Customer Reviews

PS3 Blu-Link Universal Remote Control

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Before I get into my thoughts on the Blu-Link remote, I'll start by saying that I've purchased and returned two Logitech Harmony universal remotes. The Harmony Xbox 360 remote and the almighty Harmony One to be precise. These are the only products I've ever returned on Amazon.com. They were nice enough remotes to look at, and the computerized setup was convenient. I just couldn't get past the delay in button presses. No matter how you set the inter-device or inter-key delay for the remote, there is a noticeable delay between pressing a button and seeing the result. (For example: Holding down the volume button for an A/V receiver for a few seconds would result in about 3-4 extra commands after you let go of the button. Annoying) I am far from the only user to be bothered by this, as a quick Google search can yield innumerable results on the topic.

The Blu-Link remote doesn't have a computerized setup, a display, or a charging station. I give it 5 stars nonetheless. It does what it's supposed to do, and does it at a reasonable price. Using the supplied codes, I had my PS3, Samsung TV, Onkyo A/V receiver, and DirecTV HD-DVR up and running MOST of the way within a couple of minutes. I then spent 5, count 'em, 5 minutes using the remote's "learning" feature to fill in the remaining functionality. Notably, I ran into the same problem that another reviewer had with my A/V receiver, in that it would power it on, but not off. Teaching the Blu-Link the Onkyo remote's power code directly alleviated this problem. Various other commands were learned from my old Onkyo remote, but the DVR and TV were good to go using only the supplied codes. The volume master feature works as it should, sending all volume commands to the AUX input, the Onkyo receiver. The manual also explains how to set up a master volume device, but to also be able to control the TV's volume when you're on the TV input. (I mention this after seeing another reviewer's frustration with trying to do that)

Now, for the reason I was so excited about this remote in the first place: The ability to control the PS3. I can tell you that it works flawlessly. Power on, power off, video/music playback, menu navigation, just about everything you can do with the PS3 controller can be done with the Blu-Link remote. To power on, you simply hit the PS3 input selector. To power off, you hold the "Home" button, just like you would on a PS3 controller, and select "Power off device". Simple! The only ommission I've seen is the lack of "L" and "R" buttons. The only use I would have for them is webpage back/forward keys, (which is still easily done by hitting "triangle" and selecting it from the menu) but since I don't do much web browsing on the PS3 it's not a big deal.

The finish of the remote is very attractive, and I find the button layout to be very comfortable. Be aware that the buttons are quite small, namely the number keys and transport buttons. (FF, RW, etc.) Those with large hands may have problems.

I spent less than 10 minutes setting up this remote to control all of my components, and have been loving it in the time since. Yes, I have to manually adjust inputs when watching a movie instead of hitting a singular "Activity" key, but I also don't have to deal with the delays present in Logitech remotes. The PS3 control is fantastic, and you can get the Blu-Link remote for $10 less than the price of the Logitech PS3 adapter alone!

If you're unhappy with Harmony remotes, and you're a PS3 owner, this is a no-brainer. Buy it now!

Edit (4/15/2011):
I bought this remote a year ago, but it didn't do its job well for more than six months. It continued to function as a universal remote, but the bluetooth became so spotty to the point of worthlessness. It wouldn't remain connected to the PS3 for more than 10 seconds, so it would connect and I'd have to quickly scroll through menus before it'd disconnect. Then I'd wait another 10 seconds for it to reconnect and I'd start the mad shuffle again. Not a fun way to live life. I tried calling and emailing customer support on many occasions, but they've gone dark. So, I got a Harmony remote with their bluetooth adapter and haven't looked back. It's a far more expensive option, but I've had no difficulties with it, and I'm pretty sure Logitech will answer my calls. I don't like saying it, but I recommend looking elsewhere for your PS3 controlling needs.


Original:
I really want to love this remote, and I almost do. There's just a few kinks that I'm really having a hard time living with. Let me break down my loves and hates:

Love:
- Almost eliminates 6 remotes/controllers (the "almost" is explained below)
- "Teaching" commands is a breeze
- Has a wide variety of buttons so I can logically assign buttons
- Feels good in my hand (I don't think the buttons are too small, and I have normal sized guy hands)

Hate:
- Only 50 programmable commands, globally. This means you can only "teach" the remote 50 new things across all devices. I ran out before I even got to my receiver's remote, so I've had to go back and pick and choose which commands I'll actually need regularly.
- If you leave the remote in PS3 mode for a long time (60 minutes?) it will stop controlling the PS3 until you turn the PS3 off/back on. I re-paired, too, but I don't know if that's a necessary step all of the time.

