough to do the command. So you have to press firmly.
ALL IN ALL THE 520 IS EXCELLENT -- a classy and simple tool that really does allow you to store your pile of remotes somehwere, once you get your setup finalized (like I say, a few days of tweaking this and that.)
Great remote! 
2008-07-15
This has been a great remote so far. I have had it for over a year now. All you have to do is hook it up to your computer and tell it what device you want to add and it asks all the appropriate questions and sets it up for you. You can also do plenty of manual adjustments as well. I was deciding between this one and the more expensive color screen ones. In the end I think I went with the right one cuz after a week the color screen would've not excited me any more anyway. This control feels great in your hand too! Wish it had bluetooth, but not too many of even these types of remotes do.
Logitech Harmony 520 2008-05-15
I am very pleased with this product, it is so nice not to have 6/8 remotes on the table to change all of the devices.
Easy to Use but one bitch of a set-up 
2008-05-04
The remote is easy to use but very difficult to set up. Requires good computer skills and a bit of tenacity. Back light is necessary to see the small buttons and all-in-all the screen is difficult to read. If this had a favorite channel feature it would have far more value.
Cheapest feeling remote I've EVER owned 
2008-04-18
I'll keep this short and sweet. I have 2 points to make.
1. This remote feels cheap. When I press a button, the remote creaks as if it's about to break. Some of the buttons click when they are pressed, making it feel like a kids toy. Do not expect this remote to wow you AT ALL in it's craftsmanship.
2. I never have gotten it to work reliably. I have a Vizio TV and since buying the remote I've heard from users that Vizio TV programming takes some very touchy tweaking. Several users even said I would have to call Vizio and have them help me program it. The remote works on the concept of activities. These are essentially scripts: Do this, then do this then do this. Problem is, half the time, one of the steps doesn't execute perfectly and you're now left to either clean up the mess yourself or wade through the tedious help system on the remote.
My suggestions:
A. Buy a better, higher end model
B. Set it up and try it out immediately because you may end up sending it back.
C. You might consider skipping it altogether.
Logitech 520 2008-03-25
Control your entire Home Entertainment system with the touch of a single button! Simply select an activity (e.g., "Watch TV", "Play a videogame", etc.) and your Harmony remote will send the right commands so you don't have to juggle remotes or remember a sequence of buttons. The Internet-based setup is a breeze. An intuitive setup wizard will walk you through the steps to get the Harmony remote to work with your systems. The online database contains all the information of 2, 500 manufacturers and over 80, 000 models of components. The Harmony 520 makes Home Entertainment accessible to the whole family.
We love it! Near perfect. Works great with TiVo and ClearPlay too! 2008-03-17
After hubby gave the ultimatum out of sheer frustration of dealing with the confusing 4 remote set up we had, I finally went out and got the Logitech 520 remote. I've had my frustrations in the past with cheaper universal remotes - they could never do it all and we end up having to go back to the original remote. My concern with buying this remote was two items on our home a/v setup: Series 2 TiVo and our new ClearPlay DVD player.
Well, I got the Logitech 520 and we love it! The programming was easy, and even with extra tweaking to get it perfect, it was all so simple to do over the computer. The programming codes for TiVo and ClearPlay were included with only minimal work on my end. (I was so delighted to see ClearPlay codes! I didn't think it would be in Logitech's programming library.) Overall, I had the remote up and ready to go in less than an hour without having to hunt for codes or push buttons on the remote. (I did have to do some TiVo tweaks, but it wasn't hard.)
My first tests with the newly set up remote told me I was going to love this remote despite the tweaking that still needed to do. I click the "Watch TV" button, the TV goes on and switches to it's proper input, the audio center goes on and switches to it's proper input, and we were watching TV/Tivo - no problem! ) All with only 1 button push. I didn't have to do anything extra. (My TiVo is on all the time, so nothing is needed there.
Next, I clicked on the "Watch DVD" button. The TV switched inputs, the audio center switched inputs, the ClearPlay DVD player turned on. One button push and everything turned on and set to go! I'm seriously falling in love with this remote now.
I finally added "Play Game" menu to the remote as part of my tweaks, even if the our game system isn't remote controlled. It sets up the TV to play our game system without any fuss from us. Yay! More simplicity!
Press the power button and it all shuts off when I'm done. Ahh, so sweet.
When I demonstrated our new remote to hubby, he seriously cracked a smile on his face from ear to ear. "What a marriage saver!" he says. Oh, ok - rolleyes, but that was his stamp of approval on it.
Yes, we are sold on our new Logitech Harmony 520 remote and recommend it!
Pros:
- Easy setup. Programming via your own computer really makes doing this very, very easy. A real plus! No hunting for codes or pressing lots of buttons. Kudos to Logitech!
- Glow light.
- It does ClearPlay, TiVo, and whatever else you want to use it for.
- Buttons are easy to see, read, and understand.
- The remote is attractive.
Small Cons:
- Small learning curve to learn the remote and it's layout. (I'm not a 100% sold on the layout, but I know over time I'll get over it.)
