A rant (and some more info) on the Logitech Harmony 885 remote control

This week I spent quite some money on a Logitech Harmony 885 remote control. While the device makes physically quite a good impression, the firmware and software does not (probably also applies to other Harmony models):

• The device is a doorstopper without a Windows/Mac computer. It is not self-contained and cannot be programmed all by itself.
• The computer software is also a doorstopper when you don't have an internet connection. It's actually a thinly wrapped web-application and you feel every request to the server.
• Due to the fact that the computer software's interface has been designed with old-school web-browser functionality in mind (pre AJAX age), it is pretty awkward and time consuming to use.
  

I'll probaly measure the time it will take me to program my Harmony until it works as it should. If you multiply this with your average hourly salary, this will give you helluva expensive remote control.

If you know better and have some hints, feel free to hit the feedback button. I'll gladly publish it here.

Update:

Finally got some feedback and really installed the remote. Got the following findings:

• The newer versions of the configuration Software have quite improved recently in terms of performance and overall usability. Though it is still totally dependent on a working internet connection.
• The remote's function to switch on or off all devices at the same time fails quite often to properly perform on all devices. So it's usually better for the nerves to switch them (amplifier, beamer, media center) individually.
• The best approach for a custom programming is to quickly load some some sensible defaults with the mandatory configuration wizards and then program the custom keys you want by direct infrared learning using the device's original remotes.
• The 885's infrared is quite strong. It can switch some of my devices by bouncing over two (white) walls.