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Logitech Harmony PS3 Remote Adapter Review

By Jason Chen, 4:00 AM on Tue May 12 2009, 6,502 views (Edit post, Set to draft, Slurp)

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The Gadget: An IR to Bluetooth adapter for the PS3, letting you use any Logitech Harmony universal remote to (finally) control your PlayStation 3.

The Price: $60

The Verdict: So worth it. Not only can the adapter turn on and off the PS3 directly from your remote—it's powered from an AC outlet instead of one of the PS3's USB ports—just about every function that the PS3 can perform can be mapped onto the remote's buttons.

The remote works by first syncing, like any other standard Bluetooth PS3 remote, to your PlayStation 3. Then it takes in IR blasts from your remote and translates them to Bluetooth commands. All you have to do is re-add the PlayStation 3 to your Logitech Harmony profile and it will automatically import the correct IR codes to your remote.

In practice, it's essentially flawless. I was able to control a Blu-ray movie, a DVD and a DivX video from just the buttons on my Harmony. At $60, it's slightly expensive, but well worth it if you (like us) don't like having two different remotes to control something. Especially if one of those remotes is a game controller. [Logitech]

I just ordered mine from Amazon and I can't wait for it.

I have one of the USB dongle remotes and I hate that thing. I can't turn on my PS3 with it, I can only turn off my PS3 with it by going to the XMB and selecting power off, the left and right buttons almost always think they're being pressed twice, and it always takes the controller 1 spot so whenever I want to play a game I have to turn on my DS3, turn it off, and then turn it back on.

This thing is a very warm welcome.

Hmm a bit on the expensive side (ok let's face it, it's huge ripoff :) )

I would so buy this if it was $30. However, I would need a universal remote anyways, and I really want an RF remote rather than an IR one.

Yeah, $60 is a lot, but:

• What good electronics aren't expensive?
• I can turn on and off my PS3
• It doesn't take a USB slot (which isn't a big deal for me since I have 4 and don't really use them anyways)
• The buttons map correctly and work well (unlike my current controller)
• My PS3 will no longer be confused by the USB dongle so now it will always think my controller is player 1 instead of my remote

Ive had so many bad experiences with "Logitech" i think two busted controller playing "Street Fighter IV."
Tempting but im a little skeptical.

Universal Remotes are so worth it, though don't know the difference between IR and RF.  >_>

My remote controls eight devices so instead of having to fiddle with eight controllers, I just have to fiddle with one. 

It's also nice because you can make activities so if I want to watch TV, I just press "Watch TV" and it will turn on my TV, turn on my cable box, turn on and switch my receiver to the right input, switch my HDMI switcher to the right input, and turn off every other device with a single button press.  It's a bit of a hassle to setup (comes with some of the worst software ever created) but very much worth the effort when you get it all done.

Their gamepads suck, but all of their universal remotes are quite good. 

I've had two myself:

1. The first one was the Harmony Remote for the 360 that was a pretty good balance between price and quality.  I really liked it.
2. My second and current one is the Harmony Advanced Universal Control with Charging Station and it's incredible.  The only reason I got this one was that I had placed it on my Amazon wishlist for a few days as a placeholder because I wanted to read up on it, and the in-laws saw it and got it for me for Christmas.  >_>

The only thing that's really bad about them is the software they come with.  It's some of the most painful software to use and for some odd reason it even makes you have a username and password.  It's just some of the dumbest software I've ever seen and I didn't even use some of the coolest features of the remote for the longest time because of that horrible software.

Well ok I understand why it's great.

I'm only concerned why it's similar price to pair of official sony BT remotes.

well, the first big difference is about a $100-200 price tag which is my big hang up on a decision

the second is that with RF, you set a RF to IR converter near the device you want to control, but then you can use your remote anywhere in the building. What I really want to do is have 1 home audio setup that is for both my TV, and whole house audio. The problem is if you are in the kitchen and want to listen to music you would have to walk to the other room to point the remote. With RF, you just click and it works

I'm looking at the Harmony 890, or 1000 so I can control from various rooms. The 1100 looks really cool as it has more customization, but the 1000 is on sale at various places due to the 1100 being the same price but better. Currently I typically have to juggle 3 remotes to watch a movie/tv.

I guess since it replaces having to buy the BT remote.  Luckily for this you don't need the remote, you just tell the shitty software what remote you have and it already has all the inputs (the one good thing about the shitty software).