Hello SteveInNC,
Correction: My model is actually the 676. I chose that over the 688 because I liked the button layout in the 676 better.
Your points are valid about the web interface but Logitech is a pretty big company and they seem pretty committed to the Harmony Remote.
As for the codes, I am not sure how Logitech gets the codes but they do get a lot of codes. For example many of my components responded to codes from the Harmony database that where not even on my remote.
A case in point: I could never program a discreet on or off command in the Sony because many of the remotes for my components only had a button that just toggled the power. Even components listed in Sony's manufacturer codes did not provide a discreet on or off signal. Since I had basically programmed the Sony based on activities (which is the same idea with the Harmony) if I turned off a component during that activity (such as turning off the TV when listening to DVD-As) and then decided to exit that activity, everything would turn off except the component that was previously turned off. That component would be turned on instead. Maddening. With the Harmony these discreet codes and many others are available in their database.
On the negative side my receiver was only listed in the Harmony database with the bare bone commands and many where missing. My solution was to tell the web interface that I was using the next model up. Those codes covered all of the commands of my receiver and more. But some commands did not work or did something other than what was instended. I had to go through and delete the useless commands from the remote. Even so it was still easier than programming the Sony and I did not lose any commands.
One other thing about the harmony remote, all of the soft keys (the LCD labels) are listed in alphabetical order when the remote is first programmed. So there is no logic to the grouping of the soft keys on the different "pages" of the LCD. Of course this was not a big deal to me since I would have tweaked this remote no matter what, but to get the most out of the LCD pages you are going to have to move buttons around using the web interface and that is a chore.
Say you want to have the "Eject" label to come after the "Display" label in the LCD. To do this you must move all of the labels that are between Display and Eject down one space (so you can make room for Eject) in the web interface and then use the drop-down fields next to the label to re-assign the correct command since moving the label has changed the actual command assigned to that label. (For example the "Eject" label is actually listed as Open/Close in the Harmony database. You can change the label to Eject, Spew, or anything you want and that is the name that will show up in the LCD screen, but the command is still listed as Open/Close in the database.)
There are no up or down buttons to assist you in moving the labels and the actual commands do not stay with the label. They must be re-assigned. If you have a hundred commands between Display and Eject you are in for some good times.
What I did was actually write everything that I wanted to do out on paper before delving into changing the names and orders of the labels and I would highly recommend that strategy if you have a lot of commands to move around.
(I have already complained to Harmony about this because I think that it is definitely a bad user experience.)
Even after all of that Harmony still beats the Sony in price, performance, and ease of use.
Now for the intangible factors. As previously stated even with all of its faults I would have never moved on from the Sony if it had not have been broken. First of all I spent what I consider a lot of money on it. And secondly it just caught peoples' eyes. That heavy 2-handed slab of plastic and glass looked every bit the part of its namesake: AV Commander. It was a veritable tank and people loved it.
The Harmony gets nothing (well at least the 676 doesn't) in the way of comments. People look at it and the only thing they say is that its red. I guess because it closely resembles a million other remotes out there.
It make me chuckle because I do kind of miss those comments about the Sony.