Ok, I noticed Walmart had a Harmony remote the other day, can't remember the model#, I know it was not "The ONE". So my question, are the more affordable Harmonies good, or is "The One" not only a kick ass movie, but a great remote?
Yes.
As mentioned by others, I believe the only functional differences between the cheap and expensive Harmony's are a few features such as RF and the ability to control Z-Wave products. Though even that isn't universally true, as the One doesn't have RF and I'm pretty sure that it can't do the Z-Wave stuff either. But the expensive ones have other features, like color and/or touch screens, internal rechargable batteries, and perhaps better build quality. My One feels like a fairly substantial hunk of shiny plastic. My old 550 was fine, but it felt more or less like any good-quality standard OEM remote.
When looking to buy my One, I read of several not-so-great reviews of the 8xx series of Harmony's. Quibbles with rechargable batteries and durability. At the time, the One was new and didn't have a lot of reviews yet. But the few I found were all very positive. I have not regretted buying the One at all - it's been a wonderful addition to 'the system'.
I had a Harmony 550 for a couple of years. It was my first Harmony, replaced by the One. Picked it up on sale at a local shop for like $70 or so. It uses the same software and setup as the One. Same 'Activities', same macros, same everything. It worked great for a couple of years until the D-pad stopped working. Of course, *after* I bought the One to replace it I got brave and took the 550 apart, only to find that the D-pad problem was dust and couch-lint.
NBD, I'm quite happy with the One compared to the 550. Considering that this remote is one device that I touch daily (ahem -- shuush, peanut gallery), the design is of some importance to me. I like it's curvy design and good button layout & texture. The 550 was just sort of a brick with chicklets on it. The One feels good in the hand and the buttons are very intuitive to use.
So you could spend, say,
$39 on a 520 and get the same control abilities as someone who spent $150+ on a One. Not only would that introduce you to the world of 'Harmony' without spending a lot of cash, but if/when you upgraded to a $$$ Harmony, it's done with a simple 'Upgrade Remote' button in the Harmony software
.
And that, is my 1,000th post. I'm such a lightweight.