Harmony 700 Universal Remote

While it did take two and a half hours to set up the Harmony 700 universal remote with my home entertainment system, it was well worth it. Not only does it control most of the devices in my living room with the press of one activity button, it worked perfectly with my PS3, allowing for the control of the XMB, Blu-ray movies, streaming video and more all with the quality and elegance that defines the family of Logitech Harmony universal remote controls. The 700 may be an entry level universal remote, but it will run your living room with authority.One of the biggest gripes about the PS3 was that it was an incredible media center playing Blu-ray disks, DVDs, CDs, MP3s, streaming internet video, media from your PC, and much much more. Unfortunately it relies on Bluetooth to communicate with wireless accessories, which is great for headsets and DualShock controllers, but just awful for universal remotes.

With the release of the unwieldy named "Logitech Harmony Adapter for the PlayStation 3" the world of high-end remotes has finally opened up to the PS3, and what a grand place it is.

I've only ever had cheap universal remotes in my life. The kind you get at Rite-Aid and wish you'd kept the receipt to return. The kind that you spend four hours setting up only to have it not be able to change channels. You know, the evil, cheap electronics kind. The Harmony 700 is a completely different beast, and it is beautiful.

While setting up the remote to work with my Panasonic plasma, Pioneer amp, and PS3 was a breeze, getting it to work with my Roku, TiVo, and iPod Touch was a completely different story. The online software works well enough, but it took some searching to find out that the Roku listed under media center PCs. Though it took two and a half hours and some mild cursing to set up, the results were well worth it.

With the press of a button my PS3, TV, and surround sound all turn on, and do so just the way I like. Another click and the PS3 is off, the TV changes inputs, and I'm watching TiVo. The Harmony 700 runs my entire entertainment system like a dream. But it's a dream that ends too soon. With a six device cap I had to leave my Wii and Xbox 360, sadly, out of the mix.

Regardless, I now can use one remote to fully control my PS3 and find I use its various media functions far more often and have much more fun doing it. In short, the Harmony 700 is a perfect PS3 playmate.

View the original article here