Home > Consumer Reviews > PS3 Blu-Link Universal Remote Control

SMK should be commended for making this remote. It really is a novel concept, a universal multi-device blu-ray PS3 remote, an idea that Sony missed the boat on altogether! The remote works quite well for most basic setups, but it's not without fault. First, if you are using one of the new PS3 Slim consoles, the device tends to lose its sync when 2 or more controllers are hooked up to the system, and in some instances can not be re-synced until one of the controls is removed from the system. I've heard this complaint from other PS3 Slim users on several forums, so I'm guessing this is a recurring problem that will need to be sorted either on SMK's or Sony's side. The PS3 can support up to 7 devices wirelessly, so it should be a relativly easy fix, but the real question is if Sony refuses to issue a fix on their side, will it require a recall by SMK, since I'm not aware of any ability for firmware upgrades for the remote?

The setup is relatively straight forward, but entering codes can be a great big PITA, especially when none of the codes contained full functionality for a single one of my devices other than the PS3 (Denon AVR-1910 receiver, Motorola DCH-3416 HD Cable PVR, and Viewsonic Pro8100 HD projector). Couldn't SMK at least develop a cross-reference guide that identifies which codes work for which devices? Needless to say, I spent a lot of time learning IR commands from my existing remotes, which for the most part the Blu-Link handles relatively well. It couldn't learn all of the functions for my projector (may be macro related?), and my cable box was sensitive to how long you held down the buttons during the learning function. I believe this was the cause for my third problem. I am using the Blu-Link with a Next Generation RF IR extender, because my cable box is located on the first floor, and my HT setup is in the basement. The two units behave nicely for my other components with this remote, but for some reason, the IR extender doesn't like my cable box when used with the Blu-Link. It will register commands, but sometimes it takes up to 3 button pushes, whereas the default cable remote registers everything first click.

Between the sync issues and the inability to register individual channels over the IR extender, I'm going to have to return the remote, as it doesn't function as I had intended. Overall, it's not a bad product though. In fact, the controls are for the most part very intuitive. My only gripes/suggestions about layout/design would be that the PS3 home button should be larger, add either backlighting or glow in the dark keys for critical functions, cluster the PS3 proprietary buttons around the PS3 button in the same format as the PS3 dual-shock controls, and fix the sync issues. If SMK can do that, and keep the price in line, this remote will be an absolute winner. With the existing sync issues, I'd be hard pressed to rate it more than a 3 though.

If I had to sum up this remote in one word, it'd be functional. It seems to be pretty much what I expected, a PS3 remote merged with a basic universal remote. In this case the final result isn't much more than the sum of it's parts and for that reason it seems a little expensive. A couple of features I liked:

- Volume control can be assigned to one device regardless of the device selected. My volume is controlled by a receiver, not the TV so the remote allowed me to specify that the receiver should always receive the volume commands.

- Learning commands works. I'm not sure whether or not this is a feature or just expected from a universal remote. Unfortunately, in an ideal world it wouldn't be necessary.

- It just worked. I have a pretty basic setup but all but one function worked after the simple setup process.

- Manual appears to not be written in Chinglish.

- Quality. It's a little hard to comment on quality after just one day, but the so far so good. The buttons seem to work.

Missing features

- No macros. Really I don't need much, but I'd like an "all on" and an "all off" function. But this can be a bit tricky as my next observation reveals.

- Missing separate on/off buttons. My receiver has separate power on/off buttons. Which actually isn't a bad idea, the button don't do different things. Off always turns the receiver off, never on, kinda what you'd expect. Unlike Microsoft's infamous "Start" button which you had to click in order to turn off the computer. Anyway, I digress, but it seems like we'd taken a step out of the dark ages of remotes, but this remote decided to stay in the dark ages. But the real use of separate on/off buttons is in macros where if one device didn't get turned on or off, it'll always be out of sync with the other devices if you just have one "power" macro, i.e., that one device will turn on when the others are turned off.

Complaints

Maybe the people who designed this thing always watched TV with white gloves on. But making the top of the remote a shiny black seemed like just the perfect choice to maximally display any cheese powder transferred from your fingers while using the remote.

Summary

I've already probably sent too many words on this device, it's pretty simple after all, but for the price I paid I feel like I'd like to get my moneys worth. It's a decent product that I'd recommend, but seems a little expensive for what it is. The makers of this device just cleared the bar for a functional product, no more.

This remote works great. It controls most of the functions of my devices (Sat/DVR, TV, PS3 Slim, even my iMac). It can control up to 6 different devices. If the remote doesn't control your device in quite the way you would like, it has a convenient and totally easy learning function. I like its snappy operation. If anyone has had a Harmony remote you know that on some devices there can be a delay between the button press on the remote and the action on the device. This remote works perfectly with the PS3 Slim. I was concerned about some of the reviews that said that it didn't play well with the slim, but it does. It also feels very solid and comfortable when held.

However, there are some areas in which I think it could improve. 1) The size of the buttons are too small and it is hard to differentiate which button is which by touch in a darkened room. They could have made the remote 5-10% larger and increased the button size. They also could have also given different shapes and/or textures to the buttons to make it easier to operate the remote by feel. 2) There are no macro functions. It would be nice to press a button to turn on my receiver, tv, and DVR etc. 3) my third very minor gripe is that the directional buttons make an audible (and purposeful) click when pressed. I would prefer silent operation.

This universal remote is one of the best I've ever used for controlling a TV, DVD player and DirecTV DVR. I had it setup to control everything including my Playstation3 in less than 5 minutes.

I watched one episode of a show on a DVD in the PS3 and tried to go to the menu to watch the next episode and the PS3 would not respond. I tried everything. Nothing could regain control of the PS3. I shut everything down and tried again this morning. I still wasn't able to control the PS3.

Everything else worked great. The response was the same as the remotes packaged with my TV and DirecTV DVR, almost instantaneous.

But, I didn't buy this product because it works great controlling TVs and DVRs. I bought it to do away with all of the remotes I currently use, especially the PS3. I was tempted to keep it because it worked so well with everything else. i could have eliminated three remotes and used this remote for everything except the Playstation, but that's not fair to prospective customers who buy this remote to operate their PS3.

I see from other reviews that this is common. So please, unless the manufacturer updates the product, save yourself a lot of aggravation and use only the Sony Blu-Ray remote.

The functionality and learning for the other remotes is great. But when you're controlling the PS3 there's a blue light that won't stop flashing and it's pretty irritating. After putting the remote down to watch a movie, it stopped controlling the PS3 and the Dualshock controller wasn't recognized. I have to restart the PS3 to get working again.

I should have bought Sony's remote and dealt with all my remotes.