Harmony 890 RF remote review

My Harmony 890 Universal Remote arrived today!

The included paper documentation is useless. I already had the software installed, so I ran it and told it to change the remote. It found the 890 and had me update the firmware. Then it had me plug in the remote extender to update that.

That worked fine, and I plugged the remote extender into an outlet and then plugged two IR extenders into it. Each extension cable has two IR emitters, which I glued to my DVD player, my stereo, my video switch box and my Comcast DVR.

Everything functioned well, even the DVR player, but the DVD player did not at all. I was sure I had the emitter in the right place, but no luck.

So I used the software’s knowledge base and discovered that I had to enable the emitters. The remote was controlling my devices not the RF extender!

So I told it to use the RF extender for everything but the TV. It then had to reprogram the extender, which I had to dig out from the A/V rack and reprogrammed the remote.

All works fine now.

So then I decide to put an emitter on my new Mitsubishi 57732 TV. I can’t find the IR sensor anywhere so I look in the manual and guess what? My TV uses the entire screen as the IR sensor! The sensors are inside and it uses the mirror to reflect down to them. LOL. So I’m kinda hosed in controlling the TV from under the blankets for the moment, as I am sure where I can put the sensor and have it:

a. functional
b. not look awful

1 comment

  1. While it isn’t perfect, the Logitech Harmony 890 should be near the top of your list if you’re in the market for a sub-$400 RF remote that can operate equipment that’s hidden behind cabinets or closet doors

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