- Until you have the remote tweaked out to the way you want it, you'll be going back and forth to your computer to program it. However, it's worth taking the time to tweak it the way you want it.
Is a pro? Or is it a Con?:
- Vibration sensitive glow light. After the remote hasn't been used in a while, a slight vibration will cause the glow light to come on. I'm guessing this makes the remote easy to find. I can see this as a bit of a battery waster if you don't plan to use the remote. I changed the glow light length time to 15 seconds to preserve the batteries.
Our A/V setup:
- Sony TV
- Sony Audio Control Center
- Scientific Atlanta Digital Cable Box
- Black ClearPlay USB Player
- TiVo Series 2 PVR
- Game System
It's cheap, but it's cheap... 2008-03-05
This remote packs in all the functionality of a decent universal remote, for a great price, but the quality of its construction leaves a lot to be desired.
When this remote first hit the market, I snatched one up at a local Wal-Mart (the only retailer selling them at the time). The 520 was the first Harmony remote I've owned because it was the first Harmony remote that was within my price range.
Many people have raved about the ease of setup, and I would agree for the most part, so I'll skim over this section. The software downloaded and updated the firmware right off the bat, which was nice. During the programming setup, I was hoping for a little more detailed configuration options (I'm a computer programmer by trade), but the wizard-style setup was plenty sufficient to get the remote in good working order. I especially appreciated the fact that it supported my Windows Media Center PC (MCE 2005 and now Vista Ultimate). Current updates to the software and firmware allow more detailed configuration and more devices (even though the standard interface is still wizard-style). After the wizard-style programming, you can go in and configure fairly detailed programming instructions which satisfies my tinkering nature enough.
The ergonomics of the remote are very good. It feels very comfortable in an adult hand, and it is very well balanced. I've always been frustrated with remotes that have commonly-used buttons in awkward and unbalanced places, and that's where this remote shines. The contours on the underside of the remote are well placed an provide great support for the volume, channel, arrow, play, pause, stop, FF, RW, and chapter skip buttons. Despite the asymmetrical contours on the underside, the remote is still very attractive when placed on a flat surface like a coffee table -- the remote rests with a slight forward-angle, but the curved end of the remote gives it the appearance of resting flatly.
The backlight of the remote is another useful feature - especially for those movie nights in the dark. The backlight can be activated by moving the remote after it has sat idle for a while, or by pressing the "Glow" button (just below the arrow-pad), and it turns off after a short period of inactivity.
The build quality, on the other hand, is definitely sub-par -- borderline poor. The volume down button on the first 520 I owned broke within 2 weeks of opening the package. It was almost humorous, because both me and my wife (in an attempt to test/fix the broken button) hit the volume up button multiple times - it worked - then we hit the volume down button multiple times - unsuccessfully. We repeated this to the point where we couldn't hear each other speak before finally conceding that the remote was broken. I returned the remote to Wal-Mart and exchanged it for a new 520. I've been using the 2nd 520 for nearly a year now, but I'm still only 3-stars satisfied. Throughout the year, the 4 LCD buttons have required continually increasing pressure to register. Even though the LCD buttons click, they require further pressure to actually register -- which often causes us to press the button, hear it click, and assume that it sent the signal; when, actually, the button press never registered -- forcing us to have to re-press the button (sometimes more than once). In addition, the black paint on the arrow-pad has halfway flaked off - despite the white-painted arrows not flaking - revealing the clear plastic underneath. At first I wondered if we've been rough with the remote (causing the paint to flake), but looking back, the remote has only been used by adults and the arrow-pad has only come in contact with soft materials (our thumbs and our couch). So I can only imagine what would have happened to the remote in a household with children or in a household that is more abusive on their appliances. Also, the entire remote creaks. By "creaks" I mean that the remote is so flimsy that when pressing any button near the top, the entire remote flexes and torques to the point where the faceplate and the underside of the remote rub against each other a creak like old hardwood flooring. It's mildly unnerving, even after owning the remote for a year, because whenever you feel the remote flex and hear it creak, you're afraid you're going to break it in half.
Beyond the poor build quality, the remote has plenty of functionality and has served its purpose in my household just fine. Would I recommend it to someone else? -Only if they can find it for a good deal.
Screen Nearly Unreadable - Consider the 550 Instead 
2008-02-18
I already owned a Harmony 720 for my main AV system. I LOVE that remote, but I couldn't justify the cost of another 720 for my bedroom system, so I bought the 520. I really wanted to like it, but couldn't. There's nothing wrong with the functionality, but the font on the screen is too small and too dim to read easily. The backlight doesn't help it any - in fact it makes it worse. I finally took it back and purchased a Harmony 550 for only about $10 more. The Harmony 550 remote is a great compromise between the 520 and 720. Although I love Harmony remotes, I do NOT recommend the 520.
fan frickin-tastic 2008-02-01
the toughest part of setup was getting up off the couch to get the model numbers of my devices
worked great with my Olevia tv (that no remote seems to like) and I am now sold on the "expensive" remote concept, wish I had bought 2