As to my first complaint, I called the company's support number and talked to the fella there (very nice guy) and he confirmed that there are only 50 programmable commands. I asked him if I could request a feature and that it be more memory for the next model. Perhaps if enough people request it we'll get our wish. The company's site [...].

For my second complaint, I recommend doing what you have to in PS3 (Bluetooth) mode and then change to some other mode. The Bluetooth probably just goes to sleep to conserve battery power, but it's very frustrating. So switch modes and I think everything will be okay.

Overall, I really do like this remote because it's one-of-a-kind. Why hasn't anyone else thought of making a IR/Bluetooth remote? Who knows. But they haven't, so this is the best there is for now. It's definitely first-gen, but a great attempt. Hopefully they'll iron out the bugs and the next version will completely rock. I know I'm game to get an update.

The version that Amazon is selling as of 11/9/09 is not the latest version and does not work with the PS3 Slim. After contacting Blu-link tech support, you can get your remote firmware upgraded however you will have to pick up the tab on the shipping back to them.

Other then that it's a cool remote, easy to program and learns other commands from other remotes. The price is right when compared to something like the Logitech Harmony series (which I ultimately ended up buying).

Once Amazon gets the new version I would recommend this remote.

Was fairly happy with this remote when I first got it. It was easy to set up with all my devices and worked fine for my PS3(not slim). Not that it is without problems. The buttons are way too small, there are no page up and down buttons, it's impossible to use in the dark, the blinking blue light when in PS3 mode is annoying, but at least it worked with the PS3.
After a week it stopped controlling my PS3. I called and left a message with customer support and emailed them, but have not received a reply. I'm stuck with a useless remote. Save your money.

Update: Company finally responded to my service request and sent me a new remote. It paired fine and controlled the PS3. However, I will not be able say whether it continues to. I bought the Sony remote, which I love, and am using that instead.

This remote was on my Christmas list because Sony doesn't provide a remote for watching movies on the PS3. (Don't expect to use this remote as another game controller even though it has some controller buttons.) The universal remote capability was an added bonus. I was pleased with it until it stopped working with the PS3 Slim. During the middle of the first movie I watched it suddenly wouldn't control any PS3 functions. I found out from the manufacturer (and other reviews here) that this is a problem with the first 1,000 made which is apparently all that Amazon carries. (I think Amazon should note the Slim issue in its description.) Sony apparently changed the firmware on the PS3 Slim model making this remote inoperable. I like this remote so I am awaiting a replacement with a firmware update but I will have to pay return shipping for the old one. On the plus side this remote operates my HDTV and TiVo HD with no problems. It learns your other remote functions easliy if you want to change them. It is a little small but buttons are generally laid out well. I still find myself using my TiVo remote frequently because I'm so familiar with it but with practice this remote would function almost as well. A back light would be nice, too. All in all I was pleased with this remote but if you need PS3 Slim functionality make sure you find one with the newest firmware unless you want to pay additionally for return shipping.

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.

This universal remote is one of the best I've ever used for controlling a TV, DVD player and DirecTV DVR and it also controls my PS3. I had it setup to control everything including my Playstation3 in less than 5 minutes.

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


New firmware has corrected all of the past complaints users had.

I have an 18-month-old boy at home who is obsessed with any electronic control, so minimizing the number of remote controls within view has been tremendously helpful. The remote is well designed, but I would change a couple things like adding R1,R2,L1,L2 buttons to the thing, and I don't like where the 'input' button is (all the way down at the bottom right, making one-handed input changing on the TV difficult). It's great for Netflix and all of the media stuff on the PS3. Overall, we've been really glad to have it.

I recommend this remote for anyone that has a PS3. For only a few dollars more than the standard PS3 Bluetooth remote, you also get IR capabilities to control other devices. I also wanted to echo a previous reviewer that pointed out that this remote does not have a delay when you press the buttons - so refreshing. I'm also using this on a PS3 Slim and it works perfectly so I must have one of the newer versions.

If you're looking for a remote that can configure macros, this does not have that feature. I didn't need that feature since everything I have is connected through HDMI and is using HDMI CEC for synchronizing power state - everything turns on and switches to the right input automatically.

These are the devices I am controlling: Onkyo TX-SR607 A/V receiver, Panasonic TC-P58V10 58" Plasma TV, PS3 Slim & Windows 7 HTPC running Windows Media Center and Media Player Classic Home Cinema.

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.