While IR2BT would've done well to have this out and showcased at
CEDIA, we suppose late is better than never. The company responsible for the heralded
Infrared-to-Bluetooth converter -- which allows PS3 owners to control their console via a traditional IR-based universal remote -- has just pumped out another iteration aimed at professional installers. The IR2BTci is dubbed a "highly flexible and user-customizable device" that supports firmware upgrades and features configurable IR device codes for coexisting PS3, PS2 and DVD players. Additionally, it boasts multiple power sensing / tracking options, user-programmable macros, discrete on / off IR commands and ports for integrating it into existing IR distribution systems. The box can be purchased right now for $150, and if you'd rather just have the old one, good luck on eBay. You heard right, the introduction of the IR2BTci marks the death of the original IR2BT.
[Thanks, Anthony]
posted Nov 6th 2008 3:21PM
Saw this at their site this morning. $150 to use an IR remote to control my PS3? Not in this economy. When I tell the wife how much it costs, she'll probably just suck it up and stick with the "You mean putting a big STOP button between PLAY and Pause is not generally accepted layout for a remote? Well it's a good thing pushing STOP doesn't stop the movie AND drop you out to the XMB. What's that? It does?"
Well at least there's a good chance we can pickup a stand alone player for the same price as an IR2BTci on Black Friday. Problem solved.
I'd much rather have the ability to control everything with BT rather than IR, I'd no longer have to worry about line of sight with my xbox 360!
i don't get why someone that can afford pro home theater design &installation would use a PS3 for their Blu Ray deck, but maybe if they have kids or something.
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/installations/2916/criterion-remastered.html"Criterion selected for its theater ... a Denon AVR-3808CI receiver, an Axiom Epic 80/500 speaker system, an Anchor Bay DVDO VP50 Pro video processor with HD SDI option, and a Sony PlayStation 3 for Blu-ray Disc playback."
Ugh. this is not good news. I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the IR2BT to finally release more units and to get this bit of news is frustrating.
I think I will instead put $150 towards buying a real blu-ray player instead.
Well worth the price!! I have been waiting for a product like this since I bought my PS3 last Christmas!!
I've been using the PS3IR-PRO for a few months now. It basically has the same feature set and is quite a bit cheaper. Not sure on the comparison with build quality.
http://www.schmartstuff.com/ps3irpr3.html
This is so not worth it now. For $50, fine. But $150? That's a substantial chunk of the cost of a new console. It's time to start looking at those other options, unfortunately. I, too, have been waiting for months for them to get some new units in to production. It's rather shady of them to keep everyone waiting and then SURPRISE your only option is now a unit that's three times as expensive and likely does three times more than you'll ever need it to.