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Strengths: plug and play, no setup needed
IR, easy integration to universal remote
Weaknesses: No PS button, no way to automate PS3
lack of quite a few blu-ray playback buttons
won't take commands fast
Summary: I own the original bt remote. I have to buy this remote just to try integrating the codes into a universal remote control since the original remote doesn't have backlit, a bit too hard to use when using a projector... The remote exceeds my expectation. There's virtually no setup needed on PS3, it's plug and play. As a blu-ray remote, it does a fairly decent job.
So here is what the buttons do and what buttons are lacking:
First thing to notice is that the title menu on the remote is really not the title menu, but the same function as TRIANGLE, it actually calls the pop-up menu. It lacks dedicated subtitle, angle, audio buttons, and special color(red, blue, green, yellow) buttons which used in the spiderman trilogy. But I can live with it. I actually prefer to change the subtitle, angle, audio streams via pop-up menu. It is also lacking step forward, backward buttons, and all the number keys, but I rarely use those unless you want to take pictures or accessing "7669" SONY calibration mode. The stop button is NOT the same stop button on the original bt remote, it's basicly the CIRCLE quit key. Also it doesn't have a eject button which isn't a big deal. However it's lacking the most important button, the PS button, which means you cannot turn on/off using this remote, or accessing XMB(cross media bar) during video playback.
Overall the USB dongle is quite responsive, but sometimes could be too sensitive. When pressing the button too hard, it will execute the command twice or even mutltiple times, happens quite often when using the direction key browsing the long list of video files. But when I program my universal remote control, SONY RM-AX1400, the dongle cannot take the macros. It falls far behind in processing the commands. So I have to add delays when programming the macros. Another problem is that since it's based on IR technology, there's angle issue. You cannot just point any direction as when using the bt remote.
So the bottom line is that if you are a home theater enthusiast and happens to choose PS3 as a blu-ray player, then this remote is for you. But I think it's still essential to get the original bt remote as quick accessing to those features it lacks(PS button to turn on/off, number keys, color keys, etc). If you are just a casual user, you are better off not getting this remote, it's just emulating all the buttons on the SIXAXIS controller. The original remote just offers more features than this. To me, this remote is a keeper, it eases the frustration to have two remote controls while just watching blu-ray movies. But if I want to access the special features, I would still pull out the original bt remote...
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