Logitech Harmony 885 & 525 Comparison

[Ninj]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had both and can compare them to one another.

I appreciate the 885 is ful colour and has 6 activity buttons as opposed to 4 of the 525, but theres a big jump in price. Thinking more about living with the remotes.

Harmony 525 - £41
Harmony 885 - £99

Rgds

Rich

[KingOfGondor]

885 has 8 soft buttons not 6

[captain747480]

The 8xx series can also control devices with odd IR protocols such as NTL Pace Cable boxes.

[KingOfGondor]

i didn't realise the different series were functionally different

i thought it was just soft buttons and design

[Peg]

I have both. The 885 for my main room and the 525 was to be used in the bedroom. They are like chalk and cheese, the 895 is far superior. My 525 is sitting in a drawer not being used anymore. I would say that the 885 is a bargain at that price.

[Ninj]

Chalk and cheese based on what exactly?

More than double the price dont forget.

Rgds
Richie

[hunts1uk]

I have both,885 for main room and 525 for bedroom.885 is easy worth the extra money,hate using the 525 and im looking to upgrade to another 885.

Far easier to use,looks better.Hate the clicking on the 525 buttons drives me up the wall.

[Ninj]

Ah ok so it doesnt have such a quality feel about it then. Thats a shame cos it would have been adequate for my needs.

Thanks

Rich

[James.Bowman]

The main differences between the 525, 555, 885 and 785 are as follows:

- The 885 and 785 have colour screens where as the 525 and 555 do not.
- The 885 and 785 have a docking station for recharging where as the 525 and 555 do not. The 525 and 555 simply take AA batteries as opposed to the proprietary battery found in the 885 and 785.
- The 885 and 785 have a tilt sensor built into them so that the back light and screen comes on when they are picked up where as the 525 and 555 do not.

The 555 is supposedly the new version of the 525 although there really are not many differences other than purely cosmetic.

The 785 is basically the same functionally as the 885 except that it has two less soft keys. The reason the 885 may be found more cheaply is that it has been out for a while now where as the 785 was only released a couple of months ago.

[Ninj]

The 555 is £43 from Pixmania at the moment so again, a big saving over the 885.

Other than the orange backlight vs the blue of the 525, anyone know any specific differences?

I appreciate the 885 is a better remote, but at more than double the price, I'd expect it to be.

If anyone has any examples of incompatibilty with a 525/555 Id be interested to hear. Im looking to control:

Samsung LE40R73BD
Denon DHT 500SD
Varilight Dimmers

Possibly a Pinnacle Show Center 200

Rgds

Rich

[James.Bowman]

Originally Posted by Ninj

The 555 is £43 from Pixmania at the moment so again, a big saving over the 885.

Other than the orange backlight vs the blue of the 525, anyone know any specific differences?

I appreciate the 885 is a better remote, but at more than double the price, I'd expect it to be.

If anyone has any examples of incompatibilty with a 525/555 Id be interested to hear. Im looking to control:

Samsung LE40R73BD
Denon DHT 500SD
Varilight Dimmers

Possibly a Pinnacle Show Center 200

Rgds

Rich

I believe the difference (apart from the cosmetic) between the 525 and 555 is that the 555 has two extra hard buttons. I am afraid I cannot remember exactly which ones. I believe the 555 may also be able to control more devices at once (15 rather than the 12 devices on the 525).

I do not think there is a difference in the devices that the 525 and 555 support. Since the same software is used to set up all of the Harmony remote controls they should all support the same devices (with the possible exception of the 895 which can control some RF controlled devices).

From reading around I believe the 555 is supposedly the new version of the 525 although the 525 has not been around for ages and is still listed alongside the 555 on Logitech's own web site.

The only reason I chose the 785 over the 525 or 555 was because I did not want to have to replace the batteries every couple of weeks. I used to have a One-for-all Kameleon and got fed up with constantly having to replace the batteries.

[Ninj]

Cheers James,

Yeh valid point about the batteries. I didnt realise the 525/555 was permanently "on" so I reckon Ill need a fairly steady supply of batteries!

Have they modified the 885 charger to stop it dropping charge and beeping or are they supplying it with the "wedge" to give it a better contact.

Also, just looking at me Sky+ remote (I forgot I need to replace that too), how do you set such things as TV Guide, Box Office, Interactive etc, the up/down, left/right cursor and the record, play, pause etc as I need pretty comprehensive functionality from the Sky+, unlike the other handsets where I only need fairly basic vol/mute, off/on, play/pause skip etc.

Thanks again

Richie

[James.Bowman]

Originally Posted by Ninj

Cheers James,

Yeh valid point about the batteries. I didnt realise the 525/555 was permanently "on" so I reckon Ill need a fairly steady supply of batteries!

Have they modified the 885 charger to stop it dropping charge and beeping or are they supplying it with the "wedge" to give it a better contact.

Also, just looking at me Sky+ remote (I forgot I need to replace that too), how do you set such things as TV Guide, Box Office, Interactive etc, the up/down, left/right cursor and the record, play, pause etc as I need pretty comprehensive functionality from the Sky+, unlike the other handsets where I only need fairly basic vol/mute, off/on, play/pause skip etc.

Thanks again

Richie

No probs!

Most of the buttons on your sky remote will map directly to hard buttons on the Harmony such as Guide, info, up/down, left/right, record, etc. You can use soft buttons to cater for any buttons on the Sky remote that do not directly map to a hard button on the Harmony.

You will probably find (especially with an ubiquitous device such as Sky that someone has already done a fairly good job of mapping the buttons. If you are unhappy with any of the default mappings for a device you can easily change them in the Harmony set-up software.

As for the connection problem with the 885, I afraid I do not know what the current situation is.

[Ninj]

Cheers,

I think I read a small diy fix sorts the recharge issue or there is a wedge from Logitech if requested.

Rgds

Rich

[chris_huh]

Which one would be best to use with a Media Center PC?