Logitech Harmony Adapter for Playstation 3

I have a Logitech Harmony 1000 remote, and I run a Pioneer Elite receiver, a Toshiba HDDVD (ok – not smart), an XBox360, a wireless headset controller, a Pioneer Elite upscaling DVD player, two computers with Zalman IR controls, and a Playstation 3. I could control everything with my Harmony 1000 except the Playstation 3. I tried the Nyko Blu-Wave product, and while I’ve been extremely happy with most Nyko products, I had tons of problems with it. From not being able to power up/power down, commands executing twice, etc., there were just too many issues to make it worthwhile. Considering that Sony’s bluetooth remote was so nice, it made sense to go to 2 remotes.

Well now I’m finally down to one without a sacrifice. This unit has it’s own AC power, so it works whether the PS3 is off or on, which is a huge advantage.

The other huge advantage over every other solution is that it contains every single command that the bluetooth remote has (I believe it is 51 in all).

Pros:
-Self-powered via AC adapter
-Works regardless of PS3 being on or off
-Contains all 51 commands, including the PS button
-Doesn’t take up a valuable USB port on the PS3
-Commands work in PS2 emulator of original 60gb PS3
-Range via Harmony 1000 is excellent
-No problems with double-commands like Nyko product
-Design matches Playstation 3
-Logitech had all the commands and screens for all of the supported remotes on their website on launch day (nicely done Logitech!!)

Cons:
-Price is a little high (it’s 3 times the cost of the Sony bluetooth remote)
-For that money, I would like to have had the option of a rechargeable battery so that an AC adapter wouldn’t be needed.
-Unit is small, but it seems like it could be smaller.
-It is still infrared from remote to receiver, so you have to aim it versus bluetooth which is omnidirectional.

Summary: If you want to get down to one remote, this is THE way to do it. If you want to save money, go with the omnidirectional Sony bluetooth remote (don’t go third part on that).

Reviewed by : M. Larsen “Diamond”,   May 12, 2009