You’d have to pry, as the saying goes, my Harmony remote out of my cold, dead hand. I’ve been a Harmony user for about two years now, and tell anyone who’ll listen that it’s one of my favorite everyday gadgets.
So I sat up and took notice today when Logitech announced two new members of the Harmony family: the Harmony 600 and the Harmony 650. These new remotes feature an updated design and a more affordable price range for budget-conscious couch potatoes everywhere.
The two remotes feature have the same look and overall button layout, but the 650 (shown above) has a color display where the 600 has a more basic black-and-white (or grayscale) screen. From today’s announcement, there doesn’t seem to be any new technology here, but what is noteworthy is the MSRP of these units. The Harmony 600 will sell for $79, while it color sibling, the Harmony 650, will go for $99. Most of today’s Harmony models cost $200 or more.
Just in case you don’t know, Harmony is a family of universal remotes from Logitech which replace other remotes, removing clutter and home theater confusion. Rather than endlessly punching in codes, however, Harmony remotes are programmed via a software application (PC or Mac). You install the app, tell it what you have (TV, DVD, DVR, etc.) in your setup, and the application programs the remote via USB. In addition, since the remote knows each of the components you have, you can press the Watch a Movie button, for example, and the remote will power on your DVD, tune your TV to the correct channel, turn on your audio system and adjust button functionality to control the correct component for the command (volume up, in my setup, controls my Sony audio system when in Movie mode).
The new Harmony models are expected to begin shipping later this month.