The entire package came with the remote control, a charging base, a rechargeable battery, USB cable, and a software installation CD. 

We were impressed with the high quality of the construction.  The remote control had good balance and weight.  The heft felt comfortable in our hand.  The contoured buttons were easy to reach, easy to find, and gave nice tactile feedback when pressed.

It looked like the UI guys at Logitech had done a great job in designing a remote that was flexible yet not overly complicated.  Sure there were a lot of buttons on the remote, but numbers don't tell the entire story. 

We found the usual numbered keys, fast forward, rewind, volume and channel up/down button.  We also found an "Activities" button... which you will not find on many remotes.  We'll have more to say about the function of that button in the FirstUse review. 

The remote also have directional and other non standard buttons (Exit, Guide, Glow, etc...) built right in.  However, no matter how many buttons are on a remote, there will always be some unanticipated function which will be absolutely necessary for somebody... how could an engineer design for those situations???  More on that later :-)

All devices need power.  This was no different.  The Harmony880 is powered by a rechargeable LiIon battery.  The base is both a stand and a recharger.  It had a bright blue glow ring in the middle so you would have no trouble locating it in the dark.

The LiIon battery had a bit of charge in it so the unit powered up when the battery was inserted.  The instructions on the screen walked us though a brief tutorial of the basics of the unit.  It then informed us we need to charge it up before we can do more with it.  It also recommended now was a good time to install the software onto the computer...the remote was starting to take control :-)

Our FirstLook showed us a few things about the Harmony880.  We liked the overall size and quality feel of the unit.  We also like the simple setup and onscreen tutorial.  We'll charge the unit overnight and get things ready for programming it in the morning.

In the RainyDayMagazine FirstUse review, we'll tell you how it was to program this Universal Remot control.  We'll also see if one remote CAN really control them all... all the various devices in our media room that is. 

One remote to control them all!  No, it was not a line from "Lord Of The Rings," it was something someone at RainyDayMagazine exclaimed when they saw the Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote.

Universal remotes have been around a while now. In fact, we have 3 or 4 of them in the media room here at RainyDayMagazine.  Three of them were from one company! 

We thought if we bought all the gear from one company, we could cut down on the number of remotes we needed.  This was true to some extent but there were always one or two functions that were unique to each remote (aspect ratio, DVD slot select, info guide, etc...).

That was true until we got the Logitech Harmony880!   This was the first (and only one so far) remote that was able to give us every function from every remote we had.

In this review, we took a FirstLook at the Logitech Harmony880 Advanced Universal Remote from box to setup. 

Reviews:

1. First Look

2. First Use

3. In The Wild Report

Review Summary:

Initial Impression- Wow!

Usability- logically placed buttons

Durability- Test in progress

Price- $250 (Competitive at twice the price!!!)