PS3 and the Harmony 880 Remote. (1 Viewer)

[mitch]

Hi All,

I just purchased the PS3 [my son uses it for the games and I'm using it for the Blu-Ray player]. Pretty good timing anyway considering the recent announcements, although I also own the Toshiba A2 HD DVD and still love it for HD DVD's and the upscaling of SD DVD's. So now I'm format neutral. I have to say, I'm very impressed so far.

I want to use my Harmony 880 Remote to control the PS3 as part of my home theater system. I know that the PS3 uses Bluetooth. I want to find out what other members have done to use their Harmony Remote for their systems with the PS3.

I'm looking into the NYKO remote available from Amazon for $13.99. It comes with a USB IR converter that allows this remote to work with the PS3. Then I'm supposed to be able to use this remote to teach the Harmony.

Has anyone else had any luck with this? Please excuse if this has already been posted or if I'm in the wrong place.

 

[Jamey K]

The 880 will do a lot of things but it won't control your PS3. Sony does make a nice blue tooth remote, that's cheap, and works well for both movies and gaming. I've got one and it's nice to have around so you don't have to deal with the game controllers. I got mine at BB.

 

[mitch]

Jamey,

You are partly correct about the Harmony 880 not controlling the PS3. There is an IR remote available from a company called Nyko which comes with a USB dongle that fits into one of the PS3's USB ports.

When you insert this USB dongle into the PS3, you can then control the PS3 with the Nyko remote. You can also then program [teach] the Harmony with the functions and buttons of the Nyko IR remote so that you can use the Harmony to control the PS3. I've spoken to the folks over at Logitech and they told me that it works.

I just wanted to find out if anyone else has done this successfully and what their experience has been.

By the way, I have purchased the Sony PS3 Bluetooth remote as well to use for Blu-Ray DVD's and it does work very well. I would just rather be able to control everything in my home theater with my Harmony 880 as I do now.

Thanks,

Mitch

 

[Jamey K]

WOW! Thanks Mitch. I didn't know that at all. If you are able to do this...please post it up!

 

[Patrick Mason]

Hey Mitch,

I don't have a Harmony remote, but I do have the Nyko remote and was able to program its commands to my Sony universal "learning" remote, so I'm sure it should work for you just as well.

Among the things the remote can't do is turn the PS3 on/off or eject the disc. It also doesn't have many buttons beyond the basic DVD commands.

If none of that bothers you, it works perfectly well. I've been using it for months now and am grateful to be back to my one remote.

Hope that helps,

Patrick

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, I will likely try the Nyko dongle as well unless something else comes to market soon.

_Man_

 

[nolesrule]

There appears to be a profile for the Nyko Blu-Wave USB remote in the Harmony setup software. I found it under Game Consoles (with DVD), under the Nyko manufacturer.

So it shouldn't even require having to learn any IR codes.

 

[wendortb]

schmartz.com
This guy is selling a little nicer infrared device for the ps3. He also sells one that will turn off the ps3, but it is about $50. They do look better on the front of the ps3 also. This is what I will buy when I get tired of using the controller.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Hmmm... Sounds nice though I wonder how well it really works in practice compared to the Nyko option since it seems to rely on your remote's preprogrammed codes unless you happen to have a perfectly matching Sony DVD remote to learn from. The one that offers power on/off seems a bit too klugey to me though -- and you need to use a PSP for that(??).

_Man_

 

[MarkHarrison]

I ordered one of the Nyko remotes this morning (along with my first Blu-ray titles ). It was only $14 on Amazon. I'll keep my eyes open for something better down the line, but this ought to do the trick for now.

 

[wendortb]

I just wish Sony would realize the market that wants infrared ability. I am sure there are a lot of people who would love to be able to completly control their ps3 with an infrared remote. Right now you have to use the controler or actually touch the ps3 to turn it on and off.

My g/f doesn't understand right now how to turn on music from the ps3. If I had the ability to turn on and off the ps3 and control it from the remote, I could make it so you press 1 button and everything is set up.

That schmartz one with the power on/off is the best option so far. It does suck you need a psp to have the ability to turn the ps3 on. I also don't like the wire going to the power button with the sticker, but there aren't any other choices right now. Come on sony, give us some features that we really want.

Maybe, someday, the ps3 will have all of the features that I want.

 

[MarkHarrison]

I must be in the minority, but the power on/off issue doesn't bother me. When I want to watch a movie, I need to go to the player anyway to insert the disc. I can turn it on then. When I want to turn off the player, I'll remove the disc first anyway, so again, I'm already there.

Are all you people leaving the discs in the player? Because I'm not sure I really understand the issue otherwise. If it was a few people, I could understand. But I've seen tons of complaints about the power on/off thing. It makes me wonder if I'm missing the point here.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

The power on/off thing doesn't really bother me either though it's a nice-to-have particularly if you use the PS3 for something other than BD/DVD playback. Of course, if you're playing games, well, the wireless controller already handles power on/off.

I guess it might be nice to have some of the other BD/DVD-specific buttons like the angle button too.

_Man_

 

[wendortb]

The power on/off thing bothers me most of all because I use my ps3 to play music on my stereo. My g/f can't just hit one button to do it all. Instead, I am trying to teach her how to use the ps3. She still just uses her ipod and says that my system is too complicated, but only when talking about the ps3.

I have yet to get any ir to usb device for the ps3 because I am hoping sony puts out something that does everything I want. I may just break down and order the cheap nyko blu wave though.

It would be rather nice though to hit a button and have it power down everything, including the ps3. I do leave a movie or game in the ps3. If I am playing a game it isn't as big of a deal, but it does take more button presses/time (and learning curve for the g/f) to shut down the ps3, as compared to hitting the off button of the harmony for everything else.

I got my harmony to make my setup easy so anyone can operate my home theater with a 10 second tutorial. Now that I have the ps3, my setup isn't so easy and there is a learning curve again.

For instance, try teaching your mother (*cough* or g/f *cough*) to turn on, use, and turn off your setup with the ps3. It is harder than it seems.
eg: ok mom, turn on the tv, then the ps3. now push the ps button, no the ps button in the middle of the controller, no, not the start button....what's the problem? it isn't that hard.... to turn it off you can just use the ps button..no the ps button in the middle of the .... nevermind, just hold down the power button on the ps3.... no, the 1/0 on the ps3....no, you have hold your finger on there....don't just press.... nevermind, just leave it, I will take care of it later.

Of course after you get half way through, they just give up saying it is too complicated. They say they will just wait for you to show them and they will write it down the next time you are there. (then you get to call them explaining it again because they can't find where they wrote it down/ or they don't understand the directions that they wrote)

I just think it would make things easier to have ir with on/off ability.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

OTOH, you could always leave the PS3 running 24/7 and lend a hand to the Folding cause for cancer research. I'm actually considering doing that myself...

_Man_

 

[MarkHarrison]

Thanks for the answer. That really did help put things in perspective. And I expect my wife will enjoy playing MP3s much more than myself, so I'll probably run into this issue soon.